William & Kate’s New Approach

[Thunderbird7]

I was listening to a podcast recently which outlined the differences between William and Kate’s approach vs the traditional approach to being working members of the royal family.

William and Kate are trying to do bigger, more involved projects like Shaping Us and Earthshot. While I think they are both great projects William and Kate are VERY involved, maybe too involved. Obviously the traditional royal approach is getting out there and maybe making less of a personal impact but being seen by as many people as possible, being generalists, and patronising change makers rather than making change themselves.

I have to admit I kind of prefer the old style of monarchy more. I think the point of monarchy is to be seen, not in a superficial way, but in a way that enables subjects to be & do their best.

Plus William and Kate are more involved in their kids’ lives than traditionally royals are which I don’t begrudge them for, I think it’s great, but it does mean they have less time & the two things are compounding each other to make them less visible?

What are your thoughts on the 2 styles? What do you prefer?

I’ll also add a poll, why not.

(I am generally interested in the question so please don’t make jibes about anyone being workshy or bring up Harry, Meghan and Andrew… there are other threads!)

Can you link to or name the podcast if you have a moment? Sounds interesting.

It’s called Pod Save The King… sorry I don’t know the episode because I was bingeing but Russell Myers (sorry if I spelled that wrong) was making the point a lot better than I did.

Ok fab, I will have a listen, thank you!!

Well I am no good to you regarding Royal duties because I know very little but I just wanted to say that I really like both of them and get the feeling their children are very important so whatever they do is good with me.

I was thinking about this the other day with regard to Denmark as well as the UK. I think their jobs, like lots of people's jobs, have changed. Why should the royals go out and about so much when they can reach a much bigger audience online? Now their jobs are much more like influencers (for want of a better comparison) but in the public/charity sphere. I think better, slicker social media, working in partnership with organisations to support big projects and doing in-person visits that mainly tie in with these projects will become more and more typical. Like many of us, they're working smarter, not necessarily harder.

Things change. Can’t stop the tide with a broomstick.

I like the way they appear to prioritise their children. That is important to me. Hopefully, their children will grow up stable and well grounded adults.

The trouble is none of us know what goes on behind the scenes work wise. I thought William’s Earthshot project was fabulous.

YABVU to refer to non Winsors as 'subjects'.

I think royals should be seen out and about, meeting the plebs and raising morale rather than being part of slick media campaigns.

I like Kate but what exactly has her Early Years campaign achieved?

And they do have young kids but there's plenty of time to get out and make appearances whilst they are at school.

I agree with the new direction but I think Early Years was a poor choice of campaign. Not because it's not important, it is very. But because it's so convoluted and complex an issue that frankly what can be changed by someone just raising awareness and likewise practically all you can do is peck at tiny bits of the problem without changing much?

Ones that work better .... well, Duke of Edinburgh works because it's focused and practical, Earthshot is an equally big complex issue but fundamentally the campaign is about giving money and attention to experts in the field, and well William's campaigns on homelessness fit somewhere in between practical and awareness but they mean he spends a lot of time in cold, uncomfortable places and that's good press.

I think with Early Years, they miscalculated on what Kate is interested in not what fits the right model. She should narrow the focus or set much clearer goals on its objectives.

I think it is very important that they spend time with their children hopefully giving a stable confidence to the future royal family.

i like the big projects - something they then know a reasonable amount about so can talk with some knowledge when raising awareness.

It isn’t that new as you say Duke of Edinburgh’s award has been around for a long time, also The Prince’s Trust and Princess Anne has been deeply involved with Save The Children for a long time. But perhaps there a fewer of the less involved patronages now.

I think we see them out and about quite a bit but of course that is via social media and the news (as it always was).

I couldn't name one thing they've achieved. The early years thing is so vague as to be meaningless. 'Early childhood is important' - yes, and? Where are the schemes, the initiatives? Philip established the Duke of Edinburgh awards which continue to make a real difference. Charles has the Prince's Trust. It can be done.
W&K need to be out and about meeting people and doing meaningful things if they want the next generation to support them.

That would require hard work and intellect which neither of them have demonstrated to date.

but in a way that enables subjects to be & do their best

I am NOT a subject. I am a citizen and I don't need two people who are part of an archaic Institution to enable me to 'be and do my best'.

I think the point of monarchy is to be seen, not in a superficial way, but in a way that enables subjects to be & do their best.

I didn’t expect to be speechless so early in the day….

I do not take my moral lead from the Windsors.

I am not their ‘subject’.

Ha! Cross post @Roussette !

Don’t be ridiculous, William Piloted a ‘Search and Rescue’ helicopter for the RAF and then again with the Air Ambulance Service, both of which involved ‘hard work and intellect’.

To be honest I wish the chnahe had been to become advocates for its citizens, I dont care about current laws meaning they csn have political views , screw it now should be the time to say this is wrong for our people. Stand up and be on the side of their subjects and say enough is enough we must do better and make it better.

But that will never happen.

I prefer the modern approach and also them spending time raising their children, their children will be stable emotionally not like other past king and queen which were only raised by nannies and other staff.

Speechless too! We really, as a nation, need to grow up with this ridiculous notion that we are subjects

I have had a look at number of patronages for various people and it is striking.

Catherine, The Princess of Wales - just over 20
Prince William, - just over 30
Edward and Sophie, The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh- 70 and 80 respectively
Queen Camilla - over 100
Diana, Princess of Wales - over 100
Princess Margaret - over 80
Princess Anne- over 300
Prince Phillip - over 900 (not all at once)
Queen Elizabeth - over 600
King Charles - over 400 (not sure how many he has kept as King)

You get the impression the Princess Anne is on it with everything she does but I guess the advantage of having fewer is that you can be more involved with those you do have (I hope).

Their main focus is to ensure "brand royal family" is alive and kicking. They need to make sure the (gullible) subjects think they are doing some good. Hence the quite frankly sickening photo ops of William selling the big issue with "his friend" for 3 years in a row. Or pimping out the kids over Christmas to some charity work for an hour making sure it's all over the Mail/Express.
I honestly despair that people can't see it for what it is.

I don’t think the majority “grow up with the ridiculous notion of being subjects” even if they are in favour of the Royal Family do they? 🙄

oops just re read my post. I meant that the majority do not feel that they are subjects. Not that they grow up feeling like that 😆

Totally disagree. The majority do quite obviously

I seem to remember Kate getting in hot water with one of her few patronages because they pointed out that she didn't visit them from one year to the next.