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?

Yes @astonafar I don't think eh could either - think he'd mess it up quite quickly by getting involved in something political or seen as non-PC

If Charles kept quite quiet with known causes that could work

I do think the Queen has been short sighted with no abdicating before because she's an impossible act to follow.
She could've still been around whilst Charles took the reins and it would have eased the british public in.
He's going to have a very hard job to win or woo the public.

Katherine I can't see Charles moving in to BP either. He stayed at Highgrove when PP died giving his thoughts from there, and apparently Camilla spends a lot of time at her Wiltshire home (not suggesting anything here, I just read that she did - I'm prepared to be corrected!)
I think it will be a siesmic change for him. I know how rural Highgrove is... it is very different being in the centre of London, and Charles loves his gardens and the farm at Highgrove, he's a country person at heart.

Charles is also getting older and his puffy hands and feet suggest not in the best of health.

Will he have much of a choice re where to live? I think the Queen wanted to stay at Clarence House originally rather than move to BP but in the end the whole family moved. He'd have to spend a great deal of time in London anyway, if he becomes king. His parents were both very active and carrying out lots of engagements when they were his age so he won't be able to hide in the countryside!

It will be interesting to see if he does manage a half in half out (haha... just a joke!) between countryside and middle of London

I think part of the trouble is that the queen should have stepped down about 20 years ago. That would have allowed PC to have been king, he could then have stepped down after about 20 years and passed it on to william.
PC is going to be an old King, totally unrelateble.
Same will happen with william.

@KatherineParr
This is a good question. I often wondered if PC becomes king, will he retain his staff ? What will happen to the BP staff. Sometimes, I feel like BP advises HMQ to remain in office in order to keep themselves there.

PC runs a tight ship at CH and Highgrove - after all, they basically let him
keep some kind of second wife / mistress without leaking a drop. You will also notice that very few of the 'palace sources' seem to originate from there.

I wonder if BP feel like they would not be able to control PC. He has a stubborn streak of not being easily influenced, I think. He did marry Camilla, kept on with his environment projects etc. I suspect that they have to be quite harsh with him to get him to do things he does not believe in.

We always get a let's jump to W poll now and again, so I think this is a warning to him when he does not obey orders.

Let's face it, in her 90s, HMQ would probably like to spend that time doting on great grandkids, tending the garden and taking in the quality of life and nature like most people her age - does not mean she doesn't have her wits about her. Especially after the husbands death, most people would like to lap up life's little luxuries at this stage.

@KatherineParr

I know I'll be attacked for saying this but I'm not sure that members of the public (which I'm presuming we all are) can say that we know Diana's state of mind better than one of her children.

I agree with you. It's a cruel point of view. Diana leaned on William emotionally and probably told him too much.

I always get the feeling that the Queen would be happiest if she could live permanently at Balmoral.

Diana leaned on William emotionally and probably told him too much.

This really v sad and highly inappropriate if true. Add on leaving him unsupported after the interview and you have some very neglectful and inadequate parenting.

I don’t think Diana was a particularly good parent. She loved her children but was totally self absorbed. I think William has a different perspective on his mother then Harry who has a more rose tinted version.

Charles wouldn't need to base himself entirely at Highgrove - he's got a London residence at Clarence House (where the Queen and Prince Philip lived before George VI died.) So he could easily just stay on there and I suspect he will as nobody in the family seems to like Buckingham Palace and it could be good PR for them to say they won't live there anymore. The Queen tried this back in 1952 but Churchill, who was PM at the time, reacted quite badly. Times have changed though...

How dreadful to have a 800 roomed Palace that nobody in the RF even likes! It might be good PR to not live there if they actually did something with it that is not just opening it to the public for a few weeks a year.
The staffing and upkeep must be horrendous. Although it's currently being updated and has been for years, last cost estimate was £370M.

@Roussette
In that case, do you think they could open it up all year round like Versailles ?

Yes, but it should be all year round. But of course people work there so who knows....

I went to Versailles on my honeymoon 35 years ago, can barely remember the detail, but do have an enduring memory of lots of gold opulence and the most amazing gardens. And trees, I remember the trees. It wasnt busy and it was very romantic

The upkeep costs are absolutely astronomical. I know that people normally suggest turning BP into a hospital/school/something else that's useful but by all accounts it isn't particularly well designed and I would hate to think of the costs involved in running it.

Opening it up all year round would definitely help to generate some much needed income Mummy194. I suspect they'd want to keep all the offices/investitures/state visit stuff there and I wonder how problematic that would be.

I think opening BP year round would be a great idea. No one wants to live there by the sounds of it! It is big enough for state occasions and public visits. I went to Holyrood last year and that is really interesting. I imagine BP has similar potential.

I did think of Holyrood but the RF use it very rarely, I think the Queen spends a week or two there on the way up to Balmoral each year. Does anyone know if it's closed while she is there?

I did remember thinking how sad it was that Holyrood is so rarely used - it's absolutely beautiful. If I could I would happily live there all year round.

I think I read somewhere that, as with every other tourist attraction, BP lost a lot of revenue due to Covid. So I think it's already bringing in quite sum from allowing tourists in.

