Royal acts of kindness

[Alltheprettyseahorses]

Based on a RL conversation I had today -

I'm not a monarchist at all so I don't have many examples lol, but I think Kate Middleton's low-key visit to the Sarah Everard vigil was 100% spot on, even down to only taking female bodyguards so she didn't disrupt the women-only space. I imagine she must have been personally deeply affected by the terrible murder and if a journalist hadn't recognised her behind her facemask no one would have ever known she'd gone. I don't approve of the royal family but I really think that was a lovely, human and humane thing to do.

https://people.com/royals/kate-middleton-meets-boy-train-commonwealth-games-did-not-recognize-royal/#:~:text=Matthew%20Syed%2C%20a%20columnist%20for,%22%20%27Are%20you%20here%20alone%3F
I'm attaching the story, this is a lovely read. Kate struck up a conversation with a boy who appeared to be on his own on the train. His Dad had gone to the loo. She kept him company, not sharing who she was, and not knowing his father was a journalist. Lovely story.

These are such lovely stories, aren't they? What a nice thread.

That’s such a lovely story, @IsoldeWagner , Catherine looking out for a little boy and travelling by train without (obvious) security too! Good for her! She clearly has an instinctive knack for communicating with children, knowing just what to say and how to make them feel at ease. Love Mathew Syed too, such a fantastic writer and broadcaster, and thoroughly nice bloke.

This story of Prince Philip and the White House butler Lynton Westray is lovely too
www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1421664/Prince-Philip-news-latest-White-House-butler-shared-a-drink-the-queen

I liked the story of Prince Philip and Mrs Tebbit, just very considerate and helpful.

Lovely thread! I have no stories to add sadly but have loved reading them! Thank you - nice to read something positive :)

Queen Victoria is said to have done something similar, in order to make a poor man who didn't know how to use cutlery, feel comfortable when he picked his food up with his hands-so did she. I wonder if this is where this has come from. I can't find a link to the story now.

I googled some words that I put in about Queen Victoria. I found a story that there was a guest who didn't understand that finger bowls were for dabbling your fingers in. He thought the bowl of water was for drinking. He drank his and so Queen Victoria drank hers, and the other guests followed !

Make your guest feel comfortable.

That's really nice! I read a similar story about the late Queen's father, George VI. When there was official dining of any sort, involving a lot of cutlery, he would watch to see if anyone used the wrong cutlery, then he would do the same, so that they weren't embarrassed.

I was recently at a summer party with some of my dh's university friends. I got talking to a woman whose child was in the same class as George when he was at school in Battersea. She said K was absolutely lovely and behaved just like a normal school mum, joining the class WhatsApp group and hosting mums for coffee at KP. What I thought was interesting though was there was apparently a boy who shared the same birthday as George and K and the other mum held a joint party for the boys. It's not an act of kindness as such but a sign that K is trying to bring her dcs as normally as possible, encouraging them to share and not let them think they are superior to other dcs.

My FIL worked on Balmoral Estate - latterly he was in charge of the kitchen garden.

When he died in the late 1950s, my MIL got a letter from Clarence House extending the Queen Mother's condolences (written by an equerry, I believe) and saying how she'd enjoyed walking through the gardens. (FIL grew cutting flowers for "the big house" as well as the vegetables.

It's always with checking whether we would be impressed by the act of kindness if it was done by AN Other person, or would we just think it was normal human behaviour....

I think the point of this thread is that they are all acts of kindness and are not necessarily anything AN other wouldn’t do, but the fact that the Royals bother to put themselves out for individuals shows that they are paying attention to what happens to those individuals and don’t think of themselves as above others when they are doing so 🤷‍♀️

Exactly this.

Edit - How people in positions of power and influence act when not in front of an audience gives a real glimpse into true character.

Locally there's an act of kindness that's unproven, but everyone is convinced of it.
Prince Edward opened the new community hub a few years back and someone was telling him about the fundraising for defibrillator in memory of a local man who died who'd done a lot of community groups for children and the elderly. He asked how much was left to be raised and the person told him, then her little girl said "and 76p..." (the amount had been talked about a lot and the 76p must have stuck in the little girls head!).

Later that night the full pounds amount and 76p was donated anonymously and the few who overheard the full encounter are convinced it was him.

One of my friends died very young. His grandfather had worked for the queen and lived in a grace and favour house on the estate. The queen had been made aware that the grandchild had died and the family had been asked if they wanted the funeral held in little chapel on the Windsor estate (I think ... it was a long time ago!) where his grandad had his service just a Few years before - the family had always lived in the G&F home too - think the grandfather had been a much loved employee of the estate since he was a Child and remained there all his life

ARichtGoodDram, that's such a great story.

I think Catherine reaching out and asking Lady Gabriella Windsor for her help in organising her Christmas carol service after her husband’s death this year is a very kind and heart warming gesture. Lady Gabriella was said to be “very touched and grateful to the princess” to have been asked to contribute to the concert.

news.sky.com/story/princess-of-wales-asked-lady-gabriella-windsor-to-help-with-christmas-carol-service-13278123

Diana was a "complex" individual. But her interacting with people with HIV was a real contribution to the way society viewed the virus. Ditto landmines. Wearing a colour or a pair of earrings rather pales into insignificance, frankly, even if it is good PR.

When JFK was killed Prince Philip flew over for the funeral with the Duchess of Devonshire. In her autobiography she described how the morning before the funeral they didn't know where Philip was. He spent the morning playing with little Caroline and John Kennedy, trying to give them some distraction and solace.

🙄

Acts of kindness comes in many forms. From collaborating with charities with fun projects like clothes collections, choosing to promote charities and causes through accessories (whether that’s cook books or earrings) which promotes funds to said charities, to selling Big Issues on the street when you’re not homeless, donating to food banks and passing care packages for the needy, visiting a sick child in a princessy dress and hugging an AIDS victim, or visiting a war torn country and championing victims of domestic violence or war rape.

I would say it’s a pretty shitty thing to dismiss or belittle people’s genuine efforts of kindness and charity.

Princess Margaret visited AIDS patients too before Diana. Her in waiting lady Glenconner had a son Henry who died of an AIDS related illness whom
she visited . Margaret visited in secret and apparently made the patients laugh.

Repeat post!

Auld age!

I do think that the RF get too much credit when they do something perfectly normal and human. It's a bit like the fuss some people make about a man changing a nappy "oh, he's such a wonderful hands on dad!"
A member of the royal family writes a personal letter of thanks or condolence or something and it's as if they've done something amazing.