Selfies with Charlotte

[TheRealGossipGirl]

This morning, I came across a video on TikTok from Sandringham this weekend where Princess Charlotte was asked for a selfie by a woman in the crowd, and she agreed. Then, another woman asked for one, and Charlotte did the same.

I find it so strange that a 9-year-old girl is being asked for selfies by fully grown adults. I get that she’s royal, and for some people, this might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see her in person, but still, it feels a bit odd, right? What do you think?

Her blood is the same as everyone else's. She can't detect peas under 100 mattresses!

I find it bizzare anyway that walk.
Seeing the royal children laden with choclate they can't eat, it's almost repulsive when those items couid have been given to a food bank. I'm not anti royal and I see that this is a traditional time to see them up close but... It feels like hawking out the dc??

I find it so strange, they'll parade the kids in exchange for their lives of privilege. Of course, they don't see it like that as that's what happened to them.
Remember that guy who was sharing the location of George and calling for harm to come to him, he got a life sentence I think? As parents they must be fraught with fear during these occasions. But they are basically institutionalised into thinking that the monarchy is so important that giving the public a piece of their kids is necessary.

I wonder how they handle the chocolate handover. I assume it all has to be thrown out, just in case? This would not go down well with my children.

She is already a princess it's royal by blood.

There are 8 possible bloodtypes and none of them are called royalty.

Well bloodline either way you have been born from the bloodline. Otherwise anyone could be a royal.

What if there was someone with a knife or intent to harm one of the children , or something sinister within a toy or gift?

Part of it is getting the children accustomed to being seen and meeting the public, remember they have been doing this for generations. Building a level of confidence.

They can't keep the kids hidden out of sight never meeting anyone. Then expect them to be 100% comfortable with it at 18.

It's also part of the deal with the press, give them some controlled access to the kids in exchange for them being left alone when they are in their own private time.

The chocolate is probably handed over in exchange for chocolate they know is safe.
It's probably explained to them before they go, people might give you gifts be polite say thank-you, but we can't allow you to eat it just incase someone tries to hurt you.

I don’t find that acceptable either, I would not expose my children to that.

The adults seeking a selfie with a child, and giving children they don’t know presents because they are famous, are not acting in a way I find consistent with being a normal adult with an appropriate attitude towards children. This is true whether the child is a princess or a disney star.

Yes, I took thought that was weird and inappropriate. I am surprised it's 'allowed'.

Then I also think it's weird that these people probably wait therefore for ages to get a chance to stand there waving and cheering on Christmas Day. I was thinking 'Who does that? And why would you?' (especially on Christmas Day).

Do they not realise that these kids won't be allowed to keep the gifts that they're handing over?

@kindlyensure I also thought the same about H & M how this is the exact reason that H has removed his kids from the limelight to protect them from this weird kind of stuff. Good on him!

Also agree how uncomfortable George looks.

I think that these kinds of interactions with the public are inappropriate for the children. Fair enough, roll them out to be photographed at a distance so that they're not hounded in all aspects of their lives but I don't think that members of the public should be allowed to be in touching distance of them. Poor little sods.

I felt exactly the same way watching those poor boys being forced to greet members of the public the day after their Mum died. Absolutely disgraceful!

Quite naive of W+K but maybe they want Charlotte to get the chance to interact with the general public. Who knows. Weird, absolutely, the public see her as public property to pose with, so they can put it up on SM.

it will take a security scare for them to lock-down Charlotte's security a lot tighter than that.

I felt exactly the same way watching those poor boys being forced to greet members of the public the day after their Mum died. Absolutely disgraceful!

it's a horrible truth that the RF see the members of the Firm as a Commodity and from time to time they have to flash them out in public display to show the public they're getting value for money and justify their existence.

