Princess Beatrice did a rare “royal work” public event yesterday. She officially opened a new classroom at the Maple Hayes dyslexia school in Lichfield. Dyslexia is a cause close to Beatrice’s heart – she is dyslexic, and she’s been an advocate/patron with a dyslexia charity for a while. I always wonder about the timing of some of these events – like, did Beatrice want to do this opening specially on this day because she thought it would be unlikely that Duchess Kate would steal her thunder? On this particular instance, I doubt it. There’s no way Beatrice would have known that the world would be still waitying for Kate to give birth.
Unfortunately for Beatrice, this rare public event comes after months of criticism for her lay-about and vacation-happy existence. A few weeks ago, The Daily Mail went through their recent archives and figured out that Beatrice had gone on no fewer than 11 vacations in six months’ time, all while being unemployed. Team York freaked out at all of those reports too – Team York claims that Beatrice is being thrown under the bus for some kind of nefarious purpose. Of course, that hasn’t stopped her from going on a few more vacations. The appearance on Monday came after she returned to England after a jaunt to Florence, Italy.
As for the criticism and the decidedly anti-York bent of the UK press these days, Beatrice really is going to pull the trigger on moving out of the country. People Magazine’s sources claimed last week that Beatrice is “close to confirming” a job at a Manhattan private equity firm. Which will mean that Beatrice and Eugenie both will be New Yorkers for a while – Eugenie still works for the auction house Paddle8 and by all accounts, she enjoys New York a lot. Beatrice’s boyfriend is in NYC now too – Dave Clark left Virgin and now he’s working for Uber. So… the Yorks are mostly out of England. Now if only the Cambridges would step up, right?
Photos courtesy of WENN.
I cannot even imagine taking 11 vacations in a six month span. That seems to add to the laundry list of behavior people who aren’t keen on the royal family.
Sixer?
She must be summoned appropriately:
http://www.girlguidingshop.co.uk//Assets/Images/catalogue/xlarge/3200-brownie-sixer-badge.jpg
Haha. Ah, okay. I would think she has a theme song too. Maybe it’s God save the queen?
The fascist regime?
Haha- Sixer!
Desole! Working!
Don’t care about Beatriwhoissheagain any more than I care about any other trust fund babies, in the UK or anywhere else. She’s not a working royal; she can be as much of a wastrel as she likes, I guess.
Come the Glorious Sixer Revolution, I would shoot her with my spud gun, however.
PS: bubble writing and hippy dippy flowers rock the rock. Merci, mimif!
If my uncle was making it abundantly clear that he was going to cut me off the moment grandma died, I wouldn’t be particularly interested in working hard at the family business, either.
@ RobN +1000
I’m now thinking of all of this like a family-run pizza shop that grandma owns called Elizabeth’s Pizzeria. She and grandpa still work there every day its open as does their daughter Anne. Sons Andrew and Edward and his wife Sophie periodically work there too even though they have other businesses of their own.
The eldest son Charles is the general manager and everybody knows that once grandma dies, he will inherit the shop and rename it Charles’ Pizzeria. He’s already made sure that none of the nieces and nephews currently get a paycheck even if they show up for work. He’s also let everybody know that once grandma dies, any family member who is still on the payroll now will be cut off too, except for his sons and their families. The only reason any of the nieces and nephews show up to work nowadays is because they want to make grandma happy and maybe they enjoy working there (albeit for free) from time to time.
Charles’ oldest son is supposed to be working there on a full-time basis. But William, who is set to be the next General Manager and then the owner some day, shows up only sporadically yet demands a big salary and all the perks, like all the pizza and beer he wants. When he’s there, he thinks he’s the life of the party and goes from table to table boring the customers to death.
William’s wife Kate shows up only sometimes too and when she does, she wears inappropriate work clothes, like skirts that are too short and no underwear, so that when the front door or kitchen door opens, the breeze makes her skirts fly up in front of all the customers. When she’s there, she’s usually twirling her hair, which she normally wears down without caring that strands may fall into the food and drinks. Whenever she tells the customers the Special of the Day, she has to read it to them each time word for word from the bulletin board, because either she can’t be bothered to remember it or she’s not too smart or both.
Harry though shows up more often than William, even though he has a second job. All the customers love Harry. He’s already given notice at his other job to devote more time to the family business and has plans on how to improve the shop by making changes to better accommodate disabled customers.
Anyhoo, I think this pretty much explains the situation and why I’m not bothered that Beatrice doesn’t work at the family business much.
And oddly enough, Charles pays for Kate’s clothes and William lets him. Go figure.
anne_000, I really like the Betty’s Pizza analogy!
Love this!
Cute analogy but you neglect the fact that it didn’t start with Betty. The pizzaria was handed down to her. Scores of previous owners made billions of pounds throughout the centuries over 2/3 of which were stolen. Beatrice should tie on a smock and start flipping dough for free. She would still have plenty of time and money to swan about.
