To think Prince William and his wife are lacking appreciation of their position

[fideline]

and good fortune?

He just seems a bit of an over-privileged posh boy?

I know everyone says he has lovely manners, but we can expect a bit more than that, surely?

They have just hired a 'forrin' nanny a) after making an enormous PR fuss about not having one b) at a time of high UK unemployment.

The list of god-parents for their baby was a bit multi-barrelled and No foreign royals, as is traditional, but Not the slightest whiff of any demographic diversity either.

There seem to be a LOT of luxury holidays going on with these two.

The uni course he is doing has been especially designed for him and seems designed to prepare him for inheriting the enormous (private) Duchy of Cornwall. Not exactly public-spirited?

In the much-hyped first post-baby interview, he was keen to promote a charity saving Kenyan Rhinos. Nothing intrinsically wrong with that, but the line between animals he shoots for fun and animals he wants to save is unclear and anyhow a charity for under-privileged (UK?) children would have been the nice, publicity-shrewd thing to do, maybe?

For a couple with a great deal of expensive PR expertise at their disposal they seem to be slightly missing the mark a bit too often.

FWIW i used 'his wife' in the title because I was temporarily at a loss for her name. It was late.

Don't kid yourself that he doesn't blame the dribbling pro monarchy public.

He may not be the brightest, but obviously not that thick then?

woven* through this thread

"William himself could champion a move towards a fairer system that represents the age we are in. His generation should be screaming for change ."

Yes. This puzzles me to. If he wants to be ordinary, he can arrange it, instead of pretending to be.

The amount of property the Royals have access to is astonishing!

I read somewhere taht Frogmore House is being kept vacant for Philip should he outlive the Queen.

18 bedrooms!!

And it's not as if all four of his kids haven't got houses big enough for him to have a wing of to himself!

puzzles me too*

He doesn't want to be ordinary. He wants to have all the trappings of royalty whilst slinging out the bits he doesn't like.

Who wouldn't?

I can't understand why this pick 'n' mix approach isn't attracting MORE opprobrium (yet) and why he isn't being advised against it.

Given his dysfunctional background he seems pretty normal to me, he can't help having been born into the RF.
She is pretty, clever and makes him happy. Why can't people leave them alone instead of being hyper critical.

I do think Prince Andrew is worth the money, in fact I'd be in favour of doubling his stipend. He's a true prince.

And this shrugging off of the 'billboard for british business' part of their role genuinely puzzles me. I thought it was part of the justification for monarchy.

I thought they almost weren't allowed to drive German cars and hire Spanish nannies. They manage to subtley promote Duchy products.

Higgle it's not a soap opera, i'm talking about their jobs not their love lives or their dentistry.

Squoosh are you being sarcastic?

this is what Prince Andrew gets up to when he's promoting British business abroad.

www.theweek.co.uk/people-news/7459/jeffrey-epstein-prostitute-how-i-met-prince-andrew

So efficient Nancy

Well, if I was Prince William, the bit I wouldn't like would be press attention and having to cut ribbons and wave to the public. If he removed himself from the line of succession, he'd get rid of having to open hospitals, but I'm not convinced he'd lose the press attention. Would he lose his security guards? Could be a bad deal for him.

Prince and Princess Michael of Kent still seem to get attention, and so do other former royals of Europe.

I'm not sure Princess Michael gets badgered by the press. More the other way around.

Thankyou Tilly!!

I'll have to take your word for that, but the fact I know their names suggests to me that the media are certainly willing to cover her!

At the time of her death, Diana was a mere ex-wife of the heir to the throne. She was no longer even entitled to HRH. But photographs of her were worth money.

I also happen to have a copy of a German equivalent of Hello (don't ask!), from 2012. Royalty is so fascinating that in 72 pages (€1.50 of enthralment!), the following were featured: Prince Charles, a Belgian prince, two princes (no country given), the Swedish royal family (full page spread), the Dutch royal family, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Catherine/Kate looking after the queen's grand-daughter Savannah (Peter Phillips' daughter), the Norwegian royal family, the Japanese royal family, the Swedish royals (different ones!)

There was also a quite good crossword, and Dolly Parton.

Hmm, do you think we'd be able to export our set to Germany? Obviously some Germans are interested enough in them to spend €1.50 each week.

Kate Middleton clever?

I see no sign of it. She might be, but I've never heard her have an opinion or discuss anything so I don't know how one can surmise that she's clever. I wouldn't say having a 2:1 in art history is a sign of intelligence.

I'm sure she's perfectly pleasant and can string a sentence together but the few times she has spoken on camera she comes across as dull and not overly bright. Maybe she just can't be arsed with talking to the press which is fair enough but if I was talking to international press I'd try and come over as a bit more switched on than what she does.

LadyRabbit I couldn't care less if they are lovely people or arrogant arseholes.

the point is they are unelected heads of state and I personally sling with a lot if other people see that as morally wrong and undemocratic.

Eh, I think the fact that the worst that anyone has to say about is that she's dull, or thick, or doesn't have a job may point to admirable self-control and discipline. Or possibly that someone in the office successfully blackmails journalists.

I would have managed to stuff my foot in my mouth so far it was down my throat, and been photographed doing it, by now.

Is Kate not allowed to be a SAHM then if she wants to?

Certainly, she is, I have no problem with that. Just don't insult my intelligence by using terms like "maternity leave" and "hard-working mum" - both of which have been bandied about in the press (no doubt fed by their PR machine) on a regular basis.

So a SAHM is not hard work.

had SAHMing is bloody hard work and SAHMs DO NOT take maternity leave.