As we heard last week, the “war” between the Duke of York and the Prince of Wales has been heating up significantly. Charles and Andrew have always had issues with each other, but over the past few years, their biggest issue has been Charles’ attempt to push the York princesses out of public sight. Charles believes that the monarchy needs to be slimmed down, and he’s prepared to toss aside many royal cousins, nieces, nephews and more to get a more streamlined monarchy. Andrew believes that his daughters, Eugenie and Beatrice, should be seen as blood princesses who will work hard for The Firm. Andrew and Charles – like bickering little boys – have appealed to their mother, the Queen, to solve this dilemma. And according to the Daily Mail, the Queen has carefully chosen a side: she believes the York princesses should be full-time royals, and that they should have some sort of public role. You can read the full DM piece here. Some highlights:
The Queen adores the York princesses: “Indeed, so fond is the Queen of Beatrice and Eugenie that she has now sided with them and their father Prince Andrew in their growing family rift with Prince Charles. A senior member of the Queen’s court has told The Mail on Sunday that, while she must publicly be seen to support Charles as he plans for the future, she believes that his hopes of sidelining Beatrice and Eugenie could prove impractical. For the sake of the Monarchy, they should be allowed to carry out more royal duties.”
The Queen is keen that Beatrice & Eugenie have royal roles: A source says, “The Queen adores the girls and is keen for them to have some kind of a role. Charles’s vision for a streamlined family is all very well, but how can the Royal Family do everything it currently does with just five players?”
What Andrew wants for his girls: Last weekend it was reported that Andrew had gone so far as to write to his mother to lobby for more significant roles for them. He feels strongly, sources say, that Beatrice and Eugenie should no longer be excluded from royal duties and that they should be properly compensated with state funding. He also requested that his daughters, who live in rented accommodation at St James’s Palace, should be granted accommodation at Kensington Palace along with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.
The brother-fight is not pleasant: A source close to the Queen says, “The row between Andrew and Charles is not pleasant. It has been going on for many years and it all comes down to Andrew feeling that he and his family are being phased out. This row has been going on for years, but it’s been under the radar. It hasn’t got better, it’s got worse.” It has been said – although not confirmed – that the Queen passed Andrew’s letter on to her private secretary Sir Christopher Geidt who then raised the matter with Prince Charles. He, in turn, is said to be immovable, expressing the view that a member of the Government should tell Andrew directly that his children cannot be working royals.
Royal historian Hugo Vickers on Charles’ idea for a streamlined monarchy: “I suspect Charles is worried that too many royals might be seen as a burden on the general public, but Charles will find it very hard carrying out all the engagements the Royal Family does collectively with just the support of a slimmed-down monarchy. The Queen depends not just on her immediate family but on her cousins also. I would have thought that Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie would both be a great asset to the Royal Family. I’ve met them both on many occasions and they are very well brought-up girls with an understanding of their titles and the sense of purpose that brings.”
While the Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William are allegedly not big fans of Beatrice and Eugenie, I think Kate and William also understand that they themselves are pretty lazy and that it would be good to have some cousins around to do some of the lower-tier work… just as long as Bea and Eugenie didn’t “pull focus” from them too much. But Charles’ war with the Yorks is bigger than the princesses, honestly. It sounds more like Charles and Andrew fight about everything, and the princesses are just the latest subject. As for the Queen… I think she’s right. Beatrice and Eugenie should have some royal roles, I guess.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
I feel like it’s more of a fight over money. “Your kids can have the fancy homes and do nothing and get paid for it, why can’t mine?” Then again, what do I know?
Honking for Harry, that is all
^^^This.
I think chuckles is petty and mean. And Andrew is a massive twat with no concept of propriety.
although, why Chuckles things his offspring are more worthy of freebies than his brothers offspring, I’ll never understand. I mean, other than him being the hereditary sun god and whatnot.
Well, the concept of a royal family in the 21st century is in itself moronic and a slap in the face for people who actually work for a living, but if we’re going by their stupid rules, where you deserve privileges because you plopped out of the right vagina, then the one that plopped out first gets more privileges. It makes sense.
Thank you for that explanation of royal hierarchy:
Mystery solved: He/she who plops out first has more entitlements 🙂
lmao!!!
I think Charles (as did Diana) was probably hoping William and his wife would do work. I don’t think he expected them to live a freebie lifestyle.
