As we know, Queen Elizabeth is very, very rich. Her three youngest adult children have relied on their mother’s largesse for most of their assets, from real estate to jewelry, what have you. When Princess Anne married her first husband, the Queen gifted her with the large country estate Gatcombe Park. I think Anne probably loved it because of all of the grounds for horses, and it must have stables too. Anne’s home is quite nice from the exterior – it’s not a giant palace, but a nice-sized “country home.” What I was not expecting, however, was for the interior of Gatcombe to look so… small, shabby and normal?
The Windsors’ social media team posted the photo of Anne and her husband Timothy Laurence on their couch together, in their living room, watching Scotland vs. England in the Calcutta Cup. Anne is patron of the Scottish team. Look at all of the stuff in that one room! Bookcases, dog beds, tchotckes, random dishware, framed photos and a couch that doesn’t look comfortable in the least! The springs have gone out of it, that’s why Anne is perching on a firmer white cushion. I know this photo got posted as a strategic “royals are totally normal” PR hit, but holy sh-t, Anne really is f–king normal. She bought that couch and armchair in the 1980s!! That was when she last updated the room too.
I mean, my guess is that Anne just uses things to death because she’s cheap as hell and doesn’t care if things are fancy. But I also guess that the Queen just hasn’t funded any kind of refurbishment of Gatcombe, and since Anne really doesn’t have her own income, that’s the only way she could buy herself a new couch!
Photos courtesy of Getty, IG and WENN.
That photo is causing Marie Kondo all kinds of anxiety.
Not just her. I find it suffocating.
Same here. I hate junky, overfilled living spaces.
To me it’s depressing, cluttered and not clean. Imagine what those couches are like. I don’t think living with a bunch of useless junk makes anybody hoity toity.
Can you imagine how much dog hair is on on that couch and lounge chair? Or even worse, what it must smell like?
It’s really not that stuffed, it looks like everything has its place, it probably brings her joy…
I think if you had to dust everything, you’d think it were stuffed. Anne, no doubt, has people to do that.
I don’t find it that stuffed either…it looks like Granny’s house. Or my in-laws house. They don’t dust all that much and they also don’t care all that much.
Her living room looks like the inside of most European houses I’ve ever visited: cozy & cluttered. They find it comforting thing, possibly because of latent feelings of WWII deprivation? Why change when what they have works or might be useful someday?
@spankFD
You are exactly explaining the older generation’s mindset. That living room could be my parents’ living room. I know most modern people don’t understand it, but it is what it is.
Agreed. It looks cosy to me and I am a millenial. It reminds me of my parents’ and my grandparents’ homes in a good way. To each their own, but I don’t feel comfortable living in a minimalist space or a house that looks like it’s from a magazine or catalogue. I like to be surrounded by stuff that makes me happy, even if it looks like junk to others. OK, now I realize I sound like a hoarder, but I promise I am not. As long as you can keep it hygenic and clean, there is nothing wrong with cluttered.
Remember in that “Catherine the Great” article, aristos looked down on Anmer because it looked too much like a swanky hotel rather than letting them have dog hair all over the furniture or whatever the line was? I think that’s basically an example of what the aristos meant. Anne has clutter everywhere and hasn’t updated anything because that’s how the aristos roll.
And I also think she’s someone who uses something to death and see things like clothes and furniture as things you need and use until you can’t rather than things your admire and buy yourself because it looks good.
This what I was saying down below. It’s like Warren Buffet eating the same $2 breakfast for a million years or driving an old beat up car for decades. The old money folks don’t feel the need to “show off” for people; they are very secure in their stations. Like Rose looking for affords rugs. Kate is trying way too hard to be like them and it shows.
Growing up my dad and brother got their hair cut at the same shopping center barber as Ross Perot, literally a few doors down from a Michael’s, a La Madeline, and a smoothie king.
