Weeks ago, I honestly expected the story about Prince William hiding his coronavirus illness would be a bigger story. It was a big story to me – the so-called “future king” failing to fully disclose the fact that he contracted a deadly virus until months after the fact. Despite some hand-wringing from some royal reporters, the controversy died down within days, as William’s media allies dutifully undersold William’s secretive, squirrely actions. I’m expecting the same of the Cambridges’ Pandemic Train Tour, which was 48 hours of partially maskless travel, a flouting of lockdown regulations and an utter catastrophe in PR. The Daily Mail is already trying to focus on the positive, which is that Will and Kate’s body language revealed that they don’t hate each other. But more telling is this column in The Scotsman: “Royal Covid train: Row over Prince William and Kate’s journey raises questions over monarchy’s role during pandemic.” Martyn McLaughlin raises some points! Some highlights:
The belief that the royals are part of the fabric of everyday Britons’ lives: “There was a time when, for the overwhelming majority of the country, that was partly true. That bond, or at least the perception of it, was keenly felt, and no more so in times of strife. It is in times of crisis that the role of the royal family has tended to become clearer, when its protagonists fulfil the simple purpose of reassurance and encouragement. But over the course of the past nine months, that implicit contract between the monarchy and the people has felt strained, and its power and profile diminished. It has drawn its ever-renewing strength from the idea that it is uniquely placed to galvanise the nation through torrid times. Yet throughout the coronavirus pandemic it has failed to do anything of the sort.
The royal absence: “That makes their absence all the more striking, and it is why the three-day train tour by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge seems incongruous in so many ways. Yes, there is some merit in the minor political stooshie surrounding their travel at a time when vast swathes of the country remain under extensive restrictions…the most jarring thing about it, however, was not the idea of rules being flouted, or familiar grievances about “one rule for them and another for the rest of us”. It was something simpler and subtler: a sense of an institution overreaching after an extended period of dormancy.
The six-month gap between the Queen’s corona speech in April to her first public engagement: Yet six months would pass before she carried out her first public engagement during the pandemic, during which time the rest of her family remained largely out of sight. Whatever occasional forays were made into the spotlight – such as Charles recording a series of video messages, his smartphone perched on a pile of books – were seized upon by those who yearn to project a modern, informal monarchy.
The royals haven’t read the room: “Never has it been so important for the royals to dismiss as an anachronism the old warning, first uttered by Walter Bagehot, that they “must not let in daylight upon magic”. But since the spring, they have remained largely in the shadows, and the backlash in recent days to the royal tour indicates that they have not yet grasped the public mood, at least in Scotland. Throughout her reign, the Queen has understood better than most that the durability of the institution she presides over stems from what it is visibly seen to do. “I have to be seen to be believed,” she once famously remarked. What will the response be when, in months and years to come, the question is asked of how the monarchy helped the nation through the gravest crisis in its modern peacetime history? For its ardent supporters, the answer will be disappointing, and not a little concerning.
Yeah, all of this. It’s not that the Queen f–ked off to Windsor this year and the HMS Bubble was created to protect her – it’s that she basically went dark for months while her people were struggling. Not just with the pandemic either – as cities around the world saw enormous racial justice protests, the Windsors stayed silent as the grave too. And this is such a good line: “the most jarring thing about it, however, was not the idea of rules being flouted, or familiar grievances about “one rule for them and another for the rest of us”. It was something simpler and subtler: a sense of an institution overreaching after an extended period of dormancy.” Will and Kate thought they could just run around Scotland, Wales and England, flouting public health standards and performing their keenness and they would be rewarded with a sycophantic press anointing them Future King and Future Queen. But all they did was underline how useless they’ve been this whole time.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
OMG this is so true. Covid has exposed how useless all of them are and this tour added icing to the cake.
Actually this is total bullshit. The RF have been extremely loud and in our faces during the pandemic. Not a day goes by that they’re not loudly whining about The Crown, with a frequent whinge about Harry and Meghan. What do these ungrateful peasants want??
The whining is done for them by staff. The nearest they get to doing their own whining is when statements come directly from ‘The Palace’. General whining is filtered through ‘sources’, ‘insiders’ and unnamed ‘aides’ and made available to the public via the ‘royal rota’ press briefing system.
