Royal style & gossip: while Meghan's away, will Kate play?

[QueenOfTheAndals]

Link to previous thread. And not a moment too soon!

I prefer this thread when it's about fashion.... but

Prince Andrew has apartments in BP.
There is a lot of speculation that Charles will not move to BP but I'm not aware that he has specifically said so.
The Queen generally travels by car between Windsor and BP, not by helicopter. She is normally in London on Mondays and Tuesdays, and otherwise for specific scheduled events.

Anne has a flat in SJP & I’ve seen her husband there (not in the flat but by where you park inside). Work not socialising for me.

Zara rocking it at Cheltenham. TBH, I think that's her happy place. She always brings out her best looks for there.

Mike, for once, also looking like he didn't get hit in the head with a shovel . (Rude, I know, but I also married to a former rugger dude - though not anywhere nearly as illustrious).

I think the major difference between Kate and Meghan in context of separate offices is that Kate accepted all the royal family stuff as the price she pays for marrying william. She has a spine of steel, we all agree, but my sense is that in her official capacity she's happy to more within the established lines. Clearly she has things she wants to focus on and I remain convinced she was a big driving force behind the Heads Together campaign but she does't make waves. I have absolutely no doubt however that she is absolutely rigid on what she thinks is best for her family and that if there have ever been run ins with official flunkies its in that context - whether that be school choices, how much time she spends on official events etc.

Meghan on the other hand, found part of Harry's attraction the platform he brings with him. This does not make her greedy and shallow, but the point is that something that was very important to her was also important to Harry. I think we all saw a shift in Harry after he launched Invictus - it was like he woke up one day and realised that instead of railing against the unfairness of the fishbowl he lived in, he could use it to drive his OWN agenda. And this is something Meghan wants to do too.

But all this means that of course they need separate offices. They have completely separate roles and objectives which will diverge even more in time. Increasingly, while much of Kate and William's work will still have a charitable effect, it's gong to be about statewide issues. And with such a charming and personable couple the British government would be crazy not to use them for more of this. They'll be opening railway lines and shopping centres, turning up at government sponsored events etc.

harry and Meghan on the other hand will be doing more and more that have a charitable and/or societal focus. They will be less constrained, eventually, by their closeness to the throne. Thy will have FAR more room to drive the actual direction of their work and be able to choose what they spend their time on. They need a completely different approach.

And their new comms person is a political expert.... I think we can see Meghan TALKING even more, formally and informally.

Mike Tindall has a nose job a couple of years ago. He couldn’t breathe properly

My last post looked so shallow compared the BlingLoving’s thoughtful post ( which I completely agree with)

I do however think Will and Kate are unofficial diplomats for the UK.
I bet that NI trip was arranged pretty quickly given all the kerfuffle with Brexit.
I hope they will be doing more than opening shopping centres.

Mike Tindall is great, he always looks like he realises how batshit the whole royal thing can be but goes along with it as he finds it hilarious, plus he loves Zara.

I like to think he's an honorary member of the WoW (Wives of Windsor) WhatsApp group!

Great post @BlingLoving.

New portrait of Maxima

Yes, yes to @Queen and @Curly. But also @Bling - totally agree with all of that.

That's a lovely portrait of Maxima, and so natural too. No 'work' for her or tonnes of makeup

A lot of talk on Twitter about the Splitting of the Royal households. Apparently it was on the cards 5/6 years ago, but because William is coming close to being Prince of Wales, they want the new households organised now.

Prince Albert is 61.
I didn’t realise he was quite so old!
Charlene is only 41.

I'm sure it was @CurlyWurlyTwirly but the DM will never miss an opportunity to pit two women against each other 🙄

Actually that article by Richard Kay is fine but the headline is misleading. And again with the unflattering photo of Kate looking like the proverbial slapped behind!

@curlywurly, totally agree and I think they WILL be used as diplomats. they're a HUGE asset, it's actually a little mind boggling (see the attempts to use Andrew in a similar way but that didn't exactly work out long term...)

But the shopping centre opening stuff is important too as it allows the monarch or future monarch to engage with "real" people. It's less about a specific agenda and more a general campaign about being visible. Harry and Meghan can choose more things that have a very specific, direct purpose.

Someone said upthread (or previous thread) about all these changes really bringing home the succession planning and the reality that the queen won't be around, or at least not as she is now, indefinitely. It's sad from that perspective. On the upside, I'd like to think it's also about giving highly capable, grown men and women, the opportunity to actually DO something and drive their own agendas. Rather than just being wheeled out. Because let's face it, Harry and Meghan are getting further away from the centre of things and, all being well, William and Kate are not likely to be stepping into their "real" job for a good long while.

I think barring a tragic accident, we'll have a series of OAP monarchs for the foreseeable future.

Andrew doesn't appear on the court circular.
all i see is his pitch@palace which seems like a royal version of dragon's den. where does he get his money from?

I think barring a tragic accident, we'll have a series of OAP monarchs for the foreseeable future.

Maybe William will think differently and abdicate when he's 80 and George is 50.
Charles could easily be king for 25 years.

Andrew probably gets his money from Mummy! Or, like how Charles gets money from the Duchy of Cornwall, is there a Duchy of York that funds him?

It's important to remember that outside of the civil list (or whatever it's called these days) the royal family are extremely wealthy in their own right. I have no idea what's owned by the state vs them individually, but make no mistake, a lot of it is. So if the monarchy was abolished tomorrow and everything that was state-owned was taken away, they'd still be INSANELY wealthy. And, if I recall correctly, a lot of land is actually owned by them in their own right. But the state has the right of use (this is what supposedly is given in exchange for the money they get from the government). So I'd assume if the government stopped giving them that money they could take that land and property back.

The point is that Andrew is wealthy because his parents are wealthy and he will have been given all sorts of assets or a source of income as a result.

Look at the Duke of Devonshire - he owns half of london basically. And is one of the wealthiest men in the world I believe. Certainly in the UK.

Placemarking with no helpful content

I agree again bling very good points.

William and Kate need to be the 'safe hands' the mainstream widely accepted face of the future of the modern royal family. They can't tackle anything to controversial head on. I know Charles may have done but I don't think that's William or Kate's plan. And I think part of the reason they won't is because they have Harry and Meghan to do it for them.

A lot is made about the 'split' or distance between William and Harry and maybe there is some truth in that (not some big fight but natural diffrenting that happens when you both have families). But it also allows H&M the freedom to tackle the more controversial stuff and highlight issues that the royals don't tend to. That in turn allows them to appeal to a whole different part of society that probably think W&K are a bit bland!

To me it's a great piece of forward planning the family are using their strongest assets William and Harry in a pincer like movement to sweep up the most amount of the public. They may all have separate households and I'm not saying they don't have some individual agendas being pushed but the overriding goal of the monarchy is keeping a monarchy.

What goes on behind closed doors no one knows but I'm starting to think that this whole William and Harry feud/distance thing and something just feels off to me. It could be so easily nipped in the bud (publicly at least) but it isn't which makes me think there has to be something to gain for the royals in it.

I think it's the Duke of Westminster who owns most of London. He's only about 25 so is probably the most eligible bachelor in the country!

The duke of Westminster definitely and eligible bachelor also Prince George's godfather I think