Thoughts on Prince William's speech?

[Aspiringmatriarch]

I've been musing on this, I'm not sure I agree with the idea that the Bashir interview created a 'false narrative'. Obviously Diana was lied to, which is appalling, and I'm sure that fueled some of her paranoia but isn't it true that she was spied on at times e.g. with the squidgygate tapes? And she'd already collaborated with Andrew Morton saying many of the same things, and apparently wanted to do an interview after Charles gave his.

I don't know... it just feels odd to me that William is essentially asking for it to be struck from the record. He was apparently angry with her after the Bashir interview and was teased about it at school, which must have been horrible. Is he trying to protect her memory or is there an element of trying to tidy it all away?

I get very confused by Charles's Duchy enterprises. So he sold the organics product to Waitrose, but still has Duchy of Cornwall.

Despite his views on architecture, the Duchy spent £38M on an industrial unit in Milton Keynes. (Article from last year)

Prince Charles, renowned for his aversion to “monstrous carbuncle” buildings, has spent £38m on an industrial depot in Milton Keynes as part of a £102m series of confidential property deals, The Independent can reveal. The purchase of the vast supermarket warehouse through his estate – one of the single largest acquisitions by the Duchy of Cornwall in its 670-year history – was completed 18 months ago but has been kept from being made public.

The Prince bought the sprawling grey warehouse complex in Milton Keynes from an Anglo-Indian property fund, The Independent has established. His tenants are Waitrose, who are using the depot as a lorry distribution hub. The deal offers a glimpse into the hard-nosed business ethos of the Duchy, established in the 14th century to provide an income for the Prince of Wales and his heirs, as well as the multiple layers of confidentiality and opaque procedure that govern the Prince’s commercial dealings.

Under an arrangement which is now being scrutinised by MPs, the Duchy is exempt from capital gains and corporation tax, saving it millions of pounds a year. Charles voluntarily pays income tax.

This is an interesting article.

No transparency whatsoever! And for personal reasons it pisses me off big time he pays no corporation tax.

@NoIdontwanttoseeyourknob

“ being a family man”

Turnip-fancying is a bit inconsistent with that.

Now, now. That's not in the spirit.

Rousette why does he pay no corporation tax?

He avoids it! No idea how

It's amusing that even William's biggest fans can only come up with "he loves his own children" as an example of a cause he cares about.

*William and Catherine are interested in the forms of monarchy and in executing their duties with as much efficiency and precision as possible
How come they're so woefully work-shy and lazy, then?

a focus on their service and duty
Well that certainly doesn't describe William and Kate, who spend far more time tantrumming about poor media coverage, slagging off his own mother, and shopping for endless bespoke couture, than doing service and duty.

it pisses me off big time he pays no corporation tax

No individual pays corporation tax. If there was the political will to remove the Duchy of Cornwall’s exemption from it, the removal of the exemption could be negotiated pretty quickly. I agree with you, no commercial organisation should be exempt from taxation.

Hang on. The same things have been said about Harry, but apparently that was not ok. Why is it ok to do it to William?

That was to Rainy btw

@smilesy

Hang on. The same things have been said about Harry, but apparently that was not ok. Why is it ok to do it to William?

Because of unashamed bias. There’s no pretence of objectivity from that quarter. It’s like Animal Farm except it’s Harry = good, William = bad.

I have to agree that went too far rainy, although I did chuckle at "he loves his own children".

to be fair to PW, he is no different to the queen , she never really shows her true self(ok some rare occasions) she almost "puts on an act" and to be fare it is all an acting role.
I was watching something on the news and PW was smiling and laughing politely. made me think it can't be easy showing interest, when perhaps the person or subject is boring.

The Duchy of Cornwall estate is not a corporation and therefore not subject to corporation tax. Only companies pay corporation tax.

There are many large organisations which are not incorporated as companies. All of them -including the Duchy of Cornwall- pay income tax instead of corporation tax.

From the Independent article: Under an arrangement which is now being scrutinised by MPs, the Duchy is exempt from capital gains and corporation tax, saving it millions of pounds a year.

Any scrunity which is being discussed by MP's would need to be applied to all organisations which are not incorporated as companies, not just the Duchy of Cornwall (as this article extract seems to imply).

Charles offloaded Duchy Originals to Waitrose when it stopped turning him a profit.

