A week ago, the Daily Mail reported that one of Queen Elizabeth’s most trusted advisors/courtiers was leaving his post at Buckingham Palace. The reason given was, that with Prince Philip’s retirement and the Queen starting to give more of her patronages to her children and grandchildren, that this would begin the transition to Prince Charles taking over. Like, everyone is being eased into the handover. There was another theory though – that the Queen and Charles are on the same page but they’re both worried about Kensington Palace, meaning they’re worried about how William, Harry and Kate’s offices are being run. William and Kate cannot keep staff to save their lives, and William thinks he’s a PR genius (he is not). So… this new story at the Daily Mail is fascinating, right? The DM says BP is in “royal shambles” and that Charles’ staff is constantly bickering with the KP staff. Some highlights:
Buckingham Palace in disarray: It is becoming increasingly clear that the Queen herself has ordered a shake-up of courtiers at the royal palaces as she prepares for a future in which she allows Prince Charles to take the lead. But palace sources are concerned that ‘the firm’ has been plunged into uncertainty following last week’s shock resignation of the Queen’s right hand man, Sir Christopher Geidt, as revealed by the MoS, along with several other leading figures. ‘You could described it as a right royal shambles, ’ said one courtier.
The resignations/departures: Those preparing to leave include Prince Harry’s Private Secretary, Edward Lane Fox, while Prince William’s highly-regarded Private Secretary, Miguel Head is expected to be gone by Christmas – although his spokesman has denied this. The Duchess of Cambridge’s Private Secretary, newly-married Rebecca Deacon has already announced her departure, as has Keeper of the Privy Purse, Sir Alan Reid. And last week it emerged that a second aide to the Queen, Samantha Cohen, Assistant Private Secretary, has tendered her resignation.
The rivalry: The shake-up is also seen as a response to the increasingly chaotic rivalry between the separate households – Kensington Palace, run by the young royals, Clarence House, home to Charles and Buckingham Palace itself. Consultation and co-ordination are felt to be in short supply. There was, for example, consternation at Harry’s furious attack on the media earlier this year over its coverage of his girlfriend Meghan Markle because it overshadowed – without warning – an official tour of the Middle East by Charles and Camilla. More recently, it is understood that Buckingham Palace courtiers did not feel fully informed over William and Harry’s ITV documentary about Diana, which again generated huge publicity. And there is said to be concern among senior royals that the stream of emotive statements issued by the princes about their mental well-being has got out of hand.
The Queen & Charles are not happy about William, Harry & Kate: The Queen is said to have been irritated by the running of the junior households and feels that William and Harry have been given poor advice and left exposed to criticism.
All I can say is it’s about damn time. While I think William, Harry and Kate need their own separate office/press shop, I also think they’ve always been given too much leeway by Charles and the Queen. They were given the space to figure things out on their own and make mistakes and hopefully learn from those mistakes. What actually happened though is that Will and Kate (in particular) have created their own half-assed “rival court” which is hellbent on passive-aggressively attacking Charles. William gets off on sticking it to his dad whenever possible, even though his father is largely financing William and Kate’s lifestyle. All of the younger royals have needed to be reined in for years.
While the Queen and Charles are on the war path, might I suggest something else? Tie the money for KP’s offices and Will & Kate’s living expenses to their work. Kate shouldn’t be allowed to go on shopping sprees without putting in a minimum of 20 events a month. They don’t get to hire their own press secretary unless William and Harry have all of their interviews vetted by Clarence House.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Oh this is getting good!!!! I respect the Queen’s work ethic so much. This is a shot across the bow for sure. I wonder how William will react. He has been catered too for way too long IMO.
This is ridiculous. She’s basically the boss, no? If I diddled around for years, my boss would’ve had my ass in the street a long time ago. They are all in their 30s. If this is really in her hands, she could’ve put her foot down a long time ago but I guess she was sweet-talked by her favorite grandson maybe? Well, this is what happens when you work with family.
She did nothing in the past, so she won’t do anything now. She was always just “irritated” by her children, by Diana und now her two grandsons + Kate.
She has no power over her family. She’s a little granny who dislikes confrontation and they know it.
Amen Kaiser!
About darn time – way over due!
Except that potential King Henry’s Private Secretay ELF is good at what be dies. But get rid of lambridge all out minor poor jason.
HM isn’t the boss because being a royal involves every aspect of your life and no adult royal is going to let their parent or grandparent run their life, nor should any parent or grandparent expect to do so.
The BRF operates on the honor system. Each person is expected to do their job, but each person gets to do it as he or she sees fit. If HM and Charles squirm at Will and Harry sharing their emotions, too bad. Those are their choices and they get to make them.
I agree that The Queen is not and will not intervene in her grandchildren’s lives no matter how much she disagrees with the direction of their paths. If anything, it would be Charles trying to continue slimming down the establishment. William and Harry are in lock-step with each other on how things are going to go.
I don’t agree, Megan. I do agree that adults shouldn’t have their parents running their lives for them; I am with you there. But if you were paying for your children’s upkeep, would you just pay and pay even if they were not holding up their end of the bargain? I wouldn’t; I think a lot of people wouldn’t; and I also don’t blame Charles especially if he decides to wield the monetary hammer. Want to live your lives the way you want? OK! Then pay for them yourselves. Want to keep your business office subsidised by me? Then you’ll need to meet with my approval.
Charles has little choice but to pay for their office. The Duchy of Cornwall throws off a fortune and it would be unseemly for his kids to be begging HM for money.
I don’t think it’s the Queen so much as Charles pushing for this and the Queen letting him. Charles needs to curb the spending, especially Kate’s insane wardrobe for a handful of appearances here and there. It is wasteful and she just stands there and says nothing for the most part. A useless lump doesn’t need a new outfit every time she steps out of the palace.
William needs to do way more as well now that he doesn’t have a part time job to hide behind.
Has Kate visited her neighbours at Grenfell Towers yet? Will has and Harry has… why hasn’t she bothered yet?
I don’t agree. He pays for their business office and if they aren’t doing any business I totally understand why he would want to have control. Basically he’s their boss. Would you pay your children’s work expenses if they weren’t holding their end of the bargain?
Basically I think the entire family defines passive aggressive. Clear communication needs to happen and it doesn’t look like it does.
Nic, Adele has even visited Grenfell Tower children and took them to a movie screening.
@Bluhare I think it would be very hard for Charles to threaten to cut them off, or imply that he is entitled to control because he controls the purse strings. They are employed by birthright and Charles has a huge fortune by birthright. Not paying for them would be a scandal. Charles is stuck by the circumstances of his life and since he is passive aggressive to the point of ridiculous, he can’t communicate his concerns to his children.
Since they are some of the most privileged people in the world fighting over how to best leverage that privilege, I am finding it hard to muster support for any party in this fight.
“Since they are some of the most privileged people in the world fighting over how to best leverage that privilege, I am finding it hard to muster support for any party in this fight.”
@megan, i wholeheartedly agree with this point.
But not disrespecting HM POW and the RF -ignoring the taxpayers and the millions in funding to represent GB as a darn ‘ROYAL.
I agree with your general point, Megan. I truly do! I disagree that there’s nothing he can do about it though. He can go through their expenses and reimburse for those things he finds appropriate. I don’t see anything wrong with that; it’s called using your money wisely. They may have titles by birthright, but I don’t think that gives them unfettered access to everything they want.
I totally agree with you, Megan. If the Queen herself has ordered a shake-up, notice that it is her staff that is resigning – while the younger royals are called to task in the media – is this how this family communicates? (I mean they do have that Knights of the Garter where only part of the royal family is allowed access in their robes and funny hats – like what are they talking about in there – their secret bank accounts?) I find hard to believe that QE is communicating in this way – although she is so indulgent, perhaps (in my mind) she believes all the shit about blue bloodiness and God’s gift from Heaven – Ordained to rule…something like that. She has always let Charles do whatever he wants. The only reason I can reason is not that his choices are good for the crown, but the right of kings, given by God himself. Of course, I sound silly now – “The Sun King”. Charles, the romantic, could not see himself as the only puppy in the royal line that did not get extra teats.
