Is it just me or did the coronation portraits have the opposite effect from their intention? The portraits were supposed to celebrate a new reign, King Charles’s longed-for “slimmed down monarchy,” with only the most important members of the Windsor clan in a place of honor. And what we got was a bunch of septuagenarians, octogenarians, two 50-somethings and two of the laziest 40-somethings ever. It’s the paleness and staleness which has gotten even the most conservative royal commentators in their feelings.
The King, 74, is known to be in favour of a smaller and cheaper monarchy, but the image also highlighted the difficulties this may bring, with all but four working royals now aged over 70. There are already concerns there may be too much pressure on the Prince and Princess of Wales to take on the bulk of engagements as the ageing pool of working royals continues to shrink.
Royal author Phil Dampier today said there is a shortage of working royals for at least the next decade, with any further cuts leaving them unable to fulfil daily duties. He told MailOnline: ‘We have got a slimmed down monarchy by default because Harry and Meghan have left and Andrew is in disgrace. But there is now a real problem with most of the working royals being over seventy. It leaves just William and Kate and Edward and Sophie until their children get older. So for the next decade there is a shortage of man and woman power. You could bring in the likes of Beatrice and Eugenie to do more, but Charles has always been against that, and they are associated with their parents. We are going to have to accept that the days of having 1,600 patronages like the Queen and Prince Philip are probably over.’
Mr Dampier also said the idea of long-distance overseas royal tours may not be overly welcomed by Queen Camilla. He added: ‘Charles is very fit for his age but I’m not sure the Queen is looking forward to gruelling overseas tours to the likes of Australia, New Zealand and the Caribbean. She doesn’t like flying or the heat so it’s going to be hard for her at 75. As Princess Anne said a couple of weeks ago on Canadian TV the monarchy already looks pretty slimmed down, so let’s stop any talk of cutting it further. Otherwise the day to day work of the institution will simply be impossible to fulfil.’
I continue to enjoy the fact that no one can bring themselves to acknowledge several realities about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex: that if only the Windsors had treated Meghan and Harry with respect, protection and love in the first place, the Sussexes wouldn’t have left; that the Sussexes offered to be “half-in,” only for that offer to be rejected and mocked; that the Sussexes are never coming back. Alongside these facts, there’s a refusal to acknowledge that William and Kate are lazy as hell. That’s why there’s so much panic – the Waleses refuse to do more, even though they were instrumental in driving out the charismatic Sussexes out of jealousy and racism. Oh well!
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images and Hugo Burnand for Buckingham Palace.
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- King Charles III and Queen Camilla are joined by Prince William, Prince of Wales, Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince George, Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after their Coronation in London, United Kingdom, on 06 May 2023.,Image: 774227092, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: -, Model Release: no, Credit line: Marc Aspland The Times/Sunday Times / Avalon
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- Prince Harry departs The Coronation Service of King Charles III at Westminster Abbey in London, England, UK on Saturday 6 May, 2023.,Image: 774227942, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
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- WINDSOR, ENGLAND – MAY 07: King Charles III, Queen Camilla, Prince George of Wales, Prince William, Prince of Wales, Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murty, Commonwealth Secretary-General are seen during the Coronation Concert on May 07, 2023 in Windsor, England. The Windsor Castle Concert is part of the celebrations of the Coronation of Charles III and his wife, Camilla, as King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the other Commonwealth realms that took place at Westminster Abbey yesterday.,Image: 774482050, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon
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- WINDSOR, ENGLAND – MAY 07: King Charles III, Queen Camilla, Catherine, Princess of Wales, Princess Charlotte of Wales, Prince George of Wales, Prince William, Prince of Wales, Rishi Sunak, Akshata Murty, Commonwealth Secretary-General and Princess Beatrice of York are seen during the Coronation Concert on May 07, 2023 in Windsor, England. The Windsor Castle Concert is part of the celebrations of the Coronation of Charles III and his wife, Camilla, as King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the other Commonwealth realms that took place at Westminster Abbey yesterday.,Image: 774482077, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon
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- The Prince of Wales speaking at the Coronation Concert held in the grounds of Windsor Castle, Berkshire, to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla.,Image: 774496317, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Yui Mok / Avalon
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- Watched by Britain’s Prince William, Prince of Wales (centre right) and Britain’s Prince George of Wales (R), Britain’s Catherine, Princess of Wales, tries her hand at archery while taking part in the Big Help Out, during a visit to the 3rd Upton Scouts Hut in Slough, west of London on May 8, 2023, where the family joined volunteers helping to renovate and improve the building. – People across Britain were on Monday asked to do their duty as the celebrations for King Charles III’s coronation drew to a close with a massive volunteering drive.,Image: 774584555, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: DANIEL LEAL / Avalon
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- The British Royal family make an appearence on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after the Coronation Featuring: King Charles III, Queen Camilla Where: London, United Kingdom When: 06 May 2023 Credit: Dutch Press Photo/Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE NETHERLANDS OR FRANCE**
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- The British Royal family make an appearence on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after the Coronation Where: London, United Kingdom When: 06 May 2023 Credit: Dutch Press Photo/Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE NETHERLANDS OR FRANCE**
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- Prince William of Wales and Catherine Princess of Wales during appearance on the Buckingham Palace balcony to watch the flypast after the procession and the coronation of the new King and Queen at Westminster Abbey in London, UK. Featuring: William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: London, United Kingdom When: 06 May 2023 Credit: Dutch Press Photo/Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE NETHERLANDS OR FRANCE**
No kidding, eh? Brilliant deduction, Phil.
