William's non attendance to important events

[Spectre8]

Since there is a flurry of discussion on another thread its probably best to create a thread for it to take place here and not derail another one.

So William is not attending a number of important events the recent one being the VJ day..lots of you think he should have after all he is the future King and if he can't make time for these things then it begs the question what is the point of them?

So discuss away...what should he turning up to, what is his actual role if he starts to not do these types of things...

😆😆

Yes, and just think of the married in women for George and Louis... look at how the females get annihilated in the media. What sort of life will their wives have I wonder...
I, too, genuinely feel for the children. They look so lovely, I have a soft spot for George... well, all of them, but George comes across so lovely.

William lived through the very public breakdown of his parents’ marriage. It must have been acutely embarrassing to know that his mother was chosen by his grandmother, to have him and Harry by Charles, because she was a virgin; and millions listened to his mother’s interview on Panorama, and his father admitting adultery?

He saw his mother going through bulimia and probably mental health crises; and being chased endlessly by the paparazzi to her death. By all accounts, Charles wasn’t the best father either, probably because he didn’t know how to parent much after his own childhood.

I think William has suffered in ways, most of us can’t imagine and he has paid an enormous price for his privilege. Yes, he has nannies; but realistically most working parents in this country have paid childcare by another name? IMO, he tries to give his children a better family life than he had.

We have no idea why he chose to miss VJ Day, so it’s unfair to criticise him, without knowing what his reasons were.

Poor kids who will inherit billions and never want for anything.

Except privacy, can you put a price on that?

@BlueandWhitePorcelain I definitely agree with you re having the affair, tampon gate, the manner of their mothers death etc & it all so public must have been incredibly damaging so can completely see why W&H have issues particularly with the press & public. Looking back on it (I was a tween) & them having to walk behind theirs mother's coffin is fucking shameful tbh.

It was a republican on here who thought that the RF should make their medical information public - now that’s incredibly grim.

You’d have to ask them if that included under 18s.

Despite all the royalists on this thread (and some of them really do sound like the weirdos shoving teddies and chocolate to the royal children at Christmas) it doesn’t matter. The chances are, according to this poll, you’re over 65. The monarchy may not end in your lifetime, or mine (I’m only a decade or so behind), but end it will. However pretty Kate’s hair is.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66707923

At least William and Kate are doing something right then if they're raising lovely children.

With regard to the Sovereign Grant, I would like to correct what I think is some misinformation being talked about. For clarity, I want to say that I am not doing this because I am all in favour of royalty or totally against it. It's the system we have at the moment.

Now, down to business:

The Crown Estate is owned by the Monarch, but in 1760, George III surrendered the management of this part of his holdings to Parliament in return for a fixed annual payment, which became the Civil List. Effectively, that means that the profits go directly to HM Treasury to fund Government expenditure. (There is plenty more information online.)

The Sovereign Grant was established in 2011 by the Sovereign Grant Act. This abolished the Civil List and introduced a single payment to the Monarch to fund Royal Expenditure. Payments to staff, reimbursement of expenses incurred during official duties (by all the working Royals) and upkeep of Palaces owned by the public (Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle etc) are funded by the Sovereign Grant.

According to the latest figures, the Crown Estate generated a profit of £1.1 billion in 2024, which was paid to HM Treasury. The Sovereign Grant was paid at 12% of this profit - quite a sum. However, none of this money is paid through the taxes raised by HMRC.

As I said, all this information is readily available online, for anyone who wants to know more. As I openly acknowledge that I am a pedant, I'm writing this to counter the idea that 'they' are living in luxury while 'our money' is paying for it. Both The King and The Prince of Wales are fabulously wealthy and perfectly able to manage on the profits (maybe salaries) that they take from their private Duchies - which were established in 1399 (Lancaster) and 1337 (Cornwall) to provide private incomes for the Sovereign and Heir - on which it is understood that they pay tax, but (I think) scrapping the Monarchy and installing a President is still leaving the Royal family with its wealth intact (and possibly the return of the Crown Estate), leaving us to fund the total cost of a President. Personally, I'm not sure it is worth it at the moment, but I'm not prepared to argue for it.

Anyway, I hope this helps set the record straight about funding the King.

I do think a lot of the discussion on here gets so heated because there is a generational divide. Mns definitely skews old in terms of average user.

Thanks, @PensionedCruiser . Good to have some actual facts.. 👍

Highly recommend Norman Baker’s ‘And what do you do?’ - regardless of what side of the debate you’re on.

I said publicise their diagnoses. Who knows what awareness that could bring about.

That's been working well for Harry, hasn't it. I suspect if any of William's children do the same, there will be constant vilification for them too.

Both The King and The Prince of Wales are fabulously wealthy and perfectly able to manage on the profits (maybe salaries) that they take from their private Duchies

Which it's why it's even more unnecessary to take rent from the NHS, schools & armed forces. They act commercially but don't pay corporation tax or CGT.
There needs to be more transparency

Why on earth should they publicise their diagnoses?

I think it depends how they go about it. Leave with dignity and have an independent life, building a positive future, or making a huge deal and selling loved one's privacy for money, trading on royal status while still holding on to the titles and privilege?
Different approach, different response, I would wager.

Bring about awareness? - that’s quite the spin on what would be an invasion of their privacy.

I don't disagree, but I think it's important to differentiate between revenue paid to the Crown Estate (which I suspect is most of the contentious payments) and revenue paid to the Duchies. More transparency would be a very good thing.

Quite! Why should people sacrifice very private, personal details for "awareness"!
I think some more respect needs to be shown for people's privacy.

They are not private figures. They cannot have it both ways.

I think we forget that the whole standing down debacle was because a certain tabloid newspaper, edited by a boyfriend of a certain Prince's private secretary, broke the story before the Royal family had all their ducks in a row. Which of course led to a tabloid feeding frenzy and all sorts of scurrilous 'stories'.

Of course they are entitled to privacy when it comes to their medical records.

They are entitled to keep their medical information private.

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