Christmas Day walk in Sandringham

[Phase42]

This is such a strange thing....so the royal family walk along a stretch of path every year and people gather to watch them. These people try to talk to the Wales children and give them presents. They are photographing the children, taking selfies, etc. I think the kids are far too young to do this. It is so odd.

How on earth do William & Catherine think this is okay?!

I agree. Being asked to hug people and being considered rude or “shy” if you didn’t want to was quite normal not very long ago. What adults choose to do is very different to what children should be expected to do. And it’s interesting that people talk about 10 and 13 year olds-conveniently forgetting the 7 year old….

I got embroiled in a discussion over these brand new choppers a while back and got told it's all AOK because the things run 50% on eco-fuel.

Said fuel is between 2 and 7 times more expensive than traditional aviation fuel.

No doubt we'll be picking up the bill for that as well.

That deal always stank but given the ducking and diving the royals indulge in when it comes to making uncomfortable records available to journalists and their exemption from FOI requests I can't see even the BBC being able to unearth much more than is already known.

Reading the whole article, this is just shocking. Honestly, it goes beyond belief as to what Andrew was allowed to get away with.

Where the funds came from, the fact the property was bought for £3m more than the asking price, and the asking price was £7M over what it was worth. Money laundering plain and simple.

I honestly think the Mayfair apartment should be investigated. Yes, it sold for less than was paid for it, but where did the money come from? And why did the daughters/Sarah suddenly sell? To me that means, a lot was coming out and this apartment/house could be investigated too.

They’re all at it. Lining their pockets, taking hand outs and freebies, screwing the tax payer. All greedy and grasping , desperate to hide anything that will expose them. They disgust me.

It’s really sickening.

yep, but I think what's changing is that previously most people though Andrew was an exception and the others were OK.
Now William needs another home, is evicting locals whilst also advocating for helping the homeless. He's also hiding his income, using helicopters to zip about and displaying some poor parenting decisions - and people are noticing and discussing.

Thank god for places like MN where real people can call this shit out.

Those on this thread...do come across to the thread Royal Mint. National Debt by Norman Baker....a new thread on the royal board.

It's a book about royal finances and so far it is a complete eye opener. It's going to take me a while to plough through because I get too angry! But a few of us are reading it and posting

We as a nation don't know half of it believe me

W&C’s PR team is giving them some very duff advice already this year, and it’s only the 9th Jan. Has there been a change of personnel recently, prior to ‘The Sandringham Walk’? I’m not up on that.

I know they have agency, and like all humans with agency they do bear responsibility for their decisions and actions. They also do have PR to advise and guide.

Personally think C’s nature vid today could have done without the additional ‘An aide said … [load of flowery guff]’ that was released to the press, and been stripped back to C’s own words. That would have IMO been more genuine.

The Indy made a good point about this. That its been known about for years (along with loads of other scandals, including the Post Office scandal and the grooming gangs), and people just couldn't be bothered to look into it more closely (ironic, as it should have been the press, who have a duty to hold truth to power and the reason why they get off lightly when it comes to regulation) They prefer to look at Meghan Markles Instagram accounts instead, with a few notable exceptions.

It’s only since Queen Elizabeth II’s death that the press has had an appetite to look into this.

I lost a lot of respect I had for her over her protection of Andrew. Made me rethink everything, frankly.

I guess the press and parliament are finally playing catch up now QE2 and her apparatus are off their backs?

Still don’t trust the palace machine(s) though, nor any of the rotten ‘Houses’ of Windsor, York, Sussex … or Wales. Too much PR, too much spin, too little transparency and accountability.

I’d like AMW’s ‘trade envoy’ records published for a start.

I don’t think the trade envoy stuff will ever get the green light as I think it could shine a light on some politicians behaviours. I’m not saying I think this is right btw. Just think it’s typical mutual back scratching.

But why would the current Labour government care so much about some old Tories from 30 years ago, and why would the previous Conservative government care about Tony Blairs government? Its more likely to be enormous pressure from the RF to keep this hidden as it shows the Late Queen and the Palace machine in a terrible light. They have the most to lose as they are all about legacy over the long term.

I don’t know tbh. It’s just seeing how some men behave and get away with it, makes me think that’s a possibility.

People keep referring to their PR advising them.
If they listen to PR people instead of thinking for themselves 'hmm, maybe I won't let my children near a freak who spent 2 weeks sleeping on a bench outside the hospital they were born in', they're a pair of fucking idiots.

Absolutely. If people who display abnormal behaviour aren’t huge red flags to Kate and William and their PR team, then I despair.

I wonder if they employ a certain type of person as PR- people who are going to do what they say and are in a certain amount of awe about them, rather than peope who give them proper advice, or whether even when they are given advice they think they know better because they are Royal?

I can imagine just the sort of people who are aides, courtiers and PR. Just looking at William's new people in the Duchy of Cornwall - they are investment bankers and the like... not altruistic people who want to work for the benefit of those within the Duchy. They are aggressive money makers.

The PR people often cross over from Government... says it all really!

Spin and fabrication!