Back in March of this year, Prince William seemed to suggest that he was actively looking to go back to flying part-time. William was said to really “miss” his RAF work, and he was looking into taking a part-time job outside of London as some kind of pilot. As I said back in March, it seemed like yet another “scheme to avoid royal work.” William has long shown an aversion to actually settling in London and taking on more responsibilities as a royal. Well, the reports kept coming and now, on Prince George’s first birthday, we get confirmation:
OFFICIAL: Pr. William to become air ambulance operator. All those millions wasted doing up Apt 1a. Is he REALLY value for money?
— Niraj Tanna (@IkonPictures) July 22, 2014
Funny how the palace release the info on George's birthday. That's how you Bury news people.
— Niraj Tanna (@IkonPictures) July 22, 2014
That’s the Middleton source, by the way. Tanna gets all of the exclusive photos of Duchess Kate in particular. People are always saying that he’s on the Middleton payroll.
The Daily Mail had a tip about it on Sunday too:
Prince William is expected to begin a job as an air ambulance helicopter pilot that will allow him to be a hands-on dad. It is understood William will start the £40,000-a-year job in September after completing a short period of training and will work a four days on, three days off shift pattern.
Kensington Palace officials are expected to confirm within the next few weeks that Prince William has postponed taking on full-time royal duties to work as a helicopter pilot with East Anglian Air Ambulance, based near Anmer Hall.
As a result, sources say his wife and son will spend a large part of each week at Anmer, on the Queen’s Sandringham estate, where William will be able to be a hands-on dad.
Royal Communications declined to comment last night.
William is believed to want his own son to experience the same carefree, rural childhood he enjoyed at the various royal country residences. Both he and Kate have complained of feeling ‘trapped’ in their 22-room apartment at Kensington Palace.
What is more disappointing? That William is once again rejecting his royal role or that the Queen spent way too much money renovating Kensington Palace as some kind of bribery to get her petulant grandson to stay in London? So much for those two kitchens in Kensington Palace. So much for the millions spent renovating KP to Kate’s specifications – the Cambridge family isn’t even going to be there. They’ll be at Anmer Hall. Full-time, it sounds like. At some point, won’t Charles have to order William to stop with the schemes to avoid royal work?
Photos courtesy of WENN.
They should put Prince George in William’s royal role. Could you imagine the chubby ironfist of that little dude? 😉
YES I’M OBSESSED WITH THE BABY. MY OVARIESSSS
Let’s storm the palace with Pippa’s book on pitchforks! Catapult thousands of ladies underoos over the walls!
I’m American, so I have no clue. Is there a petition I can sign on the Brits behalf? This sucks, guys!
+1. What a waste!
“If one wishes to protest with pitchforks, one must remember to bring pitchforks” #pippatips
hahaha!
Lol! Laughed so hard I pulled a back muscle. No seriously. It hurts.
Good job W and K hiding the announcement behind George’s first birthday. SMH Shades of a few years ago when they tried to smooth over announcing the charity would be evicted from their Kensington offices so K and W could take it over -by doing a relief visit with Prince Frederick and Princess Mary.
But at least this show that they know what they’re doing is unpopular? It’s like they’re spoiled children testing the limits of how much they can get away with. it would be amazing if a pro-republic paper actually checked the costs of these kinds of decisions. There was no job available. Where is W’s pay coming from? Or is he really volunteering and can effectively make his own schedule?
So they renovated extensively at KP because….. ?
I guess they didn’t realize how “trapped” they’d feel. *eyeroll*
Didn’t they also speed up the renovations? Seems like a waste. And who’s to say Kate’s tastes will remain? What if she decides to change what she has again at KP.
P.S. By the time they move back if there is no spare what will be done with George’s kitchen?
FLORC – With or without a spare, upon their return to KP, they’ll have to update George’s kitchen to meet his emerging needs. If there is a spare, they’ll also need to add a new kitchen for that child’s nanny cuz you know two FT nannies plus 2 FT night carers would be too crowded sharing 1 kitchen.
Well tastes do change. That pillow with “Love” printed on it that Kate bought at Zara Home for 10 bucks will be worn out. If her scheme was based on that pillow, what other choice does she have?
MinnFinn
As I understand it George’s kitchen isn’t very large. Likely the size of most peoples 1st apartment kitchens. As he grows and his needs change would a small kitchen really grow with him? Or would another kitchen take on his needs?
And wasn’t that pillow velvet? That always wears out. Still, all these renovations along with re-renovating. Just seems like they’re pushing the limits of what will be tolerated.
I have a theory about that. I think Charles has been trying to get the Queen to retire, abdicating like some of the European monarchs and letting him take over. Perhaps she told him that she would think about it or that she thought it might be a possibility. So Charles gets his hopes up and prepares for his moment of glory. He downsizes his press office at Clarence House and combines it with the Cambridge P.O. as he won’t be needing it much longer. Positive press about Camilla is stepped up. Because William will move up to Prince of Wales, he will take over the Duchy of Cornwall estate and all of it’s income and responsibilities. Charles, who has put a huge amount of time and effort into his organic farms there, insists that William take agricultural courses at Cambridge in preparation for this. William and Kate get a bigger, fancier place at Kensington Palace befitting The Prince and Princess of Wales, and Clarence House, Charles’ London home (that was the home of the Queen Mother), is set aside for the Queen and Prince Phillip.
But things don’t go according to plan. The Queen, the current government or her advisers decide that it’s not a good time to do something that is so unpopular. Maybe it’s all the unrest in Israel and Russia along with strong sentiment against the E.U.?
So poor Charlie is thwarted again and William goes back to the country and his beloved helicopters to enjoy his reprieve, dragging his London loving wife and adorable son with him.
I could see that. The Queen seems very reluctant to step down and William is far enough downline for the time being that he isn’t really relevant for the moment. It’s not like he’s been 1st in line for over 60 years…waiting….waiting…waiting.
Hmm, sounds reasonable, logical.. Maybe.. We will see I guess. Good Post!
HM will not step down, not unless she is mentally and physically unable to continue to serve. She doesn’t see this as a job from which you retire, she sees it as a religious and patriotic duty.
@ notasugarhere,
Before the Olympics, there was a tiny little blurb in the Daily Fail that her majesty had been in the hospital for some minor surgery and only stayed over night. I noticed around that same time, that the Queen had lost a bit of weight. It was probably nothing, but it’s significant to me that the surgery was mentioned at all as illness in the royal family is always concealed or minimized, like with Princess Margaret.
In addition, Prince Phillip was, I think, seriously ill at that time as well, though he seems to have made a complete recovery and the Queen looks healthy now too.
Times change, feelings change and circumstances change. It isn’t out of the realm of possibility to think her majesty could come to feel that retirement is an option. She is, after all, good friends with the now retired Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, and could have seen that putting up her feet looks pretty good.
I doubt that QEII will abdicate, just like QMII won’t abdicate. I also doubt Charles is that eager to become king now. He seems to have a lot more freedom as Prince of Wales and I highly doubt that he wishes for his mother’s death.