Personally, I am unabashedly back on the side of the young royals. Let them be rich, they simply are. Let them go as a royal institution, if you wish, but they do have the right to be themselves. As a matter of great importance is the fact that Charles and his lover have publically trashed with expert help, these prince’s mother over a very significant period of time. I can’t stand the cynicism. I hope that Diana would be delighted, but she is dead. Bully to them for loving her. That’s all she ever wanted after all.
She’s 90 now though. It was probably easier to wield the hammer when she was 45, but now that she’s in old age she probably wants to sit on her bed, eat bonbons and watch Netflix. I have no idea if she’s allowed to do that.
She should be, let’s be real.
I don’t think she was the type to wield the hammer when she was 45.
In some sense, I get it. I get the propensity to not be confrontational, because who wants to constantly bicker or be *that* family member constantly bringing up others’ shortcomings y’know? If they were children, you can correct them. But if they’re adults, you can only tell them or have a row. But the rest is up to them, and if they refuse to change, then what?
I don’t blame the Queen for wanting to keep a peaceful atmosphere in her home. The RF is in a unique position where they are both a family and a firm. You have to leverage the two things at once. If you treat your family members as your employees, they may shape up, but they will resent you and that will inevitably disrupt any sense of family unity. If you treat them as solely family members and give way to their every whim and fancy, well, this is what you get. In any case, it’s clear what the Queen prioritized. And it’s amazing that even with that, you have people like the Cambridges who take a mile for every inch they get. No wonder Charles got fed up.
That is a great idea. But I doubt she would sit still long enough to enjoy it.
HM old age – never. She is younger than the 35 year old waity middleton.
That photo with HRH Prince Charles. King of Belguim and waity – POW totally ignore the useless waste by looking the other side while she looiing at him for a pretend grin. But he’s over that middleton medd
The King even look off as if he sense POW was just being respectful of the event standing by waity the useless wadte of msrry in status.
Peter Philips is said to be the Queen’s favourite grandson. She apparently asks him to sit beside her at any family event.
This is not surprising. None of them have any work ethic. And while William and Kate have gotten the brunt of scorn on here I’ve always felt Harry to be included in that.
They are all lazy. Color me shocked
I agree. Harry always gets a pass here, and in the media, in general. He did put out a scathing press release cause the press were mean to his girlfriend. That’s Donald Trump level bullying. You can’t boss a free press around. And he has gone downhill in my estimation since then.
So id Wills and Kate are lazy, so is Harry. And no, two weeks of work on his charities when others do all of the legwork while he goes to Norway, Jamaice, Toronto, and Africa is not work!
These folks have lots of open doors. I do not believe they are happier – Diana had clothes and jewels, but she needed respect and tenderness. The human brain operates on a pretty stable spectrum for everyone, during each and every day – except in certain awful cases. If one notices, it is not the expert at being rich that are happy. We all struggle to be happy, and still, we are always wanting more, always yearning as a species. That is art, isn’t it? We have called ourselves human since we began producing our yearning in forms.
@ Sarah: I think you’re letting your personal dislike for Meghan color your judgement a little here….whatever you think of Harry, he was right (in my mind), to stand up for Meghan, considering the ugly abuse she was receiving. I know some people (like you) are dismissive of that type of abuse, (I’ve noticed it tends to be people who have no direct experience if it themselves), but I don’t know what you’re SMOKING to compare him to Donald Trump in any way.
I’d like some! 😉
Bellagio, I actually think Meghan is way too good for Harry and hope she doesn’t get swayed by all the gold.
And your reference to what I’m smoking is rude.
I only see the one little tidbit about the queen which feels tacked on at the end to make Charles not look as bad. Because otherwise this whole article reads as him wanting control over his mom and his children.
It all reads as him once again being upset at not being the center of attention (just like in the Diana days) That he’s upset that the other staff isn’t working to make sure he’s at the top of the food chain. I’m going to be king-I want to centralize all your staff NOW mom (and essentially pushing them all out) Talking about your girlfriend that you care about when she was being attacked took away from my trip! Having a emotional documentary about your mother got to much attention! You’re talking to much about your mental health and your feelings! Me me me me me.
This exactly!! That last bit especially leads me to believe that the Queen is actually defending William, Kate and Harry, stubbornly convinced that the poor lambs are the victims of bad management and shoddy PR. Charles, on the other hand, is angry because mummy won’t take his concerns seriously. Liz’s head is firmly in the sand and Chuck has his kilt in a knot. Funny thing is though he’s actually right about this one.
HM is upset with her snowflake grandson and middletond…she is only projecting faults at the Secs to us – but she knows Whiny is in control and now that he has no EAAAto pretend he is busy – she and POW is making sure whiny no longer remains Throne more like Royal Idle (disabling potential King Princess Henry from doing performing more visible duties with his future Princess Henry. Let the games begin for the entitled lazy donothings.
I’ll just copy and paste what I said to Megan:
But if you were paying for your children’s upkeep, would you just pay and pay even if they were not holding up their end of the bargain? I wouldn’t; I think a lot of people wouldn’t; and I also don’t blame Charles especially if he decides to wield the monetary hammer. Want to live your lives the way you want? OK! Then pay for them yourselves. Want to keep your business office subsidised by me? Then you’ll need to meet with my approval.
And just for discussion, what about WIlliam, Kate and Harry is not me, me me? They’re as bad as anyone else in this saga.
As I tell kids who depend on their parents for $ – even when there are no overt strings attached:
“He who has the gold rules”
K
Your point makes perfect sense, bluhare, as did Kaiser’s above. Tie their salary and costs to work. Don’t work enough, less is reimbursed. She has enough clothes to last at least five years without purchasing another thing, etc. 200+ helicopter trips last year among the three of them? I’d love to see how much of that was shopping/Middleton Manor vs. work trips that really required a helo, but alas we’ll never know.
An enormous part of the problem, with Charles unable to corral his “line”, is that it blows his streamlining plan to heck. He cannot eliminate all the other working royals, including his siblings, if his line refuses to work.
Interesting back in May that HM’s private secretary was touting a plan to promote Edward and Sophie as the crossovers to the new era. That they were key to the success of the royal family, well-liked, do their role. Now that fellow is gone months later.
Oh my, nas. We agree again. I might have the vapors!
Who cares? I am certain that the problem lies in Charles ego. There is no doubt at all – no reason for me to make a case. They have their struggles – Phillip is bellowing that all the hard work he will no longer pay! The typical Britisher pays about $75 a year to watch these humans trying to play the part as head of state, while they are always sneaking out in disguise as one of us! Apparently, few realize that great amounts of money do not solve the dilemmas with which we all must live (like Phillip is a relative, but one should respect him). One may have every material support and gowns/jewels/servants and feel tormented. Yet one may live in simple circumstances, and whistle while they work.
bluhare 😉
I don’t think Charles’s ego is the problem here. The problem is, they have a set of upstart junior VP’s who want all the perks of the Firm without the work. The current CEO is aged, her second in command has retired. The acting CEO cannot get the jrs in line.
Bluhare
Not sure anyone believes W, K and H aren’t spoiled and lazy at this point. I just don’t believe for a moment that Clarence House is somehow above the mudslinging.
I didn’t say they were, Enough Already.
I think all of them need to sit down, have an honest conversation and a clear understanding of how things will operate. Do I think that will happen? No.
Charles used to hold long range planning and coordination meetings every since months with the boys to strategize and make sure everyone was on the same page. These seem to have gone out of the window.
And I definitely agree with you there, Enough Already. Maybe even quarterly. 🙂
Imo if they had joint goals that centered around what was best for the UK and the Commonwealth it would be easy to find an uber strategist to cement and coordinate the brand. But with so many ego-driven cooks in the kitchen no wonder the soup is spoiled smh. I hold out some hope that they’ll all get it together but not within the next five years.
Enough Already and bluhare,
Interesting comments and many good points. They really do need to get it together.
Magnoliarose
I’m so excited to see how Kate’s new PS works out. Can she turn the shopaholic hair twirler around? If so how to do so without William mourning the loss of his 1950s wife? If she is successful then what will be Miguel Head’s excuse for Will and Harry? I’m loading up on popcorn for this autumn 🙂
So am I, Enough Already.