There is a difference between keeping the children completely out of sight and exposing them to this kind of thing. I would have thought it more important to teach the children to respect their own personal boundaries than most. Athough this is what they will be expected to do, they don't have to do every single thing asked of them, and an appropriate adult will step in if the adult thinks it's inappropriate. Clearly the close protection officers have not been told to step in at anything short of security breaches. It's not just Charlotte. Since Louis made headlines with his acting like a small child, William has been talking about him at every opportunity-turning him into the cheeky naughty one. It's the same as usual. No one has learnt anything from the debacle after Diana died- throw the younger siblings to the press, protect the heir, preserve the Monarchy.

Well, Kate Midleton, one of the most popular ‘royals’ wasn’t ‘born from the bloodline’. So, in theory, anyone could be a royal. There is no such thing as ‘royal blood’. It’s bullshit.

Part of it is getting the children accustomed to being seen and meeting the public, remember they have been doing this for generations. Building a level of confidence

It's not the being seen - it's the kids having contact with them. They only introduced mingling with crowds jn the 1970s so definitely not generations. I can only assume that they find this crowd to be particularly friendly and not the bunch of weirdos that we think of.

It’s just a speech habit used to distinguish between those who are born princesses (‘blood’ princesses) and those who became princesses by marrying a prince.

No-one, but no-one, thinks there’s a literal difference in the blood. It’s the same line of idiom as ‘blood is thicker than water’ which isn’t literally referring to viscosity but is similarly using ‘blood’ as a metaphor for family

I think someone said they knew them by name, so I can only presume many of them turn up year on year. Surely they should be told what was acceptable if that's the case, or they try and push the boundaries every year?

There should be a strict rule on getting any member of public away from the royal kids. How awful for the kids.

Exactly.

Are you talking about Diana's death? Where, on the day after her death, were poor boys forced to greet members of the public, and by whom?

I certainly remember the hysteria from some members of the public and press and their attitudes resulting in the Queen and Prince Philip coming to London at the end of the week, with the boys, to look at flowers. I don't think anyone was 'forced' and I am weary of the cliche being trotted out, but I certainly think that the pressure that was put on QE2 and PP was a disgrace.

I am inclined to agree with you and others on this thread that the encounters are becoming OTT, but not from all members of the crowd. Don't attribute that behaviour to all of them, please. Some will have only taken a photo, or not even that, and they won't be calling the names of the children. I agree that the toys or sweets or calls for selfies are really too much.

We hope the security boys would find it quickly. Unless this year has been different, people will have had bag checks and possibly been frisked at the gate, before being allowed into the field outside the church. You can't just stroll through any old how.

Do you think a time has come to say that selfies are off the menu, and if you wanted to say that, tactfully and without giving offence to the public, how would you do it?

How on earth are these kids going to fare in their young adulthood, their late teens and early 20s, when everyone now has a mobile phone and is able to snap images, and easily video, any foolish behaviour? And it can readily be uploaded to social media in seconds.

Some people have no decency and will record anything and put it out there. I think this promises to be a security nightmare for the RF.

I can’t see how the RF will be able to go on as before, when their younger members will be so exposed and vulnerable.

I certainly remember the hysteria from some members of the public and press and their attitudes resulting in the Queen and Prince Philip coming to London at the end of the week, with the boys, to look at flowers. I don't think anyone was 'forced' and I am weary of the cliche being trotted out, but I certainly think that the pressure that was put on QE2 and PP was a disgrace.
I remember it too. The press were desperate to deflect attention from themselves. If The Queen was more concerned about her grandchildren than she was about the survival of the Monarchy, she could have issued a statement saying they were caring for the boys at Balmoral and they needed space to grieve in private surrounded by their family. They were hardly out of the country. It's the same lack of willingness to protect members of the family and put boundaries in place that has happened here. If the Monarchy needs protecting everyone is sacrificed on its altar. I remember Prince Philip was furious about it, and said so to a stupid woman who told him to 'look after the boys'. It's Royalists who are behaving in this way, not Republicans or the disinterested. That's why they have to jump to their every whim. There was a column in the Times on Boxing day by Martin Samuel's. He said that without Royal fans, there would not have been paparazzi chasing cars in tunnels. He's correct.

I would not have been happy with Princess Beatrice parading my son through that circus Why was she not with her parents instead of her uncle?