DD 22 has never heard of Prince Edward

[livingontheheart]

As the title says pretty much, showed her a picture of him and she said she has never heard of him in her life. I think it shows the generational difference as most people my age would know who he is I think.

I was watching some 1930's newsreels recently and surprised at how heavily the royals featured in them, opening events, sometimes just attending them etc. Not considered newsworthy today.

@SleepingStandingUp

Young people not knowing who Edward is isn't going to lead to the abolition of the RF. See how many of them have no idea who William and Kate are.

I tend to agree. Like syphilis (oh the irony !), the RF have gone deep and deadly with no symptoms.

Prince Edward, the youngest of HMs children and the only one to have a marriage that's lasted. After a few bumps along the road he has quietly gone about his life with 2 nicely brought up children and a wife who it is believed has a very close friendship with the Queen

The lack of general knowledge is seen on things like Pointless

They pick up a lot on when someone says "That's before my time" - which I think is fair enough when it's music, TV, films etc - there are a lot of years to know about and if you are 22, a lot of years ahead of you to catch up on it.

What Xander and Richard don't pick up on - unfairly, in my view, is when older people make effectively "It's after my time" comments. People who don't know any music after about 1975 or any television since the 1980s.

I once commented that I was amazed at British adults not knowing the dates of the World Wars and was told that it was because they hadn’t studied history in school so how could they be expected to know. If there’s one thing the UK likes to go on about it’s WWII. V surprising to me that people wouldn’t have absorbed ‘1939-1945’ via osmosis from docs, films, TV shows, TV articles etc. etc.

I’m quite proud my young adult kids have barely any clue about the royals, excluding the queen. They’re just not interested.

@Tosement

DD and I were just watching Goggle box and the had a snippet of Harry and Meghan's interview on it. She asked who his dad was and thought Harry was older than William..I am pretty certain she wouldn't know who Princess Anne or Prince Edward were. I think the Royal family are losing their relevance in the modern age.

Is your daughter very young? I assume so if she doesn’t know the order of succession, which will continue to be very relevant during her life because those heirs will go on to be the Heads of State (presuming she’s in the UK).

Of what relevance? My 3 kids are 20s And 30s ...l I bet none of they would have a clue who PRince Edward is and wouldn’t give a shiny shit if they were told..... none of them have the slightest interest in the royal family at all....I’m 57 ...,I could name all the queens GGC but so what? Today’s general knowledge is not the same as my generations general knowledge.

@MatildaJayne

That seems weird to me. But I’m in my 50s so a similar age to Prince Edward so I was around when he was in the news a bit more and doing the production company stuff and Royal It’s a Knockout etc. And I’ve always known who Princess Margaret was, but I get a bit hazier about how the Kents and Gloucesters are related to the Queen.

The Queen's father had 4 brothers. His older brother Edward abdicated and Prince John died young. The other 2 brothers were Prince George, Duke of Kent and Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester and the current Kent and Gloucesters are their sons and so the Queens first cousins.

The Equivalent relation for Prince William will be Princess Beatrice and Eugenie and Zara.

I’m late 40’s but no idea who Prince Edward is. Only heard about Duke of Edinburg because I got my gold award from him.
Met Princess Anne at a charity event - she was funny and had done her homework - appears to be hard working. The rest - a waste of space!

Good! The RF should fade into obscurity.

They won't fade into obscurity because some people couldn't pick them out in a line up. That's not how it works.

@Buwch

I haven’t heard of him. I’m in my late 30s.

Mind you, I didn’t know Philip was the Queen’s husband until about a year before he died.

What?!?!? We are the same age, how?! Were you living in the outer Hebrides with no telly?

@GingerAndTheBiscuits world’s oldest footman

I do think it's considered cool to claim ignorance over the RF, because they're so passé.
"Oh golly, the royal family? They're so 20th century, erm the lead one is called Loz right and I'm sure she'll have a couple of kids before she retirees too take over!! "

A lot of people are likening knowing about them to knowing about the Kardashians.
I know bugger all about the Kardashian but then I’m not paying for them, they don’t meet with the PM once a week, they don’t attend the state opening of parliament, I don’t pay for their weddings or funerals, they are not the head of the armed forces or the church, the national anthem is not sung in their honour.

