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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
Thread gallery
15
raisedbyguineapigs · 30/10/2016 09:27

George is the image of William. Charlotte has the look of the Queen somaybe the Middleton genes will out in the end. But I think they will have more problems than their fading looks by the time George is heir to the throne

raisedbyguineapigs · 30/10/2016 09:33

I suppose it doesn't really matter if they are clever or not. It's hardly as if they actually have much to do with the affairs of state, or have to debate legislation. It would be more helpful if they had an awareness of issues that affect people, as their main purpose seems to be to turn up to stuff and get people to give money to charity, which many celebs do, as well as having to do things to pay the bills, like acting and singing Grin

Roussette · 30/10/2016 09:34

Ye gods... Edward got into Cambridge with CDD? Incredible! (my DD had AAAA and didn't get into Oxford despite interviews! As an aside, best thing ever for her..)

FannyWincham · 30/10/2016 09:35

Just checked and actually William got AAC in his A Levels, so only one grade off AAB to get into HoA at St. A.

BalloonSlayer · 30/10/2016 09:39

I think History of Art is a great course for someone in the Royal Family. Honestly I am not being facetious! They own some of the most important Art works in the world. Plus when they are showing the Prime Minister of Wherever round Windsor etc it'll be bloody handy to know what you are talking about when you show them the paintings.

What I am trying to say is that I'd imagine History of Art to be a fairly un-useful degree, UNLESS you are a member of the Royal Family.

Given that the Art Historian Anthony Blunt who was surveyor to the Queen's pictures turned out to be a spy, it's probably all the more important to be able to do the bloody job oneself.

Peregrina · 30/10/2016 09:42

I thought William did Geography, in the end?

Peregrina · 30/10/2016 09:46

Since we were talking about various royals who might not have been sired by the expected person, wasn't Anthony Blunt supposed to have been part royal - an illegitimate half brother of Edward VIII and George VI? He did look a bit like them, but that might just be because of the style of clothing they wore.

MissHooliesCardigan · 30/10/2016 09:46

PHWOOARR at Carl Philip of Sweden. Is he married?

QueenoftheAndals · 30/10/2016 09:49

George is the image of William.

He isn't really, it's just that he's blond and wears the same clothes his father did. If you take a careful look he's actually the spit of his grandad Middleton.

SamanthaBrique · 30/10/2016 09:51

MissHoolie, yes he's married to the Swedish equivalent of a former page 3 girl!

Soozikinzi · 30/10/2016 09:51

I agree 100% with Charles on this one there's no way we should be adding to the list in this day and age and certainly not with these two!

QueenoftheAndals · 30/10/2016 09:52

It was Kate who did History of Art, not William.

FannyWincham · 30/10/2016 09:52

William did year 1 of HoA and then transferred to Geography.

VanillaSugarandPumpkinSpice · 30/10/2016 09:53

Well, if Carl isn't married, why doesn't he marry Beatrice now that she's back on the shelf? That way, B has a proper job and gets to be a full time Royal! inAnotherCountry

QueenoftheAndals · 30/10/2016 09:53

And to return briefly to the topic of this thread, Beatrice and Eugenie both have 2:1s and went to Goldsmiths and Newcastle, respectively.

LikeDylanInTheMovies · 30/10/2016 09:54

The whole sycophantic newspaper nonsense about Prince George being massively more intelligent than all the other babies he played with is rubbish.

Yep like a watereed down version of those North Korean news reports about Kim Jong Il writing 1,500 books whilst at university or scoring 11 holes in one on his first game of golf.

KathyBeale · 30/10/2016 09:55

Even if they are clever, are they allowed to have opinions? I find it excruciatingly embarrassing when they represent us at meetings with heads of state like the Obamas or the Trudeaus. I can't imagine what they talk about?!

RatherSheepish · 30/10/2016 10:03

Vanilla, if he married a former model then I'm not sure Beatrice, despite being by no means unattractive, would be his type! I don't think there are any European royals left for the York girls to marry anyway.

LeninaCrowne · 30/10/2016 10:04

Wasn't Kate's granny a WWII Bletchly code-breaker, so chances are George and Charlotte may inherit some very good genes re intelligence from Kate.

Regarding Andrew's daughters being in the public eye spending their time performing royal duties - is it what they want? Wouldn't they rather have the status of someone like Lady Sarah Chatto, the Queen's niece? She gets to lead her own life, and when she is in the public eye (such as recently on that BBC programme for the Queen's birthday) comes across as such a nice, charming, but above all balanced and normal person.

mummytime · 30/10/2016 10:04

The Queen Mother used to say that Philip was the one with all the brains in the family, I don't think she thought his children were as clever.

VanillaSugarandPumpkinSpice · 30/10/2016 10:05

Kathy, when I met Prince Andrew he wasn't interested in any conversation until a bloke in our group said he flew helicopters - then PA went quite pink & animated and started doing physical impersonations of getting his leg over a gear stick knob thing. Quite excited, he was...

LeninaCrowne · 30/10/2016 10:10

Is it true Andrew is teetotal?

LikeDylanInTheMovies · 30/10/2016 10:13

Queen after an extraordinarily expensive education and every material advantage imaginable, 2:1s from mid ranking universities would be the very least that could be expect from a competent student (St Andrews always had terrific snob appeal, but its rise up the rankings is a recent phenomenon) .

The bar for a 2:1 is pretty low and most capable and reasonably conscientious students can clear it. I wouldn't class a student who had the normal experiences of being on a budget, having to work part time, dragging their dirty clothes to the launderette in the rain and living and working in cramped house shares who achieved a 2:1as hyper intelligent, someone who has been coddled by unimaginable luxury and educational advantages before and during university even less so.

MissHooliesCardigan · 30/10/2016 10:16

Beatrice went to Goldsmiths? I go past there nearly every day and it's an incredibly rough area. I just can't imagine the likes of Bea hanging around New Cross!

QueenoftheAndals · 30/10/2016 10:38

LikeDylan, I wasn't casting judgements or saying a 2:1 is particularly good, I was just stating a fact.