Familywise, I do think that abdication is a sound idea/option – because then a change of march becomes a joyful occasion, like it was in the Netherlands. It must be awful getting the top job due to the death of a parent. I wasn’t alive when QMII acceded the Danish throne but seeing the pictures of her proclamation always give me a little twinge in the heart. She and her father had a very close relationship and it must have been overwhelming and gutwrenching to have to step up and do your first public duty as sovereign the very day after a beloved parent’s death.
http://www.bt.dk/sites/default/files-dk/node-images/776/4/4776346-bt.jpg
Miss B except PCharles grew up with around his mom HM, Queens- grands and great grands Mary,. QEl who instill Life Duty and responsibility to the Crown! Many times speeches HM QE2 reiterate she as Monarch give her Life ! QE2 n PP is too strong to do less – DUTY respect and to her people!.
Abdicate is a dirty word although we have another! QE2 is role model monarch and for the future; Have you seen at the PG Christening baby Prince George wanted to greet Ggrand QE2 like the other adults! Kiss n bow at his turn… PG is ready ;). QE2 will be training him starting yesterday on 1st Birthday! I bet he was regal at BP listening to his birthday greeting from the guards. Precious Prince George – strong back from QE2 other strong Royals.
Ugh. These two! They had better get cracking on The Spare soon because children seem to be the only thing that can make this super annoying and wasteful couple appealing to the public at this point.
I’m not sure even that works to make them appealing.
You are right about that.
Like we weren’t all expecting this, right!?! Love the timing…while we are all distracted by Prince G’s cuteness all over the press. Ugh!
Remember it was once suggested that the Queen bypass Charles and hand the crown directly to William. How about skipping right to George. What a useless couple.
At this point, perhaps they should skip to Harry.
George is so precious and cute right now. But with parents like Will and Kate, who knows how he’ll turn out. And in some twisted way, I can’t wait to see Will’s reign.
I’m fairly certain Kate and Will won’t be expected to be proper proper full time royals until The Queen passes away and Charles takes over.
Maybe they’re moving out to Amner because Kate is pregnant and doesn’t want to be papped in London?
I 100% agree with this statement. Perhaps the Palace is trying to avoid burnout? Beginning at their ages, they could have a 60 year career ahead of them. While they both seem vapid, I can understand the family wanting them to take their time. They’ll be full time working royals soon enough, I’d think. *within the next 10 years or so…
Maybe, just maybe, it’s not so much them, but rather Charles who hates the competition. He was certainly that way with Diana. Perhaps he wants them out of the way for as long as possible to put the limelight on him as he fulfills more and more of the queens duties.
I don’t know with this family. They all seem coniving, like they are trying to get away with something all the time. Only Harry wears his heart on his sleeve.
If Charles was ticked off by competition and his sons’ popularity, how do we explain Harry? Doesn’t he overshadow Will (and therefore Charles) when Prince George is not around? There is a difference between being jealous of your new, young wife popularity and your son’s ( who is the future king) popularity. Even if he is jealous, he couldn’t even stop Diana from working. I doubt he can stop Will.
Not unlike being the son of the owner of a corporation who will eventually inherit the title of CEO. They bring in the young, well educated son and have him take various roles in the company so he understands how things work and what he will be expected to do. Seems sensible to treat a would be future king the same way. He is now “working himself up the ladder of success”.
“Perhaps the Palace is trying to avoid burnout?” Is it possible to burnout on 2-3 hours of work a month?
I think given Charles’ history with Diana/Camilla he probably feels a certain amount of guilt and lets his boys do what ever they please. I highly doubt that he is jealous of his sons- he is just over compensating for being a bad husband to their mother.
+1
+2. Anybody would be asking themselves “how could I have been nicer/better” to a person that dies from a horrible accident.
Cordelia
That’s just bad parenting. Catering to the child’s needs. Letting them call the shots because you messed up somewhere down the line. That can only go so far and you (as the parent) need to establish some structure or you end up with a spoiled brat.
So, even if this is Charles making up for the guilt he feels he’s doing more harm than good and that’s a great disservice.
i wish i had a 22-room apartment in which to feel “trapped.”
LOL……..me too.
I assume the writer was mocking them. There are so many ways that sentence could have been written to sound less elitist, so you gotta figure this writer is trying to invite a revolution.
seriously. haha
“Both he and Kate have complained of feeling ‘trapped’ in their 22-room apartment at Kensington Palace.”
Part of me wants to laugh and part of me wants to shake my head at that. Wow.
I caught that as well and I wondered why most people weren’t jumping on it… “feeling trapped??” What does that mean and why? Who is making them feel that way? That’s the story I want to hear about.
I’m so glad they’re spending even more money re-painting KP (purple walls). *sarcasm*
I’m now wondering if the purple-wall excuse was used to cover up an earlier decision not to live at KP in the first place. Just drag out the remodeling process until it was inevitable that they wouldn’t live there permanently?
Isn’t KP open to the public, though? IIRC, the grounds and some buildings are open to the public and there are also apartments for lease to the public. They may feel that they have to stay in or within the walls of the Walled Garden to stay private? I really don’t know – just speculating.
They chose the largest space (57 rooms) and kicked a charity out in order to get it. That apartment faces the public park area. If they had chosen a different space, especially his childhood home, they would have had much more privacy. They made their choice, wasted millions, and are now running away to the country to play at “normal” off the taxpayers.
My feeling is that this is just laying the groundwork for separate homes, Anmer for Will, KP for Kate. Will will get tired/bored/fired from his job at some point and by then everyone will have accepted the living arrangement as normal.
What I’m really curious to see is if these new co-workers will be as quiet about Will’s job performance as the previous ones.
Red Snapper, interesting point about his new co-workers. There will be a greater chance of gossip about Willy because very few private companies have a work environment that is akin to the military’s in terms of being loyal to one’s cohort and following orders.
I don’t know if you remember when they lived in Wales but this is exactly what happened; Waity spent more and more time at KP, while William stayed in Wales.
I don’t think Waity will stay away from KP too much because she likes feeling like a “Princess” and living in a palace solidifies that, but Sandringham is probably also a big coup for her too since it’s “The Queen’s Residence” and her favorite one to boot.
Waity’s too sun obsessed to live in Scotland for long. Expect her at KP 4 nights a week or a vacation every other month.
Why is no one gripping about how much their travel cost? Is this why they bought their own helicopter? So Waity can fly in every week? How much does that cost taxpayers? Jet fuel ain’t cheap people.
I would totally feel that way living at Kensington Palace – it’s like a fishbowl, especially if you’re a Royal. The gardens are open to the public (as they should be), so I doubt Will & Kate feel comfortable even going outside all that much while living there.
Anyway I think this is awesome news – good for Will to do some actual work – being an air ambulance pilot is super important – rather than just some pseudo-‘royal’ work like Charles and the Queen. ‘Royal’ work presently exists mainly to benefit the royal family’s interests anyway (in terms of publicity for them etc) rather than anything else.
Sounds like there’s going to be two (or three) brand-new, dusty kitchens at KP. Would have been cheaper to buy just a microwave and be done with it.
What really sucks is how 22 rooms at KP makes one feel so ‘trapped.’ Why didn’t the Queen give them all of KP? Or maybe all of London?
+1.
+2
Love the comment about the Queen giving them all of London. ROTFL.