I'm 41, have little interest in the royals and I know who Edward is and could pick him out in a photo. It's just general knowledge that you acquire. I do find that a lot of people pride themselves in not knowing stuff like this.

'Who's Prime Minister? No idea! Haha, what am I like?'

@BitterTits

I had a bit of an argument with him once. I was a feisty teen and pissed off at the lack of activities for girls on a DofE anniversary weekend - the boys played football on a beach while we did nothing.

Anyway, neither my DC (younger) or my siblings (between 24 and 30) would know either I don't think. The royal family is irrelevant.

BitterTits I like the cut of your jib

Obviously I know who I is, but I just googled recent images and I wouldn't have been able to name him from a recent photo without any other visual clues.
I bet he's pleased with his relatively low profile.

I know this is an anonymous forum, but the mind-boggling ignorance people are willing to admit to on here is incredible.

Fair enough, I suppose, not having heard of Prince Edward, if you’re young. But being in your 30s and not having heard of Prince Phillip is surely impossible for any sentient adult who engages with the world outside their own orbit.

It’s not about whether it’s important or critical to know who he is. It’s just about the steadfast determination not to engage with the outside world that would make even possible never to have heard of him, that amazes me.

I can understand why some people in the UK would not know who the minor royals are and even the younger children of the Queen, but not to know who the Duke of Edinburgh was? That is mind-boggling to me. The Queen has been on the throne for 70 years (well, come Sunday she will have been) and he has been literally by her side for nearly all that time.

I assume these same people know who Charles is. Did it not occur to them that he had to have a father somewhere in the picture?

I find it a bit unsettling that today's teens will only know about stuff on tiktok and gaming. (Not ALL but many)
I picked up info from occasionally reading a paper, watching the news (always on due to DF), hearing snippets on R1 or R2 tv.
Also they are looking at their phones and not engaging in staff room chat.

@SenecaFallsRedux

I can understand why some people in the UK would not know who the minor royals are and even the younger children of the Queen, but not to know who the Duke of Edinburgh was? That is mind-boggling to me. The Queen has been on the throne for 70 years (well, come Sunday she will have been) and he has been literally by her side for nearly all that time.

I assume these same people know who Charles is. Did it not occur to them that he had to have a father somewhere in the picture?

I find it extraordinary. He was married to the Head of State. He attended every opening of Parliament. He was a significant figure in British society for 70 years. It's not about being a royalist, it's about being a person with awareness.

@RussiasGreatestLoveMachine and@SenecaFallsRedux - excellent points, both.
There seems to be some wilful ignorance

He stays out of the limelight doesn’t he really, as does Anne. They’re the better siblings imo.

DD and I were just watching Goggle box and the had a snippet of Harry and Meghan's interview on it. She asked who his dad was and thought Harry was older than William..I am pretty certain she wouldn't know who Princess Anne or Prince Edward were. I think the Royal family are losing their relevance in the modern age.

Is your daughter very young? I assume so if she doesn’t know the order of succession, which will continue to be very relevant during her life because those heirs will go on to be the Heads of State (presuming she’s in the UK).
Of what relevance? My 3 kids are 20s And 30s ...l I bet none of they would have a clue who PRince Edward is and wouldn’t give a shiny shit if they were told..... none of them have the slightest interest in the royal family at all....I’m 57 ...,I could name all the queens GGC but so what?
Today’s general knowledge is not the same as my generations general knowledge.

Of what relevance is the Head of State? I am 33 and would find it absolutely embarrassing if any of my friends didn’t know who was in line to be king out of William and Harry, as the PP I was replying to’s DD apparently didn’t.

I can only assume it’s feigned ignorance. It doesn’t make anyone sound more intelligence and ‘above’ matters like celebrity to not have a basic understanding of the Royal Family, it sounds ignorant and a bit thick.

Same as people who proclaim ‘I’ve never even heard of the Kardashians!’

Yes you have, because you don’t live under a rock. But whatever. Applying the same to a family who produces our Heads of State who will appoint our PM, open and dissolve Parliament, have weekly meetings with the PM, a family who lives on our taxes in return for serving the public, is seriously strange.

@Tosement
Absolutely this.