This is so true! The thing that will kill them will be apathy. They didnt do anything but I dont know who cared. I heard people ask where The Queen was, but it was more ‘ the old people locked in their homes will love it’. They are irrelevant to anyone else. They are no more than a soap opera. When they bother to go out they are an imposition, taking up peoples time and space when they would rather be doing something other than bowing and scraping to these people who have done nothing and achieved nothing. Say what you like about celebs. They may be just as annoying but many ofvthem manage to do charity visits and open shopping centres as well as having an actual job of work. And most people would go to see a famous actor open a hospital over the Royals, so what’s the point of them?
@anotherlilly my point was more that it’s ironic that some of us have more or less felt their presence (albeit through their spokespeople) this whole time. But instead of talking about what’s vitally important to the nation and the world, they’ve been entirely absorbed with briefing against the Sussexes and calling up their Torrie buddies to complain about a television show. They don’t really give a shit about covid and it shows by where they put their energy.
My mother mused earlier, ‘they really do think a lot of themselves, don’t they?’ A Covid-super-spreader-tour which takes first responders and nurses away from their actual jobs in the middle of a plague to tell them how ‘pleased’ the gormless couple is with their ‘service’ is not only the height of hubris, but a completely unwarranted, arrogant and smug sense of superiority.
A tour with multiple unnecessary outfit changes because the clothes and the hair are the real point to tell the peasants that their masters are most pleased with them.
William: “We must walk through the streets and try their peasant marshmallows! It will bring cheer to their simple hearts. And then we shall retire to our castle to further impress upon them how favored they were by such important people as us.”
Kate: “I shall wear my very best extensions!”
I understand that the intent was for Will and Kate as symbols of the UK to represent the country’s gratitude but that doesn’t work when their actions are unsafe and privileged. Lucky Queen getting to have her other family when others cannot, and the taxpayers also get to shell out for the royal train.
@kalpana, ok I lol’d irl! That was great!
Why not wait until after the vaccine? They could have capitalized on that sense of joy and relief.
But the royals themselves are just dreadful waxworks as Charles would say and that’s what they looked like outside Windsor Castle. Will and Kate looked over-privileged and self-absorbed and clearly going through the motions. Having these people stand outside Windsor Castle and all that empty space didn’t imbue them with grandness and significance, it made them seem detached and empty and again over-privileged and self-absorbed.
Exactly-it was bizarre.
Or, even better, be proactive and show people that the vaccine is safe and help get the message out to Britons who may be scared to take it. I think a lot of us are scared to take it, but the prospect of dying from COVID is even worse.
I don’t know that I’d be that upset that the queen disappeared for 6 months. She is in her 90s. But Charles and K&W sure don’t have that excuse, especially since Charles and William already had it and were unlikely to pick it up again. They could have really done a lot of good being advocates for mask-wearing and beating that drum and they just didn’t. This train tour is just the latest example of W&K taking those masks off as soon as possible. That sends a terrible, terrible public health message.
I don’t want to defend Charles but he and Camilla did go out more once he recovered from covid. He doesn’t get as much coverage but he didn’t hideaway like William and Kate did.
Also, Having Corona virus once, absolutely does not diminish ones chances of picking it up again. This is not a virus that produces immunity on its own.
Charles and Camilla and also the Wessexes have been visible. The Court Circular lists all official engagements. Other unofficial engagements like the Wessexes’ local voluntary work are not recorded and they’ve had little press attention. Charles and Camilla spoke at the Festival of Remembrance and Charles spoke at the Royal Variety Performance. These events reach large audiences.
The kind of personal qualities and connections that resonate with a nation are not easy to define. Historical connections play a huge part and this is where heredity serves a purpose. The Queen and also now Prince Charles are identified with the nation. They are like old family hierlooms, valued not for any particular beauty or merit but because they are ours.
Among the younger generation it was Harry who evoked those feelings more than William. His faults and failings were publicised, William’s were covered up. But Harry was more popular than William and that wasn’t supposed to happen. Harry’s marriage then made connections with people who may have felt like outsiders, even if they were born here. It was a great opportunity to develop a more inclusive national identity but also a great threat to the direct heir. Jealousy, snobbery and racism pushed them out . The royal family, and the nation, are poorer by this loss.