Kate would have had to marry the Duke of Westminster for that. 🙂
Utterly ridiculous. Wasted all that money on Margaret’s apartment. Forced the charity out, thereby wasting even more money to compensate them. All to accommodate a man-child and his Stepford wife, who don’t want to work. At some point, their bad behavior is going to taint QEII’s legacy. Trim the fat, your majesty! Trim the fat!
Wouldn’t it be lovely and show great respect for the people of England if the KP flat was opened up for public viewing while the Cambridges were at Anmer Hall? Now that would draw tourist dollars to pay for the renos and upkeep. It isn’t as if they have to worry about the house being a mess…
That’s an excellent idea!
Ya that’s a nice idea. But in terms of upkeep on royal properties generally, their Kensington palace apartment, including the renos, makes up a small portion of the overall costs.
If Charles wanted him to be a full-time royal, he would be. Remember, Charles and his office are controlling everything to do with his kids now. He may be really lenient with them, but if he wanted it, he could have it.
I don’t get how Charles controls everything about his sons. Every royal has their own schedule. Charles merely manages pr.
It’s more than PR.
I don’t buy that Charles controls everything. That his office controls the PR now, I do buy because it’s often mishandled and totally tone deaf.
But it’s been said more than once by the palace, officially and unofficially, and by people with an inside track like Tana that William and Kate control their schedules and no one else. I can buy that William is holding Kate back from doing more because he doesn’t want to do more and he sure as heck doesn’t want her to appear to do more than him. But I don’t buy that Charles is holding them back. Especially since he is the one urging for the more streamlined Royal Family and holding them back and making them look lazy while the palace is still sending out 75-85 year olds, doing three/four times the work of William and Kate, undermines his plan for himself/Camilla/William/Kate/Harry to handle the full time royal role all by themselves.
If Charles was going to hold down and control one of his children for selfish reasons I would think it would be the more popular son who’s able to go off and do meaningful solo trips around the world in a variety of settings and events and whose many charitable works don’t even get counted in the Court Circular but he still does them anyway, earning him continued goodwill with the public: Harry. Yet Harry’s getting more work and responsibility handed to him by the palace instead of being controlled and held back by his dad.
Good point, @maybe. Harry is way more popular than Will, and he’s been doing a lot of trips and events. Nobody’s “holding him back.”
Talie, do you have any information about Charles and his efforts? I’ve read that royal reporters are saying that the palace doesn’t want them to do more at this point, but is that really true or are they saying it to cover for the fact that they don’t do much “royal” work?
LOL, I called it. Release happy Kate and Wills as great parents pictures on George’s birthday instead of just George’s solo pictures, making the masses think nothing but good thoughts about you. Then boom do a “by the way”, I’m going to yet again avoid doing the job taxpayers keep me in luxury to do. It’s all because I am such a devoted father and want to spend more time with my adorable son. BTW go back and look at those pictures of me with my adorable son you gullible masses. LMAO. Well played Wills and Kate.
True. A lot of people are salivating over how cute the baby is, not realizing they’ve been “had” again. And if his father is to be his primary role model, they’re possibly looking at the next Willy. Whether he’ll seriously be committed to this job for any length of time is questionable, but I do hope PW donates all or part of his salary to charity. He and his family are given so much that it just doesn’t seem right that he should be compensated as anything other than a volunteer.
Words fail me over this guy. Seems as if he just wants to play with airplanes/helicopters.
They’ve also bumped the news about HM’s race horse with photos of everyone at the party.
Did he even finish his bespoke gardening course?
No one knows how the bespoke course went. The dead silence on the subject indicates, to me, that it did not end well.
Or at all – I suspect he just left it.
“As a result, sources say his wife and son will spend a large part of each week at Anmer, on the Queen’s Sandringham estate, where William will be able to be a hands-on dad.”
So, Kate and George are not moving to Amner Hall full-time? The DM seems to be preparing us for pictures of Kate out and about in London while Will is away. I guess they’ll say it’s during one of his three-day shifts, so why should she be there? Interesting…
Prep for pap pics of Kate getting her blow outs and shopping 2-3 days a week again? Then she’ll disappear to Anmer the rest of the time.
This explains the uptick in her and Will’s appearances for three weeks or so and announcing Kate’s one day solo trip to Malta — they’re prepping to largely disappear again for a couple of years.
I’ve never quite figured out how taking a job — even part time — allows William to be a more hands on dad than he is now.
bluhare, I caught that too. If William’s PR is the source of that, then nothing’s improved.
I’ll be the lone post in defense of William. I’m sure he’s doing a lot of “royal” work that some people just don’t hear about. Also, he’s not going to be King for a zillion years, since Queen E will live to be 100 and then Papa Charles gets to slip into that position. William knows he’s going to be taking on a huge role, but most likely not for another 30 years. In the meantime he just wants to live parts of his life in as normal a way as possible.
I agree that a LOT of money goes for the upkeep of the Royal family (especially in their homes). As far as the Prince role, do Andrew and Edward do a truckload of volunteer work/functions? I’ve heard that Anne is very active, and I’m not trying to be snarky, but since I don’t live in England and don’t follow all their lives diligently, I just don’t see William as being lazy.
Hi Cerulean!
Both Andrew and Edward keep very full schedules. If you go to royal.gov.uk you can search official functions and see the stats for yourself. I follow the Duke of York on Facebook and Twitter and many days he has multiple engagements.
In addition to his already full schedule, Prince Edward is transitioning into many of the Duke of Edinburgh’s patronages/functions and not all of those are listed as they aren’t “official” – I guess he’s just attending these engagements with Prince Philip to get to know the people and responsibilities he will be assuming as the Duke gets on. For example, I noted a while back on this site that Prince Edward attended an engagement with both the Queen and Prince Philip for the International Duke of Edinburgh’s Award’s Scheme. Prince Edward wasn’t listed in the Court Circular for the event and was even cropped out of the official photos on the Monarchy’s flickr stream, but did appear in the shots with his parents that were in the Daily Mail. Prince Edward’s wife, Sophie, Countess of Wessex, keeps an extremely full diary as well. I think Sophie is an absolute gem. She’s one of my fave royals as well.
That said, only HM and Prince Philip and maybe Prince Charles work harder than Princess Anne. Princess Anne is a boss. I’m a total Anne fan as well, LOL!!!
Unfortunately, this does make William appear lazy in comparison to his uncles. But not just them – he also often doesn’t keep up with other older members of the RF like the Duke of Kent, Princess Alexandra and the Duke of Gloucester, despite their advanced age and ill health. In fact, he doesn’t seem to even keep up with Prince Michael of Kent who isn’t an official “working” Royal but keeps an extremely busy public service schedule.
And yes, I spend far too much time following royal engagements – and I’m not even British! I am a confirmed member of the CoE, so maybe that’s it, LOL!!!
Hope this gives you a bit of background,
Aeryn39
This is so true with the other RF, everyone of the QE2 kids are hardworkers, and Pr Harry. Even Princess. B* E.
P WillNOt and waity CANNOT Doolittle are a shame and should not be allowed the BRF purses and wealth. The move is to hide their separate live while she spends the BRF funds for her n middletrash family. P George should be raken over by the QE2 n P Charkes if he is to be serious in the future.
