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The royal family
Original poster

It's shocking how much harder the older Royals are working

357 replies

tatalan · 31/12/2022 09:14

The Princess of Wales barely outworked Queen Elizabeth who died in early September after cancelling a series of engagements.

Charles and Anne look to be carrying the monarchy at present. The Earl and Countess of Wessex are grafting hard as well.

What do William and Kate spend their days doing? Surely as young energetic members of the RF, they should be pulling their weight.

It's shocking how much harder the older Royals are working
It's shocking how much harder the older Royals are working
OP posts:
pigalow27 · 31/12/2022 10:30

I think the focus on just actual engagements counting as work is slightly ingenuous. It's like someone in a forward facing job only saying that time with clients or the public is work. I'm sure we all have careers (GP, solicitor, teacher) where a lot of the work is done 'behind the scenes' and after hours. Similarly the Prince and Princess of Wales are 'working' when they are reading briefs about the charity or organisation they are visiting or when they are in their private offices meeting with their staff, planning their calendar and working on speeches they will give. These are still work activities. It's like the people who believe teachers only work when they are actually teaching in the classroom but give no thought to how and when those lessons were planned and resources created!

ShamedBySiri · 31/12/2022 10:32

anonexhausted · 31/12/2022 09:20

Looking after their young children? Perhaps C&C, along with other senior royals, want to give them the opportunity to be as close to a normal family as they can for as long as they can, given they know better than anyone the burden William and Kate Will be taking on?

Exactly.

There will also be much behind the scenes work that we don't know about that doesn't involve an official visit.

As Duke of Cornwall William will spend much time managing the Duchy, meeting tenants, looking at ongoing projects etc.

Using official engagements as a measure of hard work is a blunt tool.

And whilst William probably doesn't have to think about clothes much, I assume a valet puts out a clean suit and shirt for him, as a woman Catherine does have to think about her clothes. It must be quite irksome and time consuming - I very much doubt it is the fun how to spend money and free time activity that some posters think it is.
She appears to have a system to reduce time and effort involved, maintaining her figure means designers will not need to do fittings very often, choosing the same shoes so she can just buy more if the same, rewearing items, buying some items in more than one colour version.

But still - imagine planning a big overseas tour - formal evening wear, which designers/colours/styles will honour the country they are visiting etc. It must be a real headache and not one I would relish.

Santasjingleballs · 31/12/2022 10:32

Total disrespect for people who actually work and pay taxes which goes towards the royal family to fund their lifestyle.
showing up at events in fancy designer outfits for photoshoot and cutting ribbons is not work. So no I don’t they any of them work very “hard” in fact their on benefits, we are the ones funding their lives. So piss off with royals working hard bs…

ShamedBySiri · 31/12/2022 10:35

Ohnonevermind · 31/12/2022 09:23

Kate has three children, I’m glad she spends time with them, they are still young .

Needs repeating often.

How to break that pattern Harry has complained of.
Between engagements, tours, boarding school and splitting holiday time 50/50 with Charles after they split up (and in reality probably for quite a long time before) you could probably count the days Diana actually spent with her sons in the low hundreds.

Original poster
tatalan · 31/12/2022 10:36

ShamedBySiri · 31/12/2022 10:32

Exactly.

There will also be much behind the scenes work that we don't know about that doesn't involve an official visit.

As Duke of Cornwall William will spend much time managing the Duchy, meeting tenants, looking at ongoing projects etc.

Using official engagements as a measure of hard work is a blunt tool.

And whilst William probably doesn't have to think about clothes much, I assume a valet puts out a clean suit and shirt for him, as a woman Catherine does have to think about her clothes. It must be quite irksome and time consuming - I very much doubt it is the fun how to spend money and free time activity that some posters think it is.
She appears to have a system to reduce time and effort involved, maintaining her figure means designers will not need to do fittings very often, choosing the same shoes so she can just buy more if the same, rewearing items, buying some items in more than one colour version.

But still - imagine planning a big overseas tour - formal evening wear, which designers/colours/styles will honour the country they are visiting etc. It must be a real headache and not one I would relish.