So with the royals inevitably doing less engagements (which is another way of saying, “working less,” since that’s what they consider “working”), then do they get a corresponding pay cut?
Or do they keep taking the same amount of money from taxpayers, Sovereign Grant, etc., even while they “slim down” the number of royals working and the ones remaining do a lot less?
The Golden Ratchet means more money for fewer people.
They effed around and found out with H&M. Now they’re stuck with grumpy old men–and women. So sad. 😉
Boomers have been in the oval office since 1992. Some in the younger end, but going into 2024, best case scenario is the oldest president in history. That’s the best case scenario. The one we have to strive and hope for. It’s that or fascism. This isn’t even the direction dystopian fiction pointed us.
Biden isn’t even a Boomer—he’s from the Silent Generation, the generation before the Boomers. (That said, I will absolutely be voting for him and hoping for the best.)
LOLZ! I know. I mean, my elderly retired Boomer parents are a full decade younger than him, but Biden was active during his career in a Boomer-like way, so he’s an honorary one. I also want to say that I’m really opposed to ageism. The older I get the more I understand how important it is to stay motivated and in touch with current issues. There are things I dreamt about doing at 20 that I’m now making actual plans to do in my 50s and 60s, and playing golf isn’t one of them. Still, one of the most important things people can do as they get older is work to create a better world for the generations after them. Anyone who is committed to enforcing the values of their own generation needs to step back from public life.
Hence the ultimate question—what’s the goal, the purpose of the British RF? What do people want from them? Not unlike Trump fans, why prop up the mirage?
They DO need to justify the money they take! They DO need PUBLISHED goals and the outcome! They DO NOT need to give VAGUE talks and then drop the ball ! The citizens need to hold them responsible.
“The King, 74, is known to be in favour of a smaller and cheaper monarchy”
LiES! Charles doesn’t want cheaper. He wants the same money but spread out amongst less people. So those people get larger shares of the pie. Trying to say with a straight face that the dude who just spent 250 mill on celebrating himself wants….cheaper? Bull.
Thank you! All this talk about a ‘slimmed down monarchy’ means f*ck all if fewer people are accepting the same amount of taxpayer funds. It’s absolutely insane to me that the international media continues to parrot the ‘slimmed down monarchy’ lie, which the royal family has been promising for literal decades, and yet at no point is there any interrogation of what that means from a financial standpoint. Fewer working royals should mean a significant decrease in funding as well as more royal buildings opened up to the pubic. Instead we have the remaining royals hoarding 4 or 5 estates apiece while raking in more money than ever before.
@Rapunzel- thats the first thing I thought, too! Charles has made ZERO moves to reduce the Sovereign Grant! He just wants more money for himself! As if he doesn’t have enough……
Well, if Charles and Willy weren’t such jealous, vindictive little bitches, they could have had Eugenie and Jack, Beatrice and Edo and Harry and Meghan on the working royals team. 6 youthful, energetic people doing the rounds, but NOOOOO!
Charles made it clear years ago that the children of his siblings would not be working royals. I think that was the right decision and it would have worked if they hadn’t driven out Harry and Meghan. These people are so shortsighted on the things that really matter.
I agree with tacky. Charles made a good call about his siblings children. Can’t speak on edwards yet but the others haven’t prove Charles wrong. Take Peter, Anne’s son. I find him to be hot. So hot. I know it’s probably airbrushing but hot still. But he keeps running away from things. If he wanted to compete to be a working royal he should’ve started ages ago.