They didn’t wait until after the vaccine because the tour isn’t about covid. This is about the outpouring of positive global support for Megan and her NYT op-ed and the backlash from The Crown.That’s why they had to throw together this three day long nothing “tour” in the middle of a pandemic. They are shook and can’t think straight. It’s going to be like this for the rest of their lives. Hastily throwing together events, desperately trying to keep up with Harry and Meghan. It’s be unforced error after unforced error until they find themselves thrown out on the street. If they keep this up, William might not make it to the throne.
They need another Diana to win back the people. Too bad they banished her to California.
Yeah, I think you’re right.
Same here! I think Harry and Meghan would have been found the right way to show support and to bestow the feeling of unity.
Exactly this.
Agree. It doesn’t make sense that Meghan is a social climber but walked away from a lifetime of unimaginable privelege. More likely the Royal Family treated her badly after a lifetime of treating Harry as a Human shield to protect the heir and Harry couldnt take it any more after seeing how they treated his wife and probably his child. They would have been saved by a Mixed race intelligent woman who knew how to talk to the public but they allowed their anachronistic sycophantic hangers on to hang her out to dry because ‘ protocol’ If you watch ‘Diana in her own words’ hercstatements about the press and the Royals could have been spoken by Meghan. That’s probably what drove Harry away. Shes just gone along with his wishes.
When William and Kate got married I was super excited for them, and even more excited that my generation was going to get a ‘new diana’. But after the wedding came, nothing really happened with her, Kate just never really ‘popped’. It took a while to realise that this duchess was never really going to live up to her predecessor. Between 2011-2016 there are no notable moments with Kate other than weddings and births. I don’t remember a single thing she did.
But after Meghan arrived look at how many people engage in royal news now, I’m on celebitchy everyday and twitter reading about all the royals. I remember watching the last commonwealth ceremony and seeing comments on twitter, it seemed everyone was watching it. I’ve never watched that dry AF ceremony in my life, but because of Meghan I couldn’t wait to see it. That’s what you call reinvigorating a dying institution.
I think they had Diana’s star power wrapped up in someone who could have out played the courtiers. If anyone had given the project of making the dolittles shine to Meghan, she would have produced fully thought out ideas that wouldn’t have been these disasters. But small minded people prevailed.
Meghan would have come up with something useful and as a means to raise funds for the frontline workers. That’s the difference between these two couples.
this is really interesting. I wonder how different it would have played out if Harry and Meghan were still there? And in what ways? Like, would they have used Harry and Meghan as fall guys? Or worked together? Either way, I hope it is the downfall of this useless institution. I can’t stand hearing about it. For me it died with Diana anyway. Harry and Meghan are much better off out of it.
I was wondering yesterday would the family have made better decisions if he was still there. I feel like he was often the voice of reason with a better pulse on the public. The one royal who could “read the room.” Because since he left it’s just been one completely avoidable gaffe after another- especially with Will and Kate.
No wonder they never wanted Harry doing his own thing completely independent of them. Harry didn’t need William but William DESPERATELY needs Harry.
My thoughts exactly!
You are so correct. They desperately need Harry. He is the only likable royal they have. He would never have done this ridiculous tour.
Harry and Meghan for all their faults might have tried to do something actually useful. Even a tiny bit. Can’t have that!
I mean…pack some food donations, hand out free masks. Not these ridiculous “meet and greets” with people who have faaaaaar more important jobs. You can get back to waving and cutting ribbons when the people are vaccinated…if they don’t abolish this uselessness first.
But Harry and Meghan supposed faults can’t overshadow a bunch of useless relics using people as PR props with a phony tour during a global pandemic.
it’s interesting because that sort of volunteer work is exactly what sofie has been doing the last several months, often times without official credit. it really seems like kate believes herself to be above it.
@tee you are correct. Sophie has been out there more at food banks and such (yes not always masked properly) and she even made it a point to quarantine when she was advised that she might have been in contact with someone who had covid.
Meanwhile the Cambridges have not gone to food banks to serve and instead did photo ops of going to a pub, later proven to have cause more spread, and going to a hospice for kids without PPE while not social distancing.
All I can think is that Harry and Meghan picked the best time to dip out.
Oh they absolutely did. They would have been told to stay put until the pandemic ends, which will not be until Summer 2021 at best. Then Philip could die and it would be “stick around until the country has grieved from Philip’s death”. Then the Queen could get ill or die and it would “stick around till the country has moved on”. Then it would be “stay until Charles’ is stable on the throne”. Then “Charles is old and can die any minute so stick around”. Then it would be his and/or Camilla’s death. Then “William needs you while he becomes stable”.