Hmmm questions to ponder…We will have to keep our eyes open to see if we note some improvements. I would be impressed and of course, my feelings are super important. lol
If Will, Kate and Harry did the same amount of work as Charles, or even half as much, then this would be obvious whining by Clarence House. But the trio barely put in any numbers and Will and Kate in particular do nothing. Harry at least has Sentebale and Invictus, but Will and Kate have done nothing for years. And Kate’s wardrobe is insanely expensive for a very small amount of appearances. The speeches that Will and Kate make are particularly bad and the messages sent out of KP are often full of poor grammar. Charles has a lot of justification to clean house since he is footing the bill, although I agree that the Duchy ultimately is funded by UK taxpayers.
The BRF has been indulged for far too long by the British taxpayer as well as by Commonwealth countries, the latter being used as a free vacation. Here’s a plan:
1. Limit the duties of HoS to State occasions.
2. Forget the charity work; it was only a ruse anyway, dreamed up in the early 20th century to give the royals visibility and relevance. They don’t do the heavy lifting anyway.
3. Pay a modest sum to HoS, in the vicinity of what is paid to the President of Ireland.
4. Other members of the family paid per diem if and when needed, much like Madeline of Sweden when she returns to Denmark.
5. Other members of the family get proper jobs/ live off their own funds. None of them line their own pockets with taxpayer money.
6. Full transparency of any and all public funds going to these people.
In the scale of things, there is no need for them.
What’s wrong with wanting them to all work together & coordinate their messages? This “firm” has to be run professionally, not as a dysfunctional family. Everyone should agree & understand what the mission/vision are & working together & be on point. Good for Charles for trying to fix this. He’s going to be in charge sooner than later, not understanding why some of you interpret bad intent here. All you have to do is look at the disarray here in the US with our lunatic POTUS tweeting out policy w/out telling anyone.
I concur.
It’s nicknamed “the firm” for a reason. This firm does have a raison d’etre and should be properly managed as such, including with the messaging.
Nothing stopping individual members resigning (from the succession and public duties) from the firm if they want to, so long as they’re prepared to lose the financial support.
The firm is more like a conglomerate of individual brands. They agree that their purpose is to serve the UK and Commonwealth, but they have always done it in their own way.
This entire article feels like a big whine from Charles about how no one is letting him be in charge.
I think it reads like Charles is finally putting his foot down with the support of his mother.
I also wonder if this isn’t a case of Charles starting his streamlining early. By combining the two generations’ worth of press offices, he’s cutting down the amount of work needed for running both. It’s as much a move to keep the message on task as it is a move towards what the future of the monarchy will look like. Less disparate groups of people flung off into their own spheres, more togetherness and cohesiveness in both message and the way things are run.
It seems like Charles is issuing a warning that things will be different in the future. He didn’t wait this long for his layabout sons and daughter-in-law ruining it for him. I doubt he wants to be responsible for the beginning of the end. History and his place in it would be important to him.
I hope it works better than the last time he tried it, A!
+100
Totally.
And lets not forget a dysfunctional family should remain separate from representing The Firm – HM POW BRF GB and CW hundreds of millions and millions to individual whiny spoilt lazy grandson manchild donothing wasters and in laws – tangle together ignoring serving the tax payers and GB.
.
I do not understand this train of thought. Haven’t royals been killing each other off for centuries? Centuries!
In this modern century, no matter how many of you call Will and Harry lazy, they are trying to be authentic people, and that reflects well. Better that than the cynicism of the royal family and the advantage of the wealthy, let alone those who believe themselves titled by God Almighty, and able to break the laws that the rest of us tread lightly.
While I am thinking about it, who cares about Kate’s shopping sprees if she cannot manage to look as polished as Letitia? Ho hum – as she is always showing her bum or lack of petticoats – a mistake Diana made only once on front pages. All Kate says that she cares for is what Willy thinks and William had a crush on her mother. Who knows yet about all these complicated issues?
They can go be “normal” and “authentic” on their own millions, not on those of the taxpayers. If they don’t want the job as defined, they’re welcome to walk away and move to a country where no one can legally photograph them in public. Otherwise, GTFTW O Keen Ones.
The situation as it has been for years has led to loads of confusion and extra costs. Because they don’t coordinate their schedules, you can end up with three royals in the same region (even the same town) in one day. Have people put their requests in to central scheduling, book one royal to do 6-8 engagements in that town over 1-2 days.
What the hell are you talking about, wolfpup? You are seriously losing me.
Biggest question is why Sir Christopher Geidt resigned and why his Deputy Sam resigned “in solidarity”.
They couldn’t handle WKHs cr@p any longer?
Maybe they couldn’t stand the thought of “Charles In Charge” (also is a small nod to 80s pop culture there 😉)
I think they got annoyed with Charles’ pushiness more likely. Huge changes of this nature seem like his MO. I think we’ll likely see more clashes with Charles and his staff and WKH’s staff.
I’m so intrigued by the fact that Sir Christopher Geidt, his deputy, and the Assistant Private Secretary to the Queen all resigned, as WELL as Edward Lane Fox. And we all knew Rebecca Deacon left months ago (maybe she knew what was coming??) I wonder what went down for that to happen, I really do.
Whiny billnot madam waity carol and the midfletons. Throne Idle the middleton decoy prince, refusing to take over the Princes Trust Duchy will fall to potential King /Princess Henrys.
I know it’s unlikely to ever happen, but I pray one of them writes a book.
Stop leaving Harry out of your criticism…he’s not exactly innocent himself with his whining he’s want to be normal & no one wants to be king. I feel like William & Kate take the brunt of the attacks on the site. Harry is no different.
Yes, just because Harry seems more agreeable than his brother doesn’t mean he works any harder.
Agree about Harry. He is more personable than William, but does next to nothing. He’s not working at the coalface for his charities – other people are. And didn’t Charles have to send in someone to sort out Sentebale because it was in a serious mess? Both Harry and William have been indulged all their lives and this is what they have become: a pair of lazy and next to useless wastrels. The point is they would barely be missed if they faded away into the life they think they are owed. I’d be okay with that, as long as they got off the public teat and lived off their own millions and cut their cloth accordingly. But no, they won’t do that. The ONLY reason they are hanging on is that they can’t afford to live the way they do now on their own money. They need the public’s hundreds of millions per year.
Exactly! And it makes me think of Markle
Being greedy and wanting a piece of the pie, if she, a supposedly independent and charitable woman, wants to be with Harry and his fancy holidays, layabout in Kensington Palace, all paid out on the taxpayer dime. Frankly, if Harry wants to be normal, he should find himself a sugar mama who can fund his party prince lifestyle, because it’s not as if Harry has any real professional skills to earn his own way! And the less said about WK and the 2 extra mouths to feed that they claim as their own children (while having taxpayer funded nannies looking after them the whole time), the better.
Harry cannot win. If he works more than the Doolittles, he is showing them up. If he works less, he is lazy. Since he is not the heir to the throne, I give him a bit of a pass here. At least when Harry shows up, he seemly genuinely enthusiastic and engaged which is more than one can say about the Doolittles most days. Plus he does not require a new wardrobe before his events.
It’s a business. If they can’t get it together and present a united front on their own, they should hire a CEO to do it for them.
If Harry can cherry pick his few real engagements and swan about the globe in between why should he get credit for seeming happy/engaging?
I agree. Harry will not become King or get all the benefits that Will and Kate will. He already has charities he started up on his own, something Will and Kate have yet to do. And it is noticeable how Will and Kate often tag along with Harry, like Heads Together, where we saw Harry meet a lot with veterans, but the other two not so much.
Will and Kate are the ones who need to step it up big time.
Because he does seem happy and is engaging? Not sure how one negates the other.
I think he needs to step up and do the bread and butter stuff none of them want to do as well. He’s not exempt, and I’m a serious Harry fan.
I give Harry more leeway because he is not going to be King. The expectations for him are much different, and he at least took being a soldier seriously, therefore, serving his country. He is more likable and has a more positive attitude when he is in public. Kate fought for this and does nothing with it but shop.
