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AIBU?

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Original poster

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:
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15
Roussette · 30/10/2016 07:31

Yes Andrew was reasonably OK in his twenties but now he does just look portly and irritable. There are no redeeming features about him whatsoever. I bet he resents being the third child and wishes he was Charles and heir to the throne.

JosephineMaynard · 30/10/2016 08:11

The body of Richard III was DNA tested.

There was that documentary on it when they found the body in the car park. They tested his mitochondrial DNA against that of the last surviving relative in the direct female line (so one of his mother's descendants and a many times great nephew).

That's how they proved he was Richard III and not just a good likely candidate for Richard III.

BalloonSlayer · 30/10/2016 08:25

I read a book about Queen Victoria and re Albert it mentioned that although he was an extremely handsome young man, his family tended to "lose their looks quickly." I always think that has been inherited by his male descendants. Charles was v good looking as a young man, although he had an unfortunate haircut so you can miss it when looking at a picture of the young Charles now. Philip was film-star handsome. The biggest example is William - he bears no resemblance to how he looked at 20, it's only been 10 years or so!

FannyWincham · 30/10/2016 08:26

When George is on the throne they will be the Sovereigns second Cousins

First cousins once removed, actually, but your point stands. B&E's children will be George and Charlotte's second cousins.

iwanttobemissmarple · 30/10/2016 08:27

thehistoryofparliament.wordpress.com/2013/07/26/the-warming-pan-baby-james-edward-francis-stuart/

Finding this thread fascinating- but I don't think the queen would risk having an illegitimate child as it would put the monarchy in jeopardy.

I've heard about Philip putting it about in his youth & always wondered how he managed to get away with it with all that security.

raisedbyguineapigs · 30/10/2016 08:27

Agreetrump the whole swapped baby/cuckold rumours seem to be blaming non Royals for the fact that as a whole, maybe partly due to massive amounts of inbreeding, we have been left with a below averagely intelligent, dysfunctional family as our Heads of State. The whole sycophantic newspaper nonsense about Prince George being massively more intelligent than all the other babies he played with is rubbish. He's an ordinary child, doing things ordinary children do at each stage of their development. The genetic chances of him being a genius are slim. I do find them fascinating as people, even though the institution is unjustifiable. At least Charles seems to realise that, Andrew just seems to treat it as a never ending gravy train.

raisedbyguineapigs · 30/10/2016 08:31

I think Philip, for a 95 year old is still quite handsome Blush I think it was common for the Upper Classes to have mistresses, so he was just left to it, as it was expected. After all, Charles also had a mistress throughout his marriage to Diana.

DamePastel · 30/10/2016 08:37

Well, come on, handsome at 90 something is pushing it. But as recently as 15 years ago it was oblvious that he had been a handsome man.

The Queen was also beautiful. Funny how their kids all quite ordinary looking.

Peregrina · 30/10/2016 08:39

Princess Margaret was also beautiful in her youth, but totally lost her looks.

VanillaSugarandPumpkinSpice · 30/10/2016 08:43

Living this thread!

Kate Middleton is quite clever so maybe George has inherited her brains....therefore, in comparison to the rest of the Royal Family, he IS a genius!

WantToRunAgain · 30/10/2016 08:49

What evidence do you have for Kate being clever? Confused

SamanthaBrique · 30/10/2016 08:51

10 years ago who would've thought that out of William and Harry, Harry would end up the hot one? William looked extraordinarily like Diana in his teens and early 20s but has become more like his father since, in demeanour, looks and hairline!

Mind you neither of them are a Carl Philip of Sweden, are they?

raisedbyguineapigs · 30/10/2016 08:53

No but they were comparing him to other babies when they filmed him at playgroups etc and getting g 'experts' to prove how much more advanced he was than them, which is incredibly rude and false! Is Kate quite clever? What a waste!

BalloonSlayer · 30/10/2016 08:54

What evidence do you have for Kate being clever? Well she got into an extremely prestigious university, without [at that time] any Royal connections. I'd say that's a sign of cleverness.

QueenoftheAndals · 30/10/2016 08:54

Princess Margaret was also beautiful in her youth, but totally lost her looks.

The Queen was very pretty as a young woman but Margaret was just gorgeous. Proper movie-star beautiful, and she remained quite glamorous into relatively old age.

SamanthaBrique · 30/10/2016 08:56

The bitchier among us might even say snagging a prince was the cleverest thing Kate ever did!

raisedbyguineapigs · 30/10/2016 08:58

The European Royal Family?yes all seem quite hot, which is a bit strange, as they are all related through Vic and Bertie. They must have married out earlier!

raisedbyguineapigs · 30/10/2016 09:01

William got onto the same course at the same university with extremely poor A levels, despite having the best education money can buy ( which Kate also had) I know they could hardly turn him down

NeonPinkNails · 30/10/2016 09:05

I don't mind Kate but I'm not sure you can say she's clever based on a History of Art degree - it's hardly Advanced Physics is it. And I say that as someone with a creative degree so not meaning to be snidey. With the sort of education she had it'd be a bit crap if she couldn't manage to get into a decent university but I'm not sure that's a reflection on her intelligence.

The way they all seem to lose their looks is truly astounding - William has gone from looking like the hottest member of a very hot boyband to resembling a middle aged Dad who buys their clothes from the back of the Sunday supplement.

diddl · 30/10/2016 09:05

PC was quite cute as a little boy & I think I can see that George has some similarity, although he strikes me as being very like Michael Middleton.

Charlotte looks very Windsor to me.

VanillaSugarandPumpkinSpice · 30/10/2016 09:06

Pippa read English at Edinburgh -a course which requires A*AA no matter how much money you have. I'd say there was a certain amount of clever DNA in George.

Peregrina · 30/10/2016 09:07

Michael Middleton is quite good looking, IMO, so if George takes after him there is hope.

diddl · 30/10/2016 09:12

It's not just about academic clever though is it (imo)?

They sometimes just don't seem to have a clue at all about how others live & when trying to seem "ordinary" just say the most ridiculous things.

Roussette · 30/10/2016 09:20

All the Royals seem to do "History of Art" at Uni, it's the default option for if a Royal wants to go to Uni but isn't particularly brainy I think!

But in all honesty, I'm sure they are all intelligent but they really do not need to be academic or clever. They don't need to study like a mad thing to try and get the best Uni degree they can to give them the edge in the workplace (which is what my DCs have done...) This isn't sour grapes, it's just fact. It must be great to do a degree really just for the fun of it.

FannyWincham · 30/10/2016 09:27

You need AAB for History of Art at St Andrews: www.st-andrews.ac.uk/courses/route/uahfahisahi. Of course, the course will have got more popular since 2001 so entry requirements might have gone up. Edward got into Cambridge with CDD and Charles with BC Hmm; both graduated with a Desmond.

George and Charlotte do at least have a wider gene pool than their parents, grandparents and great-uncles.