I dip into these threads. I am not really a royalist, but not a republican either. As I have become older, I realise that I have a lot of respect in many ways for the soft power that the is afforded by the Royal Family. When QE2 died, I felt weirdly un-anchored, for want of a better term. Not so significantly that it impacted my day to day life, but that she had always been there. There were (sometimes considerable) mis-steps, but it is hard to argue that she did not put her duty and loyalty to her role and the British public and empire before everything else. It is a rather dated viewpoint in many ways, but I think one people either openly or on some level grudgingly respected.
I also am quite fond of King Charles. He spent years waiting to take on the job in his 70s, was lampooned for his beliefs in regard to the environment (ahead of his time) and the Princes Trust has achieved some great things (saying this as someone who has worked with vulnerable people for years).
I am old enough to remember the whole Diana fairy tale marriage, the optics during the marriage, the divorce and the early death. Whilst very sad, there has been a lot of poetic re-imagining over the years! I remain perturbed by those who remain anti Camilla to this day. I think she would be the first member of the Royal Family I would like to join for a drink, and is very good for Charles.
So in summary, I thing the British Royal Family is in quite a good place. I came onto the forum to see if there was any discussion about the DoC just wandering about at Wimbledon today and the joyful photos of Louise graduating with her parents, the Edinburgh's being there to support their daughter. The optics are changing which makes HaMs grandiose behavior even more laughable.
I do not hate Harry and Meghan, but I love cleb gossip. This is where they sit in the world now. They are the gift that keeps on giving. Whilst the slimmed down working royals are championing causes such as osteoporosis, the use of rape as a war crime, early years intervention, domestic violence etc I remain confused as to what they do, except their self proclaimed philanthropy and some half arsed crap about the impact of social media on children. This is whilst posting their children constantly on social media. They really do invite it all the criticism they receive.