Show quote history

All these excuses 😂

May William and Kate continue living their best lives 👌

OP posts:
thecraftyfox · 31/12/2022 10:37

A 12 hour day. Wow, that's a standard shift for nursing. Without travel time.

ShamedBySiri · 31/12/2022 10:37

keiratwiceknightly · 31/12/2022 09:27

Part time for the royals is not what we pjs a think of as part time. 138 engagements across the year is about 2.5 a week which sounds reasonable if you think in terms of each one being a day. But a phone call is an engagement. They may fit 3 in during one day - a town centre meet and greet followed by a meeting with local councillors, then whisked in their chauffeur driven car to another town where they chat to some fundraisers for the local hospice. All done in an hour and a half. The PW will spend longer getting ready for a day like that than she does actually working 🙄

Don't you think each engagement might involve a certain amount of time researching and getting up with the facts and names and so forth beforehand?

I imagine they spend a lot of time in this way.

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 31/12/2022 10:38

When Elizabeth and Phillip were newly married, with two primary aged children, up until the King took ill, they lived in Malta and did zero engagements. That was when she was the direct heir.

She stepped in once he fell ill.

ShamedBySiri · 31/12/2022 10:39

pigalow27 · 31/12/2022 10:30

I think the focus on just actual engagements counting as work is slightly ingenuous. It's like someone in a forward facing job only saying that time with clients or the public is work. I'm sure we all have careers (GP, solicitor, teacher) where a lot of the work is done 'behind the scenes' and after hours. Similarly the Prince and Princess of Wales are 'working' when they are reading briefs about the charity or organisation they are visiting or when they are in their private offices meeting with their staff, planning their calendar and working on speeches they will give. These are still work activities. It's like the people who believe teachers only work when they are actually teaching in the classroom but give no thought to how and when those lessons were planned and resources created!

Well said

Original poster
tatalan · 31/12/2022 10:39

Santasjingleballs · 31/12/2022 10:32

Total disrespect for people who actually work and pay taxes which goes towards the royal family to fund their lifestyle.
showing up at events in fancy designer outfits for photoshoot and cutting ribbons is not work. So no I don’t they any of them work very “hard” in fact their on benefits, we are the ones funding their lives. So piss off with royals working hard bs…

I used to believe it was disrespectful but I've come to realise that some Brits actually don't mind..some on here are giving reasons as to why their numbers are that low. The RF genuinely have it made.

OP posts:
raffys · 31/12/2022 10:42

I think they are trying to give their children as much of a normal upbringing as possible. Kate was watching George play rugby with all the other parents at my sons school a few weeks ago. If she was covering the most engagements she'd get flamed for never being there for her 3 young kids.

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 31/12/2022 10:45

Also, why should she have to do the most engagements? She is raising the future king, the future Princess Royal and the future clown of the Royal family. There's many more members who receive public funding who aren't responsible for making sure the next monarch after William is fit for it.

Chewbecca · 31/12/2022 10:45

I thought it was well known that W&K are very lazy, W especially. It's not exactly giving their DC a normal life.

Stickytoff · 31/12/2022 10:47

I think they are probably taking a break. Even the king seems to be doing less than his late mother. It makes sense they have had a lot of stuff to deal with these past few months.

The situation for William is going to be extremely difficult in the future as the only working royals will be his children and we can all see how well that went for William and Harry when it was tried before.

SandyThumb · 31/12/2022 10:52

Lots of lack of understanding about how royal engagements work on this thread. For many engagements they don't just hop in the royal car, rock up, shake hands and leave. There are briefings beforehand, background documents to read, so they understand the context and can have useful and relevant conversations. For Kate especially there will be a lot of planning re wardrobe etc

Where they are patrons of charities they may be involved in behind the scenes meetings etc.
I worked with a well-known celeb (not royal) who was patron of our charity and she made a lot of time-consuming contributions - providing comments for literature and social media, making helpful links and introductions.

Anyway, as others have said, 2022 isn't a typical year. I bet those figures will go up massively in 2023.

felulageller · 31/12/2022 10:53

George Charlotte and Louis will have a nanny each.