@gruey – was this in Seven Corners? 😂
I went to uni with a girl who was from a pretty upper-crust English family, and she once told me that (as a general rule of thumb) the shabbier the room, the richer the person. Like somehow it was considered tacky to actually want to redecorate or refurnish, IDK. Anyway, we got a chuckle out of it: royals, they’re just like us! Only not!
As @JT was saying, it’s pretty much the “old money” way of living life. They keep the same thing for decades as they’re secure in their money and status and don’t see a need to show it off.
It’s also how they save money and are able to pass it on.
They don’t need to show off their money but that sofa looks like it would hell on your back.
Agreed – standard look for old money type. My MIL’s living room looks pretty much like Anne’s – old sofas, chintzy florals – generally lots of patterns! -, framed pictures, brown furniture, general crap and clutter (the drawing room is the one that only gets used at Christmas and is a bit tidier, though just as tired. Assume this is Anne’s “family room”, hence the general vibe). Only surprised Anne doesn’t have piles of the newspapers of the last 20 years. Or maybe she just moved them out of the picture…
Also, rich ppl are rich because they don’t blow their money on the latest design trends.
I agree about how aristocrats just use everything to death. It’s one of the ultimate expressions of luxury to me. Because only well made things last for decades, stay structurally sound and keep their aesthetic appeal. I don’t think my IKEA furniture will age as nicely as that wooden furniture.
Anyhow it does look shabby/ normal because of all the clutter. I’d assume that there’s priceless antique books, pristine porcelain & valuable knick knacks in the mix though.
In my experience super wealthy people kinda just assume that everyone else knows about them. And also they tend to forget most of the worlds population aren’t wealthy. So they don’t feel the need to advertise their wealth. They just act like everyone else will respect their financial power to curry favour, are equally wealthy or just want to steal it. Either way you don’t need to advertise it.
B.S. Aristos would love for you to believe that they don’t buy new because it’s so common. Truth is that most of them don’t have a pot to piss in. Nobody has worked in generations and they have to open their homes up to the public to just keep the lights on.
Yes there are frugal millionaires and billionaires, but they tend to be the scion who makes the money and wants to see how much he can amass, since it’s about the getting not the having.
@Sienna. I was thinking the same thing. The money that it costs to keep those places going must be astronomical. High taxes too, I imagine. There may not be too much cash floating around. And for those with stables, keeping horses isn’t cheap, so whatever cash there is, would be directed there or towards some other expensive country pursuit rather than household items.
I dont know about old furniture etc, but I remember in college the people who were “old” money drove Hondas, maybe a used Acura, and wore nice clothes but never any designer logos etc – the people who were newer money drove BMWs or Mercedes and would never put a purse that didnt have a logo all over it. I kind of figure the same thing holds true in the UK, maybe in a different way.
@Sienna I think both things can be true: old money doesn’t like to spend much money or at least on very materialistic things (for example Warren Buffet and we know he’s got money) and they’ve got no money anymore anyways which actually helps them (in a weird way) keep up their old money appearances
The richest mn in my city has driven just a bunch of old common cars around. he used to have a dealership, and probably his descendants live in a fancier way, but I think most of the older set likes to live simpler, and these are families of immigrants who worked a lot for what they have, not aristos.
Grateful that not everybody likes golden-plated things, the world has had enough of that.
We have money. I drive an older Jeep and my husband drives a Honda. We have nice things, but most of them are well loved.
I would just like to point out that my bedroom set, not including the bed frame, from IKEA has lasted almost 16years, has been moved 7 times, twice across the country, and is still looking great! It’s all in my kid’s bedrooms now but still, it’s held up better then a lot of stuff I purchased afterwards. So you might get lucky with your IKEA stuff too lol.
I’m not wealthy nor is my family but we all do have a tendency to use things till they fall apart, even though I can afford some of the nicer things in life.
I tend to use electrical items till they die, when i finally upgrade my iPhone it was almost dead (still in good condition) and upgraded about 6 versions in the process.
But each to their own – some people prefer to spend their money on things that are important to them rather than having to have the latest and best of anything.