Andrew was never expected to be Charles. Bertie was never expected to be David hence his unease with the role in the beginning. He doesn’t get the perks the two of them get either. His older brother should be taking the lead, but he doesn’t. If he outshines him then it is a problem. It wouldn’t take much for him to overshadow the two of them and then what would happen? It would make the lazy twins look even worse and cause public relations problems. His role has always been as the second son there to support Willy.
He could do more certainly but you can’t put the same expectations on him.
But Harry doesn’t work!!! This is a grown man who didnt even have a part time job, yet did much less than William. Two weeks of charity work, when others do all the preparation, isnt a career. And he travels all of the time, mostly on vacation, while the taxpayers pay all of his security costs, at a minimum. He’s not 19 – he is almost 33. And a child, still. I think he and Kate are the laziest of them all.
Charles has his flaws, absolutely, but he has always worked hard for the country.
He can’t win, Bearcat. He does more than W&K, he gets in trouble with his big brother. He does less, he’s attacked. What he does do is still not counted properly and often doesn’t show up in the CC either. That doesn’t help, nor did Diana extracting his promise to always support his big brother because William’s job was going to be so much more difficult (or some such drivel).
Invictus and Sentebale are not small things, nor are they things that would happen without him, no matter what some might say. If he continues volunteering with veteran rehab, it needs to be codified and counted.
Whomever he marries needs to set up a non-profit of their own that is ‘theirs’ outside of regular royal work. Be seen there working at least 2 times a week, make their impact there in addition to the bread-and-butter that keeps them in their jobs.
I don’t think it’s completely fair to paint William and Kate’s PR as out for blood at every opportunity when it comes to Charles. Those who pay attention know that Clarence House is bloody awful when it comes to throwing William, Harry, Kate and Diana under the bus with shocking regularity. I don’t understand why Charles gets a pass for this. Giving the Cambridges unlimited funds and running to the press with nasty stories is the ultimate passive aggressive move and there’s no way his sons are okay with that.
How are they thrown under the bus?
I’m curious there too, Suze. I haven’t seen that at all.
When Harry was caught smoking pot, it had been arranged for him to go to a drug rehab centre to see the damage that drugs cause by his own staff but Charles had it put out that he had arranged it all.
How was that throwing Harry under the bus (even if it’s true?)?
I heard accounts that backed up Mads. Allegedly Charles was not unaware of Harry’s escapades with drugs and severe underage drinking. His response was to let Harry turn the basement into a full-on club with a complete bar and sound system. It was known as Club H and the infamous Glossy (Gloucester) Posse boozed and drugged it up there away from public scrutiny. When Harry was busted for pot Charles not only took credit for being a responsive father but managed to throw Guy Pelly under the bus for allegedly supplying the drugs. Pelly kept his mouth shut and apparently enjoys private goodwill from Charles. It is also rumored that one of Harry’s POs insisted that someone rein Harry in as he was quite fond of the boy.
Still don’t see how that is throwing Harry under the bus if true. Looks like Charles stepped in and perhaps took credit for others’ actions is all.
Harry and Wills seem quite capable of crawling under buses all on their own; no throwing required.
Being young and experimenting with drinking and drugs is normal. Better they do it at home than out in public. I don’t see that as a problem at all.
I have never seen evidence Charles doesn’t care about his sons and I am sure he had to approve of anything concerning them even if the idea wasn’t his.
I think he gets a bad rap. If anything he has been too permissive.
I respectfully disagree with your initial statement. There’s a difference between knowing your son will inevitably dabble in drugs/alcohol and providing your 15 year old with the means to get hammered and fall down drunk any time he wishes to. And this is if we ignore the rumor that as a teen Harry came to one of granny’s birthday dinner staggering drunk. When I was a teen I knew my family’s expectations just as they knew I would make my own decisions. I was not literally given a limitless supply of booze and cash with which to drink myself into a stupor. Charles should have sought counseling and/or rehab for Harry before his hand was forced. But the minute someone throws a bread roll at Camilla he pulls out all the stops for a PR intervention. My fave story is when Harry accidentally killed one of Charles’ expensive, prized roosters. Charles designated one of his staff to pull Harry aside and lecture him about being more careful. Charles is not an evil, cold father but let’s not pretend he is warm and attentive either. Had Harry not been expelled and had the PO not been so concerned Charles would not have paid Harry’s binge behavior any attention.
Club H wasn’t made for Harry, it was made for William. Harry ended up using it eventually too, but it was first made as William’s party place. Just as William was the one who killed two endangered birds but somehow Harry got the blame. And William caught on video stumbling to a car drunk and getting behind the wheel? All brushed aside by the drunken snog against the car – just in time to get Uncle Gary off the front pages. Different PR rules based upon where you are in line.
Charles has been too lax, and he has allowed William to get away with things (cover it up for the heir), but tagged Harry twice as hard for the infractions. I think he has as difficult a relationship with William as he had with Diana. He still has no idea how to deal with William and his whiplash behavior.
EA-I am not sure about rehab unless he was an alcoholic. I just know teenagers and young adults like to socialize and drink and experiment. Any over indulging habits are a problem and if they don’t grow out of it then it is a problem but if it is just mild rebellion I would think warnings and advice would be in order. I do know what you are saying though.
I don’t think Charles would know how to be a hands on father especially in this situation.
Charles runs to the press about poor grand dad vs. scheming Carole, Charles manipulated stories about Will and Harry meeting with Camilla in his PR storm to rehab her image, Charles did Harry no favors when he was caught doing drugs at school, Charles allows negative stories about Diana to run even to this day, many of which seem to be unofficially greenlighted through his or Camilla’s biographers. One of Charles’ former PR chiefs goes on the record about how shameless Charles was about using the boys during the Camilla 2.0 rollout.
There was one or two articles about grandparenting, and I agree he needs to shut up about that, and work things out with his children. And I do agree Mark Bolland did not do him any favors with the Camilla campaign.
I’ll give you those two. The rest? Not so much as I don’t see how that throws his children under the bus. For every negative Diana story there are a lot of positive ones, including the TV special last night where Diana talks about Charles’ sex life, doing Barry Manakee, etc. etc. Why didn’t WKH stop that? Because god knows that was not exactly Charles friendly!
My point is this all goes both ways. And they should all keep this within the family and not use it for PR points.
I quite agree with you, just saying that I can’t appoint one party as more insidious than the other. Their collective faults are cringeworthy in equal measure to me. I give Will and Kate parenting points over Charles, Charles responsibility and work ethic points over everyone and Harry compassion and goodwill points over everyone lol.
I like it when we go back and forth and realize we actually do agree after all. 😉
Lol quite right, especially since I’m already a fan of your realist/centrist views on ye olde royals 99% of the time. Huzzah!
Thank you Enough Already! I must say I do not yet have enough already. But only when you agree with me. 😉
Bluhare
Ha! Deal 🙂
PS – Does your handle have to do with rabbits?
No, it’s because I have grey hair, and have had for years, but I’m not quite ready to be called a blue hair yet.
Bluhare is a silver fox!!!
Smooches, LAK!!
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Charles say anything as openly negative as Diana did about Charles.
I think he does try to do damage control when on the defence, but generally I don’t find he’s ever had to say about other people to be too harsh. Mostly he seems to talk about how he feels about a certain situation, which, for some, probably comes across as self-pitying, but he doesn’t seem to go out of his way to frame a characterization around a particular person. Like, he might say something along the lines of how he felt when he got married (all this weight and pressure blah blah blah), but even after the release of 20 million books on the marriage I still don’t think I would be able to figure out with exact certainty what he truly felt about Diana as a wife or mother. A lot of us speculate based on what we’ve read, but I still find his feelings about Diana somewhat ambiguous to figure out.
He will not come out right and say anything. He gets his friends and minions, like Penny Junor (did I get that name right?) to do it for him. All the whitewashing of his history (poor Charles: “Diana was mental, MENTAL I tell you!”)…yeah not gonna cut it. He says PLENTY…just through others.
I agree, perplexed. He’s actually kept quite the dignified silence considering everything that’s been said about him.