Better yet, give us King Henry (Harry).! retire P Willnot too Buckleberry with the middletrashes. What a waste Willnot is and of P Di n P Charles parenting and QE2 on duty and responsibilities!
All the other Royals do more Charity work than William including his little brother Harry. The Queen in her 80’s does a 100 times more work than him when she should be resting more in her old age.
Whenever either William and Kate do anything ever behind the scenes, it gets “leaked” to the press. The charities need them to get more attention or donation from the public.,So no there is no secret charity work that William is doing. The guy lives in absolute luxury with the best of everything, can have any hobby he wants, can get up and travel anywhere in the world he wants or vacation as many times as possible.
All that is being asked is for him to visit a few charities like 3 days out of the week for only ONE HOUR while making small talk and take pictures. For getting millions and millions a year that’s not even work. Even fashion models do more work than that. But if he wants nothing to do with Royal work, he can ask the government to start the abdication paper work and he can live on his 40K salary as a pilot.
He’d have to be King before he could abdicate. He could however, remove himself from the line of succession.
He won’t take the throne for 20 or 30 years so if he wants to spend a few years working a regular job, so be it. But the KP renovations should have been limited to only those needed to preserve the integrity of the building. The decorating could and should have waited if it was not their intention to make it their main residence.
Agree on all counts. I can’t really blame him for wanting to do something he loves for awhile when his royal duties will only continue and intensify for the rest of his life. I suspect that things will begin to change in the next 5ish years.
I thought that the decorating was paid for privately though? I thought all the updates/renovations to the building were paid for by the Queen and the rest by Will/Kate or Charles.
LNG/Megan
Can’t he do both? Can’t William have his pilot job and be a steadily working royal?
All the other royals do this. And yes William will be POW and eventually King, but isn’t that all the more reason to ease himself into his duties now? Must he really approach his duties with an all or nothing burden attitude? It seems as one plan ends another picks up. RAF ended so the bespoke course began. The bespoke course ended so the air medic job began. Maybe LNG is correct. Maybe in 5 years this will stop, but i’ll believe it when it comes to pass.
LNG
Regarding the renovations. When the final amount is tallied and it’s released we’ll know how much was really used.
FLORC: I think that would be ideal and would personally love to see it, but I can’t blame him too much for drawing a line in the sand and not wanting to ease in now. Once he starts, he really can’t stop and is on that treadmill for the rest of his life. He could be waiting 10 years to be the POW, and then could have another 20 to go before he’s King. The difference I see between him and the other older members of the royal family who work a lot (ie: Anne, Duke of Kent, Edward/Sophie, Andrew, etc) is that they were able to chose to be working Royals. They could have pretty easily done something else. William really doesn’t have a choice – it’s a duty and he’s going to have to do it for the rest of his life – can’t blame him for wanting to do something of his choice for a bit.
Right now i’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. If nothing changes over the next 5ish years, then I won’t be willing. I can just see where they are coming from right now.
William “loved” his previous job so much that he almost lost his wings for lack of minimum flying hours. I’m not seeing any passion except for privilege and free money and ways to pull the wool over the public’s eyes.
I agree. I hope he does work a “real” job AND do some royal engagements. That seems ideal for his place in the line of succession to me. Granted I am not British so that may affect my take on the situation.
We have no way of knowing when people will pass away. William is already one of the least prepared of his generation, based on his education and training. From a board, others that are in the line or have ascended. In addition to serving in their country’s military and interning at embassies, other heirs have earned:
Norway – Masters in development studies (Focus: International trade and Africa)
Belgium – Masters in Political Science
Spain – BA in Law, Master of Science in Foreign Service
William is woefully under-prepared and under-educated for his role. And no, his role is not pretending to fly helicopters so he can avoid his future. It could happen any day now. As HM hands more off to Charles, William has to step up. Only he won’t. He’ll waste millions on KP, then run off to the country to hide. As I wrote a couple weeks ago, it isn’t that he loves flying, he loves having an excuse. If he loved studying fish evolution, he’d use that as an excuse to run away from his duty as well.
I hope he does not take the throne for 20-30 years because I wish both the queen and Charles a long, healthy life.
It is a lovely thing to hope that HM and Charles will have long lives, but that doesn’t mean it will come true. I’m sure HM hoped her father wouldn’t pass away from lung cancer when he was 56, and that she hadn’t ascended at age 25. And Diana died at 36 because yes, accidents happen with drunk drivers behind the wheel.
Seeing as both William and Kate Middleton smoke and William has been caught driving drunk, that’s more of history’s lessons that they haven’t learned.
There are no guarantees in this life. No matter how long-lived people in HM’s family may have been, that doesn’t mean she’ll live much longer. HM has started to fail physically, she will fail much faster when Philip passes away (provided he goes first).
William (and Kate Middleton) are woefully under-prepared and avoiding their duty will only make it worse.
Notasugarhere – On one hand you are vehemently opposed to the monarchy and go on and on about what a rip off they are to the tax payers on the other you complain William isn’t prepared to be the perfect royal.
Which side are you on exactly?
Are Bill and Kate Middleton ripping off the taxpayers to the tune of millions? Yes that’s obvious. Where have I stated that I am vehemently opposed to monarchy itself? You’re assuming again.
Notasugarhere – look at the assumptions you make. William doesn’t love flying. Did he tell you that personally, or are you just assuming that?
Again, where does criticism of these two mean I am vehemently opposed to the idea of monarchy? And are you going to insist that your positive view of W&K isn’t based on assumptions on your part?
Megan – In your 8:39 post you set up a false dichotomy.
Even if NAsugar is opposed to the whole idea of monarchy (which NAsugar did not comment on either explicity or implicity) that does not make it irrational for her to want prepared and competent service from from William or any other BRF member.
You’re grasping at straws Megan.
Well considering that Charles was the first member of the Royal Family to attend college and get a degree… the standards really aren’t that high here. (The Queen didn’t even attend a formal school – she was educated at home by ‘governesses’).
P WillNOT is NOT prepared! He is workless lacking in education and lazy to further himself mentally. The powers tht be should make him abdicate send him to buckleberry with the middlekardashioons!
Did you see waity doolittle ma heading to KP for PG birthday- Didn’t even smile to people on the side at the gate. She is concern in getting to KP to be seen at the palace – social climber! Waity ma is so phony, she only wave to the public when in RF surrounduings. She cares nothing for their duty role to the people/ taxpayers.
Prince George would not be in line if P Wnot retre or removed, , if understand RF heir rules. PG will be a workless hellraiser or a strong monarch if he get to be monarch.
I thought we all agreed that the palace needed renovation William or no William? Moreover, didn’t they pay for the second kitchen with their own money? I don’t like Prince William and Kate that much, but if we are going to discuss this might as well be fair.
I think the general consensus was if they were going to be living there full time, it needed to be done up… But if they weren’t, there were other buildings that should have taken priority.
I see your point. I’m still under the impression that Kensington is one of the most important and busiest palaces, so an updated was really needed.
I does seem at waste if they are going to live at KP full time, especially since Buckingham Palace is rumoured to be in very bad shape. If that is true then it needs to be renovated now, since postponing only will lead to more extensive damage.