Yeah and extra points if you have a Goya and Rembrandt slung about and some busts of some admiral or other in your ancestral line.
This room looks like the sitting room of many, many Georgian houses I’ve been in in Ireland and UK.
The beige griege white candles stuff is not my experience of country rich white folk
So if the aristos have clutter, it’s noble and intentional, but when anyone else does…
Congrats you discovered their hypocrisy!
HA!
I mean by aristo standards my house is amazing LOL.
It’s a house where I would feel anxious about stepping into a puddle of pee or a pile of poop from one of the dogs. Something nice….Anne’s skin is gorgeous. She has aged beautifully. Her figure is still pretty amazing too.
That is exactly what I thought! This is how real old money rolls, they don’t need to replace or redo or keep pets off the couch. No need to show off their money.
Exactly. The American example of this is like that house in The Family Stone. Shabby, old, driving a Volvo but all the kids went to Princeton and Williams and they’re second cousins with Madeline Albright with a 50 million dollar trust fund or something along those lines.
I am an only child and so is my father. My parents house is similar and just as cluttered. We are old money and my dad snubs his nose at new monied “show offs” aka nouveau riche. He always says the show offs are probably riddled in debt and unless they can show him solid liquid assets, no mortgage, no leases, pay cash for homes and cars, they aren’t truly wealthy and just are pretending to be. I do personally own a lot of clothes though and have a custom Mini imported from the UK.
My father once knew a VERY wealthy man who was so cheap he used the same bath water for a MONTH to save money on his water bill. The man did have very fancy clothes, lived until 99, and donated most of his money to Christian Science.
LOL. I went to Williams at the same time as one of Madeline Albright’s daughters. At that time, her parents had been divorced for a few years and Madeline was “just” a professor at Georgetown. His family had the money. She had been a refugee from Prague.
But yes, the wealthiest kids on campus drove 10 year old Saabs or Audis their grandmother had bought for them, used (they had to be able to handle the horrible winter driving in that part of MA).
I think it’s also the old money way of not needing to have brand new everything. Why not keep something for a few decades? They don’t have to care about things like that because of their situation and who wants to look like some nouveau riche upstart? Regardless, I like how it looks like she actually lives there as opposed to creating a fake zoom set up like the Keens.
It’s seriously starting to look like Will and Kate are the fakest people in the RF. The others may be snobs but at least they feel like real people, with real interests and substance.
“Why spend $2000.00 or 2000 BPS sterling on a new sofa if you allow the dogs to sit on it” is very much a philos0phy and mindset of “rich” country people everywhere.
Something to remember: Anne’s home Gatcombe Park is not open to the public. The Cholmondeley’s home Houghton Hall is open to the public. We CBers have only seen the “public” curated rooms of Houghton Hall. There is no telling what the private apartment rooms of “Rose Who?” and David Rocksavage look like.
I think I’ve seen some of Rose’s private rooms on Insta or somewhere. They were updated and modern. Not overdone but simple and tasteful.
@Harper – Thanks for the heads up. I thought the only Cholmondeley posting of Houghton Hall were the public rooms. Not surprised about Rose’s decorating as I always expected she and David have excellent taste.
At the very least, we know what Rose’s bathroom looks like! It was part of the story of the reproduction of wallpaper from 230 year old rolls she found in the Houghton Hall attic. Very much country style, and very good taste, though it would be interesting to see a view of the full room, as the bathtub location seems a bit odd (maybe that has to do with the location of the fireplace, and the plumbing hook up?). Anyway, here it is:
https://www.houseandgarden.co.uk/article/houghton-hall-bathroom
Windyriver: That’s a lovely bathroom. Since it wasn’t originally a bathroom, but probably a bedroom, it’s very large. I’ve seen a lot of British bathrooms like that. They put the tub in the middle because it makes it easier to get into and out of, AND it makes it easier to clean it because you can get to both sides, AND it makes it easier to clean under it. Plus, it probably faces a window so you have a view while you soak in the tub. All things my crappy little fitted bathroom doesn’t have.
