...so what exactly is "service and duty"?

[ServiceAndDuty]

After countless threads on the royal family, I feel nobody goes into full detail of what the royal family do apart from the same phrase "service and duty".

I genuinely would like to be enlightened on what this "service and duty" is, not including showing up to events and waving, watching tennis and rugby matches, opening places, having an expensive wedding sometimes etc.

I feel nobody has really answered in detail what it is.

I am open to being educated if I'm missing something.

Some of them are not easy. You need to stand on heels or in a lighter clothes or walk long distances, you should look good and smile whatever you are feeling inside. And yes, you do have a lot of help but you need to put your feelings and worries aside, the scrutiny is much more worse then in other jobs. You can’t trust people as they might sell the story about your to newspapers.
I think there are always a question that you can’t put your own interests and your partner and kids first. Your outlook is always a bit different, you look at bigger picture.
Look at the late Queen, I’m sure she wanted to stay in bed that Tuesday but she was dragged out to see Boris and then Liz. At some point she maybe wanted to divorce but it wasn’t possible, there was constant worry about threats to her children. And she was judged constantly for everything. Princess Margaret couldn’t marry whom she wanted (I’m not saying that it’s a good choice but I’ve chosen my DH myself without parents involved). The same was with Charles.
I don’t think I would love this life. There a lot of plus points but they are mostly coming from being rich so being rich is good. And those who are rich but not royals enjoy their life much more imo.

They help charities raise loads of money.

@FruitPastilleNut

I agree.

What have any of them actually done to improve the lives of their 'subjects'

KimberleyClark · Today 10:58
HotDogKetchup · Today 10:54
Sorry her Uncle, but the sentiment remains that he didn’t want the job so was able to abdicate. So it’s not true that they have no choice.
He did want the job, he wanted to do it with the wife of his choice at his side. But this was impossible, so he decided he wanted Wallis more than he wanted to be king.

There's been an enormous amount of new info on the Abdication Crisis in recent years as new docs etc have come into the public domain. I suggest reading up on these - it's fascinating.

Basically, the story we've all been sold for more than half a century is not an accurate representation of the situation. Far from Wallis being the evil woman, holding on to Ed VIII (who was by all accounts, a dim, boring and needy chap - good-looking, but thick as trifle), she wanted out but ended up tied to him in some sort of myth about their devoted love.

Also, there's a lot of evidence to suggest that their Nazi sympathies were all too well-known to the RF and the govt, and frankly the govt needed an excuse to get rid. Lots of memos etc about this from the govt and royal officials about how disastrous he would have been as king.

He didn't want the job either. Totally selfish, trivial, vain and thick to do anything but dress elegantly, dance the foxtrot and sun himself on the Riviera...oh, and go and visit his mate Adolf, who was planning to set him up as a 'puppet' king when the Nazis took over Britain.

Thank goodness for George Vi!

The Commonwealth is just the UK's attempt at keeping an empire, hence we are still at the head of it.

As the UK and Europe face their biggest economic, if not military threat since WW2, who is India backing via sanction busting - Russia.

Says it all for the UK's soft power shit.

Do you not know how to Google things OP? I guess it's a good thing you aren't our head of state.

You need to look at the court circular. Also Google role of monarch in the British constitution.

The bits you don't see are them meeting the PM every week, never discussing what is said in those meetings. Questioning what is happening in country, what can Gov do about it.
Going though government papers every day.
International relations, meeting other heads of state, to encourage good relations and trade links.

Going to meetings with people you don't actually like, but always being nice and kind to them. Hosting visitors.

State banquets sound great lots of food, but you need to make conversation with people to make and build relationships. That's not always easy.

Best reply I've seen, @ideasmirrour
I love the monarchy so our choices are very different, but that was a very measured & well thought out post.
(Wish I'd written it!) ;-)

Its baffling to me that people are so desperate to believe that these people are some how special or deserving of the adoration.

I guess if they admitted the truth they'd have to face how much of an idiot you were.

She's a world recognised icon. She has a role in the constitution. Charities benefit from royal patronage.

Exhack - Charles and Camilla don't carry out 2000 engagements a year, that would be impossible, that's the royals as a team.

