The Royal Family #40

[Multi-21]

The weird part is the “was convinced by friends at a dinner party” like how would anyone know that?

Maybe they are trying to dig out a mole leaking stories to the press so this is a plant?

 

[Soncna]

There are so many negative posts about Kate and Carol here. But what did Camilla achieve before marrying Charles? Wife and a mother…and?

 

[Yorkie99]

I think it's mostly a failure on the part of his political advisors.

The cost (either financial or environmental) of him travelling would have been neither here nor there. The additional security requirement would have been negligible - there are already plenty of other bigwigs there, after all.

The real problem is that everyone is on holiday. The glorious twelfth was last week, but it's a bit gauche for someone of Baldy's standing to turn up on the first weekend, so this will be the first time he'll have been able to go shooting this year.

In this sort of situation, the monarchy is meant to act as a puppet of the government, but Sunak's off in California with his phone switched off. Who's in charge? Dowden? And what's he had to say about it all? Nothing. Which is not good enough.

It's too late now. The final is less than twelve hours away, so it's too late for anyone with any clout to get there; they just have to wait and watch the disaster unfold.

If the first english team for, what, 58 years? wins the world cup tomorrow and the most senior person to have bothered to turn up is Lucy Frazer (who?!), then all hell will break loose. It will be a catastrophe. Think of the flag not flying at half mast after Princess Die drove into a wall, only worse because they can do nothing to fix it.

I just can't understand it. Why did no-one see this coming? Surely Dowden should have been on the phone to Sunak to let him know about the groundswell of opinion back home? Baldy should have been on the plane yesterday. There's really no excuse, and if England win tomorrow the royals and the government are going to be in deep, deep shit.

I utterly despise this government for many, many reasons but 'only' sending the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to a football match on the other side of the world is not one of them

 

[Eirawen]

Agreed. They have made it pretty clear that they don’t see the value in doing this work.I actually agree that it is a great way for the RF to build up goodwill but I don’t think that’s considered important by the younger generation which is why I don’t think Charlotte and Louis will be encouraged to do it. It’s not seen as relevant anymore.

Might be the beginning of the end then.

 

[Tatooine_legend1]

Just started this - I absolutely love Anne!

I may give it a watch, but before i do, is it mostly about rugby? I'm not a fan of rugby and know little about the sport so would it be worth my time?
I actually think the royals should do a podcast. Just talking about their experiences throughout the years, likes and dislikes etc. I'm sure it would be popular.

 

[kingseven]

They would be. Never liked the man but always felt some sympathy for him losing his son in such a public way but always so overshadowed. He could never let go of the conspiracy theories.

Agreed I always felt for him for that.

Looking back now the reaction to Diana's death was hysterical and now there is proof that Martin Bashir used 'deceitful methods' to get 'that interview' which included forging bank statements to fuel Diana's paranoia that The Crown was working against her I would expect some of this had filtered through to him which makes me judge him less harshly for the conspiracy theories.

 

[Chinese_whispers]

What happens if George is gay? Can he have a husband under COE? What then happens to line of succession? Is surrogacy allowed?

 

[FenellaTheWitch]

It won't. They seem to be really good at hiding when they are on holiday, I don't know if the papers are in on it or not. They just seem to come back tanned and it's never mentioned. I don't think they've been reported as having gone to mustique since covid?

Even if it was the men I don't think he'd have gone. Australia is soo far, even in first class. Maybe if it was the men's rugby OTOH...

I don't think he would have either. Australia isn't somewhere you pop to.

We don't know where he currently is in the world if he's away with the family.
---

The Prince and Princess of Wales didn't attend a single England game in the mens' world cup in Qatar either. Unless it is a sporting event in the UK or an event taking place in a nation they are on a royal tour of there is no automatic reason they should go

Exactly. I can't recall them going anywhere outside of the UK specifically for a sporting event.

 

[Couchcollie]

Their spokesperson has said they are watching at home in Sandringham which I’m pretty sure has only been released because they were worried the press would start digging to find out if they were on holiday to get exactly that story. I presume they wouldn’t risk outright lying about where they currently are but who knows

Yeah I don’t know if they’d go that far tbh, but there’s definitely something up. My other thought was whether either Charles or Camilla was a bit poorly and they are therefore staying close to home. I’m not sure William is that stupid to just not go given the current furore. He must know himself that his father may not have a long reign and then the focus will really be completely on him and his family. He’d be silly not to keep the focus positive in the meantime. If there’s nothing going on and he really is that arrogant towards public opinion then it’s not going to go well for him.

 

[Boring Monday]

So been thinking about The Royals and their future. How do you manage Charlotte and Louis if you are the RF? I don’t think you want them to grow up expecting only to do royal duties. The army etc works for a bit but they couldn’t stay in it forever. Would they be expected to have normal jobs? I think their positions still limit what they can do.
Also financially how does that work? I know William and. Harry inherited money from their mother and Harry more from the Queen Mother but the RF money will go to George only. I don’t think they are going to be poor but presumably it could be an issue that they can’t fund the lifestyle they grow up in (like Andrew).
It’s interesting to me as part of what the RF does going forward. They are part of it but also need to be independent of it. It’s tricky.

I would imagine that all of Prince Philip/The Queen’s immediate descents were left things … I imagine that the likes of Charlotte and Louis will have quite nice trust funds. Charles will obviously also set them up. Their personal wealth will be impressive even without dibs on the various Duchies and Seabeds.