LOL Anne is notorious for not giving a fk about things like this. She often wears the same clothes she’s had for years at engagements.
This is a home that looks LIVED IN, it doesn’t look like a show home.
“She often wears the same clothes she’s had for years at engagements.”
And looks good in them. Anne practiced “Vintage Dressing” before it was cool.
Let’s not forget, this is a woman who hasn’t changed her hairstyle or makeup in over 45 years!! I don’t think she’s that good with “change” lol But from all I’ve gleaned about Anne, she’s just as “frugal” as her mother. The one thing they BOTH splash out on are their horses. She has “plenty” of $$$$ to spend on her horses and racing.
As Petrified Phil said: “If it doesn’t fart or eat hay, Anne doesn’t care about it.”
Seems to apply to her home furnishings, too lol
Anne ‘recycles’ her clothes!!
Yeah. Because the Olde Rich think they are being sensible by simply spending thousands on a suit and taking it to expensive tailors to have it mended at $200 a job.
It’s the plebs like us who have to buy new clothes when our $14 H&Ms wear out.
Read somewhere that Charles’s has 30 year old bespoke suits which he has mended and/or refurbished annually.
If Charles has 30 year old suits, bless his tailor because he’s been letting out the seams a lot. If Biden visits, he should go on a few bike rides with him.
@L4frimaire – Charles recently (last 6 months) talked about this in an article for sustainable fashion. He described the maintenance and repair of the 30 year old Morning old suits he keeps wearing to formal day-time functions and weddings.
This drives me crazy. I have some vintage clothes (nothing like the quality Charles owns, I’m sure, but nice pieces) and mending them of taking them in costs a FORTUNE. I’m not complaining, I care about sustainability and I want to pay for the craft and work involved in tailoring but I know it’s a treat and a privilege to do it. Does Charles know that?
@BTB – Assume you’re talking about the British Vogue interview prior to Charles launching the (sustainable) fashion collection? The morning suit he wore to Harry and Meghan’s wedding was from 1984. He wears it a few times a year. He also talked about, as a child, taking shoes down to the cobbler in Scotland to get them resoled.
@Mika – An interesting point in that article was that Charles was starting a “thrift market” at Dumfries House, where people from the area can bring in all kinds of things to be mended, clothes, appliances, etc.
I read an interview some years ago with Cary Grant’s (last) wife, about how she had recently sent one of his 40 year old shirts off to England to have the collar, which had frayed, replaced. Like Charles, another man who liked clothes and was careful about his appearance. Born about as far from old money privilege as you could get, and wealthy enough to afford anything (he was a savvy investor in addition to his film career), but valued and preserved quality items he possessed.
@windyriver – Thanks for your info!
Not my taste at all, the couches are hideous and there’s too much clutter. But Anne has no more fcuks to give.
Agreed, minx. And I think having no f*&%s to give is also a sign of age and confidence. Anne, for all her praise and criticism, has never been called insecure. I think she’s happy with who she is and where she is and is living her best life. It’s been my experience that insecurity often leads to labels, flashy purchases, and general attempts to impress.
This really made me laugh when I saw it. The best thing is the ancient TV cabinet which used to have a big ol’ CRT television. When they upgraded to a flat screen did they get a new stand? Nooooo, just stick the new TV on top, and use the space where the old tv was to put a load of random crap.
And I didn’t notice that she was sitting on a cushion probably because the 40 year old sofa is knackered!
Lol I just noticed the cushion. And it looks like Anne just shoved a bunch of sh*t aside, to her left, so she could sit down. I mean, it’s her house, she likes it that way, but it looks like my parents’ living room back in the day….too much crap, everything fusty and dated.
It looks like my MIL’s living room now, especially the massive dated china hutch that every 70-something lady seems to find essential to their decor. I wonder if Anne’s contains any Precious Moments figurines!
