The average age of the seven minor working royals is 76 - should younger members take on more

[Solent123]

Excluding the King, Queen and the Wales family there are seven other working members of the Royal family with a combined average age of 76, carrying out hundreds of engagements every year - for example the Duke of Kent is 89 and still carries out regular engagements - should younger members take on more or will all these engagements become unnecessary in the future as Charles streamlines things.

They are,
Duke Of Edinburgh - 68
Duchess Of Edinburgh 59
Duke Of Gloucester 80
Duchess Of Gloucester 78
Princess Royal 74
Duke Of Kent 89
Princess Alexandra 87

Anne, Edward and even Andrew were treated well as the Spares.

Andrew was the spare and look at how fucked up he is. Absolute tosser of a man.

Margaret - no one has a good word to say about her. Manners and ego of a monster.

I don’t think any of the recent “spares” have been badly treated. The problem is more how said spares react to their position. That is largely down to personality and it’s difficult to see what can be done about that 🤷‍♀️

I think for the last few centuries - post-Tudor - most 'spares' have had quite a comfortable position. Titles, money, honorary positions etc

Margaret was treated pretty badly. Also George VI. Andrew and Edward are neither of them advertisements for the system.

How was Margaret badly treated?It’s not true that she wasn’t allowed to marry Townsend. She was told that if she did she would have to give up her position in the line of succession, which was pretty far down at that point anyway. She chose not to marry him. Andrew is an arse, granted but he would have been like that anyway, which is what I meant about personality coming in to play (same with Margaret in a different way) What’s wrong with Edward?

missed out a word

Agreed.

Both monsters and interesting that both are alleged to have been the 'favourite child'.

Agreed. . But this can be true of any family so I don’t think it has anything to do with being the “spare”. Just spoiled brat syndrome

@smilesy "What’s wrong with Edward?" Aimless, pointless probably unhappy life.Starting with 3 minutes in the Marines, then It's a Royal Knockout....

That was a long time ago. He seems fine now. Lots of us are aimless and unhappy when we are young. It doesn’t have to
define your whole Life

George VI wasn't treated badly - or rather, he was treated much the same as all his brothers, including his older brother. They were all equally terrified of their parents.

@smilesy "That was a long time ago"

Fair enough. I wouldn't describe the rest of his life as exactly fulfilling, though.

How do you know that? Not everyone wants to be a high achiever. He seems quite content and he has involved himself in the DoE awards. I think you are making sweeping generalisations and a lot of assumptions

@smilesy Fair enough. Not much point in discussing with people who think the RF can do no wrong!

No it’s not that at all. I disagree fundamentally with the idea that being a favourite child or a spare necessarily means you will be a liability or unhappy which is what posters seem to be saying. Family dynamics and arrogant personalities is not a problem unique to the RF. Which is what I have said in my previous posts. You are making assumptions about Edward based solely on the fact that he is a “spare” and assuming that I think he can do no wrong. I never said that. I said he seems to be ok now

edited to make myself clearer

I think it took guts of a different kind for Edward to quit the Marines, given the expectations on him and the certainty of public opprobrium

Edward - being so far down the line of succession - tried a "half in/half out" and Sophie continued to work for a while after the marriage. It failed - not just because some of Edward's projects flopped (he kept trying despite setbacks) but also because Sophie was deliberately set up by the News Of The World in the Fake Sheikh scandal. But that was 30 or more years ago, and they've done a lot of the less glitzy and high profile duties and representational events in a solid manner, which has led to the current better opinion of them. Particularly Sophie.

If anyone has premium access to The Rest is Entertainment podcast with Marina Hyde and Richard Osman, I recommend their episodes on the fiasco that was It’s A Royal Knockout.

😄🙈

The small fee is worth it for that first episode alone!

I saw ait’s a Royal Knockout when it was first broadcast!

@Highbreadcount679 I'm looking forward to the next episode!

Me too! 😀

It seems weird now but the regular It’s a Knockout was popular viewing at the time. I can see someone pitching a celebrity version but it’s still astonishing they did a royal version.

I remember watching it, obviously we were lacking choices in those days!

Having said that, yes the Royal version was a big mistake but the very fact it's still being used as a stick to beat Edward with is good evidence that he learnt from his mistakes and has settled down into working royal life. He and Sophie do a lot that doesn't get any publicity but should.

It wasn't just a UK phenomenon - it was big across Europe, where it was known as Jeux Sans Frontieres

Edward was arrogant and full of his own self-importancee when he was younger, like Andrew he was a product of his priveleged and pampered upbringing.

That said, unlike Andrew at least he matured with marriage and seems relatively normal these days. Sophie has been good for him imo, possibly her 'common' upbringing introduced Edward to the Real Word.

@Highbreadcount679 It's up-and predictably excellent!