Royalty Thread #16: the best of times, the worst of times

[kwanfan1818]

The "non-experts" are useful for royals to throw things out there to see how they go over and to plant seeds. When do British Royals say much real directly, especially about things with political or economic impact outside of wartime?

 

[MacMadame]

The Sussexes could have had all that, in due course, but they weren't satisfied with having to follow orders (of the Foreign Office who schedules all the "royal tours" to other countries; of the sovereign who has far more life experience and one might argue a better finger on the pulse of the nation

These are the same people who set up the disastrous tour for William and Kate. Enough said.

If William is incensed I doubt it has anything to do with the existence of the trust funds themselves or the motive/reasons why the benefactor set it up in the first place. He may be concerned that Harry will burn through that money with his quixotic lawsuits and that could be what is being portrayed in the tabloid media as "William is incensed" because he thinks the lawsuits are pointless and will be a drain on his brother's bank account.

Or he may not be incensed at all. Which is more likely in my book. It doesn't impact him at all so why should he have any emotion about it?

 

[canbelto]

Ah, the Will and Kate Caribbean tour will never not be cringe.

 

[Sparks]

What Harry does with his money is not the RF's business.

 

[Vagabond]

Let's move on to a far more interesting royal, namely Princess Märtha Louise of Norway.

A Fairy Tale for Netflix: A Norwegian Princess Weds an American Shaman https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/31/...unlocked_article_code=1.IU4.XFiK.GHOcD3bO4K06

Sadly, there were no tiaras, no throngs of wellwishers, and no lace, but there were spa treatments.

And the bride's father does have a royal yacht. Eat your heart out, British Royal Family!

 

[barbk]

Ah, the Will and Kate Caribbean tour will never not be cringe.

That was a real dumpster fire.

Meanwhile, William seems grumpier than ever, though I'm sure that having a wife with a scary medical condition is a contributing factor. I wonder whether he's feeling some pressure to get about more despite the medical situation. I don't blame him at all for sticking closer to home, but I'm guessing that the Queen would not have been so family-oriented.

 

[jamesy]

Maybe William just needs a good pegging.

 

[canbelto]

That was a real dumpster fire.

Meanwhile, William seems grumpier than ever, though I'm sure that having a wife with a scary medical condition is a contributing factor. I wonder whether he's feeling some pressure to get about more despite the medical situation. I don't blame him at all for sticking closer to home, but I'm guessing that the Queen would not have been so family-oriented.

I think it's just doing all those appearances without the softening presence of Kate. Kate was always a more smiley, personable royal. In her absence, Will's dourness is more obvious.

 

[Karen-W]

Let's move on to a far more interesting royal, namely Princess Märtha Louise of Norway.

A Fairy Tale for Netflix: A Norwegian Princess Weds an American Shaman https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/31/...unlocked_article_code=1.IU4.XFiK.GHOcD3bO4K06

Sadly, there were no tiaras, no throngs of wellwishers, and no lace, but there were spa treatments.

And the bride's father does have a royal yacht. Eat your heart out, British Royal Family!

Did you know he's a convicted felon?

 

[barbk]

So, are brown shoes with a blue suit now a good thing? Just a British thing?

Asking for a royal friend.

 

[marbri]

So, are brown shoes with a blue suit now a good thing? Just a British thing?

Asking for a royal friend.

Pretty common and definitely not just a British thing.

 

[shan]

So, are brown shoes with a blue suit now a good thing? Just a British thing?

Asking for a royal friend.

 

[barbk]

William, today, at an art exhibit about homelessness.

 

[cygnus]

What Harry does with his money is not the RF's business.

And there is no evidence, other than a couple of clickbait articles, that any of the RF cares.

 

[shan]

William, today, at an art exhibit about homelessness.

Oh okay.

 

[MsZem]

In BRF-adjacent news, Chelsy Davy seems perfectly happy not being part of the BRF.

Prince Harry's Ex-Girlfriend Chelsy Davy Reveals She Welcomed Second Baby in Rare Instagram Post

Prince Harry's ex Chelsy Davy revealed that she welcomed her second child in a rare Instagram post. All about Chelsy and her previous relationship with the Duke of Sussex.

people.com

 

[once_upon]

Just an outsider doing looking in as a Monday morning quarterback.

Here's how my story goes.
William grew up knowing he is better than ANYONE else on the planet. Harry was/is expected to kneel at the foot of the King to be William.
Harry said hell no, but still feels entitled to some things. Harry says I want my life as me and I want my trust fund. You don't get to control me.

William says oh yes I can, and takes his case to the world.

The rest of the world takes sides.

You can make up your own story but it smacks of oldest vs youngest child. A story as old as time.

 

[Wyliefan]

Imagine having your baby announcement headlined with who your ex-boyfriend was. Yeesh.

