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The royal family
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Balcony photo

153 replies

AskMeMore · 08/05/2023 23:57

I have a few questions about this photo.

  1. Everything I have read said it was supposed to be working Royals only on the balcony, but there is Camilla's grandchildren and page boys. Why?
  2. Why this particular pose? I would have thought William and Kate would be in a more prominent position beside Charles and Camilla, instead off way off to the side. So what is the reasoning behind the positioning?
Balcony photo
OP posts:
rattymol · 16/05/2023 11:18

Louise is 19 years old, so strange to see comments about how things will change once she is 18.

notanotheroneagain · 16/05/2023 11:22

sunshinesupermum · 09/05/2023 09:29

I was also disappointed in the balcony photo, expecting he heir to the throne to be next to the King rather than non royal page boys with the PoW, Kate and their 3 children squashed together further along. The pageboys could have been behind the King, ready to lift his train after the photocall.

Just caught up with this thread now.

And yes, that is my take.

As expected, the Harry bashing and equating him to Andrew as expected.

Don't know why this is the main picture for the balcony. See no reason why the page boys are up on the balcony looking down (possibly waiving?) at the masses, being front and centre. They are not RF.

With HMQE, she had her dc in front of her and PP. An heir and a spare (not working), so technically, W&H were supposed to be close by with their families.

So maybe W&K with their dc next to KC, and H&M with their dc next to K&W. Then page boys if needed.

On Camilla's side, she doesn't need her children there, because they belong to the Parker Bowles clan (just as Anne's dc going on another line).

As the spouse, if you look at the HMQE coronation, PP pageboys, are in the back row. This means Camilla's maids/pageboys would not have to be in front. Meaning next to hers should be other working royals, with her support behind them.

For the queen, QM and Margaret were next to PP, definitely front . Then everyone else was at the edges. Not sure we had 'working royals' back then.

I suppose that Camilla chose that specific age and gender for pageboys to match her own grandchildren (and her sisters), so they get stamped into history. There was no need for her to have page boys that age. She could have chosen girls of Louise age, or boys of Severn's age. Anything. This is what she came up with.

Balcony photo
Whenharrymetsmelly · 16/05/2023 11:39

Sugarfree23 · 16/05/2023 09:52

It's a bit like organising a wedding, trying not to put noses out of joint and all the family politics that goes with it.
Including H means including Non-working family. That means Include A. Include H & A and you need to include Camillas kids & siblings (and really they want to stay out the limelight) Also Charles is trying to stop H trading off his Royal links (candle & feathers).

Draw the line at Coronation Party and working Royals only.
Clean easy no arguments or Ah buts....

This exactly

Sugarfree23 · 16/05/2023 11:56

rattymol · 16/05/2023 11:18

Louise is 19 years old, so strange to see comments about how things will change once she is 18.

I think they have kept the family unit together, rather than split her and her brother.
All the rest of their generation of cousins are married and have kids of their own.

I think it will change once her brother turned 18.

Samcro · 16/05/2023 11:56

H is KC son, so could easily been included. the idea that A would have to be included is silly. he should not have been dressed up.
I really don't blame H after seeing how he was treared.

Sugarfree23 · 16/05/2023 12:00

The story goes the pageboy weren't meant to be on the balcony, it was a last minute decision hence if you watch the video it looks very disorganised.

Sugarfree23 · 16/05/2023 12:04

rattymol · 16/05/2023 11:15

@Sugarfree23 why is Charles trying to stop harry trading off his royal links and not other royals?

No other minor royal has tried to discredit the RF the way H as.

Novella4 · 16/05/2023 12:32

@Sugarfree23

What a disgusting thing to say

Andrew hasn't 'discredited ' then ??

As I said before this downplaying of Andrew says so much about the 'royals' AND their fans

So little independent thinking .
Just regurgitate what you are told by PR and media

rattymol · 17/05/2023 08:49

@Sugarfree23 thanks for that. So the real issue is not trading off being a member of the royal family as others do that without censure. It's not being an heir but a minor royal, and still disparaging in public the family. I guess Charles as an heir at the time gets a free pass on his disparaging of the then queen and Philip.

rattymol · 17/05/2023 08:53

And the claim is always that if harry is included andrew needs to be included. That is such obvious nonsense. Charles rightly includes who he wants to include.
If he had wanted to he could have included harry and said it is because he is his son. After all if Louise can be included as it keeps the family unit together, why not Harry as Charles son?
I don't care that harry is not included. It is the justifications though that stretch credibility.
Harry is not there because Charles did not want him to be there.

RightWhereYouLeftMe · 17/05/2023 09:06

Harry is not there because Charles did not want him to be there.

Or because Harry didn't want to be there.

Cookiemonstersnana · 17/05/2023 09:15

Not in anyway supporting Andrew but as far as I could see, he was the only one
to acknowledge the grave of an unknown service person.

Coxspurplepippin · 17/05/2023 10:24

notanotheroneagain, your post of 11.22 makes no sense. The ladies in waiting are front and centre of HMQE balcony photo - there's an entire phalanx of them. Camilla has two. The page boys are young and short, so sticking them in the second row wouldn't have been any good, would it Grin. The page boys were part of the coronation party. Why wouldn't they have been on the balcony? HMQE had her page boys on the balcony.