“He will not come out right and say anything. He gets his friends and minions, like Penny Junor (did I get that name right?) to do it for him. All the whitewashing of his history (poor Charles: “Diana was mental, MENTAL I tell you!”)…yeah not gonna cut it. He says PLENTY…just through others.”
I think Diana carved out that image for herself through her Andrew Morton biography. Even in the Diana tapes, she admits to throwing her stepmother down the stairs, which made me go WTF. One might come to the conclusion that she was mental from her own words. (I don’t think she was mental, but simply rash. But some of the negativity around her mental health stems from information she put out there about herself. Also her actions made her appear somewhat strange at times too — like, calling the paparazzi to see her kiss with Dodi in the water). It’s also Diana’s words and actions that have had a lot to do with how she’s perceived. I think she was more good than bad, and I think she was caught in an extremely rare situation, but there are certain things she did which would make even people who have never read Charles’s biographies think that she behaved in extreme ways.
I do think someone pushing someone else down the stairs has problems. Whether you want to call her mental or not, I don’t know, but no rational adult pushes another down the stairs on purpose. That always made me side eye her, along with slicing herself with glass and throwing herself down the stairs. Those aren’t the actions of a well adjusted person.
He has not only used specific journalists to get his story out, he also hired Mark Bolland, to play bad cop from 97-02. Wills and Harry called him Black Adder. He pushed stories about other royals that were negative so that Charles didn’t look so bad.
Agree w previous posts. We’ve all whitewashed Diana in the past twenty years but she was really going off the rails there in her last year or so. The psychics, colonics, the friend revolving door….I know it’s been said a thousand times before but you have to wonder where she’d be now if she’d lived.
“He has not only used specific journalists to get his story out, he also hired Mark Bolland, to play bad cop from 97-02.”
I do think Charles has attempted to try and get his version of the story, but I also think a lot of what he has done has been in reaction to someone else putting out a story first. Charles wouldn’t have had to put out his “version” if Diana hadn’t released the Andrew Morton biography detailing how she threw herself down the stairs when she was pregnant. I see Charles as mainly on the defence reacting to someone else’s offence. If Diana puts out a story that she threw herself down the stairs while pregnant, then by necessity the story coming from his camp will be how he reacted to whatever incident she cited. In the end, I think the “Diana is mental” narrative originated with her. She perhaps tried to frame it as something else, but she put the story out there.
I think so as well, perplexed. This is all a reaction to Diana doing what she did.
And really, we should give her a hand. 20 years after her death and she’s still directing the narrative.
Yes, we should give her a hand for telling the truth. She spoke out and good for her! She took the entire royal family on! What a woman who would go up against the Queen et.al?!!!, simply because she believed in herself and the values she understood? – who felt tormented about being sexualized and victimized?
Bottom line, she was 19 when Charles and Camilla froze her out. all she was asking for was tenderness and respect – like any other child-bride. She tried harming herself, because they made her feel so unworthy of being loved like a bride, like a man for a woman who had asked her to bear his young with her body?
Diana had a long history of self-harm and downright nasty behavior (shoving Raine down the stairs etc.) long before she put herself in Charles’s path. She targeted a Prince because she thought he could never divorce her. No one is completely innocent and no one is completely guilty in the shambles of that situation, not even Diana.
It is as if her biggest fans keep forgetting that she went after multiple married men, had affairs with at least three of them. That she obsessed over men to the point of criminal investigations. Like they forget William’s track record of cheating and how infidelity clearly isn’t a problem for him. Human beings, not saints.
“There was, for example, consternation at Harry’s furious attack on the media earlier this year over its coverage of his girlfriend Meghan Markle because it overshadowed – without warning – an official tour of the Middle East by Charles and Camilla.”
” And there is said to be concern among senior royals that the stream of emotive statements issued by the princes about their mental well-being has got out of hand.”
These courtiers are beyond ridiculous. Where do they recruit them? The Royal School of Stick Up My B*m?
Well these tours are booked and planned MONTHS in advance and while it all seems a little “who cares?” to the rest of us, to the people behind the scenes planning, organizing, promoting these tours, it’s a great deal of work and to have your big event overtaken by Harry’s angry outburst….
While I think the “mental well being” comment is bad, I can see why the palace would want to ‘save’ Harry’s outburst press release for a slow news day.
Charles has almost as good a brooch game as his mom.
LOL!!!!
hahahaha
These people are currently Head of State, Head of State next and Head of State after that yet this story makes them all sound like a posh/rich/thick version of a soap opera, with compulsory ego clashes, infighting and much stamping of foot. A bit of dignity, continuity, value for money, would be appreciated. Signed a British Tax Payer. Thank you.
Edit VFM from KP have no issue with TQ or PC’s work ethic.
Who’s VFM?
And I agree. I’m weighing in, and I shouldn’t because I also think this should have a bit of dignity.
VFM is value for money, which off the younger Royals we are definitely not getting.
Got it. Thanks, frisbee. And I agree yet again.
I guess as an American I just don’t get it. I don’t get the point of a royal family or continuing to give them tax dollars so they can live lavish lifestyles. Would love to hear from Brits (or anyone else with a monarchy!) on this.
I don’t get it Stripe and never have. Monarchy is an anachronism and reflects and perpetuates class differences. The golden coaches, the lavish publicly funded lifestyle, the bowing and scraping (literal and metaphorical), the virtual worship of people who are on the throne because their ancestors outmanoeuvred others who were on the throne – ridiculous. But at the moment the system seems popular. Go, as they say, figure.
Expat Brit here. The only reason I can see to have a monarchy today — as I don’t believe in that ordained by god crap — is to be a nonpolitical unifying force for Britain. Beyond that, I don’t see it either, and I actually am a long time monarchist who’s getting pretty sick and tired of this stuff.
The Queen made it work by seeing it as a service to the country, she’ the longest serving monarch who is apolitical, as bluhare pointed out, and that’s useful in a way. She’s spent the last 65 years meeting every other Head if State in the world and being diplomatic about it – in public – we have no idea what she says in private – she has known every important figure in world history for over half a century. That’s all well and good when you consider the alternative voted for ahead of a State could be Donald Trump. Where it falls down is when the heirs show signs of being unsuited to the role (William imo) then we can’t vote them out. You can get rid of a Trump, we can’t get rid of Charles or William. I thought a possible solution might be to turn the institution into a form of Trust for the country, so if an heir doesn’t pull their weight we can quietly sideline them and allow someone else to step up and do the job. In reality that will probably never happen so we’ll just muddle on until enough people decide enough is enough and ask them to leave.
Switch up primogeniture for a form of Scottish tanistry, you mean? The most fit to serve of that Royal house becomes monarch?
There are some legal difficulties that surround getting rid of the monarchy that I only learned of recently. Yes, there are other arguments (tradition, etc). But in a lot of Commonwealth countries where the Queen is the head of state, there are a lot of legal decisions and rulings that were leveraged between a group of people vs. the Crown. A lot of First Nations treaties in Canada, for instance, and a lot of court rulings to go with decisions regarding the First Nations, are often cases lodged as “X vs. The Crown” as opposed to “X vs. The United States of America.” I don’t know too much of the details, and I’m trying to find out more, but this is a part of the reason why one of my First Nations acquaintances, very surprisingly, didn’t want to abolish the monarchy out right for some reason. Granted she’s no big fan, but this was something I hadn’t thought of at all and I want to find out more about.
Thanks for the input British Bitchies 🙂 Seems like at one point this was, as frisbee said, all well and good, but the cracks are starting to show a bit. Will be very interesting to see what happens when the Queen steps down and after she passes away. In the meantime, we’ll be dealing with our own mess here in the colonies…
I have to say, I didn’t understand it until recently. I think all that ordained by God stuff is non-sense, and I feel like even the queen would agree with that, but with the recent election of Donald Trump, I think it would be nice in the US to have a consistent, professional head of state to do the ceremonial things, like, say, a Boy Scout jamboree. Someone neutral and non-political to do the neutral and non-political events that the president has to do.
Honestly, an apolitical referee would be welcome. If they come with the trappings of a Palace and some sparkly tiaras? As long as they do the job and do it well, so be it as long as costs are strictly controlled.