And then traveling to met his rich friend who is now his girlfriend was just stupid.
Zara just latches on to whoever is popular and then ditches them. Fergie’s girls try but they should’ve did a round of military service. I think they would have a solid case for inclusion.
I actually agree with a slimmed down monarchy in principle — only the monarch has what can be described as a “job” (head of state).
But, Ed’s kids are not working royals, and neither is Anne’s husband. Yet they were on the balcony. The whole “working royals only” premise is clearly a sham. Not that I would want Harry on the balcony with those clowns/criminals anyway.
I don’t recognize the last lady on the right but she’s literally being held up by Sophie and Edward 😩
That’s Princess Alexandra, the Queen’s cousin. She barely does any engagements these days because of her frailty.
She’s 86 years old, I’d give her a pass for not working more. Two of the other people on her side, on the other hand, not so much.
Actually after Anne and Charles, Edward and Sophie were number 3 and 4 in terms of the number of engagements. Will was 5th Cams 6th. Kate was no 9. Don’t remember which over 70 was 7 and 8.
Hopefully Lady Louise graduate from college, get a job and career and her brother will follow.
@Barb mill sorry I was unclear! I meant Willnot and Kannot, who were also on the same side of the picture.
Maybe cut down on those ribbon cuttings and unnecessary visits. The material impact of the royals daily work (aside from maybe the Prince’s Trust) is debatable.
The only problem with cutting down, or eliminating, the routine small-time visits is that these are crucial for the continued popularity, and existence, of the Royal family. These are the only opportunities for (some of) the British people to feel as though the Royals are not impossibly removed from them, or that the Royals actually care about them enough to show up. Many Brits also view these visits as “work,” so the vast sums that the Royals get in public money is viewed, in their eyes, as being worth it. Charles doesn’t understand this but it appears as though some members of the Rota are beginning to cotton on to it.
The Queen’s motto was “I have to be seen to be believed.” Those local visits to hospitals and festivals allowed the public to make contact with the royal family and feel as if there’s a genuine connection. The queen’s grandmother back around WW1 realized that royals have to be seen by the public in order for the public to value them–this is when the royals were dropping like flies all over Europe. If they stop these visits and stay in their palaces, why will the public want to support them at all? What value will they bring, especially in a poorer, post-Brexit UK?
Better yet, spin off the EarthShotItselfIntheFoot awards into its own entity completely separate from William. He has no time to jet around trying to copy the Invictus Games. He’s needed at home for the ribbon cuttings.
That is the bread and butter of the RF, not this nonsense about ROTA. If they working senior royals understood this concept and not make it a contest, they will not be in this particular predicament.
If the now king and his heir prioritize the institution instead of their egos, their working environment would of been a healthy one whereby the Sussexes would have been creative in their service.
Instead this is what it is….
Well, yeah, duh.
H&M might not have even ASKED for the half in/half out situation if the Firm had treated them with more respect and done more to protect them from the press, rather than spearheading a massive smear campaign against them, especially Meghan.
So here they are at the inevitable conclusion….an aging monarchy – I mean even the young ones are 41 years old, and they’re boring and lazy. the older ones aren’t lazy but honestly they’re all pretty boring at this point, which is fine for someone like Anne who just wants to get out there and work and do her thing and then go back to her country estate with her horses etc.
But being boring IS a problem overall for the monarchy bc people aren’t wiling to pay millions of pounds a year for boring.
Oh well, too bad so sad, could have had a bad bitch.
“H&M might not have even ASKED for the half in/half out situation if the Firm had treated them with more respect and done more to protect them from the press….”.
A good time to remind everyone that, per Harry, the whole half-in half-out conversation came up in 2019 because they didn’t want to have to deal officially with the Rota (like other working Royals, for example Anne). The Sussexes were told that they had to deal with the Rota because they were receiving public funding (“we pay you pose”). THIS is why they wanted to become financially independent. Had the firm just said “okay, you don’t have to deal with the Rota” there never would have been the half-in half-out conversation leading to Sussexit.
Okay, that first line. The king is known to be in favor of a smaller and cheaper monarchy. How is the monarchy cheaper? How is Charles going to make the monarchy cheaper? How that can be stated with no questions asked by the majority of the BM is a tragedy.
This is where I completely don’t understand England, at all. Do they really not notice that the amount of the sovereign grant increases every year? Who believes Chuck has slimmed down anything, other than maybe the stress on the support beams of that stupid balcony?