I don't think there will be the same pressure to live at BP as there was for the Queen. Clarence House must be much easier to maintain as a private residence, and Buckingham Palace could easily be used as a place for events more than anything else.

Charles can always stay there for state visits etc (do people like the President of the USA stay there when they come for state visits?) as necessary, but I don't think there is a need for him to live there.

There must be so much history in the building that it may be better served by being open to the public most of the time, save for when it needs to be closed for security for state visits etc.

I do wonder what will happen to all the Queen's homes though. She has Balmoral, Sandringham, Windsor and BP.

Charles has Highgrove and Clarence House.

They need to keep Balmoral as a presence in Scotland - plus they all seem to love the place. Will Charles keep Highgrove? It seems convenient if Camilla does spend a lot of time at her home nearby (I think to see her grandchildren), but then there's still Windsor and Sandringham.

Maybe W&C will take Sandringham as an upgrade from Anmer Hall? Plus it looks as though there is a suggestion that they spend more time in Scotland to try to solidify the union.

Someone on a previous thread suggested that H&M would be offered Highgrove when Charles became king, but that seems unnecessary now, as they look unlikely to spend much, if any, time in the UK.

Do they rent out any of these places? Like Anmer Hall, wikipedia suggests that it was rented out prior to the Queen gifting it to W&C.

You can't really rent out Windsor castle though!

When he becomes King, Charles will have to spend time in London (Clarence House?) like it or not. He works for a firm that will have just promoted him to the top job and will have to relocate as necessary. He makes a very good living from the firm and it would not be well received if he decides to be a country-bumpkin ruler based at Highgrove. Opening BP to the public all year has already been well covered in the media and seems a sensible solution - it's hideous from the outside and must be pretty grim to live in and at least the pandemic enabled HMQ to move to Windsor to spend quality time with PP.

I do wonder what will happen to all the Queen's homes though. She has Balmoral, Sandringham, Windsor and BP

The RF have 26 royal residences.... far far more than just those. It's quite an eye opener on this map. Castles and palaces all over the country. Apart from those there are Hillsborough Castle, Birkhall, Gatcombe, Royal Lodge, Bagshot, and so on....

Will Charles keep Highgrove?

I do not think for one minute Charles would ever give up Highgrove. There's a documentary on youtube with Alan Titchmarsh which is interesting. He has had the place for thirty years and transformed the massive gardens and talked about it as if it were his child! He actually said in the documentary he would never give it up, it's been a labour of love for him, and where he spends most of his time.

I can't imagine how he will cope living out of London.

he may skip and W may become the king.

@KatherineParr

I did think of Holyrood but the RF use it very rarely, I think the Queen spends a week or two there on the way up to Balmoral each year. Does anyone know if it's closed while she is there?

I did remember thinking how sad it was that Holyrood is so rarely used - it's absolutely beautiful. If I could I would happily live there all year round.

I would have assumed that they would close it when she comes around, for security, as it's really for a short while.

The place is absolutely lovely. A vlogger I like did a mini tour a couple of weeks ago.

[quote Mummy194]@KatherineParr
This is a good question. I often wondered if PC becomes king, will he retain his staff ? What will happen to the BP staff. Sometimes, I feel like BP advises HMQ to remain in office in order to keep themselves there.

PC runs a tight ship at CH and Highgrove - after all, they basically let him
keep some kind of second wife / mistress without leaking a drop. You will also notice that very few of the 'palace sources' seem to originate from there.

I wonder if BP feel like they would not be able to control PC. He has a stubborn streak of not being easily influenced, I think. He did marry Camilla, kept on with his environment projects etc. I suspect that they have to be quite harsh with him to get him to do things he does not believe in.

We always get a let's jump to W poll now and again, so I think this is a warning to him when he does not obey orders.

Let's face it, in her 90s, HMQ would probably like to spend that time doting on great grandkids, tending the garden and taking in the quality of life and nature like most people her age - does not mean she doesn't have her wits about her. Especially after the husbands death, most people would like to lap up life's little luxuries at this stage.[/quote]
Given that it would take an act of Parliament to change the law of succession to make William king, I think that’s doubtful. It’s not up to ‘BP’.

@Roussette

I do wonder what will happen to all the Queen's homes though. She has Balmoral, Sandringham, Windsor and BP

The RF have 26 royal residences.... far far more than just those. It's quite an eye opener on this map. Castles and palaces all over the country. Apart from those there are Hillsborough Castle, Birkhall, Gatcombe, Royal Lodge, Bagshot, and so on....

Will Charles keep Highgrove?

I do not think for one minute Charles would ever give up Highgrove. There's a documentary on youtube with Alan Titchmarsh which is interesting. He has had the place for thirty years and transformed the massive gardens and talked about it as if it were his child! He actually said in the documentary he would never give it up, it's been a labour of love for him, and where he spends most of his time.

I can't imagine how he will cope living out of London.

I agree with this, but the Duchy of Cornwall owns Highgrove House, so once Charles is King it will belong to William rather than Charles.

Sandringham and Balmoral belong to the Queen personally, so she could eg leave to someone other than Charles in her will. It seems unlikely that would happen as it would mean paying inheritance tax on them. Gatcombe Park belongs to Princess Anne personally, and Birkhall belongs to Charles personally. Nearly everything else I think belongs to the Crown itself.