So they would probably never be able to leave.
It would have been more time for the courtier rats to scheme and get rid of Meghan. I don’t think they would be above trying to set her up in some kind of “affair” sting–these are folks who were trying to pay people to lie about dating her/having relationships with her. It’s scary to think what they might have done to her or to Archie at William’s bidding. For all he’s supposed to be a big dummy, Harry showed his smarts by taking his family and leaving that gilded hellhole.
Sofia, that sounds horrifying and most likely what would have happened.
Lanne, that was a good laugh. And oh so true.
the timing was impeccable in hindsight, especially for all the grief they got when it happened. i can’t imagine how miserable meghan would have been holed up in frogmore for all this time.
One rule for them and another for the rest of us is entirely correct. These ding dongs need to hire someone with common sense.
Not only are they useless, they couldn’t even set a good example for the public during this pandemic!
BURN!!!! The Scotsman is a high end newspaper and for them to print this just shows how badly the Royal COVID Superspreader Tour went down.
Top CEO and Willileaks are NOT going to react well to this.
They should critique Top CEO’s landmark survey too which is easy to do but I bet they’re holding back.
I wonder how much of their continued existence as an institution stems from just plain apathy? Meaning, they’ve always been there and they’re not doing active harm (aside from eating up tax payer dollars), they don’t impact most people’s day-to-day…so there’s not a galvanizing reason to end the monarchy.
I’m really interested to see how the next few decades go as they get increasingly irrelevant.
I would say that apathy is 85% of why they are still there and in the commonwealth. Because if you really look at what they do and how much they cost, there is little to justify them, especially anyone behind the actual monarch. And it’s ridiculous for the grandson of the monarch and his wife to have any role especially as they have no skills or talent to offer to the country.
As a Brit, it absolutely is apathy. There’s respect for the Queen because she’s been around a lot but it is apathy that’s keeping them, as I said a few weeks back or whenever the article on the monarchy being abolished was published.
Pretty much all of it. We’ll get shot of them eventually (I hope) but we’re not there yet.
I used to feel apathy for the royals, but now feel nothing but rage towards them. They are no longer the very rich posh family that wave at peasants, they are a family that use and abuse power. Andrew can get away with being a peado, Diana was destroyed by them and they have publicly abused a woman of colour.
The queen knows Willie and keen chased harry and Meghan away, and she does nothing but reward them. And Andrew too. It’s an institution where guilty people are rewarded and innocent people must bear the brunt to protect them.
They are entirely useless and always have been, especially to common wealth countries like Canada. We just don’t care. They are out of touch, serve no purpose, and are a waste of tax payer money.
The entire British monarchy is stupid.
It feels like the queen doesn’t care if the monarchy doesn’t survive her death. she sure doesn’t seem to care a single iota about anyone but herself. she should have stepped away ages away to allow the family to reinvent itself. this family doesn’t seem to contribute at all to their society. i’m not English so i’ve never understood the appeal or history, but isn’t the monarchy supposed to be some sort of feel-good institution? and don’t they just make everyone feel worse with their detachment and worthlessness?
She really doesn’t. That’s why she was always detached from Charles even when he was a child.
Elizabeth was in her early twenties when she had Charles. She was a young woman who felt uncomfortable because decades later her child would be her heir? That’s emotionally unhealthy.
Also, the name Charles. She gave her heir a name associated with a King that lost his crown and was executed. If the abdication was such a massive trauma to the family, why would she give her heir a name associated with even worse events?
The thing is I think that all she cares about is the continuation of the monarchy. Over and above her family. Otherwise why on earth would you insist on your family opening Christmas presents in order of precedence? The problem is that she is 94, so thinks that the way to cling on to the monarchy is to reinforce their superiority. Charles wants to slim down the monarchy. She is against it. She wants it to stay as it is forevermore. I doubt Will and Kate want Charlotre and Louis to have to make their own way in the world though, so who knows what will happen when they get their turn?