Normally this would be something their ‘subjects’ would read about in the newspapers. But most of them are in bed with the Royal Family so they’re not going to print that stuff. The newspapers that might or do aren’t read by the masses.
Yes they just can’t quite manage to add 2+2 together yet.
Off topic, but does anyone know why Anne was hiding behind Kate on the balcony? Sometimes we can see her hat’s feather but other times not even that. It’s hard not to feel bad for her being closed out of the balcony picture unless she was taking a break or didn’t care.
I don’t think she cared.
That makes sense, and she was right not to care.
Yeah I mean Anne has been appearing on balconies since what, 1950? I’m sure she doesn’t care anymore. I think she also has enough influence with her brother that she can pick and choose to stuff that she does and doesn’t do, which is why you won’t see her at things like coronation concerts, and Christmas concerts.
Anne got boxed out by Kate so she could get herself and her kids as front and center as possible.
Did Kate and Co steal her spot. In response she said f it and hid behind Kate. Or did Anne not want to be in Camilla coronation/wedding pictures?
If you actually believe in a monarchy then you wouldn’t want to be seen with Camilla. If you believe in the “church of England” you wouldn’t want to be on that balcony. Chuck and Camilla was too scheming and they flat out lied.
Which Church of England? The one Henry VIII started so he could divorce his wife and marry his mistress, or the one that wouldn’t let Wallis Simpson in, for being divorced?
How often have the British media screamed that Meghan knew what she was getting into by marrying Harry? Or that they accused Meg of thinking it would be like Hollywood (or something along those lines), but Meghan didn’t quite have what it took.
And now, gasp, it turns out that Camzilla doesn’t like to fly and hates the heat? Did she not study the geographical locations of various Commonwealth countries before marrying CRex? How lazy and unfit that makes her sound.
Doesn’t like to fly even though she flies private…and went on a retreat to India last year.
This has been well known about Camilla for years now. Its not that she hates to fly, apparently she gets really bad vertigo. So if they are going on a tour with a longer flight, she usually flies separately from Charles and will arrive a day early to recover.
She is actually medically unfit to be the british queen! One more strike agaisnt her. Of course you overcome but it’s funny that she truly isn’t cut out to be their queen.
In the past Camilla did fly. I watched a special about KC, and Graham Laurie was a royal pilot who flew KC and Diana all over the world. In the special GL said that he never flew QCC when Charles and Diana were married, but there was often a certain civilian plane that would be on the runways of foreign places. GL said straight out that he realized Camilla took the plane so she and KC could meet up away from Diana. Possibly QCC has fear of flying, which is awful. But clearly she used to fly and was, as stated, in India.
@ML oh no she does fly, I think she hates it because of the vertigo, not because of being afraid. And that is something that could have come up as she got older, so what she was doing in the 80s or even 90s might not matter.
And India doesn’t really matter either from that perspective bc she is going to a spa or health retreat or whatever. That’s different from flying for an official state visit where she is going to be working. When she flies to India she probably lands and takes a few days to recover before going to the spa, same thing on the way home.
A few years ago Charles did a Caribbean tour and it involved flying between islands and I think Camilla just flew to cuba and met him there, so this has been well known about her for a while and has been pretty widely reported.
Becks1, thanks for responding to what I wrote. Honestly, I had no memory of QCC’s vertigo, googled it, and wasn’t very successful at first. After tweaking, I found an article dating back to 2007 where she experienced vertigo on the balcony and had to bow out. More recent articles referenced fear of flying, which if caused by vertigo would understandably be quite scary. Looking up vertigo: it’s considered a symptom, not a cause. The reason could involve someone’s central nervous system, a sinus infection, depression with anxiety, poor eyesight, numerous diseases, etc. So in QCC’s case, it depends on what causes her vertigo if it could be resolved. And as you stated, it’s well possible that she developed this later in life—that seems more common than I had expected.
Is it really lost on these doofuses that all of this could have easily been avoided had Charles acted like a man 50 years ago? If he had known his own mind, and Camilla hers, then they would have had a semblance of the life that they wanted. Instead, they fail to learn from their own lessons of which there are many examples, both distant and recent.
Charles told his biographer that he did not want to marry Camilla when he first met her. He could have told her to wait for him. Camilla wanted Andrew Parker Bowles. It was not a thwarted love story. Charles got to have his cake and eat it too.
