Royal Secrets

[Extiainoiapeial]

Critics flag ‘worrying trend’ of keeping royal files under lock and key as thousands set for release to public

This should be interesting. A big cover up again, no doubt.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/jan/11/fears-grow-over-censorship-of-secret-queen-elizabeth-and-philip-papers

The public have a right to know. Too much secrecy.

And actually protecting children through censorship is fair enough

No one else can do that.

Not one person in Great Britain

and full of half truths

Well, no

If I die tomorrow, my bequests within my will is public to everybody

@Shetlands it’s not an accusation. Affairs are not illegal. In fact I always assumed they were common among the aristocracy. I am not shocked and it does not bother me in the least. I also don’t think the RF can, or should conduct their marriages any better than anyone else. I am not accusing PP of having an affair. I am accusing the RF of censorship.

Though if there is a child involved I think it is understandable.

Yes, censorship

If I had a secret child and died tomorrow, and I left them half of my estate, everybody would know

How are they rich privately though? They barely work, they are hardly the brightest bulbs, despite the best education money can buy. They are rich because they are members of the RF, and that money has been taken from the British people at some point in history. Eventually, if they werent members of the RF, their children would have to sell the stately home because they would have to find the money to pay their own maintenance costs. None of them wants to leave the RF or abolish it otherwise they would find a way.

We have no right to know about their personal lives.

We have a right to know, for example, how the civil list money is spent. But just because we might be interested in gossip doesn’t mean it’s in the public interest.

They haven't. I can see them all and the name

There's two separate issues here. We pay for the Royal family so we're entitled to know how it's spent.
But their personal lives are private. We don't pay to know who they are having sex with.

I don't want to know who they are having sex with. I am not interested.

But I think it is very wrong that they are the only people in the whole of Great Britain who can seal their Wills

The thread was initially quite strange, various posts hidden at the point of posting only to appear in full. I think @MereDintofPandiculation is right that a mod bot was being a bit swift and a human mod reinstated them.

I would agree if all they did was have the working royals at events. But they do not. They wheel out their kids, talk about their love for their spouse, tell the public about parts of their private life. If you do that, you do not only get to dictate that only positive things you like can be talked about.

The Queens passing was the time for a serious rethink on the monarchy. Charles had always talked about "slimming it down" and "modernising". Instead it was just buisiness as usual and any criticism of the institution crushed under cries of "it's not the time".
Sadly the monarchy is now more unpopular than ever and the chance to improve things was thrown away.
There should not be a King William without a referendum.

We pay for the police, doctors, nurses etc as they provide a service that we all need. The Royal Family do nothing for the general public. If they all disappeared tomorrow, it wouldn't affect anyone's life, apart from Royal correspondents and gossip columnists.

Nearly every family has embarrassing secrets and stuff that they don’t want the world to know about. The royal family is no different. They have made no real attempt to cover up more recent scandal concerning living royals.

Although the batshit conspiracy theorists would have you believe otherwise.
I think anything to do with health is out of bounds as it as it is for everyone due to medical confidentiality.

Who cares about affairs if the marriages were not affected. Again it’s fairly common among the rest of the population.

Any illegal activities such as murder, fraud and treason, well those should be available.

Unfortunately most people only want the juicy stuff which is hardly relevant when they are no longer around. It’s no surprise that there was a lot of infidelity when most marriages were arranged. Everyone deserves to have at least one loving and passionate relationship in their life. We are only here for a short time why should the royals be denied the experience.

I know this will read like a de-rail. It’s not intended to be.

I always remember hearing about the Windrush papers being destroyed. My first thought was “why were they not in the national archives?.” These were papers of significant historical importance and under the guidance should have at least been scanned before being destroyed.

In my experience as we have moved to digitise communication, the Civil Service has moved further and further away from proper record keeping, retention and disclosure and disposal procedures. In my view a lot of history has been lost and sadly we will have far more historical paper records pre-2000, than modern digital documents post-2000.

There is guidance around when historical documents can be released and I do find it concerning that these may not be followed for the Royal Family. I am particularly concerned with the trend to keep Royal Wills confidential. Diana, Princess of Wales’s Will is public but later wills are not.

I can see some logic, and compassion, in extending the non-disclosure period, to perhaps 5 or 10 years after death but not indefinitely.

I do agree.
I feel for Charles. All these years of waiting and all he could do was carry on with same old same old
It's damaging because there is unease about carrying on like it was. Won't work.
Illness has taken over and William hasn't stepped up to support his father in any way shape or form.
There is no fresh breeze blowing in through this outdated situation, our Monarchy. It's not fresh and alive and moving forward, it's stuck

That's why Harry is in trouble. He wants both.

@Angrymum22 I think you have misunderstood this thread. Not one person has said that members of the royal family shouldn’t be able to love who they want. I totally agree that they should and I pass no judgement whatsoever if any of them have affairs.

The point many of us are making is that we don’t think here should censorship, not that the royal family shouldn’t love who they want.

@Extiainoiapeial I do think Charles would have brought in significant changes, if he had become King when younger, healthier. But as you say, he’s ended up doing the same old.

He appears to be amongst the more intelligent of the RF members, generally speaking. Which is not an accusation I would level at either of his sons.

Only if it goes through probate. Many wills are not high enough in value to pass through probate. If you predeceased your spouse and hold property, stocks and shares or money solely in your name probate will need to be granted but if everything is in joint name probate is not necessary. So your will remains private.

Totally agree. If only he had had the chance to become monarch 20 years ago but our Liz hung on and, unpopular though the opinion might be, it has been very damaging.

I know that.

But we are talking about the royals. So it's irrelevant.

She sure was beautiful when she was younger.

So other than affairs and didn't KC famously say if he didn't have a mistress he'd be the first POW not to do so, and of course Andrew's erm not so secrets is there anything else? seems if there was the press would have leaked it by now.