Post your unpopular royal family opinions?

[DreamyPombear]

I will start
I prefer Harry to william

I think it was the one time when she conspicuously put family ahead of nation, remaining at Balmoral with the boys

But even that one time in 70 years was, seemingly, too much for some

I read that Prince Philip advised (not coerced, though) the boys to do the coffin walk because he thought they'd be glad they had done in the future. Obviously Philip was made of stern stuff and had a very 'man-up' world view, which is out of tune with modern attitudes.

I can imagine it must have been gruelling for them but I can also see PP's point.

I've had instances in my family where I've been attacked later by my kids for 'not making' them do things they didn't want to do, because they wished they had later. It's really a difficult one. I'm not minimising the trauma of it for the young princes though.

The Royal Family were at real risk of being abolished. If you were not alive then it is hard to understand the public mood.
The public did not want the children to walk behind the coffin. That was a very controversial decision.

Strange to see the same people posting attacks on children so concerned about protecting children when it comes to Diana’s death and Harry and William. Well, I’m sure they don’t mind whatever William experienced.

People 'obsess', as you say, over many different things. Celebrities, sports people, models, singers....you take your pick. You may do it yourself about something?

As I said up thread, interest in the RF is often just a part of interest in history and culture. It's very rarely an obsession - just an interest.

A scanning electron microscope couldn't detect my interest in celebrities - I'm utterly baffled by most of them - but I have always been aware of and interested in the RF. That doesn't make me worse than anyone else, and I've never camped out or even spectated at a royal appearance - I just like to know what they're all up to.

I don't remember the public being against the boys walking behind the coffin.

It was a completely different time and a very specific set of circumstances. Hindsight is always 20/20 so I try to come from the position that the family made the decisions they felt were best at the time. Would they do the same today? Probably not. But people do have varying views on children and funerals and everyone makes decisions in the best interest of the children, and the catch is you can't go back and decide differently.

CurlewKate · Today 07:56

But where do you draw the line between 'appeasing the mob' and adapting to changing times and expectations? The RF were put in a very difficult bind. They are supposed to do what we ask them to do - so where do they draw the line? With hindsight they should have stood firm, but I remember the atmosphere was very angry (from the mob) at that time.

At age ten I helped plan my brother’s funeral. I comforted adults and other children. I sat in a packed church and climbed over people to comfort my older brother when he broke down. I shouldn’t have had to do these things because I shouldn’t have lost my brother. But they strengthen me and the memory of how I participated helped me with the grieving process.

I would have demanded to walk and would it have been denied. I know that for certain. Grief impacts children differently and most adults do not know what to do most of the time in these situations anyway.

yesmen · Today 08:09
There is more to it than that though.

The queen's refusal to recognise Diana's death in any way came across as cold, classist, arrogance.

Classist?? Diana probably had a better aristocratic pedigree than the RF!

In what way was it classist?

And I prefer cold and dignified to 'let it all hang out'. We're not all the same.

'The public did not want the children to walk behind the coffin. That was a very controversial decision.'

A large section of the public and the press were quite literally baying for the boy's appearance. The whole period was disgraceful largely down to the behaviour of the public and the press. They were off their heids as to who could be most performative in their grief.

I was going to say that but I was in US. No one was aghast at it in my recollection.

I am not convinced that keeping children of a certain age out of these things is for the best. I would have been murderous to be denied it, particularly with divorced parents, it would have felt like a duty to my mother.

I think it depends on the child. My adult children have been attending funerals most of their lives (from age 2), mostly because I believe it helps them process death. But I know people whose teens have never been to a funeral. It's such a personal thing and I don't think we can ever predict in advance whether it will be a good or bad thing.

Of course mine haven't had to attend in front of cameras and sobbing crowds. The crowd hysteria was particularly weird.

@MrsLeonFarrell "everyone makes decisions in the best interest of the children,"

They don't, you know.

And nobody is saying that children shouldn't be involved in funerals.

Yes, agree thoroughly. Didn’t someone say one of the children wanted to do this?

Sadly that is a fair point, not everyone does make decisions in the best interests of children.

But I have never seen any evidence that following the coffin was a decision not made with their best interests in mind. Harry obviously feels it was the wrong decision but that doesn't mean it was made maliciously.

I seem to remember that William at least has said he was glad he did it. I think when he and Harry was interviewed on an anniversary of Diana's death.

It maybe true that many of the public did not care that Meghan was bi-racial but the press constantly harassed her , posted unflattering photos and were definately racist towards her and still continue to criticize and undermine her lifestyle, work and friendships. The press constantly tell us what her clothes and accessories cost but don’t usually with Kate who spends more, if I was a multi millionaire I’d spend more on clothes too .

When Prince Philip was a teenager, he lead the walk behind his beloved sister's coffin after that dreadful plane crash.
Maybe he thought that was the right thing to do

That's heartbreaking, Alice 💐

No they weren’t. There was a lot of hysteria around Diana’s death but I think the vast silent majority thought the whole thing was way over the top. The press did a lot of stirring but they probably felt guilty because they had been getting fairly negative about Diana. And of course it sold copies as it was at that time. But most people just thought it was a terrible tragedy and felt sorry for her children. Not that it was a constitutional crisis

They were between a rock and a hard place really, before you even consider the PR standpoint.

If the boys had skipped the procession, sat at the front of the church but not been filmed, would they have felt protected? Or would they have felt erased from one of the most significant moments of their lives? As adults, would they feel it right that the image of the day was of other, older royals - an ex husband or ex patent in law? Or Diana's brother?

With the choice that was made, the first image any of of conjure of the funeral is those boys walking behind the coffin. Their position as primary mourners was acknowledged.

If the boys had skipped the procession, sat at the front of the church but not been filmed, would they have felt protected? Or would they have felt erased from one of the most significant moments of their lives?

Protected.
I doubt very much... as soon as they became adults, thought 'Oh I must see what I looked like on that day walking behind my Mum's coffin, i wonder how upset I looked on telly'

I doubt very much they would have felt erased, I imagine they would feel looked after because of their ages. I also doubt they felt they wanted to be 'principal mourners'.

@AliceOlive sorry for your loss 💐

Maybe following the coffin was appropriate for 15 yr old William and 12 yr old Harry should have been inside the abbey.

But if that's what had happened it would just be another example of how the two of them were treated differently and we'd never hear the end of it.

What does he say that's positive about his upbringing - I haven't seen the doc or read the book, has he ever talked about how lucky he was to have all the opportunities he was given? Anything passive aggressive doesn't count, eg "I had a wonderful, loving nanny (which was lucky because i got no affection from my father)"

But that’s all conjecture in your own mind. You have no idea how a child denied the opportunity to grieve this way would feel. Nor how they’d feel later about it as an adult.