Now he would say whatever he thought would paint him in the best light. They are, all of them, inveterate liars. The only thing that I believe to be true is that if Chucky Trips and Cammie had married each other back then, then all of this could’ve been avoided. That’s not to say that they would’ve had fairytale lives, but they certainly wouldn’t have faced the self-made travails and tragedies that did happen.
@Tursitops – Camilla didn’t want to marry him. Literally. She was fine with being his side piece but she was in love with Andrew Parker Bowles. And I honestly think she would still be married to him had the affair between her and Charles not been exposed. Andrew is STILL her bestie. It is very much a Wallis Simpson situation. The only difference is that Charles still got to be King and Camilla played the long game to be Queen.
Edward looks like Gollum. William looks like Edward. So, by the transitive property, William looks like Gollum.
And, yeah, they’re all old and useless. Can’t hide that fact from the gullible public. And if they start doing less and less, the people will want to pay less and less to keep them. What a shame.
I think the old saying applies “Be careful what you wish for”. This seems to be coming true for them and I’m really glad it has because the deserve everything that they are getting.
Kate really didn’t think this through. She could’ve gave megan the grunt work. Yeah megan would’ve found a way to make it special but so what. Now Kate will have to do more work. She should’ve told Charles to give megan a few bucks and “my unwanted patronages”. Kate’s going to look back and realize THIS is where it went wrong.
Cheaper. Like Kate spending a fortune on clothes and will has control of d u c h y money
I think Kaiser summed up the situation perfectly and yes the coronation pictures did have the opposite effect and I love it. Another thing, I saw Richard Palmer stating on twitter that if Harry and Meghan had not left that Charles may have asked the older cousins to step down.
Exactly! Their current retirement plan is DEATH!
i think the sussex half in was rejected bc the model they proposed gave them freedom the crown didn’t want. the sussex probably wanted to have independence to choose their own patronages among the royal foundation, build their own foundation, and have the ability to do the work they’ve done like produce shows/podcasts. the crown doesn’t want that bc then the sussex would outshine the monarchy. this whole archaic system only works if charles is the star. and everyone else bends the knee and protect his reputation at the expense of their own.
I assume exactly this eliza. Plus I think megan didn’t want to defer to Kate. Megan was a little too efficient and they wanted to monitor m&h wins so they could steal them.
Yup, @eliza. I have long said that the monarchy model has existed, at least in the last century or so, as one of Control. They raise their young to have no outside skills with the assumption that they will be supported by the Monarch. That support, however, is precarious in that it depends on their absolute subjugation and loyalty to the Monarch as the latter deems fit. They get housing but they do not get wages or other pecuniary support in an amount that would ever allow them to become financially independent. God forbid any of them should put on airs or outshine the Monarch (or simply be disliked by more senior Royals). If so, they will be painfully put in their place or cast out. One Royal who was crushed and caved was the old Duchess of Kent, Marina. The Queen Mother made sure she was put in her place. The Sussexes, wanting to be more independent, had to be cast out.
The only reason H&M are doing podcasts and producing docs is because someone suggested it to them when they went to California in 2020. They would not be doing that type of thing. Nor do I think they would have made any demand regarding patronages. They would have the patronages QE2gave them and they would have worked hard for them. We would have seen more projects (different types) similar to the Together cookbook, which would raise money for the charities. They may have taken on more things on their own that weren’t related to the Monarchy. They had already done this and would have continued.
That’s what the brf pushed out of the country. It would have been a big boon to the Firm for H&M to simply be who they are.
Meghan said it, simply, on Netflix. “I tried so hard.”
I believe the royal family’s biggest mistake was thinking Meghan and Harry were like them, happy to do nothing, or offer minimal “service” to the Crown, for the perks.
Hahahaha! Yep, all I see is mummies ready to kick the bucket anytime… I mean … Sophie is literally holding this woman ( who knows who she is) up! I mean, they should have been nicer and fair to the Montecito royals.
She is Princess Alexandra. She was the Queen’s first cousin. Her father and the Queen’s father were brothers.
The other monarchies are doing fine without a whole bunch of working royals. Why can’t the british RF? How many government paid institutions, schools, hospitals etc have to cut down on expences/workers while still doing the same job? If the rest of society have to change, and work themselves to an early grave, because of the economy, why can’t the british RF do it? Aren’t they suppose to be an example to follow?
Why is Anne’s husband in the picture? Has he become a working royal now?