Well, actually, Historic Royal Palaces have a current appeal for KP’s King’s State Apartments, which are open to the public. HRP is run entirely by charitable donation. The money for the Cambridge apartment could have covered that.
may234 – KP apartment 1A did not require renovation. It was structurally sound with no risk of asbestos exposure. Absent these two things, it could not have been rented to that charity.
Willy should have added air conditioning to their KP cottage and left it at that for now.
An ethical heir to the throne would have not sought internal renovations to 1A (cost was £3.4 million) 1) for a residence that he knew would be empty at least 50% of the time, 2) when he had no intentions of being a FT royal, 3) when he knew that £3.4 million was diverted from more critical maintenance at other official royal palaces and 4) when he knew the loss of rental income from 1A was needed as part of the other income that supplements the Sovereign Grant..
IMO, Willy is a con artist and this was his best ever fait accompli in terms of screwing the British taxpayer and by association the honor of the British monarchy. Willy should have only been allowed to renovate 1A in exchange for immediate commencement of FT royal work plus a long-term commitment to FT royal work based in London with KP as his primary residence.
If I were a Brit, I’d take action to ensure this sort of thing can’t happen again. IMO, the priorities in spending the Sovereign Grant are screwed up and an outside body needs to establish detailed spending priorities to make deferred critical maintenance a much higher priority*.
Maintenance worth £3.4 million didn’t get done last year on valuable heritage architecture but instead was diverted to KP 1A because there is not sufficient external oversight of spending the Sovereign Grant. Adequately maintained British heritage sites are an important draw for tourism and arguably far more important for tourism than the draw of a disaffected heir and his facile house frau.
* “…Condition Assessment survey of the Occupied Royal Palaces Estate confirmed that 40% of the Estate was below target condition at 31 December 2013.” Source:http://www.royal.gov.uk/pdf/Sovereign%20Grant%20201314.pdf, p 16
Standing ovation for this post.
Very informative MinFinn! And well stated.
Well stated but factually inaccurate! Everything I have read says that KP hadn’t been updated since Princess Margaret died.
Why is everyone assuming that William is abandoning KP? He will be living there –either part or full time–until he assumes the throne, which is a very long time. He’ll probably do the same thing in Anmer that he did in Angelsey — do the pilot job and attend Royal events part-time. Charles.
I just pulled up video from NBC’s Today Show taken before the wedding that included a tour of Apartment 1A while the charity (later kicked out) occupied it and it was obviously quite nice and functional while they used it.
PJ – Links please.
And what do you believe was factually inaccurate in my post? Was KP structurally unsafe for the charity staff that worked there? Was the charity staff exposed to asbestos during their occupancy?
There was discussion on some boards from people who had visited the charity (they had an exhibit) just before W&K booted it. From their first-hand experience, the space was beautifully preserved and decorated.
The powers should demand repayment for KP renovations. Waity doolittle workless Cannit is nit parenting the nannies are with Maria chief! Waity doolittle Cannot have KP for her and her free loading family. They already receive new multi million in buckleberry. Stop the renovations tearing out kitchen etc. No more unless the Duchy paying and not taxpayers/charities….
Sounds like that second helicopter will get a workout so Waity and Willy can flit between homes and somehow call it “work”. As for the rest…ugh. When will the peons get a clue and rise up?Willy and the BRF show nothing but contempt for the longsuffering taxpayer and the public at large.
I wonder when they’ll stop wanting to be peons.
History repeats itself. Spoiled heirs to the throne. (Duke of Windsor, anyone?)
I wish Tanna would write his memoirs on dealing with the Mids.
I will enjoy every page of that memoir. Tanna is kind of a child in a way also so it would be epically bitchy.
Some of his tweets lately have been quite bitchy. Lovin’ that.
I only follow a handful of people/things on twitter. Tanna always has a few gems.
To be a fly on the wall of Tanna and Katie Nichols. That would be something!
Could someone link me to this Tanna twitter account? Sounds divinely juicy!! 🙂
AC
https://mobile.twitter.com/IkonPictures
Also, take note that he has Ikon Pictures. All those locations and great shots he gets of Kate when no one else knows her location are usually with him.
Kate entering hospital pre pregnancy announcement and Kate/George changing planes traveling to mustique.
FLORC. SWEET!!! Thank you..:):) Folllowed!
Is a a fan of the Mids? He comes across as being sympathetic to the royals…
Depends on whether or not the Mids are feeding him information. As long as they keep him in the loop, he is very complimentary.
That said, i’ve decided that he doesn’t like William at all. He reserves his snarkier, most scathing remarks for William.
Which is worse? The renovation. I’ve got no problem with William not becoming a full-time working royal until he’s the actual heir. But if he wants to be a private citizen until then, I want my £4m for the renovations back. It can go to the Historic Royal Palaces projects (see: http://www.hrp.org.uk/supportus/projects) – you know, the ones for which the results will actually be of benefit to the British public and to tourist revenue. You owe me, William.
Sixer: better not remind you of the £400K balance of his tax payer funded training that he owes the RAF for skipping out on his contract early that the RAF would normally charge everyone else for doing the same.
Also, wasn’t he taking his bespoke Cambridge course so that he could become more involved with the Duchy of Cornwall?
Poor Sir Baldrick. His cunning plans are continually thwarted.
Excuse me while I grind my teeth. Hard!
P Willnot waity Doolittledoormat and the middletrash will be the damage of the BRF and the monarch yet! Aka Wally Simpson K Ed!!!
We will. NEED a King Harry, or King Edward or his heirs Princesses. Qu B or E to restore it!!! Stay boss Princesses B*E you may save. the thrown one day. Power to the females.
Wallis-Simpson is a perspective issue. Victors writting history and that sort. Had Harry been heir, married a woman even once divorced with no scandal other than “poor breeding”, left the throne to be with her he would torn down the same. William would be raised up as a result of protecting the new King.
William is bad for business on all angles.
The Duke of Windsor and Wallis Simpson is not just a perspective issue and a case of history is written by the victors. Recently, the FBI archives were opened on material on this couple and the results was not pretty. They both admired Hitler, and Churchill actually had to threathen the Duke with a court-martial if he didn’t return from German occupied France. He and his wife were sent to the Bahamas because Churchill judged that he could do the least amount of damage there. He was racist as well as an anti-semite and there hasn’t been a British king so distrusted by his own government (before the abdication) than James II – and he got the boot! So there were issues even before his abdication – because members of the British government was uneasy with a monarch that seemed very sympathetic to a foreign power with which a war loomed on the horizon. Even Edward’s own private secretary admitted in a private letter that it would be better if Edward hadn’t become king.
ArtH
What a messed up time that was. Or maybe we just have a more honest view from hindsight.
There were scandals with poor judgement and that will never end. But the amount of blame that lands on Wallis-Simpson is over the top. She took advanatage of the available luxuries, but so does nearly everyone in that position. We just heard about it more with her and in a terrible light.
Regarding Churchill. He is a topic I could discuss at length! You’re not telling me anything I didn’t know. I admire him, but think if I ever had the chance to meet him for conversation I would be appauled.