If the York sisters do royal duties, I feel that will make William and Kate look lazier than they already are so if I were Wills I probably wouldn’t want them to take on royal roles.
No one is LAZIER than the Yorks. They make Will & Kate look like they are on Speed.
Dump them.. Really, if they both have these Fabulous jobs… Why do they need to be subsidiaries of the Crown?
Because as things are set up, Charles’ offpring ARE more worthy of freebies. It’s not like the whole concept of a royal family is particularly fair. Now, whether or not it’s feasible for Charles is another discussion altogether. But fairness and worthiness are nowhere near a factor in this discussion.
I agree. Chuckles nieces have as much right to live in the palace and perform civic duties as his children do. I agree with the Queen, give them apartments and duties. The are apparently very poised and willing to put in the effort.
I think it’s a great idea. They always seem enthused about royal duties. (And with the amount of vacations they take-they’ll fit right in with William and Kate.)
I should have thought of this when I was a teen and write a strongly worded letter to my mother about the unfair distribution of the household chores workload. Does it need to be sealed in wax before I pass it to the private secretary?
Obviously. And stamped with your household emblem
If one is lacking in a household crest or emblem, marry a Terribly Rich ™ or titled man in order get one. #PippaTips
Please don’t give my spawn any ideas.
So they’ll cut a few ribbons between their numerous fancy vacations and live in free fancy apartments at the palace, right ? What could possibly go wrong?
If Peter Phillips can work for a living why can’t the York girls?
Peter Philips’s livelihood consists of managing his sister whose endorsements are due in part to beinb royal adjacent, albight with sporting talent.
Plus paid Hello exclusives every so often based upon their royal status. She’s an Olympian, but so are many other people, and Hello doesn’t fawn over them to the same degree. The accompanying interviews always bring up their royal background.
They both live rent free on Anne’s estate which was secured with money from the Queen + taxpayer funding for ‘security’ upgrades and apparatus.
Zara and Peter are not as squeaky clean as the public thinks they are.
I understand that Zara does indeed work hard, but I have to admit that I tend to side-eye when wealthy young women are applauded for being accompished equestrians (many young American women come to mind here as well). It’s a sport that’s determined more by wealth and access more than a special, exclusive talent. It’s as much a rich-girl profession as Gallery Girl or jewelry designer.
Bridget: to add to your comment, Zara also has the benefit of some of the best horses in the world via her grandmother’s horse breeding business and the ability to source the best horses via her royal connections.
It’s one of the classic, “oh she’s not just a rich girl, she does (fill in the blank)” though the sport in question is almost exclusively for rich, connected girls. And I actually enjoy Zara, but still.
Thank you LAK! I am so tired of people holding Peter and Zara up as examples, when they’ve live off Anne and frequently trade off their royal connections.
Good point.
The living rent free at Gatcombe Park part especially.
William is too work shy to pull of this streamline nonsense. But I imagine Charles is looking to make sure that it’s Harry’s eventual family, not Andrew’s daughters, who fill in. I wonder if the queen can give her granddaughters official roles (with official funding from the official government) but make those titles one shots so that public funding is cut off after their generation.
That’s how she dealt with her cousins, the Kents and Gloucesters, and i think the Yorkies should be dealt with in the same manner.
The cousins are full time royals, but their kids are not. The Yorkies can be full time royals, but not their (future) kids.
I see that that the queen is sporting the donald kind of make-up. Orange face and pale/bare eyes area. LOL.
In all this cost-cutting talk, has anyone noticed that there is no talk of actual cost cutting? Obviously the fewer royals on the public credit card the better, but there has never been an equivalent discussion with regards reducing the credit card limit. The ommission is glaring, but the public is distrated into not paying attention to that detail.
If anything, Charles off-loads some of the palaces to the public, refurbished by the public, nevermind the decades of public money the family has received to refurbish/maintain the palaces.
He shouts from the roof-tops that 6 royals is a saving to the taxpayer whilst retaining all the savings. There is no talk of reducing the royal family’s funding when they cut them down to 6 people. More money for the 6 people.
And some politicians will foolishly give in to his wish to retain the duchies as his private properties in exchange for giving up the sovereign grant under the guise of ‘savings’ which will only make him richer.
It’s how they publicly explained the transfer of the civil list to Sovereign grant which resulted in more money for them, which raises every year because the Crown Estates are being superbly managed.