I’m going to have to agree with you. The “aristos” who have inherited these old country piles suffer from three society levelers. First; as has been discussed above, they have very little to no liquid assets with which to change furnishings and fixtures. Second; these homes when built by the owners had to have servants to maintain them. If you have no cash, no servants follows pretty quickly. Third; is an amalgam of 1 and 2. They are lazy. I’m sorry to say it but the idea of cleaning toilets and getting on your knees to wipe a floor is for the peasants. A dirty house does not make a person aristocratic, wise, or non materialistic. It makes the owner lazy and a bit gross. Anne will work on her horses all day everyday. I commend her for that but why doesn’t that dedication follow back to the inside of a persons house? I know we rip on Carole and company, but no one can say that she is not a worker. She has busted her ass to make sure Kate won the prize. Interestingly, The Standard had a story about James shedding his beard. The article came with pictures from the backyard of Bucklebury. Carole, Mike and James’ fiancé are sitting around a patio table enjoying a glass of wine with a barrel of twigs, bush cuttings, leafs etc sitting close by. It struck me that the Middletons are not afraid of the hard work needed to keep their house in good shape. I cannot shade them for it. The “aristos” claim to be very proud of their homes, their titles, etc, wouldn’t keeping the home up be something to be proud of? I don’t know, maybe a person only becomes proud of their home and other material things when they were the one to actually pay for it. One more thing, Charles is the definition of the Aristocrat of days gone by. He is horses and hounds one hundred percent, but the only thing he allows to be messy is his office. The rest of his residences are run with a precision that only a person with access to cash can aspire to.
@itsme
Perfectly said. Aristos, particularly at her level don’t shop, wash, mop, dust, clean, launder, mow, maintain their autos, call plumbers or put their things away unless it amuses them. They have staff that enter the room after to deal with everything.
And to everyone who says she’s aging gracefully, personally I find her to be my worst nightmare about turning into a frozen in time “Old lady” (I’m not a spring chicken myself) I look up to the Jill Biden example. She’s contemporary, has a job teaching young people, looks vigorous and engaged and likely knowledgeable about the real world.
I’m only 56 and I have a massive china cabinet, which holds a nearly 200 year-old-family heirloom platter as well as other pretty things.
Carole Middleton isn’t doing yard work so let’s stop pretending that’s she doesn’t have hired help like the Windsors. It may not be as many as the Queen, but she isn’t taking out the pushmower to cut the grass at Buckleberry.
@Elizabeth Phillips – Go for it girl!! I have a different variation of the same thing! LOL!
Agreed, Nic919. Carole doesn’t lift a finger to maintain any of that. With her company continuing to fail and never as successful as they pretended? She has to keep selling the image to find someone stupid enough to take PP off her hands.
That sofa looks dreadfully uncomfortable!
It’s totally the room of an older lady who got what she got when she got it and that’s it.
No updates, no cleaning out, no re-decorating.
The outside of that house is stunning though, and that greenhouse is incredible.
I would bet that Anne spends more time in the greenhouse than she does in the TV room.
I remember visiting Parliament in London years ago. The throne room had footstools with threadbare red velvet, and I asked the guide about renovation. He said, “Never. Too much historic value.” Even the coronation chair, on display at Westminster, is scratched and peeled and chipped to hell. it is too historic to refinish.
Anne’s couch is not surprising.
You mean St. Edward’s chair? It’s over 700 years old, so yeah, too old to refinish. I get it. They have a lot of old stuff in the Royal Collection to take care of, they likely don’t care much about things that are still working.
Doesn’t it and the stone that sits under it belong in Scotland as well? Or am I wrong and thinking of something else?
It was made to hold the Stone of Scone/Coronation Stone, which was the coronation seat for the Kings of Scotland, but it doesn’t currently hold it. The Stone of Scone is in Scotland, where it should be. The Coronation Chair itself was made by Edward I of England (not St. Edward, despite it’s name).
