prince William - earthshot prize

[Samcro]

could not believe it when I saw the advert for it last night. so PW is presenting this thing. the same Prince who flies all over the world.
obviously won't be watching as him and DA lecturing people about climate change is so hypocritical.
(rant over)

@ShamedBySiri

so if we abolish the RF we keep all those as a nation? Oh good we would have access to use all the rooms at Kensington Palace and not just those the RF are not using.

Do you think the National Trust should also make the properties they manage available for general use by the public?

The National Trust do allow the public in all the properties.

How on earth does anyone know that 'Granny Middleton' steps up?
We don't.
K&W can give whatever impression they like, it's all smoke and mirrors and what they want us to think, fed through the RF PR machine

The Rf traditionally only have one nanny, but they can have other staff to help with the royal kids. So I guess it is the nanny in charge and aides to help out.

I assume they have at least one secretary each also. God I'd love a chef and a secretary, that would be ace! Granny Carol/e has been seen out and about with the children.

The two eldest go to school as well, and the school offers a lot of extracurricular clubs.

julieca

ShamedBySiri
so if we abolish the RF we keep all those as a nation? Oh good we would have access to use all the rooms at Kensington Palace and not just those the RF are not using.

Do you think the National Trust should also make the properties they manage available for general use by the public?

The National Trust do allow the public in all the properties.

Yes, but not all the rooms if the families still live there. And some of the houses are still owned and lived in privately, like Chatsworth.

The National Trust do allow the public in all the properties.

And many - maybe most, I don't know, still have family living in the house with only the main rooms open to the public. I have got the impression, in some houses, that a very substantial part of the house remains private as well as parts of the grounds. Presumably contracts and arrangements vary.
Petworth House has a huge art gallery with a substantial collection, I think the most Turners outside the National Gallery iirc. My head was spinning contemplating the complicated arrangements that must exist to cover things like insurance and security as some of the art in the gallery is still owned by the family who still live there and the remainder, perhaps most of it, belongs to the National Trust. Try unravelling the financial arrangements there. I can't remember if it was there or somewhere else where I found it quite surprising to be shown around some lovely bedrooms which are commandeered for guests when the family are entertaining.

We all just need to be on better guest lists. Then perhaps we'd see less envy on some of these threads.

Chatsworth is not a NT property.
I remember with NT in the past the remaining family member living in part of the property till they died, but everywhere I knew that had this, the person has died and the NT have the whole property.
The equivalent would be if the Queen could live there till she died, and then the property was empty of the RF.

The National Gallery lends out paintings to exhibitions all over. The idea is that not only people in London are able to see the paintings.

julieca I know Chatsworth is not an NT property. As I said, some houses are still privately owned, like Chatsworth (which is still owned by the Devonshires) As in they are not owned by the NT.

There are a range of reasons why many NT properties do not have family living there - many were handed over as a result of the sin and heir being killed in either WW1 or WW2

Both Castle Drogo and Stourhead list their heirs to war.

Others had no children - some of the last owners were bachelors who may it may not have been homosexual but either way had no one to follow in their footsteps.

However others do still have family where family are plentiful. The Wyndhams at Petworth, Carew-Pokes at Antony, Sackville-West's at Knole and Nicholson's at Sissinghurst are all listed in a book on the National Trust I have consulted.

It's not that the deal was "oh well you can stay til you die then it's ours". Negotiations over passing property to the NT were far more complex and family or no immediate family the "donors" usually benefited financially excepting a few who had the desire to preserve their property long after their deaths and wished to preserve their heritage for the nation.

*son and heir

Not sin!

@smilesy

julieca I know Chatsworth is not an NT property. As I said, some houses are still privately owned, like Chatsworth (which is still owned by the Devonshires) As in they are not owned by the NT.

Sure people stay in Chatsworth House. But the house and gardens are owned by a charity, not by the family. The Duke and Duchess pay rent to continue living in their private residences. The RF does not pay anything to live in their palaces and mansions.

Sure people stay in Chatsworth House. But the house and gardens are owned by a charity, not by the family. The Duke and Duchess pay rent to continue living in their private residences.

The "charity* will be a trust arranged mainly for tax purposes and to ensure the property is preserved for generations to come, generations of Devonshires.
They aren't tenants the way normal tenants are!

And whilst I don't know about the rest of the Royal family, H&M were paying rent for Frogmore Cottage, God knows that's been picked over enough by the press. No idea if Eugenie is now picking up the bill.
But they wouldn't pay rent on property they own unless it's for tax reasons. Didn't a pp say Charles rents Highgrove from the Duchy of Cornwall?

No one is paying rent in the normal way that non home owners rent property.

True they are all on a swindle.

@ShamedBySiri Nothing to do with the subject under discussion, I'm afraid.

I'm Australian, and visited Castle Drogo decades ago. I remember being very saddened by the story of the man who had it built.

On a lighter note, I mistakenly addressed my Apple Watch as Alexa, and Siri actually got huffy.

Goodness, how sad is that? Anthropomorphising a watch.

Apologies for the derail @SteppinOutwithMyBaby

The Earthshot finalist interviewed on the radio yesterday was Australian with a project around protecting marine environments.

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0010gjd

Around 7:47 if you can access it in Australia.

I could tell you a funny story about inhabitants of Castle Diego but mustn't derail more. And yes, Siri got huffy and said "That isn't very nice" when I swore as I struggled to get into my car when someone had parked very close to it. I mean - who asked her? She's always listening.....

Been listening to radio four covering the finalists for a waste free world category. The Nairobi based scheme converting food and human waste to fertiliser via black soldier flies is amazing - and just the sort of innovation needed.

@SteppinOutwithMyBaby on the second Earthshot there was an Australian farmer who has changed the way his animals graze the land to help prevent soil erosion. Just in case you were interested.

I was surprised by that Australian finalist. Traditional methods of grazing have long been used in parts of the world to prevent soil erosion.

He wasn’t a finalist, julieca, He was one of the examples of schemes already taking place.

Okay. But it really is just using traditional methods. It is what my FIL used to do.

Yes I know that. It was just interesting how much of a difference it had made. It wasn’t meant to be revolutionary it was just emphasising a way of being in tune with nature. Much like the reintroduction of wolves in Alaska. It has encouraged the herd of moose to niece around instead of staying in one place. No one said it was a new idea.

I dont think it is right to highlight someone for using traditional methods used around the world for hundreds of years.
It is one of the reasons the American Dust Bowl happened, because farmers were encouraged to abandon traditional methods.