Are Peter, Zara, Louise, James, Eugenie, Linley, and Lady Sarah Chatto also required to tie on smocks and get to work? Or just Beatrice?
Notasugar
None of those royals are listed in the headline of this story.
And they absolutely should feel compelled to give back. It should have been instilled into them from birth. All of them.
Just asking, imo. Beatrice gets bashed a lot by the “she is royal, she has money, she should work for charity” brigade — but the others I listed are often uncriticized.
Peter and Zara live on their mother’s estate, purchased with the mysterious “private money” but fixed up at the time of Anne’s first wedding by the Crown Estate. They could benefit from Anne’s share of royal funding as much as B&E could be said to benefit from Andrew’s. They are in similar situations. I don’t recall many people on here requiring Peter Phillips to work for charity, but there are frequent calls for Beatrice’s head on a platter.
Notasugar
Good points and fair criticisms. I personally think the royal grandchildren shirk their moral obligations. Zara ducked Christmas lunch with Liz to shill for fees in Australia. I’m convinced Anne flies under the radar so we won’t scrutinize how she appropriates her share of the dole. But it is what it is and the unfair focus on the Yorks is due in large part to the fact that their parents are tabloid gold. I think the York girls are probably very nice personality wise but I don’t think they are doing their inherited legacy any favors.
But the family business is supposed to be about bettering the lives of the common man. There are direct benefits to the people who are helped by these charities and the UK improves as a result. Why is Beatrice exempt from her moral obligation in exchange for centuries of obscene privilege? Besides, her lifestyle is supported from the queen mother’s inheritance and the money Elizabeth funnels to Andrew. Calling these private funds should barely be considered an appropriate term.
Exactly, RobN!
OK maybe I’m being superficial but why doesn’t she fix her teeth? They are as big as her eyes.
Her mouth overflowing with teeth and her bug eyes are very noticeable. You’re not superficial and neither am I
Look up the Hapsburg jaw/chin from a line if royals way back when. It’s a trait that is generally considered unattractive but at one time was a dead giveaway that you were definitely if royal stock, because the one way you can inherit that, is by being in that bloodline. Bea doesn’t have this chin, but it’s a perfect example of why she may not “fix” her face. (I feel gross even saying that).
Maybe she has pride in these features that have been handed down by ancestors? God forbid, however “unattractive” they are to some chick in America on the internet.
Erm, yes, you are being superficial. This is her DNA. She has the family teeth, the Hanoverian eyes, and is Queen Victoria in everything else. Is she supposed to have her teeth yanked out and dentures fitted because you don’t find her biology appealing?
No, she should have her horse teeth fixed because she’ll look better.
Good point. Her features are from her relatives/ancestors. I have a really small wide nose that isn’t considered unattractive at all (it’s rather cute), but I once had a boyfriend who said if it were just a tiny bit thinner I’d “be a knockout.” That made me super self-conscious for a while, but then I ran across a really old picture of my paternal grandmother at about my same age, and I was shocked to see she had the exact same nose. That’s my grandmother in me. I adored her, she’s gone now, no way I’m “fixing” anything she gave me.
Penelope, are you for real or just trolling? I seriously hope the latter.
She gets to decide what to do with her own body. She looks the way she does because of genetics and she’s keeping it that way. Good for her, rather than pandering to misogynists like you.
Penelope, for the record, B had braces as a teen. Her teeth are fixed.
However, I wonder how upset you’d be if we suggested that your natural features, shared by various members of your family for generations, are so unattractive and unappealing to us that the only solution is for you to have them fixed.
It is getting a bit Gattaca (or Westerfeld’s Uglies) in here, isn’t it?
Can’t let the Uglies reference go unnoticed! That is all! Sixlet Major loves those books.
Notasugar
Name calling gets us nowhere and shuts down any chance to learn. LAK, per her usual, provides the right tone in her reply as well as historical perspective.
What name calling, imo? I asked if she was doing a particular activity (trolling, it is a verb) and IMO misogyny applies to her attitude towards Beatrice’s looks. You must have missed my historical references to where her looks come from, eh?
If she had braces, those must have been gigantic brackets, and were removed too soon
Nota
You called her a misogynist. She may just be judgemental, catty or shallow but that doesn’t mean she is unimpressed with Beatrice’s looks because she is a female. But whatever.
You may not think the term applies to her attitude, I do. The notion that there is a certain female beauty ideal and all are required to strive for it or be considered less valuable? I think there is hatred and disrespect of women in that idea.
Notasugar
But you don’t have enough information to go on. Penelope could have a severe aversion to prominent teeth. She could not like prominent eyes or weak chins. Unless she holds women to a *different* standard of beauty than men she can’t be called a misogynist. Hating Beatrice’s look doesn’t mean you hate women for goodness’ sake.
You have no more information to go on. You don’t think this type of discussion reeks of misogyny, I do. It speaks to women’s hatred of women and of themselves.