At least this is real, a bit like Camilla’s desk with things she used on it, ball throwers and mess on the shelves. Unlike Kate setting up a pretend desk on an end table like a literal child.
That one photo was more successful at making Anne look “normal” than the years of the try hard PR done by the keens.
Too true.
I can understand the Keens not wanting to reveal much about themselves; he’s pretty paranoid about privacy when it suits him, but Anne looks like a real person, a fairly well rounded one. An obscenely wealthy one, but well rounded.
Not my taste but it looks like a totally normal living room to me, not everyone likes white/grey walls and the same furnishings as everyone else. If the couch was bought in the 80’s then that speaks to the quality of what she bought, it looks a wee bit faded on the arms, and I can see she is sitting on a cushion so the springs must be a bit knackered, but a couch lasting that long is unheard of now.
@ fife, I have a sofa I bought in ‘82 and the only thing I have had done is have it reupholstered. It has an excellent base made of pine, I think, and the upholster told me that it would last forever and it’s still very comfortable, but I keep it in the bedroom since it’s too small for any of our living areas. It’s dated but it’s held up.
And yes Anne has no desire to look on trend. She could care less about her rooms, but that sofa should at least be worked on. As for the clutter, that makes me crazy as I hate clutter! But to each his own. And she has aged beautifully and hasn’t even updated her look either. But well made clothes will last much longer as opposed to others but we don’t have access to the wealth that they do to buy these types of clothing.
Anne’s armchair has no seat cushion. I suspect the couch cushions are mostly gone, too, which is why she’s sitting on a spare cushion.
I also wonder about the random square of paneling sitting in front of one of the china cabinets.
I saw Chris Ship complaining that people were focusing on how untidy and cluttered Anne’s living room instead of the great victory by the Scottish Rugby team. There’s too much clutter, she needs someone to do a de-cluttering of that room.
That’s exactly as I pictured it. English decorating from the late 20th century, soccer (football), never released photographs, books about English dogs, lots of art. That is one hella expensive room.
ITA! I bet the porcelain figurines and vases cost a pretty penny. I also feel like the room speaks to the whole cottage core/ Late 80s & early 90s nostalgic Instagram aesthetic. Which I assume is totally unintentional on Anne’s behalf and it will have basically the same design elements in 5+ years.
But that lounge room is exactly how I imagine a wealthy English person living, especially a member of the BRF.
Is that an *enormous* greenhouse attached? Jealous!!!
Also I think Anne runs the place as a business and does make income. So she could afford a new couch lol.
Ugh, can you imagine? The stuff I would grow in a greenhouse in my zone 4 world that I can’t get away with – hello beautiful roses!
She stopped holding the Gatcombe Horse trials in 2019.
Peter and Zara are now running a new one, Magic Millions Festival of British Eventing at Gatcombe. Just another way to help Peter and Zara 1) make money 2) inherit the property without paying tax and 3) promote MM which pays Zara to promote their racing brand.
MM=???
@BTB – Magic Millions
@Jaded – Thanks! I was not sure.
It’s absolutely lovely. 👍
I have similar thoughts as other posters – while this is a PR ploy to show that the royals are “just like us” it actually works because…that’s a real family room. There are books (that look like they have actually been read), there are papers, its not pristine – it definitely feels like Anne said “alright you can put a picture on the Instagram” (you know she calls it “THE instagram” lol) “but I’m not straightening up at all.” It’s very different from even the posed picture of the Queen and Prince Philip opening the Cambridge anniversary card.
Kate and william try so hard to hide every personal aspect of their life and I think its leading to them being the least relevant royals, which is saying something.
@Becks1 – I agree with you that this was a PR ploy but I think the PR ploy was to promote the Calcutta Cup or whatever Anne is a patron of (Scottish Rugby team???) that they were watching. The success of Anne “looking just like us” was a PR bonus because I do not think Anne really cares who she does or does not look like. Anne is just Anne: REAL.