 

[marbri]

Just an outsider doing looking in as a Monday morning quarterback.

Here's how my story goes.
William grew up knowing he is better than ANYONE else on the planet. Harry was/is expected to kneel at the foot of the King to be William.
Harry said hell no, but still feels entitled to some things. Harry says I want my life as me and I want my trust fund. You don't get to control me.

William says oh yes I can, and takes his case to the world.

The rest of the world takes sides.

You can make up your own story but it smacks of oldest vs youngest child. A story as old as time.

"Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown"

I personally would much rather be the spare or a royal cousin getting all the perks and bonuses that come with the bloodline without any of the burden of responsibility, tradition and obligations. I wonder if Harry will realise that one day

 

[Tesla]

"Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown"

I personally would much rather be the spare or a royal cousin getting all the perks and bonuses that come with the bloodline without any of the burden of responsibility, tradition and obligations. I wonder if Harry will realise that one day

I don’t think it’s that. I think it’s more like Harry felt/feels that William is the favorite child by virtue of his age.

 

[Barbara Manatee]

William says oh yes I can, and takes his case to the world.

William took his case to the world? Did you mean to say Harry?

 

[taf2002]

I don’t think it’s that. I think it’s more like Harry felt/feels that William is the favorite child by virtue of his age.

William IS the favorite child & always has been. After all his father didn't rib him about being a spare. If Harry followed British history he would have had William killed before he could procreate.

I can't remember which king put his little nephews in the tower & then had them killed. King John?

 

[canbelto]

William IS the favorite child & always has been. After all his father didn't rib him about being a spare. If Harry followed British history he would have had William killed before he could procreate.

I can't remember which king put his little nephews in the tower & then had them killed. King John?

King Richard. But that's absolute nonsense that the spare had to kill the king in order to procreate. The spares have always been able to have a number of children, legitimate or illegitimate.

I think it's weird how royal watchers always want to assign the qualities of "good" or "bad" to a royal.

1) you don't know these people other than their carefully curated public images
2) unless it's Prince Andrew (who does seem to be a bad seed), most people are shades of gray and neither good nor bad

Like if you're a H&M fan, now W&K are bad bad bad. If you're a W&K fan H&M are bad bad bad. There are entire subreddits devoted to hating on a certain royal. It's dumb.

 

[Lynn226]

King Richard. But that's absolute nonsense that the spare had to kill the king in order to procreate. The spares have always been able to have a number of children, legitimate or illegitimate.

I think it's weird how royal watchers always want to assign the qualities of "good" or "bad" to a royal.

1) you don't know these people other than their carefully curated public images
2) unless it's Prince Andrew (who does seem to be a bad seed), most people are shades of gray and neither good nor bad

Like if you're a H&M fan, now W&K are bad bad bad. If you're a W&K fan H&M are bad bad bad. There are entire subreddits devoted to hating on a certain royal. It's dumb.

The one thing Meghan said in the Oprah interview that I remember is she said nobody has to hate her to love Catherine and vice versa. I agree with that.

 

[attyfan]

I can't remember which king put his little nephews in the tower & then had them killed. King John?

FWIW, Historians also believe that John murdered his nephew, but not in the Tower. (Arthur, the son of deceased -- but older -- brother Geoffrey). The belief in John's guilt is a lot more unified than the belief in Richard III's guilt.

 

[Garden Kitty]

Now is a good time for me to pop in and recommend The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. A "golden era" mystery with an historical background regarding Richard III

 

[attyfan]

Now is a good time for me to pop in and recommend The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. A "golden era" mystery with an historical background regarding Richard III

Elizabeth Peters's "Murders of Richard III" is also good ... classic "British house party" whodunnit, but it is a Ricardian house party. ("Ricardians" are those who do not believe that Richard murdered his nephews)

 

[MacMadame]

But that's absolute nonsense that the spare had to kill the king in order to procreate.

That's also not what she said. She said Harry should kill William before William procreates. (Because Harry won't become King if William has children before he dies.)

Also, in case it's not clear, this was sarcasm, not a serious suggestion.

 

[cygnus]

Now is a good time for me to pop in and recommend The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. A "golden era" mystery with an historical background regarding Richard III

I loved that book as a teen- I still do. I was even a Ricardian for a while (between that book and "The Sunne in Splendour" by SK Penman.) Now, however further reading has convinced me that he did it, had motive, method and opportunity, and the likelihood that he didn't is slim indeed. No Ricardian has been able to produce evidence that the boys were alive after the summer of 1483.

 

[Wyliefan]

I just could not deal with Tey's detective's insistence that "No man with a face like that could have committed murder!" There's this weird vein of lookism (if that's the word I want) that runs through her books that I find very off-putting.