On a shallow note, what’s the point of the long robes if the can’t even straighten them out properly for photos? It looks like a shot of a dressup party at a retirement home.
One of the tabloids , could’ve been a newspaper, was advocating for Anne husband to get a honorific. They said it would look better than just calling him Tim Lawrence. I assume that was just reporters talking and not Tim trying to get ahead planting stories.
Isn’t he a Vice-Admiral?
Yes, he is Becks1, but is he a working royal? If he’s not, why is he there?
oh he’s not a working royal, so I don’t know why he’s there, lol. That was more in response to the comment about the tabloids advocating for him to have an honorific so he wasn’t just “Tim Lawrence.” He’s Vice-Admiral Tim Lawrence and I imagine he’s okay with that.
No clue why he made it on the balcony and in the official portrait given the “working royals” line lol.
@becks1 Yes he is.
I think Tim was put in the photos for balance. This way a couple flanked charles and Camilla on each side.
But he should be a working Royal. He accompanies Anne most places now that he’s retired from the navy. Which means he outworks will and Kate!
He filled in for Anne once at the last minute and gave a very charming and self deprecating speech. And he’s entitled to his uniform and medals.
“It looks like a shot of a dressup party at a retirement home” — to me, Charles and Camilla look like they’re in an old Imperial Margarine ad.
I remember those ads! LMAO! You are so right!
I am worried that Lady Louise and her brother James (not sure his title now, he was Viscount before) are being pressured into being working royals (by parents, by media, by whomever). Neither looks into it — though James is 16 and the default expression of boys that age is one of dour misery at formal events.
Also it seems odd to be pushing these two (QE2 grandkids) because why wouldn’t you have Eugenie/Beatrice (QE2 grandkids) and hubbies involved? (The Andrew connection? Eugenie seems not to want to be active, but still get some perks; Beatrice seems like she is ready to represent.)
And of course, we all know they messed up with the Harry/Meaghan situation.
This could have been a much more interesting, relevant monarchy. But Charles’s narcissism and Scorpio tendencies (inc. ride-and-die to someone you really love, i.e. Camilla) got the better of him, not to mention William/Kate equal doses of narcissism.
James is now the Earl of Wessex.
So, why is this reporter pretending that the York kids’ “Andrew connection” is a problem? Andrew was prominently featured in the company of the queen before she died, he publically rode horsies with her, accompanied her to church, he was at her Jubbly, and at the Chubbly and other formal activities. The BM has had no real issues with Andrew, they barely reported on his misdeeds and have written no screeds about Andrew’s participating in the dress-up like they did with Harry even before he arrived in England. I mean, the BM was practically gleeful when discussing the prospect of Prince Harry being “humiliated” or “punished” by not being allowed to wear his rightfully earned uniform. Punished for what, I still don’t know. So, let’s not all of a sudden pretend that Andrew’s presence at these events is seen as any problem, when the BM writes incessantly about the Sussexes being gossiped about within the family and being unwelcome, not Andrew. Any measure of disdain Andrew has received has been through the efforts of social media, not the BM.
Charles’ branding of “working royals” is blowing up in his face and I am living for it. For years when the Wales’ had their own “half-in/half out” model the terms they pedaled to the RR were Full-time and half-time royals. Before this it was screamed that there are no part-time royals. Just royals and W&K need to step up. This “working royals” bs that they have latched onto is going down in flames. The balcony appearance and these photos highlight the shortsightedness of Charles’ plan. Will and Kate are not a glamorous couple. Kate may be skinny and wear pretty clothes, but this will only last so long. It was clear from the reception Harry received at the coronation and the media reports following, they miss both Harry and Meghan.
It’s even funnier because the person who was doing all of those tour was Harry. They really didn’t think any of this through and it really shows now that the conjob is over. It’s like they’re finally starting to get what it means that Harry isn’t there anymore.
This. Harry after the Queen made that monarchy popular especially with younger people, which is the generation they need. Marrying Meghan only made interest go up. They let jealously destroy them because they could’ve all worked together to make the monarchy stronger and more relevant. I’ll never understand how this family consistently chooses the wrong option. Now the media is getting scared because they’ve made enemies out of their golden geese and are a bored of the royals they’re stuck with.
It’s dawning on them that there’s nothing to bring Harry back. No Jubilees or weddings or state events. They’re stuck with who’ve they got.