Very true – less people should equal less funding from the Crown Estates. Thou that money won’t last long when it passes to the Cambridges, am sure they will go bankrupt quite quickly with Waity and her out of control shopping habit.
Indeed about the Crown Estates – a global portfolio allegedly worth £8 billion.
Yes, yes and thrice yes.
LAK you are talking too much sense.
Charles needs to give up on his streamlined monarchy. It would have been great if William and Kate weren’t useless or if he’d had another child or two, but as it is it’s just not going to work. He and Camilla are both nearly 70 and neither look to be in unusually good health for that age, so it won’t be long before they’re somewhat more limited as to what sort of events they can do, not to mention the limitations being King and Queen-consort will bring. William and Kate are, as mentioned before, useless, and even if they tripled or quadrupled their work, it’s still not great. Plus they’re both just plain bad at it, and becoming more and more unliked. That leaves Harry.
It’s not enough, and will beg the question of why even have a monarchy. If everything can be done by two elderly people, two almost impressively workshy people and one reasonably hard worker, there’s obviously not much to be done.
The York sisters, Sophie, Anne…all have been and could be useful. He should get rid of Andrew entirely of course, but putting everything on the shoulders of William, Kate and Harry is insane.
Their work consists of shaking hands. They can keep doing that until they turn a hundred. It’s not like they’re in a job that requires some physicall or mental capability, or most of the royals wouldn’t qualify.
Shhhhh. We’re supposed to talk about how hard they work.
The work, whatever it is, exists because the majority of the people continue to want it to exist. They request royal patrons, they request royal visits, they want the royals to show up and help support their charity work – so the royals continue to exist.
As long as the people keep requesting it, the work will be there. And that is before you add in government responsibilities, estate management, and charity work and fund-raising.
Yes. Their work consists of sitting while they’re being transported to one event or the other. Then they spend an hour or two making small talk and shaking hands with people there, while looking mildly engaged. That’s it. I don’t see why they have such a problem doing it. Even being as dull and dumb as they are, the work is simple enough that it shouldn’t be too taxing for them.
emilybyrd, most of them don’t have a problem doing it. It is W&K, the spoiled 30-somethings, who think doing this job a handful of hours a week is too stressful and destroys their childrens childhood.
Yes, I should have clarified that William and Kate are the individuals I was referring to.
Dang. Andrew, mommy’s favorite, ran to mommy when he was unhappy and now she’s passed it off to her secretary to deal with. Charles, dealing with a brother he seemingly can’t stand, is having none of it. I am so glad not to be that family.
Obviously it would be helpful to employ the folks who actually want to work, but while I know the younger royals get trusts from previous generations (like the Queen Mother) Andrew’s fuss has always struck me as a reaction to him having spent all of his money and this being the backup plan for the girls to be financially cared for.
We like everyone when they are young then weddings and babies, such fun (sorry, watching Miranda on youtube). But then they get middle aged and we don’t care anymore. I can see both sides in that all the outercousins do a lot of work for the Queen now but I can see Charles wanting to cut to the end and get them on with thier lives now.
If Chuck wants to let his elderly family members retire then he needs to make sure his eldest son and his wife start stepping up but that will never happen. Chuck is like TQ, sticks her head in the sand and avoids confrontation.
A large part of the issue with the York Princesses is that their fathers don’t get along. Beatrice and Eugenie have always indicated that they would like a public role, they do a lot privately and are good at it (Eugenie in particular).
Will the children of the Earl and Countess of Wessex be stopped from public duty when they are old enough or is this a personal issue between 2 brothers?
Pretty sure Edward and Sophie have also been told their royal duties will be reduces and that their kids won’t be working royals. Edward, unlike Andrew, is just less combative and arsy about it. Also, apparently Sophie is the Queen’s fave, so I guess with that come some perks.
It was clear she would side with Andrew, he has always been her favourite. I personally think the York sisters should get “real” jobs.
Eugenie has a real job. She’s been employed continuously since graduation from university.
Beatrice has worked several jobs. Not necessarily concurrently, but for long periods at a time.
They are not sitting at home doing nothing.
There is a recent video with Eugenie and the Salvation Army about human trafficking and it is miles above anything Will and Kate have done. Both Beatrice and Eugenie can speak in public and not be embarrassing like Kate so the BRF would be foolish to drop them, at least in terms of skills.