More and more now it’s obvious if the monarchy don’t do anything quickly once The Queen passes the monarchy will be in trouble.
That’s not obvious to me at all.
Kitty’s not wrong. That Diana documentary (I didn’t watch it) seems to have erased 20 years of Clarence House PR. It’s a mess.
Exactly Tina. I feel bad for The Queen though.
William and Harry really seem to be on the outs with their father. It’s almost like Prince Charles doesn’t exist in most of their interviews, except sometimes, and that’s in a way that his name isn’t mentioned but there’s a passive-aggressive jab at him.
@Jayna
Cat’s in the cradle.
This. When both your children want little to do with you, you probably werent a good parent. Also, I dont think Charles cares beyond not wanting his public image tarnished. He seems very insecure about his public perception and obsessed with being loved.
On a light note, if this was 500 years ago, Di would have her lost her head the instant she emerged as the family star. William would have been thrown in the tower when the buzz was that we should skip Charles and crown William when QE passes. Harry would have been deployed to a battle front to die when people started pointing out that he has his mother’s people skills. Then Charles would have had a portrait commissioned titled The People’s King.
To be fair, they are continuing a long traditìon of father/heir mutual dislike/haterade that has plagued every single Hanovarian monarch. Only the present Queen and her father had a loving relationship.
I get that, LAK, but wouldn’t it be better that the stiff upper lip come into play and they keep this stuff between themselves?
Exactly bluhare, I don’t need to know this, I have always said there is a huge battle of wills going on in the background but that’s where it belongs, turning into a version of the JerrySpringer show in public is so not a good look for Royalty. If we have to have them, they could at least play their part.
But HM was said to have a difficult relationship with her mother, so it wasn’t all happy families.
I think it’s William more than Harry who is the problem here. Harry still does the family events and has done many more appearances with Charles on his own than William has. We know that Will is petulant about everything and he runs to the Middletons to be told how awesome he is. Harry doesn’t do that and seems to have a better relationship with his father. Harry also won’t openly go against William, but I wonder if / when there is a spouse in the picture if Harry will be more openly supportive of his father. After all once Charles is king, Harry will need to secure his position because who knows how much he can trust his brother. Harry is also still close with the Queen, as we saw her participate in the Invictus video with the Obamas. Harry didn’t skip Christmas with the Windsors and I strongly suspect that Meghan has been introduced to everyone at this point.
Personally I have always thought there was parental alienation on Diana’s part. She relied too heavily on William to the point that he felt he had to fight her battles for her (the “I will get your HRH status back for you” promise and the notes they apparently had to write and slip under her bathroom door).
I agree Carol. I always think about how she wrote to him at school all of the time complaining about her life.
The thing is, Will/Kate/Harry have been given a lot of freedom from the burdens of royalty and maintained the perks. At this point it’s like trying to break a spoiled child and discipline them into good behavior…good luck. They all seem to think that being royal is the worst thing in the world. They all want to be “normal”. Let’s take their money away and let them be normal!!
So I’m going to play devil’s advocate here. William, Harry and Kate are hiring younger individuals in their staff and it’s well documented that millennials don’t have loyalty to a job like the previous generations. Also the pay isn’t great when you factor in the workload so it’s not surprising that people who want to start families eventually move on. I don’t think it’s a reflection of them being horrible bosses; just a fact of life.
Jessica,
I tend to agree with your thoughts. KP has had experienced persons- Jamie LP – but he retired. They’ve had younger persons who are moving on. The pay is terrible from what I’ve seen. That is not to say there haven’t been mis-steps but that fact isn’t isolated to KP. CH and BP have had their share of missteps.
I am interested in Kate’s new private secretary. She seems to possess some interesting skills/experience. This hire does seem to coincide with several orchestrated moves between BP, CH, and KP that surround the retirement and the Cambridges’ move to London. Perhaps it is all random but there are some timing pieces to all of this that do make me wonder if a plan has been in place for quite a long time.
How heavy is the workload for staffers when WK make very few appearances. They had a small number of people working for them – Keen Kate had a private secretary on double duty as stylist IIRC and someone to make her hair. WK had a PR person for both of them and Will the Ordinary a private secretary too. He also played rescue pilot when he fancied a few hours a month. If workload is heavy, hire more staff instead of paying in the hundreds of thousands for clothes and tennis courts and expensive holidays and renovating kitchens.
@soulspa
But royal family is notoriously cheap.
Like a lot of very wealthy people.
Their confort and standing are never negotiable, the ones of the people who serve and pay for them, always.
We should never forget their status rely on inequality.
More money to the RF while simultaneously security default and fire for social housing.
U.k will be better without them. But i must admit they are entertaining
At their first or second Christmas party, W&K had two dozen office staff. Just because we don’t see them in photos or on tours, doesn’t mean those staff aren’t there.
The housekeeper and groundsman fleeing Anmer after only five months. Their head of security leaving for a psych hospital. Deacon leaving after 10 years, etc. These things cannot be put down to millenials, no matter what stereotypes people ascribe to them.
I think Carole being there a lot plays a role with the staff leaving too.
Jessica: Just to play devil’s advocate to your devil’s advocate:
As a millennial, I feel like those statistics about loyalty are a gross simplification. Millennials grew up watching our parents and our friends’ parents get laid off, downsized, etc. We learned that loyalty to a company means nothing, because companies are rarely loyal to their employees.
As for Will and Kate: it’s well known the royal family pays horribly. Meanwhile, Kate spent the equivalent of annual salary on five days worth of clothes, and they’ve run up renovation costs into hundreds of thousands of pounds – all while doing the very bare minimum for their job. Sure, working for the Royal Family is / was considered prestigious, but I can’t imagine most people, regardless of their generation, can tolerate that sort of discrepancy for long.
These stories remind me of the umpteenth times we read that any-minute-now-this-time-really-honest-yes-yes-yes-Trump-will-NOW-become-Presidential.
Never going to happen.
None of this story is new and it grows more and more tiresome. I’ve read countless stories about the Queen being unhappy with her grandchildren. And really-now-absolutely-yes-starting-TODAY they’ll do a scooch more work each year, which, if it actually happened, still won’t equal what their 90-something Grandmother does in a week.
Nothing changes.
I’ve also read countless stories about Charles pulling in the reigns. He doesn’t. Kate is a lazy shopaholic. William is a petulant man-boy (Stop calling them “young people.” William is one year younger than Diana was when she passed away) who has no intention of doing anything he doesn’t want to do. Fine, then he should take himself out of the line of succession. And make his own living. He’s inherited a sizable sum from Diana, more than enough to get started on his own.
It will never happen.
The Cambridges’ insistence that they be viewed as “normal” (to borrow a phrase from Charles – “Whatever that means”) while living large on the peoples’ money is obscene and hypocritical.
But it won’t change. It never does.
SF: I enjoyed your comments (and I’d also add these stories are similar to the “Now We Have Enough Evidence for the Republicans to Admit Trump Needs to Be Impeached At the Very Least, If Not Jailed”)
I hadn’t considered that Will is almost the age Diana was when she died – talk about putting things into perspective.
Thank you, LA Elle.
I believe Kate is 36 (slightly older than her husband). Diana’s age when she passed.
She’d lived a woman’s life. They’re children.
It is like the battle between George II and his son Prince Frederick…except that fight was actually interesting with storms and ships, rumors of deaths, catchy songs, lots of gambling, womanizing, a middle of the night ride carrying pregnant princess across London, and lots of gin. W&K are even boring when they fight with Charles.
I love the catchy songs. Why can’t this battle be as epic and entertaining?
We should write The Ballad of Will and Harry!!
Or The Evil Stepmother of Cornwall!
THE BALLAD OF WILLS AND HARRY
(Sung to the tune of “Gilligan’s Island)*
Just sit right down and I’ll tell a tale,
a tale of brothers two,
Who never did a lick of work,
Like normal people do.
“We want to be just “normal”
And live our lives just so,
Not doing Royal duties…
Just leave us the f— alone!”
We want to go about
Just spending cash our way
And lolling about our properties
Each and every day.”