Also, having her husband in the picture was another PR bonus for her Royal followers as there are very few pictures in the media of them together.
I mean, I certainly see the laughable contrast between Anne’s family room and Kate’s empty desk where she does her very important work of posing with a phone in her hand.
THe Instagram for sure!Lol!
Also this was a win win for Anne who I believe lives her life as she wishes AND got good PR for it. I like her but have every belief that she is a snob,and has little respect for the “new money “type folks(AKA Middleton clan).
I have always been taught from childhood to never discuss your money situation in any way and that those who do are trying to prove something to themselves more than to anyone else.
My firm belief is that when one has the financial means and security that royals,aristos,and old money types have there is simply nothing left to prove to themselves or anyone else.So an old car or couch is not something they ever think about twice bc one ,they don’t need,and two if they did need something new they would be able to buy the best tomorrow.
“Kate and william try so hard to hide every personal aspect of their life and I think its leading to them being the least relevant royals, which is saying something.”
@Becks1, seriously, why do you suppose they do that? Down to the only showing framed photos of ones that have already been released. Why the strangulation hold on anything personal? Do you really believe they are guarding their privacy or could it be a fear of the public seeing how good they have it?
I think it’s because they aren’t “real”. They both seem like shells of a real person. All of William’s interests like the environment, conservation, and his new found racial justice in media stance are all borrowed from the people in his life. He doesn’t seem care about anything that he came up with himself. Kate has no real interests other than looks, she has no sense of personal style, and nothing of note to actually say. Pippa calls her The Duchess even in private and despite the fact that they are siblings who were raised together. Anmer was decorated by her mother and ran by Carole as well. The public know how good they have it; the queen addresses the public in front of a solid gold piano for goodness sakes. I think showing as little as possible hides how empty they are. Their zoom room looks like a hotel and not somewhere they actually live. I just think they are empty. The rest of the family are probably horrid but they seem “real”.
@JT, agree 100%. I read a fascinating article the other day, in fact someone on CB may have linked to it, that delves into the colonials in Kenya, the lifestyles of insane luxury and massive African landholdings that their descendants enjoy even today, and it reminded me so much of Wills and Kate. They were even mentioned in it, you can see where he gets his faux-conservation mindset and that this is the lifestyle to which he aspires. https://www.thedriftmag.com/the-original-karen/ . If anyone on this forum is from Nairobi, I would love to hear your thoughts on this article!
I think its for a variety of reasons, one of which is what @JT said above. they seem like very blank and empty people so what we get are these super staged rooms because that may just be how their house looks.
I also think part of is very intentional, William is supposedly fanatical about his privacy and what he wants the public to see, so that’s why we would never see a picture like this, of the Cambridges watching TV together, William would never allow it. (but even if we did see it, I dont think it would have the same vibe that Anne’s room here has.) He doesnt want anyone to see anything in his house that would give a hint of anything beyond “Prince William the future king.” and maybe there’s not much there to hint about, like JT said, but not even a family picture the public hasnt seen before?
Finally, I think that somewhere along the way someone – William, Kate, Carole, whoever – decided that these overly curated images of Anmer and KP and their family life were good for their overall brand – their rooms are tastefully decorated but in a very bland way – very muted colors, very formal furniture, its like a hotel like JT said. and I think someone decided that made them look more regal or more formal and makes their lives look a step above ours – but I think at this point their lives are so sterilized, so to speak, that it contributes to the fact that they are increasingly viewed as boring. and being boring would be okay except that William still wants to be a big star , and boring wont get you there. I feel like the mindset was “we’ll show the public just enough” but the end result is so dull that no one actually cares.
You cant be constantly “telling” people, you need to “show” sometimes too and the Cambridges are not good at showing. I remembering seeing pictures of Zara and William riding horses at Sandringham in the 80s. We hear about how Charlotte loves horses and is learning to ride, but I dont think we will ever see a picture of it. and its not that “the public has a right to the pictures” – its more that its such a blackout on anything personal besides tidbits that again, the Cambridges come across as boring and irrelevant.
