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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

The Duke of York wants his daughters to be full time Royals?

918 replies

MidnightVelvetthe7th · 23/10/2016 14:45

www.express.co.uk/news/royal/724136/prince-andrew-requests-princesses-beatrice-eugenie-kensington-prince-charles-queen-william

This is a Sunday Express link, not a Fail one.

So Andrew wants both of his daughters to have full time royal roles funded by the public & have larger apartments at Kensington Palace. Given that the only time I ever see them in the news is for dreadful outfits & holidays, to me they are embarrassing & a bit cringy.

Andrew is complaining that they are overshadowed by William, Catherine & Harry. But if you believe & support a system of privilege by birth such as the monarchy, then it stands to reason that the direct heirs are more important than the rest.

Does Andrew have a point & IABU?!

OP posts:
Thread gallery
15
BalloonSlayer · 24/10/2016 22:16

Bunny, have a look at this Wikipedia page

It implies that Kate would be ahead of Beatrice and Eugenie, but if you scroll down to Current Practice it says she isn't.

Auntpodder · 24/10/2016 22:20

Yes, the people I know who've met Andrew haven't liked him (Princess Anne and Charles get much better reports) and his captaincy of the R&A golf club in Scotland didn't end well.

Mind you, there is one royal who makes Andrew look quite restrained and grateful that Andrew doesn't wear crop tops and fake tattoo sleeves as casual wear www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/thailand-new-king-crown-prince-maha-vajiralongkor-bangkok-poodle-tattoo-a7361021.html. Not sure what Thailand did in a previous life to deserve him but at least this one doesn't seem to ascend the throne give up his fun-filled life in Germany

FannyWincham · 24/10/2016 22:30

Quack no, as queen consort she will be the highest ranking woman. At the moment she is supposed to curtsey to the 'blood princesses' only when she is alone; if William is there then she assumes his rank and outranks them. It's bonkers.

Bestthingever · 24/10/2016 22:39

The Queen clearly doesn't want them to do more. If she wanted them to do something, we'd see an awful lot more of them.They are rarely asked to do anything with her, whereas the Queen has made an effort to bring Kate into the fold and gradually increase her responsibilities because the queen knows she is the future. Even during the jubilee year, when Kate was a new member, she had a higher profile. Remember the outing to Fortnum and Mason with Camilla and Kate? It was a clear message that these are the most important women in the 'Firm'.

EverySongbirdSays · 24/10/2016 22:42

It must be weird to be Zara and have to bow/curtesy to your younger cousins when you are as much the Queens granddaughter as they are.

OllyBJolly · 24/10/2016 23:00

Don't think Zara gives a shit tbh. Probably avoids situations where any kind of royal protocol is enforced.

PigletWasPoohsFriend · 24/10/2016 23:10

I don't think Zara or Peter care tbh.

hopetobehappy · 24/10/2016 23:20

Zara hasn't done too bad out of being in the royal family. There's no way she'd be where she is today if it wasn't for the royal family. Directly or indirectly they're all supported by the taxpayer.

QueenLizIII · 24/10/2016 23:58

Yeah although Zara is good horsewoman, equestrian sports are expensive. All the horses and lessons and training: huge advantage being royalty.

LuluJakey1 · 25/10/2016 00:21

As daughters of the son of a monarch, Beatrice and Eugenie are royal princesses with the title HRH.
So is Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn is a royal prince. However, Edward and Sophie made it clear they wished their children to have the titles that the children of an Earl would have, and not Prince and Princess. Edward and Sophie will become Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh when Prince Phillip dies.
I had a royalist Granny and I am a mine of useless info on the Royal family.Grin

mathanxiety · 25/10/2016 00:32

CaveMum - Autumn Kelly renounced Catholicism when she married Peter Phillips. She is now CofE. If she had remained RC Peter Phillips would have forfeited his place in line to the throne. She retains her Canadian citizenship though...

The discrimination against Catholics is yet another hint that they are an odious bunch and an anachronism.

mathanxiety · 25/10/2016 00:42

Thing is, there was a time when part of their role was considered to be "setting an example" - which has obviously now gone down the toilet given the behaviour of too many of them [Puzzledandpissedoff]

In order to set yourself up as an example, you have to assume that the people to whom you are providing this example are actually in need of it. It's an incredibly arrogant and disrespectful belief.

It is neither here nor there that their behaviour has always been disgraceful (for centuries, not just in recent decades), though the hypocrisy doesn't help their case at all - imo the contempt behind the assumption that HM subjects needed an example set for them was and is horrible.

llangennith · 25/10/2016 00:49

Few things incense me more than him trying to force his daughters into the Royal circus. I'm sure they're very nice women but they need to get a job. They're minor royals, as is he as time has gone on. He's so loathesome.

OlennasWimple · 25/10/2016 00:58

I don't think that the TV show "The Royals" has made it onto screens over there? Princesses Penelope and Meribel are so clearly based on Eugenie and Beatrice, and the impersonation isn't kind (but very funny)

OlennasWimple · 25/10/2016 01:06

I know many people who have had professional dealings with various Royals over the years. All agree that Anne is stellar; all agree that Andrew is not (and his visits frequently have to be followed up with letters of apology to the people he has offended...)

mathanxiety · 25/10/2016 01:24

Apologies to EverySongbirdSays - it was OurBlanche I was quoting.

Geekmama · 25/10/2016 04:50

Gosh YABU it's the express Hmm not very reliable Confused

BunnyBunnyMooseMoose · 25/10/2016 04:57

Thanks Balloon! It's... well... wow.

OddBoots · 25/10/2016 07:26

So is Charlotte a blood princess? I imagine so. Would Catherine have to bow to her?

CaveMum · 25/10/2016 07:45

Once the King died the Queen Mother had to bow to her daughter/walk behind her, etc. Apparently she didn't take to it very easily.

To sure what the protocol is between Kate and Charlotte but technically Charlotte would outrank her mother because she is a direct heir to the throne whereas Kate is not - if anything happened to William, Kate would never be Queen.

DamePastel · 25/10/2016 08:06

The late Queen Mother was so self-consciously royal. She deserved the stick that the middletons (Carol and Michael) get.

I know I'm not British so the innate love for the late QM not a default setting for me but I remember when I lived in the UK and after her funeral was on television and the commentator said that she had planned it. I remember my x and I looking at each other and for once agreeing that the human being who planned that high level of pomp and ceremony for their own funeral had no humility, no modesty... narcissism in the extreme.

Yawnyawnallday · 25/10/2016 08:13

He wants his daughters to be hangers on at our expense. What ambition At least his older sister had the decency not to give her children titles and to make them earn a living. Shameful.

Cantusethatname · 25/10/2016 08:44

348 messages and counting and not one has said how much they would like to fund Beatrice and Eugenie and see as much of them as possible.

hopetobehappy · 25/10/2016 08:48

money.aol.co.uk/2016/07/06/prince-andrew-blows-5-000-taking-a-helicopter-to-the-golf/
"Air miles Andys" latest jaunt Angry

Bestthingever · 25/10/2016 08:49

Not one positive word for Andrew either.