The Queen was 'brand UK.' She played a large part in the billions that the UK made every year from tourism and also in lurury goods expo

Look it up.

Such defensiveness rather than actually admitting the truth

🤣

Meetings, greetings, eating things you might not like.

Sounds very similar to the Kardashians to me.
(Perhaps less eating though)

I think one of the big achievements of the queen was behaving in a way most people thought was ‘acceptable’ and not saying or doing anything outrageous over a long life. She also attended long functions and met people when she might not have felt like it.

I’m sure I would have done quite a few things the public disapproved of - and if so, the press would have magnified it and I’d probably be quite upset about what social media say. I’d personally not swap my life for one of the royals.

Depends how you look at it. The Queen and royals bring in billions of tourist revenue. They also bring in millions to charities. Charles is highly thought of by his neighbours.

Butitsnotfunnyisititsserious · Today 11:08
Do you not know how to Google things OP? I guess it's a good thing you aren't our head of state.

Oh yes, Butitsnot, I totally agree!

What is wrong with people??? My God, there's been SO much stuff in the printed press, on TV, online about the Queen recently...what more do you want?

Just Google, and it's all there. It's complicated, answering your daft question, and no-one on here can do so in a sentence or two.

Read up on the Queen's 'soft power' - her diplomatic role in hosting and meeting foreign heads of state and dignitaries, especially her State Visit to Ireland in 2011 which enormously helped the Peace Process.

Her anti-apartheid stance and support for Mandela etc.

Plus, for anyone who hasn't been listening for the last decades, she has always said to the Commonwealth (esp Australia, NZ and Canada) that she would be there as long as they want her, but if they decided they didn't - that's fine too, and we could all still be mates. So she was always cool with the idea of independence but wanted it done in an amicable, not an aggressive, way.

You've just got to put in the reading and research if you REALLY want to know the answer to your question. It's all out there.

She played a large part in the billions that the UK made every year from tourism

so what has happened to these billions. How have they been used to improve the lives of ordinary people?

@wincarwoo

You think that makes them special and worthy of adoration and deference?

For me, it’s this: being born into a family where you have so little control of your own life.

Of course, the royal family are extremely privileged in many, MANY ways but I feel it’s taken for granted they have little choice in where they live, what they do for a living, who they marry, how they spend their time, how their children are raised. I could do on. All those big life decision are taken out of their hands.

Of course, there is the choice to opt out of royal duties but those that have done so in recent times, have faced massive backlash from their own flesh and blood. Most feel it’s better to just go along with it, in the main.

The Queen worked until two days before her death, at 96. You cannot even begin to call into question her sense of duty and commitment to service. Even the anti royalists cannot argue with that.

I think there's been a good example of service and duty this past 10 days or so.
I lost my DM september 2020 and my DDad October 2021. They both lived to a grand age (89 and 96) but it's still a shock and very sad when they go - however inevitable that might be.

I had the luxury of dealing with it all in private. I didn't have to be out there travelling up and down the country, immaculately turned out on parade, stiff upper lip saying nice things to thousands of people when I just wanted to be home with my family remembering the good times. Dealing with the difficult members of my family (doesn't every family have them 🤷🏼‍♀️) privately rather than having to put on a show in public. I'd take my life without money and status over theirs any day.
Then there's working every day until 2 days before you die, your workload ramping up at nearly 74 when most "normal" people have wound right down.

I was talking to my cousin who was back from USA last week, he said the plane was full of Americans who adored the Queen and the royal family coming over to pay their respects and put a shedload of money into our economy for the privilege.

What about the soft diplomacy the RF do a fair amount of these days, particularly when the Queen went to Northern Ireland and shook hands with Martin McGuinness ex IRA which did more in one simple action than years of talks had achieved? I think they have their uses...

Posted too soon.

Luxury goods exports. Everyone knew who the Queen was. A survey carried out in China which asked what people associated most with Britain, the Queen was the top answer.

It will be interesting to see how much the passing of the Queen will affect the future of the monarchy.

I didn't say that.

@CulturePigeon

And if you're aware of all that and still don't agree with the over inflated notion of service and duty?

Its a job that is so vastly overpaid its unreal.

Nothing they could do could make up for what they've taken and to male up for their belief that they are better than literally everyone.