I really believe that the plan was for Harry to do the lion’s share of everything. They were already loading him up with engagements before he met Meghan (he says this in his book – he was very stressed out and overworked), even though he also had Sentebale and Invictus, which were not considered “official” royal work (since they were his own personal projects) and that’s why he was allowed to take those projects with him. I think this is the main reason why they are all (ESPECIALLY Willy) so pissed at him for leaving. They never really expected him to leave permanently, and now they have no contingency plan for what to do without him. Harry has always been a hard worker, like Anne is, and William probably thought that he’d be his “Anne” and do all the boring work that Willy and Kate didn’t want to do. Well, you’re stuck with it now! Haha!
I agree. what makes it absolutely weird and shows how stupid William is , he thought harry would do all that for free.
I guess William thought Harry would pay for things out of his inheritance? If William would’ve looked out fir harry thus would’ve went down differently. Harry felt the insecurity.
He was supposed to work like a dog doing everything willie didn’t want to do, BEG for money to survive, and keep his mouth shut! Some kind of life!
Once the half-in suggestion was vetoed at the sandringham summit and Harry chose to fully leave, I wonder how long it took for William and Kate to realize that they’d fully screwed themselves. When did it finally dawn on them? At one point, there was that article, the infamous Tatler one I think, in which Kate’s “friend” complained that the sessexes had thrown Kate’s kids under the bus. That’s a pretty close admittance of the child labour that will be happening over the next 15 years.
Gosh, I wonder if they could have done anything differently?
Tinfoil tiara on but I’m getting the feeling that this and similar articles (like the Tominey one about William needing to apologise to Harry) are concerted “leaks” from BP intended as messages to William:
1) Get off your lazy duffs and work, Waleses. You’ll have to increase your engagements and do the international tours
2) Stop making us look like fools regarding Harry and your continued incandescent rage. The Sussexes have been “punished” (Frogmore yanked, Harry treated like dirt re the coronation) so let it go and move on….Charles will continue to treat them like dirt whenever he needs a distraction, of course but I’m expecting more of the “Charles and Harry are talking” sort of articles to make Charles look kingly
The articles are too similar, the timing seems co-ordinated and we know that the RF loves to speak to family members via the press. Charles must want to get his own house in order and William isn’t here for it. Next to come are the articles putting pressure on the Waleses, and their response…can’t wait, I’m already brewing the tea 🙂
Yep. The letter “leak” was about putting William in his place. Those horrid stories about putting Meghan in the back of the church and banning her were a warning to Kate. The stories about them needing to work more. You had Robert Jobson say publicly that William needs to get over himself and let father and son reconcile. Charles is letting it be known that William is one, if not the biggest perpetuates of all this drama.
Jobson does not like the sussexes he made that vile comment a about Archie
Let’s get real,Cams doesn’t want to tour because she knows that she’ll get dragged. Who wants to get on a plan to have people boo you or call you names that you don’t like but you’ve worked hard to earn?
Why is there all of this pondering and hand wringing? This is exactly what Charles (and Camilla) want. They did not want Harry and Meghan, they did not want Beatrice and Eugenie, Andrew should just disappear altogether from public life, and everyone’s getting older.
Charles and Camilla have The Firm they designed. Let’s see how that works for them.
Getting my popcorn.
Hold on, Camilla doesn’t like to fly and she doesn’t like the heat but she’s a regular at the fancy spa in India???
Last time I checked India may no longer be pink on the world map but it’s pretty warm and definitely not driving distance from London.
I think Camilla doesn’t like the idea of ‘work’ on these tours.
These people are trying to not state the obvious. That monarchy needs Harry and Meghan but too much has been said and done. People have to remember, the reason they want Meghan out of the picture or controlled is because they didn’t expect them to be that successful. It’s clear they thought they or at least Harry would come back and they’re pissed because Harry and Meghan are extremely rich and successful. That wasn’t suppose to happen. They were not supposed to by a beautiful estate, get million dollar deals, sign with agencies, work for Fortune 500 companies. The RR are pissed because they see the bleakness right in from of them and because they backed the wrong horse and in doing so, they lost out.
Other royal families manage to get by with the monarch, spouse, heir and his/her spouse doing the majority of the work and at a fraction of the cost. The British royal family are totally out of touch now. QE2 should have stepped down years ago like several of her peers and let Charles become monarch in his middle years rather than as an old man.
The British monarchy is basically a group of pensioners and 2 lazy lumps, one with huge anger issues and the other who has never worked a day in her life. The future does not look rosy (no pun intended🤣).
I think the queen knew Charles would not be a good king so she stayed on the throne. Is will going to pressure Charles to step aside.
