To think Kate and William saw Harry and Meghan as a real threat to their image?

Skiing is strenuous
Even endless holidays take energy

A phone call to a charity would take less effort

But no…

Kate’s had cancer too and has only just gone into remission.

I just find it bizarre that William doesn't take on more, given his father's age and diagnosis of ongoing cancer treatment.
Why doesn't he?
Why leave the investitures to his 75yo Aunt when he lives round the corner and she lives 100 miles away
I just don't get it.

However, I do not want to hear 'but the children'... how long will they spin out this excuse? They have about 16 weeks off a year during the long school holidays, When it's not school hols, why doesn't William do more to support his father. And support the elderly members of the family. Both william and kate really do themselves no favours in my opinion.
My only take on it is... there is trouble afoot between father and son...

It felt like after a while M&H thought that they should take centre stage because of their popularity. Obviously that's not how it works.

It doesn’t need to be a referendum. Royalists often squeal at the very thought of the cost of a referendum ( while turning a blind eye to the half a billion a year currently draining away to the Windsors )

Im talking about a bit of ink added to a ballot paper to get a clearer idea of where we stand

It would even favour the right wing older royalist types as they are more likely to vote .

So, @Ukisgaslit , you want a referendum on the monarchy?
Perhaps start lobbying for that with your MP.

Hilarious

Is this the William who couldn’t even be arsed to memorise a line of oath at this father’s pantomime ( sorry coronation!) and had to read it off a card? So dutiful

Is this the William who was the sole person remaining seated at a state banquet while everyone else was giving Charles a standing ovation? So dutiful

Is this the William who his aged Aunt Anne has most unusually for her, publicly criticised for his bone idleness ? So dutiful

William is unpleasant ( and journalists tell us regularly that he rages ) and his few attempts at baring his teeth ( the ‘smile’ does not reach his eyes) while in the vicinity of the public, fall flat .

Your polls are meaningless .

Give voters a chance to express a simple yes/ no re continuing to hand over half a billion a year from the hard pressed taxpayer .
That’s the only poll I’m interested in . If the royals were truly popular there would be no issue with such a question. It was done over 100 years ago in Norway .

So if you don’t follow the Royal family Zonder, and don’t read stories about them in the press, how on earth can you complain that Charles’ Romanian properties have never been reported on? Clearly, you would have no idea whether they have been or not.

I don't follow RF on MN so I wouldn't have known that discussion. I only heard of it on some programme a few months ago where they visited the house. I'm only on this thread because I followed a link recently to Meghan's merch site which gave me a glimpse into why she's unpopular in the UK.

It was on the news several years ago. It’s also come up in a discussion on the RF, on MN sometime ago.

I think W & K have been treated better by the press, than Diana was, because William makes it clear where the boundaries are; but imo Diana was hounded by the paparazzi? She might still be here, if they hadn’t been chased that night in Paris?

Like an aristocratic version of the Jeremy Kyle show, the lie detector would combust with that lot

This, exactly 💯

lol

Oomph is severely lacking yes!

I think they just coast and hope for the best. To me, and just my opinion, but that is just not working.

@jumpingthehighjump there is definitely some oomph missing

Well if they did, which I doubt, W and K have won haven’t they?

And whilst I think she’s treated very unfairly by the media, Meghan is about as charismatic as a wet dishcloth.

Key phrase was monarchs

I think how your dc behave does reflect on you so we will have to agree to disagree @wordler

You've got to admit it's pretty niche though. Possibly a fair bit more niche than following RF updates!

@mauvaiseherbe my family are dull compared! It's like posh Jeremy Kyle 😆

Ha Ha! Can you imagine that one day Catherine has far too much to drink and then says exactly what she thinks. Now that would be interesting…

Well, if you don't want a monarch at all then I imagine nothing about the current heir would appeal.

You can keep trying to show William in a negative light but he must be doing something right because he consistently polls as the most popular royal in the UK with a very high approval rating.

In America, he polled as the most popular public figure above all their own public figures, universally liked by both Republicans and Democrats.

In a Uk.gov poll in 2021 asking who would you choose as an elected head of state instead of a monarch William was the top choice ahead of David Attenburgh and even his own grandmother who was monarch at the time.

So it's possible he may not be dutiful, pleasant, intelligent and potentially a good leader but he's doing a bang up impression of it.

What an excellent post @Redheadedstepchildhighly entertaining!

Princess Margaret smoking through State banquets, cavorting with Roddy, married to bisexual Snowdon, QM on the gin and huge debts, Alexandra’s husband Ogilvy and the Lonrho affair, the obnoxious Andrew and his antics, Philip and his crush on Merle Oberon, ultra glam Marie Christine and her nazi father and supposed flings, Anne’s husband fathering an extra marital child, Anne’s relationship with APB while Charles was with Camilla, all change, on and on, paternities questioned, more gin delivered, they are just like us but richer

https://share.google/Lh0bpC8zUbWCQJSaM

Found the telegrams. Probably not what we should be thinking about but it struck me how much they resembled modern emails. Very little formality.

Speak for yourself - many of us do not ‘like’ monarchs full stop

( And you are merely repeating the PR - there is nothing dutiful about Willaim and even the royal journalists tell us he is frequently in a furious rage so pleasant ? Not so much )