ArtHistorian: Yes to all this. David did everyone a favor by abdicating. The UK dodged a bullet. Wallis is the one to be thanked.
FLORC,
Churchill was a good wartime leader but he was appaling in regards to much else – especially his opinion on women’s suffrage in the early 20th century!
Regarding Wallis Simpson:
She may have caught a lot of flack – but I have my doubts about her character. From her letters we now know that she actually wanted to remain married to her husband while being Edward’s mistress. Neither her husband nor Edward were willing to put up with a situation like that. I know that she had a hard life before that – being brough up on the fringes of a wealthy family yhat didn’t approve of her or her mother, and the physical abuse that she endured in her first marriage. I think that she was a woman with many scars, because who would be. I saw an interview where a man who had known both her and Edward summed up his opinion of her: “She was hard as nails and she didn’t love him.” He did however credit her with saving the British monarchy!
Interesting Factoid:
Princess Ingrid of Sweden was mention as a possible bride for Edward – she was the granddaughter of the Duke of Connaught and the great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria. She ended up as Queen of Denmark with a husband that adored her – and who was not afraid of showing his affection in public.
http://www.bt.dk/sites/default/files-dk/node-images/893/4/4893807-.jpg
Actually there is a lot of Wally Simpson in waity doollitle Cannot only difference is middlekardashions want Title, while Wally only wanted wealth luxury and standing in as wifelike. And stay married to husband.
Waity doolittle workless Cannot can flash the world with bare butt and nipples again, she may succeed to give P WillNOT becoming a private royal.
I am not British so only way I can “get” public paying for royal family is considering them as (kind of) high profile diplomats. Like the taxes are extremely high paychecks. That’s why British public’s general indifference is odd to me. Will and Kate are paid millions for a job they don’t do as opposed to other royals.
There are plenty in the British public who are anything but indifferent, but they don’t really have a choice in the matter.
The last time I checked, England’s leaders were elected by its citizens. So, yeah, they have a say in it
Um, @Megan, the royals aren’t elected, dear. I know it’s your hobby to respond to every royals post I make with some attempt to whitewash them, but at least cite facts that are actually true.
No but the parliament is elected, and I believe it is within their power to amend the constitution, dear.
Also, let’s please note that England is not the same as The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
I see nothing wrong with this. Good for him!
I guess I just don’t understand how the “Royal” duties are so awful. It’s not like they’re having to dig ditches.
LOL………..but they do have to put a shovel full of dirt on young trees from time to time – and do it in 4 inch high heels with hair and skirts blowing all around.
I can see how it can be difficult especially if you don’t like attention and constantly having to meet people and talk to crowds. Not everyone loves being in the spotlight and William seems to be one of those who actually loathes it. I wouldn’t be surprised if he abdicates when the times comes for him to become King.
I, for one, hope he does! He really needs a personality transplant to be effective in any sort of royal role. He’s the worst of the so-called “senior royals”, IMO.
How shameless are these people?
They toss out a charity from an apartment that was unavailable because they had to have it.
Anybody walking through the park can immediately see that the apartment is very public compared to the other apartments that were on the list.
They spend millions to compensate the charity AND to renovate, all the while telling everyone they had every intention of living there. Funds needed for BP – complete with leaky roof, are diverted to accommodate them. Ditto the King’s apartments at KP that can be made public and therefore generate revenue.
They finally acknowledge the additional millions it cost to move their offices from SJP to KP and justify the move as something needed for a more efficient working life.
Without a blush they charge the tax payers for most of it.
And now they are off to the country where am sure they will find the next expensive excuse as to why they can’t possibly live or work and another solution will be found.
….but look! Cute baby pics!
Preach it, LAK! I’m disgusted. I don’t understand the excuses made for these two when the Queen & Prince Phillip are in their freaking 80s and are still working. Through illness and old age, these two get up and get it done. It’s beyond ridiculous. And let’s not forget, they kicked a charity out because Kate just had to have the biggest apartment in KP. She chose this one. She could have had Diana’s which is inside and not visible to the public. It’s all a bunch of hogwash and the public is paying for their indecisiveness. But look…cute kid with chubby cheeks! All is forgiven. Just pop another one out and we’re all good.
Well said LAK and The Original Mia!
Well said both of you.
I’m really surprised all of this was spent on the KP Apt if William and Kate were not going to be there full time. I would think his taking up the helicopter pilot job would’ve taken some time to arrange, so there should have been some heads up about this.
Also, I didn’t realize just how exposed Princess Margaret’s apartment was compared to Princess Diana’s old apartment. Seems pretty calculated for a Prince so persnickety about privacy to choose a KP apartment in that location as a full-time London home.
Also, what’s even more surprising to me is that Buckingham Palace repairs have been delayed for this. Princess Anne was almost hit by a falling bit of the Palace not long ago. HM, Prince Philip, a multitude of staffers live in, not to mention foreign dignitaries are constantly visiting BP. The idea that funds were funneled to the KP project as a carrot to get William to do the minimum of what is expected of him as opposed to fixing a building with vital functions isn’t just disappointing, it’s alarming. What if a bit of the palace hits HM or an ambassador on the head? What can be said, oh well, we tried to make KP appealing to William but he decided to go to the country any how?
Entirely without shame
And they’re getting away with it.
We’ll see what happens when/if the announcement is made. Right now, this is still rumor that the DM says is true. It most likely is, but nothing official has been released yet, right?
I expect more people like Tanna to start openly tracking their movements in and out of Anmer. Much easier to track than when they were in Wales. They’ll report if William is going to work and if Kate is staying at Anmer or Berkshire or shopping in London. The more they hide, the more they will be followed – that’s the mess they’ve set up for themselves. That will lead to bigger backlash a year down the line.
What if unemployed pilots come forward, demanding to know why the job wasn’t open to fair competition? File a lawsuit if necessary. A nice hand-wringing expose from the DM about how these military veteran pilots couldn’t get a job – because William the millionaire stole it. That might go further than the story they dropped about the Middleton’s selling items made with child labor in Mexico.
I like that idea, William the millionaire… That puts a different perspective on what he does with other peoples money – that is, why is he spending it?!
It’s hard to believe, that a mere name (Prince), would give him the right to do that.
I am not much of a royal-watcher, so I honestly don’t know the answer to this question: what is so important about “royal work” that it should take precedence over what sounds to me like a perfectly good career of helping people flying air ambulances and raising a child in the countryside? (The question may sound snarky but I don’t mean it that way – I’m honestly curious why this is a big deal).
Because he is living on the public dole, that’s why.
It is just unfair that he lives on public money although he is not doing his “royal work”. Now he is going to get a paycheck for this job too and he won’t even properly work.
Not to mention taking a job from an “ordinary” citizen. If he doesn’t want to be king some day, he should take steps to remedy that. But then, there go the perks.
He’s not living on the public dole. He’s got a job! He’s a young man in training to be king one day. We only know what we read in the papers. We don’t know his privatel life! Think about the Prince’s Trust and how much good comes of that. The criticism of this young man is so unfair. What he makes from this job he’s giving back to charity. How is that being on the dole???
@Mrs McCubbins, where exactly did you read he’s donating his salary to charity? I’ve never heard anything of the sort.