Even with the vow she made to basically rule until she died, I think she might have handed over some of the reigns to Chuck a little earlier if she trusted him. He basically had to commit a coup and force out Geidt to gain more control. I don’t think QEII ever believed he was up to the task of being monarch. And from everything we have seen since the moment he snarled at his aides over a freaking inkwell, she has been proven right.
Look at the balcony photo.
Will, Kate, Sophie, Ed are the only ones under 50, no?
Chuck has a worker shortage coming his way.
Sophie and Edward are in their 50s. Edward is almost 60.
Edward and Sophie are in their late fifties (fifty-nine and fifty-eight this year.
Sophie is 58. Edward 59.
just goes to show Charles is not a strategic thinker, what happens when you slim down the monarchy, maybe less money but what about the work load. Duh! so now they have to reform the way the monarchy works to justify their existence, after all thats all the ribbon cuttings do its a qid pro quo we cut ribbons for you you dont bother about our existence and shafting you up the whazoo!. now the world has seen Harry go out there and get job and earn a living. if i was in government i would be calling for William and his family to find a way to support themselves. and let charles be the last reigning monarch.
Sophie and Ed are in their 50’s. Only Will and Kate are in their forties. George and Charlotte have a lot of growing to do. But the royals have to face new realities. They should quit royal tours and who thought 1600 patronages were a good idea. I bet some of them were never visited. Eventually they will probably only reign over England. I don’t think the lack of personnel in the firm is anything to get excited about because they can’t have the same kind of monarchy that Queen Elizabeth had.
The Sophie and Edward kids were front and center at the Coronation. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are trying to position their children as working royals, especially Lady Louis.
If it’s true that KFC is in contact with Harry (can we believe that), and Fails is totally against a reconciliation, then the only reason I can think of for this is because KFC knows in order to get attention for the Firm events is to have H&M attend. The bm definitely want a reconciliation because they need H&M for clicks and money.
I have a feeling that H&M are not interested in being the entertainment for the Firm & bm. At this point, I don’t think the leaking and negative stories are going to stop. This relationship between the brf and the bm is so entrenched, I don’t believe they can change it. It has a life of its own. May they continue to live in interesting times. The Sussexes will go forward.
If William and Kate had worked the same amount as Charles and Diana did at the same age then this wouldn’t be an issue. Charles has made many mistakes with his personal life but he also was known to work in the royal capacity for decades.
Harry and Meghan aren’t needed if William and Kate had worked full time from day one and established a reputation that they are involved and they care. The European royals tend to only have the monarch, spouse and direct heir and spouse do the events. This could easily be done here if not for the obvious issue that William and Kate do not care to do any of the royal work.
This was obvious for years now, even before Harry met Meghan. They just put it off and now it’s unavoidable.
The optics of this picture are actually all part of Charlies long game.
He doesn’t care that his crew are old bc they’ll all be gone soon via the natural passage of time and age. This way he doesn’t have to ‘get rid’ of anyone, rather they’ll all retire or croak leaving only Charles and his heir to carry the Crown forward.
William will also not need to worry about ‘trimming the fat’ when he ascends the throne as it’ll just be him and George (with Charlotte and Louis pitching in as ‘part-time’ royals). Hence why the Duke of Edinburgh title will revert back to the Crown on Eddie’s passing.
Anne will be looked after, however the Edinburgh’s not so much. Sophie should enjoy her place in the new pecking order as she’s pecked by Kate, who in turn will be pecked by Camilla. Camilla has 2 decades of hitting back to get out of her system after being treated like a pariah. I hope they’re all ready…..
My guess is when Anne retires, they will quietly do away with patronages. W&LK are only going to do photo ops and E&S cannot take over all of them. B&E are the obvious solution, too bad KC is only about KC. At one point I thought KC would come to some type of agreement with H&M to take over something such as the Commonwealth. But evicting them from the home they were given, then paid for, was too much.
“There’s no fool, like an old fool.”
Do we even think Charles wants the monarchy to survive after him?
Charles and Camilla look like the living dead .
Fancy waiting all your life to achieve this .
It’s monstrous and pathetic.
Just watched the crowning of Sansa on Game of Thrones and realized that had more gravitas than Saturday’s show. Sure one is fiction but when it’s all said and done the current royals are a fictious bunch propped up by the medias propaganda. At least Game of Thrones had a better sense of pageantry to embrace and the imagery was worth seeing on tv. The current royals need a better backstory to survive modern times.