Kate won't have so much as touched laundry, a duster, a hoover or done the dishes for 12 years.

They do no life admin or tidying toys off the floor.

She spends her days in the gym by the looks of it.

Original poster
tatalan · 31/12/2022 10:56

SandyThumb · 31/12/2022 10:52

Lots of lack of understanding about how royal engagements work on this thread. For many engagements they don't just hop in the royal car, rock up, shake hands and leave. There are briefings beforehand, background documents to read, so they understand the context and can have useful and relevant conversations. For Kate especially there will be a lot of planning re wardrobe etc

Where they are patrons of charities they may be involved in behind the scenes meetings etc.
I worked with a well-known celeb (not royal) who was patron of our charity and she made a lot of time-consuming contributions - providing comments for literature and social media, making helpful links and introductions.

Anyway, as others have said, 2022 isn't a typical year. I bet those figures will go up massively in 2023.

LMAO 😂

OP posts:
MusicstillonMTV · 31/12/2022 10:58

Whoever does their PR is definitely earning their keep. It's genuinely impressive that they are still popular and that people defend them

They have basically always been idle - even before kids, they didn't do a lot.

AreOttersJustWetCats · 31/12/2022 10:59

QueefofSheena · 31/12/2022 10:07

And your point is? We also had children working up chimneys then FFS.

I don’t think any of this can be described as work in the way most people understand it. Having dressers, hairdressers, getting chauffeured to venues or onto private planes. It’s a massive pisstake to describe it as an effort, and the rewards are obscene.

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It was a genuine question actually. I have no idea whether the concept of a "working royal" is a recent one.

SandyThumb · 31/12/2022 11:02

tatalan · 31/12/2022 10:56

LMAO 😂

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Laugh away... and your insider knowledge is from where exactly?

The internet? ah right....

LMAO 😂

Roussette · 31/12/2022 11:02

Lots of lack of understanding about how royal engagements work on this thread. For many engagements they don't just hop in the royal car, rock up, shake hands and leave. There are briefings beforehand, background documents to read, so they understand the context and can have useful and relevant conversations. For Kate especially there will be a lot of planning re wardrobe etc

Oh purleeeease! Yes on the wardrobe planning agree with that, but the rest, NO. They have private secretaries, aides, courtiers... everything will be prepared to the nth degree for them. They quite possibly just have a bullet point sheet to refer to and the rest is just schmoozing and nodding in the right place. If they don't ask much, it doesn't matter because they are royal ! If they smile and move on to the next person because they haven't a scooby what the person is talking about, it doesn't matter because they are royal and revered!

They are hardly up till midnight preparing documents for a presentation, waiting for others to provide the information they need to make a slideshow. Then getting up at 5am to catch a train to the venue and finding out there's been a problem with the line so frantically trying to work out how to get there to do this presentation. Then when it's over, rushing to get back to the childminders, it ran late and you are frantic. Then putting 3 children to bed and dropping in exhaustion and the kitchen is a mess.
Please don't tell me they work hard.

Their engagement record is appalling. Dukes of Gloucester and Kent who are 80s and one 87, did as much as them!

MusicstillonMTV · 31/12/2022 11:05

The thing is that you can't have it both ways, if every royal engagement entails so much work and time, how are other royals in their 70s and 80s managing it?

Mirabai · 31/12/2022 11:06

keiratwiceknightly · 31/12/2022 09:32

Oh the Cambridges are shockingly lazy really. Fine if you can afford it. Bad form on the taxpayer's money.

This.

AreOttersJustWetCats · 31/12/2022 11:08

MusicstillonMTV · 31/12/2022 11:05

The thing is that you can't have it both ways, if every royal engagement entails so much work and time, how are other royals in their 70s and 80s managing it?

Precisely. Either it's exhausting, with hours of prep needed for each one, or it's an easy enough workload for an 80 yr old

AnnunciataZ · 31/12/2022 11:08

The poor Duke of Kent looks ready to drop! Isn't it about time he retired and a younger royal took some of his duties? Princess Alexandra is in her 80s too. The Gloucesters are "only" in their 70s but how much longer can they go on?