All profits from the sale of Duchy Originals products are donated to The Prince of Wales's Charitable Foundation. There is a greater return to the charity from Waitrose than if Duchy Original production remained 'in house'.

Prince Charles.......has spent £38m on an industrial depot in Milton Keynes as part of a £102m series of confidential property deals, The Independent can reveal.....The purchase.....was completed 18 months ago but has been kept from being made public.

Again, somewhat disingenuous reporting from The Independent. I'm sure they must be aware that since 1838, all property transactions with a value of £500,000 or more must be approved by the Treasury first. The Duchy’s annual accounts are reviewed by the House of Commons and the House of Lords, with the aim to satisfy Parliament that the Treasury is fulfilling its statutory responsibilities. In practice this means the property deal was approved by the Treasury before it was completed. Indeed if the aim of this purchase was to aid Waitrose with the distribution of Duchy Originals products, any increase in profits as a result would go straight to The Prince of Wales's Charitable Foundation.

Our MP's have the ability to scrutinise the (non-public) annual accounts - I'm sure many MP's could do a much better job on our behalf.

Main source.

Thanks @goldierocks. I didn’t know any of that and it’s really interesting.

@ohforarainyday

It's amusing that even William's biggest fans can only come up with "he loves his own children" as an example of a cause he cares about.

*William and Catherine are interested in the forms of monarchy and in executing their duties with as much efficiency and precision as possible
How come they're so woefully work-shy and lazy, then?

a focus on their service and duty
Well that certainly doesn't describe William and Kate, who spend far more time tantrumming about poor media coverage, slagging off his own mother, and shopping for endless bespoke couture, than doing service and duty.

I've not observed any tantrumming from W&K and to be fair, whilst they all have access to and funds for bespoke culture, Kate is careful to rewear clothes and use high street and British labels. I'm not that keen on the concept of the RF, although I do like HMQ, Anne, William, Kate and Edward and Sophie for quietly getting on with it all. The others appear to be less dignified quite frankly. So I think your comments here are going a bit far. As others have said, it's a public role and part of that role is to be (or pretend to be) interested in whatever that engagement is supposed to be promoting. I think W&K don't spend a lot of time talking about service and duty, but just get on with it. As you'd expect.

*culture=couture!
Wretched autocarrot!

Typical Mumsnet double standards.

Three years of the most extreme non-stop abuse and lies constantly hurled at Meghan - three years of her literally being called n***r whore, narcissist, liar, horrible lies about her hitting Charlotte, having no friends, having a sex tape, horrible lies about Doria. Just three years of hate hate hate hate, usually with almost no pushback (and anyone who says a word in Meghan's defence - there's usually only a couple - gets stalked and trolled, followed around the board, doxxed, constantly personally attacked, has nasty threads started about them on other forums, etc. Even posters who dislike Meghan who have objected to racist abuse have been attacked and trolled.)

Yet the second anyone voices even the tiniest whisper of criticism or negative opinion towards William or Kate, everyone explodes in outrage.

My post was completely factual. Kate's expansive wardrobe of bespoke couture and the frequency with which she appears in new outfits has been well-documented online and in the press. William's furious response to negative press coverage (the angry letter over the Tatler article; the human rights statement in response to an article about Kate falling out with a neighbour), all well-documented. William and Kate's low engagement numbers and the fact Kate was exposed as having not visited two of her patronages since the day she became patron, both a matter of public record. William's own statement where he called his mother "paranoid" twice within two minutes, implied she was manipulated into giving a false statement, and called for his mother's own words to be censored, can be viewed by anyone with an Internet connection and I am perfectly entitled to express an opinion that calling your mother paranoid is "slagging her off."

It's also telling that the posters who are outraged at the Cambridges being criticised never have any factual response. They aren't willing to debate the issues. In fact they don't appear willing to discuss the Cambridges at all. Their only rebuttal is to throw abuse and insults at other posters for "being nasty" when they themselves have posted many far nastier things.

Because of unashamed bias. There’s no pretence of objectivity from that quarter. It’s like Animal Farm except it’s Harry = good, William = bad.
That's fucking rich. 99% of the time on here it's H&M= EVIL MONSTERS W&K=Perfect angels who are above all criticism, with anyone who has a different opinion subject to intense abuse and harassment.