You claim Camilla chose her young page boys so she could shoehorn her family members into the party and should have chosen older children - who? Louise and James, and who else? Who are the other children in the family she could have chosen?How about she chose people she loves and who love her - I would have thought that was pretty bloomin' sensible, and, tbh, normal. How many threads on MN are there about brides not wanting to choose some random cousin or SIL as a bridesmaid because they don't know/like them?

notanotheroneagain · 18/05/2023 10:55

Coxspurplepippin · 17/05/2023 10:24

notanotheroneagain, your post of 11.22 makes no sense. The ladies in waiting are front and centre of HMQE balcony photo - there's an entire phalanx of them. Camilla has two. The page boys are young and short, so sticking them in the second row wouldn't have been any good, would it Grin. The page boys were part of the coronation party. Why wouldn't they have been on the balcony? HMQE had her page boys on the balcony.

You claim Camilla chose her young page boys so she could shoehorn her family members into the party and should have chosen older children - who? Louise and James, and who else? Who are the other children in the family she could have chosen?How about she chose people she loves and who love her - I would have thought that was pretty bloomin' sensible, and, tbh, normal. How many threads on MN are there about brides not wanting to choose some random cousin or SIL as a bridesmaid because they don't know/like them?

The ladies in waiting were for HMQE herself. Philips page boys are at the back (as you see in the pics. He was the spouse, not the monarch).

How did the queen choose her ladies in waiting, because they were not her family either.

polkadotdalmation · 18/05/2023 10:59

The page boys and the ladies in waiting were on the balcony because the robes and trains were so long and heavy it needed these people to hold them up just to get onto and off the balcony. No conspiracy theory I'm afraid.

jeffgoldblum · 18/05/2023 11:03

polkadotdalmation · 18/05/2023 10:59

The page boys and the ladies in waiting were on the balcony because the robes and trains were so long and heavy it needed these people to hold them up just to get onto and off the balcony. No conspiracy theory I'm afraid.

No point posting facts here!
People are enmeshed with their own theories and seem unable to comprehend other peoples opinions!

Coxspurplepippin · 18/05/2023 11:06

'Philips page boys are at the back (as you see in the pics.'

Yes, but they're markedly taller than Charles and Camilla's pages. If you stuck Charles and Camilla's pages at the back they wouldn't be seen....... I know you'd be happy about that but it seems a bit mean, surely - they took part in the ceremony, they're being acknowledged for that. There's no conspiracy or anything, just a sensible photo placement of the shorter people at the front.

notanotheroneagain · 18/05/2023 11:21

Coxspurplepippin · 18/05/2023 11:06

'Philips page boys are at the back (as you see in the pics.'

Yes, but they're markedly taller than Charles and Camilla's pages. If you stuck Charles and Camilla's pages at the back they wouldn't be seen....... I know you'd be happy about that but it seems a bit mean, surely - they took part in the ceremony, they're being acknowledged for that. There's no conspiracy or anything, just a sensible photo placement of the shorter people at the front.

Any meaner than sticking your own son and heir to the side, and not having your other child and grandkids there?

Like...........no one is there to see your page boys, no one cares or knows who they are.
So strange.

tigger2022 · 18/05/2023 13:30

notanotheroneagain · 18/05/2023 11:21

Any meaner than sticking your own son and heir to the side, and not having your other child and grandkids there?

Like...........no one is there to see your page boys, no one cares or knows who they are.
So strange.

Show quote history

Harry was on his way to the airport and his kids were in California

mixedrecycling · 18/05/2023 14:05

Sugarfree23 · 16/05/2023 11:56

I think they have kept the family unit together, rather than split her and her brother.
All the rest of their generation of cousins are married and have kids of their own.

I think it will change once her brother turned 18.

Show quote history

From what I remember, the dividing line is 'full time education'? Which is why William wasn't a press target while at Uni?

Maybe if Louise goes on to post-grad studies that will change. OTOH, she isn't very high up the line of succession. Then again, she fills the gap between other grand-children of QE2 and the great-grand-children.

I hope she has the freedom to get on with her life, whatever her choices.

Sugarfree23 · 18/05/2023 14:13

By the time the next big event comes round Louise and James are likely to be both out of education so more likely to be treated like their older cousins.

Other than Troopibg the Colour which I haven't watched for years I can't think of any other regular balcony appearances. l can't remember who's normally on the balcony for it.

mixedrecycling · 18/05/2023 15:42

Presumably they will disappear into private life. Just as Louise took a job in the garden centre over the summer.

rattymol · 18/05/2023 23:14

Louise part time job in a garden centre got her a lot of publicity. Most people did not even know who she was before that publicity

notanotheroneagain · 19/05/2023 08:19

tigger2022 · 18/05/2023 13:30

Harry was on his way to the airport and his kids were in California

Show quote history

Yes, because they were not invited to the balcony.

rattymol · 19/05/2023 08:34

Harry was invited to the service and a lunch afterwards. That is it. He turned down the lunch.