Donating his salary to charity? Please tell me where you read that. The Prince’s Trust was founded by Charles.
On the main question, if he is training to be king, that involves public work, with the emphasis on public. If “training to be king” involves flying to Mustique on vacation, hiding from view and going on hunting trips in Spain, he’s well on his way.
Mrs. McCubbins, if you consider his job “King In Training”, then he certainly hasn’t been putting a lot of effort into it. He needs to WORK every day, and I don’t mean as a helicopter pilot. He needs to get himself out there in the charity work and public appearances that hard working royals do to keep the monarchy alive. So far, William is just plain lazybones and elitist. I’m surprised he didn’t ask for Fort Belvedere!! I suppose if he actually did donate his pilot salary to charity, that would be appropriate, but I’ve never seen anything definitive about that yet. If you have an inside scoop, please do tell.
The problem seems to be that he is paid twice – once for flying the helicopter, and the other, for nearly nothing (except for being born).
Ya – there is nothing about ‘royal work’ – full time or not – which justifies the money they get from British taxpayers and the status, assets and influence they already have.
KP wil get plenty of use by Kate, as she retuns to London three times a week for hair appointments.
LOL……….
Or, maybe she’ll adapt to country life and just be casual with a pony tail. It’s one of her better looks, really. Also, perhaps in her new country lifestyle she could actually stop using all the dreadful eyeliner and pancake makeup!! One can only hope. We need to get something out of this, too – and I’d say that is a great tradeoff.
Charles and Diana had their apartment at KP plus their country house Highgrove. It’s not unusual for a royal to have an apartment at KP plus another house that is all their own. They are setting William and Kate up for the future. When Charles becomes King and William is the Prince of Wales he’ll already have his houses established – it seems to be the family pattern.
The obvious difference being, Charles and Diana worked full-time for the family firm (& therefore the taxpayers).
People can say what they want about our lackluster US Presidents but at the very least we only have to deal with them for 8 years. This monarchy business is for the birds.
yep it´s totally for the birds.
And don´t forget that the job as Head of state aka The Queen´s job is only one part of a President´s job.
Especially the british hardcore-monarchists like to compare the costs Queen vs President to point out that the monarchy is cheaper, but they easily forget that The Queen isn´t the full equivalent of a President and the taxpayers have to pay large amounts for the Prime Ministers too.
She does no lawmaking or governing whatsoever. She is ornamental and ceremonial. What else does she do? Hand out prizes?
why are they styling the baby’s hair like his dad???…
Lol
I believe William will step out of line for throne one day. I have never thought that William wants the role , (no matter what Kate might want )and he’s just moving food around the plate for years until he gets nerve to leave the table completely.
Maybe it’s not so much nerve as William riding his grandmother out. I suspect Charles would/will accept and understand William stepping out of line someday a lot better than Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip.
Longtime reader, first time commenter 🙂
Having lived in the UK for a time, I’m still flummoxed by a lot of British peoples’ attitudes towards the royals versus British people on benefits (welfare). On one hand, they want to look in the arsehole of every (non-royal) person on benefits just to criticize and pearl-clutch over every pound and pence they get and what they spend it on, yet barely a peep about this couple who, bless, feel “trapped” in a 22-room palace in central London they’ve been renovating seemingly forever and never miss an opportunity to shirk the only job they’ve been GIVEN. Not to mention needing a vacation from a vacation in advance of a “gruelling” 3 week tour of A/NZ (ha) all the while touting how they’re so “down to earth” and “normal.” Just… stop. The jig is up.
I think attitudes are finally changing with W+K because their spoiled laziness is so brazen, but the cognitive dissonance… it burns.
I’m also a bit tired of the argument that the BRO brings in oodles of tourist dollars. People still visit Versailles even though there’s been no monarchy in France for 225 years. If the British monarchy ceased to exist tomorrow, people will still go to Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London, etc so tourist dollars won’t be lost, at least in a significant way.
Ok, rant over 🙂
Thanks for coming out of lurkdom to share your opinion.
The hypocrisy of opinion is really baffling.
I feel the same about the claim that people visit Britain because of the Royals. No one in their right mind would expect to see any of those people when they go to Buckingham.
British people with devotion to their royals and support of their expensive leisurely lifestyles baffle me.
Wait a minute. Are you telling me that when I visit England, I won’t get invited to tea with the Queen or Prince Charles? I already bought an excellent hat!
That’s not a rant, that’s what I call a quality comment. Now, where’s Megan to take the opposing side? 😉
That rant is so ridiculous I had to laugh out loud.
But let me just say that comparing Versailles to Buckingham Palace is like comparing a wedding cake to a cupcake.
LOL – great analogy Megan.
Versailles is a masterpiece of Baroque architecture and garden design – Buckingham Palace is a cringe-worthy example of overly gilded Victoriana. No comparison!
ArrtHistorian: Nailed it again.
Megan: Was that a joke?
I wish I had a 27 room, two kitchens to feel trapped in. I guess one’s problems are all relative.
It seems the government should start establishing work quotas. An individual with a royal title must “work” a certain number of days to maintain whatever financial benefits they receive. The royals should be required to make public – once every 3-6 months- who works when and where. I’m not in favor of excessive government intervention but Will and Kate are lazy bums with zero accountability.
All these royal posts confuse me. WTF is “royal work” even? People are mad at him for getting a regular job? A job where he’s helping people as well? It’s so weird. Maybe it’s because I’m American.
I think he will still be receiving and enjoying every benefit (monetary and otherwise) that comes with belonging to the Royal Family as a Senior Royal, and on top of that he is going to work and receive¡ve that sume of pounds. In a way, I think he is cheating the taxpayers because he could be doing whatever royals do at least one or 2 times on top of being a helicopter pilot.
I have been loosely following these couple and I remember that when they were going to be gifted Amner Hall, the queen kicked whomever was renting it, I think it was a kitchen manufacturer? (oh the irony!) that had the place leased until 2017 or so, and he had to be compensated because Will and Kate were going to be moving there. I assume there had to make renovations to Amner Hall ($$$$ from the queen), and then suddenly they were not at Amner Hall at all.
Kate was at her mom’s and Will I don’t remember, then they were at their place at Kensington, and then they were going to be moving upwards to the late Princess Margaret apartment, and they had to make costly renovations especially for them…
Meanwhile I read stories about how Will was going to do a bespoke Master degree or something and he was going to be absent of his royal duties because of all his studies (but if it was bespoke, maybe he could do something), not, then now he is going to be pilot… and they are not going to be al Kensigton Palace (will they ever live there)and will be back to Amner Hall. .. Am I right?
I used to like them and found the monarchy entertaining, but with all these crisis… it is too much money to maintain them, and if they ever get kicked out they are going to keep LOADS of money (their private money is due a lot to being the RF, so it is unfair to me that they would keep it all) and much of them is or will probably be kept elsewhere, well at least they would pay more taxes and would have to pay their staff and stuff themselves, not the taxpayers.
My husband was reading to me how Constantine of Greece could keep a LOT of money and family heirlooms that actually people paid for, or were gifts of state. Seeing how Greece is in crisis, having the knickknacks and jewels would be a touristic attraction, like exhibits at a museum or something.