This slimming down just sounds like Charles wants a bigger piece of the pie, not that the BRF will agree to take less money from the taxpayer.
Bea does not hold jobs for “long periods of time”. Four jobs in five years does not equate to “long periods of time” in any sense of the word. The longest was the stint at Sony, which was a glorified paid internship (during which she had more holidays than any “regular” intern). Four jobs in five years does not equate to “long periods of time” in any sense of the word. Add that to all the holidays she takes (and I don’t care if they’re all weddings or “long weekends”), and she’d be a drain on the public teat. JMO of course.
Imqrious2: Several things
1. Why the envy of her platinum connections? Should she turn down her friends’ invitations to their mansions and yachts to make joe public feel better?
Seriously?
2. If she took lots of vacation time during her jobs, that’s between her employer and her.
3. I’m aware that she had 4 jobs in 5 yrs, but she was there for 9mths minimum of each job ( averaging all of them). Plus afew of her jobs were internships. I classify that as long in this era of people jumping from job to job in a year or less.
Eugenie was at 3(?) internships in one year before she settled in her first job.
And they can afford to jump from job to job unlike regular people who need jobs to pay bills.
It still leaves a record of work that people pretend didn’t happen because the media keeps lying about it.
4. So what if her jobs were interships? Isn’t that better than sitting at home doing nothing? It’s not as if said internships were in typical ‘rich girl’ professions like ‘jewellery/hand bag designer’ or ‘party planner’
Isn’t history of art the typical rich girl proffession?
And of course she would be mad not to use her connections, but I still get to be mad and bitter about the sad and unfair world we live in.
LAK, no jealousy here at all, just facts. I, as well as many others, held the same job for 30 years, so no, everyone doesn’t job hop in the beginning. And while it may be more of a Millennial thing to do so, Bea has yet to find something and stick to it, like her sister.
As I said, it’s just MY opinion, please don’t take it so personally.
@LAK: just one thing – judging from Andrew’s tantrum, it would seem that perhaps they can’t afford to jump from job to job. I think his tantrum is because he’s low on cash and he wants the girls to be set up. It comes up a lot that the younger royals all have personal fortunes in the forms of trusts and inheritances, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the York kids are running out. These young royals are all used to the finer things in life and probably all have extensive costs of living (and I should mention, I’m definitely not singling out the York girls on this one).
Bridget/ Locke Lamora: i hear you.
Imqrious2: By the time i started working in the 90s, 2yrs was the maximum a person spent at a job before moving on. Anyone at the same job for longer than 5yrs was practically a unicorn.
@Bridget Ding! Ding! Ding! we have a winner:)
In the spirit of fairness, I think Eugenie seems happy and successful where she is. We may scoff at rich girl jobs, but she appears to be good at it and like it or not her connections are a huge boon to her job. And I should also point out, with no actual evidence, I think it’s entirely possible that the York girls have been loaning their parents money out of their trusts, especially noting their mother’s infamous money problems (though I’ve always thought it was because Andrew’s were better hidden and Fergie was hung out to dry).
HM is not an idiot (just an ostrich), especially when it comes to money. There will have been a team of advisors and checkpoint from day one to ensure that Sarah and Andrew have no access to the girls’ money.
Bridget: i’ve always thought that Eugenie was never invested in her royal lineage and would happily walk away. She didn’t attend the typical university of her set, she interned during her summer vacations and when she found a job, it posted her to NYC for a few years.
I think Eugenie came back due to changes in family dynamics, but she’s happy to help because these 2 women are loyal to their family.
Finally, about Beatrice’s vacations………people forget that she was dating a social butterfly for 10yrs.
Further, part of his job description was to pull in big/ celebrity fish for Virgin Galactic’s space project. His way of doing this was schmoozing rivh/celebrity clients all over the world and in exotic places. B was his plus one. And i am willing to bet he dangled her infront of potential clients. It’s amazing how people become star struck around royals, even where they are very accomplished themselves.
She could have said no of course, but if your BF has free tickets to the monaco grandprix( as an example) , all expenses paid and access all areas, would you say no? No wonder Fergie loved him!!!
I’m still surprised that Bea broke up with Dave Clark.
I think Dave Clark dumped Bea not vice versa. There was a Charlotte Griffiths piece in the DM about his new girlfriend, and that Dave and Bea parted ways after Dave refused to marry Bea.