But the public started getting tired
of hearing these two whine
And decided that it was enough
And time to make them shine.
“No cash! No perks! You lazy sods
Get up and get to work!
Or else you won’t see one more dime
And we’ll take away your perks
(we’ll take away your perks)
The boys looked at each other,
And thought: “Eh, bollocks! Who cares?”
We have enough of Mother’s cash
That we do to have to share
(That we don’t have to share).
So tahts the tale of Will and Harry
Two boys of Windsor House.
Who lived out all the rest of their days
Quiet as a mouse.
*apologies to Liberty…I could never come close to your talent 😊
*applause* to Imqrious!!!
There once was a stepmother so evil
She was fairly compared to a weevil
For daring to step
on Diana’s perfect web
While showing a smile oh so gleeful
With even more apologies to Liberty!
Brava to you both👏👏👏👏⚘⚘⚘
Even more 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Lol Very good both of you. 🙂
Blowing kisses of admiration to Imqrious and bluhare!!! Bravo!! I love these!!!! We need a singing circle to practice. Does your village have a hall we might rent, Sixer?
I am of the opinion there is one way left to handle the palace mess. No more weak PR dandies and gray stuffy uncles in ribbons, or professors eager for a foot in and a meat tea. A business person would have kicked this lot into shape ages ago. No more whining and pouting and shopping – put down the Ben doll and get back to your desk, or your ass will be tabloid juice, Miss. cut the looks Will, you just got five weeks of senior center duty in short pants.
Capice, dear Queen? Give us two months and we’ll have them ignoring the Middleton bat phone in order to make every appearance on time with practiced speeches and bus fare, because this is business. Quit anytime you like and be out by Saturday, we have two York girls in the intern office…
The good old Georgian days, those Hanoverians really knew how to have a public feud, sons loathing fathers and vice versa – George III and George IV the later the very Saxe Coburg Prince Albert and Edward VII (Hanovarian to his core) particularly spring to mind. Charles and William sound as if they are just following a very long family tradition.
Victoria and Bertie (and all her other kids save little Vicky), George v and Duke of Windsor, George 2 and Frederick.
I give Frederick a pass for giving us “Rule Britannia” as an enduring 2 fingers to his dear loathsome dad, and the concept of a loyal opposition in politics. This feud at least benefited us.
Yes it’s gone on for years. I think my favourite/cringeworthy bit of Hanoverian feuding was George IV refusing to allow Queen Caroline (his own Queen!) to attend his coronation leaving the poor woman to hang around outside demanding entry, gaining entry by a side door and the leaving when her servants were refused entry in their own right. She left to tumultuous cheers from the crowd apparently as George IV was so deeply unpopular and managed to turn the most expensive ceremony ever seen into something of a farce. At least in those days they were GOOD at being misbehaved.
Lol.
And you know what? They were so good at feuding with each other that no one noticed that George 1 was divorced which makes me laugh at all the pearl clutchers at the divorced status of Princess Sparkle.
LOL 😂 😂😂
William: just because your MOTHER was a PR genius doesn’t mean you are. You suck. And if you want to not suck, you should accept the fact that you suck now and LEARN FROM YOUR SUCKITUDE. THAT IS WHAT SMART PEOPLE DO….
Oh, wait, nevermind. Too much to ask.
Perhaps he needs Malcolm Tucker?
That would be amazing… plus I hear he will have some free time soon.
I love the word ‘sucktitude’ that I will now steal, and the realisation that he’s really not very bright at all is he?
haha, Wendy. Except it’s hard to learn from one’s suckitude, becuase . . . well . . . one sucks.
There are so many things around the issues expressed in the article and some of the comments that I don’t even know where to start.
Thinking of the Queen as the CEO of The Firm and her heirs and grandsons as high-ranking officials (due to rank and the privileges): The Firm is plagued by scandals, toxicity played out in the public, quite major discontent regarding their performance, which cannot be measured but nevertheless with insufficient results. For years.
In a normal world the shop would have been closed. Or the stakeholders would demand accountability, results, or change. In the normal world.
It’s because the Queen has not kept people in line, which I think is a big mistake. And we’re all seeing it now.
What a silly idea! – like “Who can solve the problem of Maria?” (I am referring to the Sound of Music). QE is no Reverend Mother.
She is the CEO of a Firm that has the lives of tens of millions of people impacted by how well the Firm functions. Her decades of ostrich impression hasn’t helped, and her lack of hands-on leadership is telling now.
No sillier than equating the royal family to a movie musical.
…..”they’ve always been given too much leeway by Charles and the Queen. They were given the space to figure things out on their own …..”
Awww so harsh….and they are only in their early 30s…..I mean…show a bit of empathy…I can’t but s.b. else perhaps…
They are in their mid 30’s. 35. That’s adulthood last I saw. They aren’t 19 any more.
I know bluhare, that was my sorry attempt at sarcasm. I wrote years ago-Harry was still in the army that I didn’t believe him being different from bis brother. They are children of their Generation, but their attitude is a disservice to the Queen, Prince Charles and their lifelong dedication. Its entitled arrogance towards their subjects, masked AS humility. It seems AS if they are mentally frozen at the age when they had the total adoration of the nation and couldn’t do anything wrong.
Oops, sorry Micki! I didn’t catch that.
No problem, their struggles with life….(eyeroll) are only a mild entertainment for me. But I’m not british. I guess it’s galling even for non-Royalists to have this show shoven down their throats. I see the constant bringing up of their late mother as an exploitation first class and a lame attempt to rekindle the general affection they got so used to.
And lately the MM stories after the famous “give my GF privacy”….right Sir, but only after we brushed over the Newsweek’s backlash, right?
RF is correct, they have to be on a tighter leash.
Tighter leash – what a bunch of bullshit!!! Yes, command William! No one commenting here is the Queen of England – and how dare you for assuming her life and the rites and regulations with which she governs her own grandson if you call yourself a royalist! It is her money and position with whom challenge! If one does not trust her decisions oust her, as always done in times of revolution, for another royal house. Or, is it possible, for Brit’s be classy without their definitions of social class?
It is like some strange reality tv show where people in their mid-30s stay in adolescence because they see no reason not to. They’re spinning out of control, off-leash, and no one is willing to step in, retrain them, make them earn it, or fire them.
As if the CEO has washed her hands of the family Firm and figures, “What the hell, I won’t be here to worry about it much longer.”
She’s not happy with the Lazy Lamebridges, but she always avoided direct confrontation, so obviously the official line is she’s not happy with their staff. Willnot and Kannot are hopeless. They don’t even pretend to be intetested/ involved in their public duties. As Kate said, they don’t care what the public thinks.
Well The Queen has given Kate more jewel loans than any of the women that married into the royal family. Also includes Diana.
Not that I can tell, Kitty. They’ve all had plenty of loans from her through the years.
The Queen should never have given her grandsons priority over her own children, who at least have a work ethic. Anne has been treated shamefully by her mother, by allowing first Diana, then Kate to overshadow her, getting so much publicity and privileges while Anne worked tirelessly in the background. The Queen has made a mess of her own family. Too late now to fix it. Even the courtiers know it’s too late.
Maybe I’m wrong, but I’ve always gotten the impression that Anne doesn’t like the publicity. She likes the work – and she seems to have inherited her parents’ work ethic – and unlike Will and Kate, I don’t think she desires public accolades for doing her job.
Really, why is no one pushing for Queen Anne?
Anne is by no means humble and can be as brusque and rude as Philip at times. It was because of her pitching fits over the popularity of Diana and Fergie that the Princess Royal title came her way during that period. Ditto the re-writing of Order of Precedence. She’s also squirreled her adult kids-and-their-families away at her private residences in London and the country, residences fixed up and secured with taxpayer funds. Her own front-page extra marital affair. Her son cashing in on the party for grannies Jubilee, etc.
This is getting good. Royal drama is the best drama, especially behind-the-scenes royal drama. I would LOVE a tv show a la The West Wing about this stuff. It is probably much much more interesting and they’re just trying to keep it hush hush.
