Thanks for sharing this. I somehow get all my royal news from Mumsnet, I wouldn’t know what to to search for. Why has the Sun made this newsworthy? What’s wrong with a grandmother inviting her grandson for a chat? Isn’t that normal?
The royal family has all sorts of protocols for which an outsider will find difficult to follow and some of which must be quite stifling. Also, the hierarchic structure must make it a very dysfunctional function and yet I often find myself sympathising with the more human aspects, because unlike how most families functions, with their ups and downs, you aren’t living in a goldfish bowl. Every facial expression and your body language is scrutinised and analysed and then people wonder why some members of the royal family might be more reserved. They’re there to function as a role, expected to be the backdrop, not have too much of a personality so as not to detract from the attention of the cause and yet be charming. It’s a fine balancing act and the constitutional role the royal family has, it will be very difficult to simply remove that out of the equation. As a pragmatist, I do see the benefits the royal family can bring and how if the government is left completely to their own devices, how much it will really effect our day to day lives.
I don’t agree with the antiquated standards and if I had to choose between Charles and the rest of his siblings to be the one to replace the queen, I’d choose Anne. Instead of the “spare to the heir” playing a supporting role in the shadows, always being careful not to overshadow the lead, this sort of thing cannot work in the modern day world. Harry and Meghan have good qualities that can be utilised, perhaps they may prefer their own leading roles rather than be seen as supporting actor and that should have been encouraged.
It is interesting to see the few changes that have been made between how each generation operates, how the Queen was with her children, to how Diana was with hers, to how William and Kate and now Meghan and Harry choose to bring their children up. And those are the few things are almost documented due to the media scrutiny, the rest of the members of the family may well raise their children to the way others mentioned have but it’s not been scrutinised as heavily due to their line of succession. It must make for a simpler not to have that scrutiny.
I wonder what they think of the protocols they follow? Or have they followed them their whole lives and suddenly having outsiders and onlookers experiencing things that they took things as a given, shaken things up just a tad? How much power and autonomy do they really have over their own lives? It might be easier to live like a rich private family away from all the gawkers.
It’s not an enviable place to be in. What you say or do being leaked must make one quite paranoid of who to really trust. It must play havoc with one’s mental health, the level of media scrutiny and the unhealthy manipulation the tabloids seem to have of building people up to topple them or magnify something out of proportion successfully stoking up public sentiment and yet just smile and nod, don’t explain and never complain. Follow protocol or don’t follow protocol, damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Not a life I’d want in a million years.