The same thing that’s happening now. They will be fodder for whatever tabloids want to write, and they will be thrown under the bus on behalf of George. Whoever marries Louis will be Fergified or Meghaned, and Charlotte will be deemed acceptable so long as she stays pretty, thin, and rides horses. Rinse and repeat. The system is set up to pit siblings aginst each other. No one imagined William and Harry in conflict when they were boys, and yet here they are. Same thing will happen with the Cambridge kids because of inertia. So long as Louis and Charlotte don’t prove to be smarter or more skilled than George, and they stay exactly in the place allotted to them and the do exactly what is expected, they get to play second fiddle to George. If they are smarter or more skilled, they will be okay as long they suppress that. I used to think Kate would want to raise the kids differently, but now I think she’s just going along to go along, which will mean the other kids will be treated differently. Feeling bad, she might indulge and spoil the younger kids more, which will make George resentful and angry, and he’ll likely take that anger out on his siblings and be jealous of them. Until it’s time for George’s kids to do the same thing. God forbid the kids identify as LGBT, and the “legend of how Meghan destroyed everything” might keep them from even socializing outside of their aristo set. And so the world turns.
This article nails it. Cost aside, public health issues aside – this just highlights the uselessness of the royal family.
Part of the reason for that, I think, is because this is a situation where we really are NOT all in it together. This isn’t London being bombed during World War II or people having ration cards etc (although I am sure the royal family ate well enough during that time.) There is a huge difference between quarantining at some place like Anmer Hall, with enormous grounds for outside play, a pool, a tennis court, staff, nannies, etc, and zero financial worries, and quarantining in an apartment in London with two small kids and being worried because you lost your job and Brexit is looming on the horizon.
That’s always been more or less true for the royals – they’re financially secure and insulated from problems in a way that most people aren’t – but I feel like this pandemic, in general, highlighted the differences between the haves and have-nots and highlighted the class divide, at least in the US.
I think using their own special Royal train reminded Britons that this family doesn’t need to take public transportation and take the same risks as they do with respect to this virus. Add to that Dominic Cummings and car ride to check his eyesight and there have been constant reminders that the elites in the UK didn’t have to make the same sacrifices as the large majority of the country. And the Windsors are the most elite of all and this tour was a reminder of that.
But they could highlight how parts are the same if you follow actual protocol: wearing masks, not spending time with people outside your household, staying home if you can. Because they’re flouting the rules it’s even worse optically.
A monarchy might have been justified a century or so ago, when the king or queen played a role in determining public policy. But there is no need to maintain excessive wealth and privilege for people whose roles now have been shunted to morale officers, especially when almost all of them can’t even do that.
This queen earned a lot of loyalty among her generation and her parents’ because her family stuck it through with everyone during the war. They shared that commonality, despite the difference in wealth. But that is dying out with the passage of time. There is no common experience shared by the people with her children or grandchildren. Would a Brit who is William’s age look at William and that Royal generation and think they have anything in common with them? It’s a dying institution.
Wow …they are shameless ! They had to wring the neck of the British PM to officially endorse their train tour. It sounded so forced. But Scotland’s Nicola Sturgeon was unyielding in her refusal to welcome the Cambridges. These two could have waited for the right time or could have submitted themselves to quarantine if they really wanted to push through with the visit. They should’ve shown respect towards Scotland’s Covid lockdown restrictions. Scotland didn’t see them as above these restrictions that’s why they were not welcome and were made to suffer the cold shoulder.
The Guardian UK had a hilarious opinion piece today – started with Matt Hancock then shifted to the train tour – the comments on W & K were the best part
Also I think the tour highlighted William and Kate’s lack of charisma and star power. There were many comment pieces or tweets from people in the media who praised them by attacking the Sussexes. If William and Kate can’t be complimented and praised without people comparing them to or criticising Meghan and Harry then it means that the future King and Queen’s tour was a failure and that they are not as popular as people believe them to be. The family picture was a flop and it only served to emphasise what the Royal Family lost when Harry and Meghan left.
The only way to raise the Keens up is to bring the Sussex’s down. When it comes down to it, they all know who the superior couple are, in star power, charisma, work ethic, success, and intelligence. The Cambridge’s can never TRULY be better than them.
I really don’t understand the purpose of that family picture at all. Any idea what the intent was behind publishing it in the first place? It doesn’t look like a close family type of picture, and it’s not a holiday picture despite the Queen in bright red, so what was the reasoning for it? Is everyone supposed to feel reassured and happy that their RF is still there and breathing?