The slew of private secretaries leaving is looking bad. Edward Lane Fox did a good job for Harry, so it’s a shame he’s leaving. I’m surprised by the Queen’s assistant private secretary going away. It could be that she’s leaving to give way for Charles to bring in more of his staff as the Queen spends the next five or six years slowly winding down her engagements. I think what this indicates is that this is going to become more of Charles’ realm, and since he’s interested in streaming the monarchy down, I’d wager that this is his intention to streamline the staff as well in order to make the whole ship more cohesive in the future.
I hope Willy bucks up in the near future. The way it’s looking, Queen Elizabeth is going to be around for quite a while after this. But Charles’ reign, most unfortunately maybe, is going to be on the shorter side for sure. If he’s not careful, he could find himself in the hot seat really really fast, a lot faster than he ever anticipated. So it’s probably time to stop shoving that inevitable fact that he’s going to be King under whatever dark corner of his mind he’s put it in and learn the ropes. I don’t say this, but William’s bad qualities at present are the same qualities that could make him a really good king if he just tried harder. Here’s hoping he learns to channel that effectively as they go forward.
But before things get better, things will get worse. And I think that we’ll see a bit more clashing between the younger royals’ staff and the message they want to project and Prince Charles’ staff and what they want to project. Should be interesting to see.
Anyone read the DM article in the past 2 or so weeks, it was one of those that tied several celebrity stories onto one page, maybe an opinion piece. Can’t find it to link here!
But in it, it said Charles was FURIOUS about the Diana tribute special. It said that he can’t believe it made it seem like he wasn’t even a parent to them all those years, he was barely mentioned and heads would roll over it. I thought the piece said at least 2 people would be fired, I am assuming that is Miguel & Edward.
I haven’t seen that, but I can’t say as I blame Charles for being angry. From what I’ve read he was quite involved in their lives when they were small, even if Diana tried to imply he wasn’t.
I do wonder why Jason Knauf(?) isn’t mentioned in all this. He’s their communications person, right?
+100
Whatever Diana implied, I am positive that these princes will never leave their mother behind in the mud that Charles and Camilla contrived over all the years, regardless of the Queen herself.
I couldn’t blame Charles either, it made me realize they haven’t said much about him as their parent.
Bluhare – the article may have mentioned Jason indirectly, I can’t remember. The way this was written, mentioning how the Queen didn’t like the ‘advice’ they had been given, jarred my memory of this article. I am guessing Jason serves more of a functional role?
Why would they be fired over something they had no control over?
W&H had a lot of control over that documentary. They were approached for permission to mention Diana and her work for a retrospective show. W&H wanted to turn it into Diana, Our Parent so that the next generation could fall in love with her, too. They could easily have mentioned their father’s influence/love/care during the interviews.
graymatters – maybe the Prince’s didn’t want to mention their father’s influence/love during the interview, or perhaps they would have. They are 35+ years old, grown men, with an opinion. Perhaps that is the bottom line – they lived thru it all irrespective of the alternate stories.
Wolfpup: the royal family do not do anything by accident. Omitting Charles signalled to the public that there is a problem. And if WH haven’t figured that out about the firm’s PR policy of communicating with the public then they are grade A idiots.
As an example, it’s not an accident that HM was suddenly being papped with the Middletons in Scotland or William and Kate were seen with her either in documentaries or engagements or in Scotland at a time when they were being criticised for being workshy.
That was her way of showing her support of them and or covering them with her mantle of popularity.
By omitting him completely, they add fuel to the fire of negative Charlie stories whether that was their intention or not. Especially when they could barely arouse themselves to praise him in his documentary about The Princes Trust 40th anniversary last year.
Suze – I think they were fired because at the very least, they should have made the press offices to the Queen and Charles fully aware of what was being planned. The tribute was planned over many months, there was time, they should have been given the script, seen a rough cut etc.
Why would/should the next generation fall in love with Diana? It’s like Caroline Kennedy insisting that new generations of Americans fall in love with her late parents. I see that the princelings’ popularity has been very much tied to their mother but she’s been dead for twenty years. They need to let her rest, and if they are so enamored with her legacy then they can get off their behinds and emulate her work ethic.
Charles was furious for not being in the spotlight? In a documentary about his dead ex-wife?
That man doesn’t have issues, he has the full subscription.
Recall that this is the same man whom both sons were reportedly walking on eggshells around throughout their teen years, afraid to even mention their mother out of fear of upsetting Chaz and Camilla. Harry’s words, there, IIRC.
His kids showed him more sensitivity than he showed them. Charles’ behaviour has been and continues to be appalling. I don’t excuse Will and Harry’s workshy behaviour, but on the relationship-with-pa issue, I believe Charles is most certainly reaping what he’s sown here.
Sounds like she is trying to get it minimal in every sense of the word with Charles pulling the strings. Possibly spending out of control over in some quarters – just a guess.
The Queen has been unable to manage her family firm for decades. Charles was unhappy as a child, Diana’s mental health deteriorated even before the wedding, Fergie was left to her own devices, and so forth. She ignored it all. She is good at showing up, waving and similing, but that just isn’t enough. She has achieved nothing in particular and sadly people will remember her only for always doing her duty.
Plus her longevity.
I’m having so much fun watching this from afar, especially the points of view of the True Brits, that I’m not even going to try commenting.
Geez – I hope my tenner on Harry and MM isn’t going down the tubes!!!!!!!!!!!
sss, They are still hot and heavy!!
After the queen dies, the British are going to kick them off the payroll andrip away their tax exemptions. Everyone hates them. They are just not going to do it on her watch.
I am sure she has figured this out and is trying to save the family and their place in history. But, they are all dump shits.
I love the queen’s daily drink menu, though. She can drink me under the table.
I knew the Queen mother was quite the tipler but HM? I would just be upset because she doesn’t share her chocolate, that would just chap my tush, the selfish girl dog!!
You just know, she is getting lit every night, bitching about her dumb shit family and trying on all those historical jewels.
I would be.
Oh please, Charles nearly brought down the monarchy all by himself. The idea of pulling anyone into line is laughable when his own tampon fetish, petulant behavior and affairs tarnished the image of the RF way more than the laziness of his offspring. Just wait and see how many Commonwealth countries start talking of becoming republics as soon as Charles becomes king.
Kath, I have no doubt they will drop off one by one!!
@Kath, in fairness, that tampon conversation was private and taped by someone and then published. And I wouldn’t say that Harry’s naked antics at strip poker in Nevada, his Nazi uniform at a costume party, his well-known involvement with pot and drug experimentation, and his endless vacations and trips to wherever he wants to go whenever he wants to go in between a sprinkling of “work” events, are exactly great advertisements. That said, Charles I grant you seems problematic.
The thing is, I think they’re all problematic from one vantage point or another. It’s like I keep saying: they want to be themselves on their own terms, and they also want the world to crave the “magic” of royalty – as long as no one asks them to make any compromises or personal sacrifices to keep the “magic” going.
Either they lean on the “royalty” is something special and different and behave as if it is, or it means an archaic form of inherited wealth and privilege that anyone marrying in because they were in the right place at the right time and played their cards right (yeah, I’m lookin’ at Kate/Carole M. and MM) can put on like a new coat, a leftover function like an appendix – in which case, why bother with it?
Harry has gotten in plenty of trouble, but far less than William. The fact that people keep going on about Harry’s costume (picked by Wiliam, idiot brother wore it) and forget that William attended the party as an “African Native”? That William killed two different species of endangered birds. William and his experimentations at Club H. Caught getting behind the wheel intoxicated. His ongoing threats to a free press. His constant hidden vacations, often away from wife and kids.
William rarely showing up at the EAAA gig, to the point that one of his insiders had to be put in charge to stop the leaks about William never working. Two decades worth of his mis-behavior has been covered up, so much so that some people think it never happened.
Because no matter what, the Firm protects the golden child, even when he kicks them in the teeth and stabs them in the back.
Diana will end up as a footnote in history. While he might have been a lousy husband, which is no surprise in the royal game, Charles has been a solid Prince of Wales. The problem will come not from his first marriage, but from his line refusing to do the job as defined.
I wish the queen would grow a pair and put her foot down- very lazy younger generation.