The RF is interesting because by and large they don’t actually seem to be academic … that’s just a round hole they are square pegged into … most of the off shoots who have made their own way tend to be more sporty, arty or military (Princess Margaret’s children and grandchildren include furniture designers, artists and sculptors). It’s a tricky one … as children/siblings of the monarch they are never going to be able to work from the bottom up. Whatever they do, they will always slot in at the top end with an office and name on the headed paper and copious amounts of holidays … but it’s not beyond the bounds that one at least will end up being a full time working royal.

 

[Eirawen]

I feel it was a very exaggerated story anyway and I think a lot of what she said to Andrew Morton was due to her MH issues and how she perceived things. She seemed to crave attention but also liked to remain blameless.

Not sure, you can't throw yourself downstairs a "little bit",she was putting her kid at risk.

 

[Great_Kate]

I'll be honest, I don't think it would come from a politician for risk of someone trying to cry treason.

I suspect if the time comes that it'll be a discussion between politicians and the monarch, and the monarch "voluntarily" stepping down.
It would also need to happen slowly, to allow for the appropriate legislation to pass to remove the ceremonial but necessary legislative role of the monarch - likely the final monarch would sign the legislation ending the monarchy.

There would also be the unraveling of the finances - I know a lot of people like to assume the royals are all fully funded by taxpayers, but that's simply factually incorrect. Even the Sovereign Grant has its complexities as it relates to the Crown Estate, which is neither privately owned by the monarch, nor government property.
Any stepping down of the monarchy would mean establishing what is private wealth and not privy to any disposal unless donated by the monarch/appropriate family member in ownership, what is Crown Estate and how to dispose of this, and whether agreement could be reached as to items or properties that are owned by the monarch outright, but are of significant public interest (the crown jewels spring to mind).

Whenever it comes to pass, I pity the folks involved in the minutiae of it all.

That’s all very true. It will take years likely decades from the decision to end the monarchy, figuring it all out and finally being a republic. The BRF won’t do anything against it though. But I am sure they will have best lawyers to get every pound they can. Probably setting up a massive foundation so the public can still go and pay good money to visit Sandringham and see all of the impressive things on display while creating a nice tax loophole. Just think about the art…..
The BRF will still be crazy rich. And probably will keep the princely titles in the main line. Many aristocrats carry titles even though they are not recognised in the country of their origin. Look at Greece. In Germany the titles merged with the last name as aristocracy got abolished as a whole. But don’t get fooled. Those circles still exist. And they still know who is in and who is out. Unsure about Austria. Even for the power over the House of Mountbatten-Windsor and the hold over the properties and goods you can find best practices that often involve a patriarch or matriarch. Same for carrying on the line.
In the end, the new Republic aka the tax payers will foot the bill to create a line of wealthy, privileged country gentry (and they own tons of lucrative land and properties) and all the changes. I get why you would want this from an out of principle pov. But I think people should have a hard think when the citizens can afford such an undertaking that very probably will not put any £ in their purse but rather draw money from other important causes. There won’t be magically more money at the governments disposal to fund all this. And even if at one point there might be a financial benefit- they will pay for it up front.

 

[Isa_Drennan]

Why is he president of the English FA in the first place?

 

[Mrs Fluff]

I know many people in Monaco are super rich, but the royal family in Monaco cost each tax payer over £1000 a year!!

Even the Luxembourg royals cost each taxpayer nearly £20 a year

...Makes our £1.28 a year seen cheap!

I lived in Luxembourg and from what I locally heard the Duchess was a similar character to Charlene, as in she had 'security' every time she went back to Costa Rica just in case she decided never to return

 

[Boom Boom!!]

I always believed that the money allocated to the three Middleton siblings derived from a trust fund relating to Michael's forebears? I've often wondered whether Carole was the driving force behind Kate deciding to take a gap year and then choose St Andrew's over her first choice, Edinburgh?

That is correct there is a trust fund for descendants.. this would be education.. very good idea!!

 

[Em_gardener]

Unless Harry said it to annoy Andrew in a she didn't know who you are sorta way.

They've both pointed out loads of times that she was just a clueless American who knew nothing about the RF so I think it's more to do with bolstering up that idea than getting at Andrew.

 

[elliebee27]

Kate and William can still work quite a bit whilst the kids are in school and be home later. It's not rocket science. They are lazy, and in their 40s, it's not like that will change. If they weren't lavishly funded public servants who would care? I am a housewife/stay-at-home mom who works part-time, and I realize the importance of being involved with your child, which is why I'm blessed that I can stay home but many people can't do this. Most can't, in this economy.

They'll have their flurry of early autumn engagements, and disappear again around December for a few months, so on, and so forth.

William in NY, the press trying to make him some amazing hunk is hilarious. I think Earthshot's optimism is a great counter to the hysteria and wasteful useless government projects that do nothing whilst the innovations with Earthshot can actually do good for our environment, though, so kudos to him for it.

 

[Multi-21]

Wasn’t she doing something with the RAF yesterday so was on an engagement in the UK

 

[Spid]

I have, either short or very thin hair, as they've aged. Have you seen Kate Moss recently?

Her hair looks great in red carpet pics.

 

[Lenniel]

I think he’s damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t.

I agree this was a possibility so could have been pencilled into his diary, however as a member of the RF Australian are obliged to provide security for him if he travels there. Part of the Canadians’ issue with the other 2 basing themselves there.

Then if he travels and Catherine and the children don’t, the Royal Protection officers will have to be split and I’m sure that causes security and cost issues.

Could it have been planned better? Definitely. Can he win either way absolutely not.