I think the RF hired the wrong guy when trying to hire Meghan’s PR expert, or he’s secretly performing a little sabotage for his last employers:)
All very well-said, but I don’t know if the British monarchy will ever be gone. I sort of hope for more commonwealth countries to get out of their nominal arrangements. Also, I really love that I learned what “stooshie” is.
LOL I looked stooshie up too. Turns out I’m familiar with them. Who knew?
Ditto!
I might be wrong. I believe that the Queen and Prince Charles became invisible to give the Cambridge more space and public visibility. We must remember covid happened right after the Sussex left. They were the dynamic duo (and still are). But the Cambridge are what they are. Somebody wrote that the Sussex would have better grasped the mood. I believe so too. One of the first things they did, and seem to have been forgotten, is that Meghan asked the kitchen hub to cook meals for the needy and Harry asked one of his charity to deliver the meals.
(please correct this text is necessay)
Harry and Meghan didn’t ask those organisations to help the needy, they gave them public support.
OMG, 4 stories on the stupid tour just today?
…and made a lot of people happy doing so.
Well Kate did help with the Hold Still photo competition (whether it was her idea or not, she was attached to the project) so at least she did something (that was announced in May btw). It was a very moving, poignant, and beautiful project that she probably wasn’t super involved in but got credit for. And the Queen did her initial “landmark” address back in April and I know she did some Zooming but it seemed like she mostly hung out in Windsor with Philip with her staff and wasn’t doing much. I get she’s old at 90+ so it’s not like she was going to be seen out and about during lockdown. Not sure what else people expected her to do really, which is why she should probably abdicate at this point. She is so stubborn.
What about Anne? She’s the hardest working royal in that family. We don’t really cover her that much but I feel if anything, she was probably Zooming every day and we just didn’t know about it.
I liked the photography competition, I thought it was very timely and seemed like a great idea. But the thing that annoyed me is that is was all about Kate, I don’t remember seeing anything written about those who submitted their pictures or even who won it. It annoyed me when the queen issued a statement about it, because the Keens really need that extra push in their embiggening campaign. I think the queen described the photos submitted as and inspiration, which was then twisted to the queen says “Kate’s an inspiration”. This nice competition feels cheapened by the fact kate has just used this to give herself a pat on the back.
I’m from a Commonwealth country and spent my whole life with the queen on our money, postage stamps, portraits in schools, etc. So whether you like it or not, you kind of grow up a monarchist, unintentionally.
Now that I’m an adult, I’d be perfectly happy with the disillusion of the monarchy. They’re all a bunch of useless twats anyways. Down with the monarchy, but keep the commonwealth – without a figurehead. Just think of us as a bunch of countries that like to hang out with each other; a country gang if you will.
If I recall correctly, the queen lobbied hard to get Charles elected head of the CW. It doesn’t necessarily have to have a royal at its head.
But Charles is still royal. I say get rid of the monarchy all together, and don’t have a head of the CW at all. Besides, all the Commonwealth is really is a public reminder of the countries that the UK colonized (look how that turned out). I say give them the ol’ heave hoe and toss the lot of them.
It really is time to abolish this useless family, but this will never happen as they are too ingrained in the minds and identity of British people. I have some friends who are always dead set against getting rid of them as in their mind it’s part of what makes them British despite none of them paying too much attention to the ‘royals’, so I believe that even when Elizabeth ll passes away, the monarchy will still be here unfortunately.
I really hope Scotland breaks away and becomes independent and Ireland reunites, Wales… well Wales usually follows England’s lead.
I also hope the black commonwealth breaks away from this racist entitled family too.
This! I try to visit Scotland each year (I’m from Canada) and let me tell you….if there ever were countries that need to separate and be independent, it’s Scotland and Northern Ireland. Their history, culture, citizens, their mark on world history, their insane talent in arts…all of it should be celebrated on their own, separate from British rule (who try to take credit for it anyways, typical).
I lived in Scotland and I do think the populous sentiment is very anti monarch and has been for centuries. There’s still a lot of friction between native scots and the people in power in Edinburgh (financial, academic, and political) which are majority English. Not surprised to see this come out of the Scotsman
Northern Ireland could not survive financially by itself (especially at its current standard) or with the Republic of Ireland. So I can’t see them leaving.