Why is it permitted to attack Meghan and Harry, but not permitted to criticise William?

@goldierocks

The Duchy of Cornwall estate is not a corporation and therefore not subject to corporation tax. Only companies pay corporation tax.

There are many large organisations which are not incorporated as companies. All of them -including the Duchy of Cornwall- pay income tax instead of corporation tax.

From the Independent article: Under an arrangement which is now being scrutinised by MPs, the Duchy is exempt from capital gains and corporation tax, saving it millions of pounds a year.

Any scrunity which is being discussed by MP's would need to be applied to all organisations which are not incorporated as companies, not just the Duchy of Cornwall (as this article extract seems to imply).

Charles offloaded Duchy Originals to Waitrose when it stopped turning him a profit.

All profits from the sale of Duchy Originals products are donated to The Prince of Wales's Charitable Foundation. There is a greater return to the charity from Waitrose than if Duchy Original production remained 'in house'.

Prince Charles.......has spent £38m on an industrial depot in Milton Keynes as part of a £102m series of confidential property deals, The Independent can reveal.....The purchase.....was completed 18 months ago but has been kept from being made public.

Again, somewhat disingenuous reporting from The Independent. I'm sure they must be aware that since 1838, all property transactions with a value of £500,000 or more must be approved by the Treasury first. The Duchy’s annual accounts are reviewed by the House of Commons and the House of Lords, with the aim to satisfy Parliament that the Treasury is fulfilling its statutory responsibilities. In practice this means the property deal was approved by the Treasury before it was completed. Indeed if the aim of this purchase was to aid Waitrose with the distribution of Duchy Originals products, any increase in profits as a result would go straight to The Prince of Wales's Charitable Foundation.

Our MP's have the ability to scrutinise the (non-public) annual accounts - I'm sure many MP's could do a much better job on our behalf.

Main source.

Hmm...

Dear readers, please be very wary of any attempt to present royal financial affairs as transparent.
They aren’t.

The source linked in goldierocks post is the Duchy of Cornwall itself.

Why is it permitted to attack Meghan and Harry, but not permitted to criticise William?

@ohforarainyday - I agree with you but won't copy the thread. Lots of W&K fans think it's ok to tear into H&M for petty reasons but can't accept criticism of W&K. Being work shy is interpreted as being dignified and quietly getting on with it. Reminds me of avocados and tummy rubs!

Transparent - most definitely not.

Could they be much more closely scrutinised and investigated by those we vote in to represent us - absolutely yes. Some MP's do this much better than others.

I don't think many posters look to compare Harry to William actually.

I think critique of Harry does not need one of William or vice versa.

I do however find the efforts by some posters to critique William quite hilarious though

• He may have had an affair (the affair Harry was thrown under the bus to cover up yet we all know about it) probably because Charles had an affair and upper class men do so .....but no one actually knows.
• he doesn't have a standout interest/hobby = because he hasn't created a trust by 28
• he is workshy but no one here actually know what his day is like
• his wife is dull and has too much designer gear (in relation to what I don't know)
• he is controlled by the men in suits to the point he allows himself to be changed to a commercial flight and photographed to be used against his brother. Sounds logical.
• he goes through the back door of places to avoid camilla
• he wants to control history and what the British public can see because he'd quite like the BBC not to profit from or exploit an interview obtained by underhand means.

Am I missing anything?

Same posters who call those who criticise M&H nuts!!! (And some indeed are but glass houses....)

I've posted positive things about Kate and have praised her for things I believe deserve praise. I said nothing but nice things about the photography book. I praised the Book Fairies project (was only critical about the poor quality of the editing and audio-visuals, which is a criticism of their SM team).

Even on this thread I've praised Kate's genuine passion for children's well-being, and highlighted that she's sporty and has real interests.

When have any of the Meghan haters ever said one single good word about her?

I think I was thinking more in terms of there have been requests not to derail this thread by referring to Harry, so it seems to me that some think that is carte blanche to attack other members of the Royal family in ways unrelated to the topic of discussion. This is bound to cause a reaction and derail the thread in itself. I am just observing the way the thread is going. I am not attacking Harry or defending William or anyone else.

Criticise who you like, but this is a forum, expect people to disagree. The ONLY person I've seen post truly awful things about MM, is you. I'm sorry Rainy, I think your style of posting encourages people to dislike M&H.