Great post!
I don’t get the nastiness and the hostility towards him with this new job. He will actually be working. What royal duties are you referring to? Showing up places, shaking a few hands and waving at the crowds? That’s not work. I have no problem at all with his choice of work.
Yeah I don’t really get it either. “royal work” I mean what the hell is that? A glorified pr position.
If he gave up the very expensive public housing he lives in, I’d be fine with it too.
Sing it Suze
Being American, I wouldn’t begin to tell the English what to do with their Royals, but I am also confused about what Royal Work is. I can totally understand the feeling of the Government throwing away money, because that happens here in America all the time.
What would impress me is if Kate and Will actually lived on the salary he made. I understand that because of the level of security that they need, it is unrealistic to expect them to move into a little apartment somewhere, but they could base their fashion, food, extras based on his salary, unless they are taking part in something that is part of the ‘Royal’ job description.
Or better yet, refuse the salary and donate it to the charities they hardly support. These two are like millionaires collecting welfare.
Those poor renovations lol. I wonder if William will abdicate when his time comes. He seems to like the perks of being a royal but loathes the work and spotlight. Same with Kate. I don’t know William so I don’t know what he’s thinking but that’s my impression and if I felt that way, when it came my time to be King (Queen in my case) I would abdicate. He also seems to like pilot positions. I have to wonder if George is going to like being a royal or have the same perception towards it as his parents. What do you guys think? I hope more for his sake than anyone else that he’ll like being a royal. Not just the perks but the work.
William has always talked about kingship/queenship (in reference to his grandmother) as a BURDEN – a highly significant choice of words. I don’t know how Queen Elizabeth II would describe that role (perhaps DUTY?), but Queen Margrethe II of Denmark has characterized her role as a great PRIVILEGE and RESPONIBILITY.
The different choice of words does give one a good idea of how different people view a position that they haven’t chosen because they have been born to it – though Queen Margrethe was in a sense elected to her role because Denmark changed the constitution in 1953 to allow female succession – mainly because people felt that the king’s brother Knud and his children to be less desirable as monarchs. If not, Denmark would have had a King Ingolf now: http://www.dr.dk/NR/rdonlyres/75D6E9F1-1A87-4C0D-AD15-C6D21D8079DC/1787670/92e23aa61e444aacb78417043b24c3ac_Grev_Ingolf.jpg
Love that, AH. A burden vs. a privilege and responsibility. Talk about both sides of the same coin. I think I know who I’d want to be my ceremonial head of state!
Remember how Elizabeth’s father had to take up the duty of being the king in a difficult time, after his brother “followed his heart” (and continued living off the taxpayers), and having himself not the best personality for the job.
I think his death was kind of premature in a sense in a long-lived family, and terrible lung cancer brought upon probably due to stress and using smoking to cope for stress, too. He was king just for less than 20 years.
Who knows how they privately see this King-Queen job.
They surely have their huge perks, so they should not be complaining so much, or just plainly renounce to their rights, others in other monarchies have done so.
That’s definitely interesting and really says a lot. I wouldn’t be able to blame him if he picked up the slack and didn’t take so many vacations. People may say that Charles becoming King will be the downfall of the monarchy but I think it might be William if the monarchy even is ruined which I doubt.
What I love is that the article is saying that he is doing it all to be a “hands on dad”.
How living with your wife and son for “part of the week” rather than with them full time makes you a more “hands on dad” is beyond me.
You and me both, Suze. You and me both.
+1 and what is whatever he does now stop him from being a full time dad? they should fire the nanny if she is in the way!
Someway i understand this, William was never a stay at home boyfriend/husband/father. He lived mostly a part time-bachelor life while Kate (later with George) was with her parents. And´suddenly´William has to lead the life of a familyman with a loud baby at home? He uses his helicopter jobs to escape his life and duties. And the PR people try to cover it.
I love the second pic with Prince George!
His body language says “One day, all of this will be mine”
i have long thought that willie has something on these people for them to let him behave like this…it must be really big
The emotional blackmail of walking away from the monarchy. That’s what he holds over HM’s head; the idea that all of her work for 60 years will go down the drain because William will throw it all away. Plus the sacrifice of the early death of her father, brought on by the strain of unexpectedly becoming king (oh and the lung cancer, which is why Philip quit smoking the morning of the wedding – as a gift to her).
HM is smart, she knows that many people will only allow Charles to be king if it is a short reign, followed swiftly by useless Willy boy. As long as the taxpayers think William is worth the adoration, it means the continuation of the monarchy.
Look at his ridiculous comments about destroying all the ivory works of art in the Royal Collection to see what he comes up with when he’s having a fit of temper. He hasn’t been called a bully from a young age for no reason.
had not read your comment before posting mine, but I agree.
I have often wondered if he blames them for what happened to his mother.
Charles and the old woman must wonder everyday where they went so wrong.
Royal “work”….lol..what the hell is that ?
Doing whatever they can to try to better the situation for as many people in the UK and Commonwealth as possible. Raising money for charity, promoting British trade, doing something like the Prince’s Trust (which has helped 100,000s of people get jobs, start businesses, go to school), etc.
It isn’t just showing up and cutting ribbons. W&K make their own schedule, choose their events. They choose galas, wandering around the portrait gallery, and hanging out at the Olympics (but not the para-Olympics, they ditched those folks to go on vacation). They have been handed a global platform to do good, and all they do is whine, go on vacation, and spend taxpayer money on mansions they do not use.
Has anyone here visited Sandringham? I haven’t personally. The estate is open for tourism, it looks like year round. Unless there is more than one church on the grounds, their newest mansion is smack in the middle of everything (but not listed on the map).
It looks like it is across a road from the visitor center, shops, cafe, and restrooms and next to the publicly-accessible church. How is this more private than Kensington Palace when buses full of tourists will park across the road from the mansion?
www(dot)sandringhamestate(dot)co(dot)uk/visiting-sandringham/area-plan/
A year from now:
1) William will attempt to shut down all tourism at Sandringham
or
2) Claiming invasion of privacy from tourists and feeling “trapped”, William and Kate will move to Scotland. A stint at RAF Lossiemouth, Moray was hinted at in 2013. They will move full-time to Balmoral, 1.5 hours from the military base where William will “work” 1 day a month. Kate Middleton will use a helicopter to go shopping in Edinburgh 3 days a week.
BTW, isn’t this is the church we see the royals walk to every Christmas? Well that’s one way to try to get W&K to give HM Christmas Day – park their lazy bums in a mansion directly next to the church.
Really, why begrudge him wanting to have some normalcy in his life and actually work and enjoy cameraderie with real people? Why begrudge him wanting to give his son a carefree upbringing? Charles is next in line, after all. He’s got a good 15 years at least before he needs to begin taking on royal duties. I am not a “royal watcher”, but I admire both Will and Kate’s down to earth nature. Wouldn’t it be much worse if they were self-important snobs?
But they are self-important snobs, eva. They protest and cry for “normalcy,” meaning that they want not to be expected to work for their position, but feel that they are entitled to obeisance and financial support by virtue of who they are and who they married. Doesn’t that smack of self-importance to you? Any pretense at normalcy is just that–a pretense.
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