Maybe she likes her teeth, damn. Everything doesn’t need to be fixed. Personally, I’m creeped out by teeth that are all perfectly aligned and exactly the same size and brilliant white like they get when people get veneers. It’s like they all went to the same cosmetic dentist.
I’m neither trolling nor misogynist–I just think she’d look more attractive without the horsey teeth. That’s all.
Kate went the veneers route and look at the big Chiclets she has. Bea can keep her more natural teeth. She doesn’t have anything to prove.
Penelope has a right to her opinion – especially on a celeb gossip site and especially where William is mocked because of his ‘Windsor horse face’ ‘horse teeth’ and early balding. These are also physical traits, no?
Personally I think the features deemed flawed by others ultimately give us individuality and beauty. The Yorks have gotten a ridiculous amount of grief because of their looks. Stop looking at them if it bothers you.
Have I missed something?
Is the Queen paying for upkeep on the York girls? With state money?
If not. Then why is it anyone’s business. Seriously.
+100
Technically no but Andrew gets a lot of money from mummy, so….
Because daddy’s been paying seriously subsidized rent on a flat in a palace?
Cute outfit. I still can’t believe what she and her sister wore to the royal wedding. It was like they wanted to be called the ugly stepsisters.
so true…
Does the British taxpayer pay for this or is she living on family money?
Family money. Which is why her vacations are none of anyone’s business.
Also her boyfriend is very wealthy.
Then why all the fuss? If daddy has given her a trust fund and this is how she wants to use it, then I don’t see why it’s newsworthy. While she gets no respect from me by living a life of leisure, at least she’s not spending stranger’s hard earned money doing it.
Wills and Kate on the other hand deserve all the criticism they get for their taxpayer-funded laziness.
Where do you think Andrew gets his money?
Hmmm… good point. So directly or indirectly the people finance their lavish lifestyles? If their wealth isn’t due to work they’ve done or investments they’ve made, I’d be wanting to legislate a cap on what each royal receives and have it be tied to the amount of work they’re doing on behalf of the country.
Understand, my idealism stems from having no earthly idea why having a monarchy is necessary. While it’s fascinating to learn about royals and their history (Enjoying WOLF HALL currently), I don’t see the monarchy’s relevance nowadays.
It probably comes from a private skip-a-generation trust fund, just like Beatrice’s money was a private skip-a-generation trust fund. It would be interesting to track back what kind of money outsiders like Albert (of Victoria and Albert) brought to a royal marriage.
I love the thought of the queen mother leaving anyone an inheritance. What job did she ever hold that wasn’t ceremonial? She was from a noble but poor Scottish family with lots of siblings. No matter how you dress it up the taxpayers have paid for everything.
I’m not sure if that even matters any more.
1) I don’t care how you spin it, the commoners are paying/have paid for everything that everyone in the BRF does. This family and their ancestors did not get their wealth through private means. At some point (at most points) it was the citizens who funded the lifestyle of the royal family.
2) It’s all such an odd, WILLFUL illusion. I don’t see how a society can maintain a royal family which acknowledges the privilege, importance, and “special-ness” (excuse my brain, today) of a bloodline, but then expect them to act normal. I criticize Will and Kate a lot for their spoiled ways, but at the same time, how else are they supposed to act? No matter how well or humbly any member performs their duty, it doesn’t negate the fact that they are living an exorbitant, privileged lifestyle that does not equate to the amount of work they actually do.
Let’s start with them working at “royal duties” at the level of the royal perks they have, and for his position in relation to the throne. That means they’d need to “work” more than anyone else but HM, Philip, Charles, and Camilla.
Yo, welcome to New Yawk, Yawk.
Lol
Ha!
Dave, Bea is trying to tell you something. Lock down a York.
This is not “royal work”, it is charity work she is doing on her own out of the goodness of her heart.
Just because you are part of the royal family does not mean you are “in the firm” and are paid to represent HM. She doesn’t work for the crown and thus does not recieve any public money (her father does, but she does not. Andrew pays for Bea and her sister out of his trust fund) so really what she does, how many vacations she goes on-is none of our business.
She’s been doing charity and education work consistently for the past few years nothing rare or new about about it, as for the NY rumors, I’ll believe it when I see it as those rumors started with the dailymail and sun, Im weary of them.
I say she went on about seven vacations this year. Two of those said holidays don’t even count , they happened last year, a wedding and the other one was an official event in the Middl-east. The boxing day holiday one- They don’t even have a picture or someone tweeting about it, like her said Colorado vacation, no evidence. and her Athens lounge sighting seems more like an airplane stop, than a holiday as there is no evidence she went to Greece recently. Her Easter holiday again, no evidence. Not mention her so called recent Florida vacation, again no evidence. They keeping using old pictures for the made up vacations.
so the total would be seven Even if she went on all of them , and plus some more vacations, she’s not founded by tax payers. Most likely the Bransons or her friends give her freebies and discounts anyways.
how arent all their trust funds traced back to public money? the queen mother didnt invent the iphone.