I’m with QE2 on this subject. Hey, at least they’re WILLING to work unlike 2 others I can think of. And the same goes for Sophie, Edward and ESPECIALLY Anne. Those 3 show up and represent the Queen passionately in everything they do.
Chuckles is dead wrong on this issue.
They’re willing to work? Showing up at garden parties, cutting ribbons, patronising a few charities, all that fluffy stuff? That’s not work and never will be. What they are meant to do is be good PR to justify their existence. That’s the only ‘work’ any of the BRF does so the taxpayer money keeps coming. Meanwhile they spend most of the year living the lazy, lavish aristo life.
Yep. This is not work. Charles, Anne and co. at least do their duty, but it is not work.
As long as the people keep requesting them to show up and do X, that is the work they do. It isn’t working at the salt mines, but it is showing up and pretending to be interested in other people for hours on end.
Anne visited my small city a few years ago. She attended the milestone anniversary of our Humane Society (amongst other events). They’re not affiliated with the Royals; Anne just cares about animal welfare so took the time to appear. I’m sure it was the society’s best attended event for many a year and raised quite a bit of money. As an animal lover, I thought a lot of Anne for that visit.
I don’t necessarily think this is about slimming down the monarchy, I think its more about Charles not wanting to have to deal with people he simply doesn’t WANT to deal with (like Andrew or Andrew’s family.) I think York girls are victims of their parents poor taste and judgment and Charles is cutting the whole family off like a dodgy mole.
One major reason I don’t think this is about slimming down the monarchy is bc of Harry’s continued role. Harry will at some point effectively be in the same position as Andrew. The “spare” becomes unnecessary as the heir has his own children.
Oh stop it! Harry is nothing like Andrew. If anything I don’t even see the monarchy lasting with Charles or even William. Harry is needed. Also William has said that when he becomes King he will share that role with his brother.
I have never read of William saying such a thing. Citation please?
It does not matter whether Harry is like Andrew in personality or not, as has been explained before. He occupies the same legal and social position – spare sibling. Now that there are two more people in front of him, his position to the throne is even less important.
Harry is not needed. He may be liked by many people, but he is not needed.
William cannot legally share the position of king with his brother. LEGALLY there are things they Harry is not allowed to do. The majority of the work of the monarch, especially regarding behind the scenes working of government, is off-limits to anyone but the monarch.
A good Grandma. 🙂
I understand Charles’ desire to streamline the royal family but I don’t see it working. As others have pointed out, he and Camilla are nearly 70, Whiny and Waity are useless so that leaves Harry and the future Mrs Harry to do all the work. Unless Charles is also going to streamline the amount of public duties the royals undertake then he might the help of the York sisters and his own siblings.
I think the situation might have been resolved more easily if Andrew and Charles had a more friendly relationship.
I wonder if Andrew would take this deal? The girls can be working royals for the rest of their lives as long as he moves to Switzerland immediately and permanently. He’d be off the Sovereign Grant rolls, no longer representing the UK in any way, and out of everyone’s hair.
Loved the photo in the DM article about this of William showing the Queen his rescue helicopter. And conspicuously absent in the article was any reference to William deciding to devote most if his time to his heli job.
I wish the RF would just come clean that in the future, they will be greatly shrinking the number of duties/appearances/charity patronages they will do. Because that’s clearly William’s intent. But of course don’t shrink the Royal perks concomitantly, the perks need to go on full force……
I always wonder why William and Harry didn’t stay in the military? I’m sure they would always get time off for the special events.
Harry was at the point that staying meant a desk job, something he didn’t want.
William has flitted from branch to branch, getting out generally as that branch was done covering up for him. He left SAR early, two years before the service went private, when the new owners were looking around at which employees to keep. It is unlikely the US company taking over SAR was going to put up with William’s workshy behavior.
Of course the queen feels for the York sisters, she was one of them. She was the daughter of the spare. The only reason she ascended was because her uncle had Nazi sympathies and no heirs. It makes sense for her to identify with them and love them as her granddaughters. Charles and William on the other hand were both born and raised as the heir. They both think of themselves as the most special in a special family. Charles should have figured out a way to bypass Andrew but keep the York girls as working Royals. Of course they are probably one of the most privledged people in the world, but it still stings if you get cut out of the family business.
That is not why Edward VIII abdicated.