I would love to see the Scots get their independence and I’m from England!
Fleur, I lived in Scotland as well mainly the highlands and the islands and there is a big anti English sentiment up there. I came back down to England on the day of Brexit and I have to say there was a very solemn air around the island, a lot of people couldn’t believe it. I think the Scots need to take control of their own destiny and not be ruled by Westminster.
And WetCoast, I totally agree, they have their own rich culture and history. I love it up there and would still be living there but the weather puts me off, the people are fantastic and have been very good to me, if I don’t go back up to live I will defo be visiting that country regularly.
And sadly they dragged Sophie and Edward and Anne (The husband opted out?) into that mess. Them standing on the steps was really odd. They looked to disconnected. As if they were strangers. And none looked happy to be there.
This is why the RR/BM are mad at H&M. They know the BRF needs them to remain relevant. And they’re now realizing how totally incompetent W&K and their team are. It’s so bad that they’re forced to write outright lies to prop up the institution. I wonder if they’re now regretting participating in the smear campaign W&K setup.
Hoist upon their own petard. The royal rats got exactly what they deserved in chasing the Sussexes out. They shitcanned their own careers to appease the Dolittles, and they will get nothing in return.
My husband (born and raised in Windsor) thinks the Royal family bring in a lot of money to the UK and he has always defended them. Now, he isn’t so keen about them at all – he is sick of their nonsense – especially after watching the interview with Prince Andrew.
I don’t know what happened with Harry and Meghan because I do not follow them – nor do I follow Will and Kate. However, I did see a film clip of what I think was a Commonwealth ceremony which took place earlier in the year and it was so clear how Kate looked like an uptight jerk, would not even acknowledge Harry and Meghan’s presence and Will was only SLIGHTLY more relaxed. Harry also looked uptight. Meghan (she wore a green dress on the occasion) was the only one with a relaxed look on her face!! As far as Kate is concerned, that did it for me. She came across as disgusting – a right jerk. If there were problems between the 2 brothers so be it – let them work it out – what was her beef??? The was a huge mistake on Kate’s part. If I were the Queen I would have really chewed her out.
Kate’s face at that ceremony told me everything I need to know about the dynamics of the (no longer) foursome. There’s a lot of insecurity there.
“My husband (born and raised in Windsor) thinks the Royal family bring in a lot of money to the UK”
They really, really don’t!
Watching their disgusting breath billow everywhere makes me physically sick – abolish the monarchy
Smug marrieds comes to mind ala Bridget Jones.
The Clueless Cambridge’s strike again! I think their natural touchiness on tour are pure publicity. No way they are that affectionate in private.
This tour was not only offensive, but was dangerous! They just aren’t getting it. Do you think this was William’s idea since he already had covid and probably thinks he is immune now!?!
The end of the monarchy is in sight. I’m thinking Harry saw the writing on the wall.
I’m seeing it too. William is barely hanging on, what an embarrassment. They have no one to blame but these two.
Loved your coverage of this tour, Kaiser! Really cracked me up 😆 I love all your names for this ridiculous couple.
I hope the monarchy is abolished in our lifetime, the idea that God has born favourites in a rich family doesn’t feel right to me…. Plus can you imagine how annoying a Holier-Than-Thou attitude from king willy would be 🙄 a philandering egg in an ermine cape.
I have no sympathy for Will and Kate after how they treated Harry and Meghan, ride that karma train
And the ending was we got to see the queen, whoopie. These people are so full of themselves.
Glad to see The Scotsman in fine form again.
This ‘tour’ has provided the clearest visual illustration of TRF’s problem as well as their inability to see it. Everything about it was a relic, from the outmoded transportation and the ridiculous narrative that seeing the royals is just what people need to feel better about the abject horror that they’ve been living with this year, to the fact that it ended with a parade of boring old white people projecting a demeanor as warm as their winter surroundings. It was as close as you could get to living out an episode of Dowton Abbey, and not in any of the good ways.
In a year when literally any shred of joy has been embraced by people, the royals managed to be one of the few things that couldn’t muster even the slightest bit of enthusiasm from a population that is desperate to feel good about anything at all. 2020 made people desperate enough to enjoy Tiger King, yet you still couldn’t get people to muster even slight nostaligic joy by trotting out Liz & the gang and their fancy choo choo train.