Finally, I think its a symptom of their work and family life. I think William is probably living at Sandringham, so there arent any cute family moments to be shared, and we all know they dont work, so there arent any office pics to share.
You cant fake a family room like Anne’s or an office like Charles’ or Camilla’s and I think that’s where the real issue comes in.
“the queen addresses the public in front of a solid gold piano for goodness sakes”
I am sorry but this gold piano story always gets my mouth running and my fingers typing. QEII does not own that solid gold piano anymore than Brokeahontas Trump owns the Lincoln Bed. QEII did not authorize purchase of that solid gold piano. If QEII got an eviction notice and had to vacate the Throne, that solid gold piano would stay right where it is waiting for President Johnson or President Corbyn to tickle out a tune or allow the dust to collect inches deep on it.
No doubt being photographed in front of that solid gold piano is just 100% bad optics no matter who is in the picture but QEII has does not own that piano.
Petty Betty may not “own” that gold piano but its not like anyone else gets to play it or enjoy it besides the Queen and her family (and presumably visitors, depending on where it is permanently in the palace), so it becomes a distinction without meaning. The palace WANTS people to focus on the fact that the queen does not “own” BP or the gold piano or the crown jewels etc – but for all intents and purposes, they’re hers, so saying she doesn’t own it doesnt in any way diminish her wealth, privilege, or her tone-deafness.
@Becks1 – I agree with you but for some reason that Very super ugly gold piano always gets me revved up. LOL! LOL!
I also think it takes a good bit of vulnerability to open up the public to your home. Showing your private space is very personal and will be picked apart that it can be scary. It doesn’t stop people like Harry and Meghan or even Anne. Will and kate seem almost determined to project such a show of strength, or what they think it is, that they cannot bare to open up, be truthful, and vulnerable. For all William does to use his mother’s legacy, the way he operates is the exact opposite of what Diana was. @bay I know the queen may not “own” the piano or even BP for that matter, but the sentiment still stands. She is the custodian of said piano, so in my eyes it’s hers.
I mean, doesn’t she own it though? It belonged to Queen Victoria, and was built for her family.
I don’t think that’s a solid gold piano, I think it’s gold-leafed over wood. The sound just wouldn’t be right if it were solid gold.
One of the times Will and Kate allowed a picture taken in their private quarters to be published was five years ago, when they hosted the Obamas in their formal living room. (The picture of Obama meeting a bathrobe clad Prince George was also taken in that room.) Everyone got to see the huge painting which included a slave boy on the wall – and that they obscured the descriptive name plate with a plant. It was widely commented on and criticized. They wouldn’t want a repeat of that kind of analysis, especially if there’s more to hide, like whether or not William is living there, etc.
Anne doesnt give 2 sh*ts what people think. She works and doesnt have time for jealousy, upstaging a new sister in law. She doesnt have to prove anything to anybody. It makes me like her even more. This seems like a real place that’s being lived in. This is anybody’s mom, or grandma’s house and it would be quite warming to come back home to this.
Anne absolutely cares about her position and being upstaged by married in royals.
Back in 1981, she and Princess Alexandra went to the Queen and complained about how much attention Diana was getting. Queen responded with new Order of Precedence which placed Anne and Alexandra above Diana at any family event where married-in’s spouse wasn’t present. Complained and demanded the same changes it when Fergie, Sophie, and Camilla married in.
I think Anne does care but in a different way than she did 40 years ago and in a different way than Kate does. Kate cares about being upstaged etc because its all she has – her role as FFQC. Anne cares because hierarchy and precedence has been ingrained in her since the day she was born and she’s not going to be bumped out by someone who is “new” to the firm.
My guess in general though is that Anne does not have much use for Kate, and its not just because of their age difference.
I get the feeling that Anne has little respect or none at all for anyone who does not work as hard and as much as they can at whatever they have the ability or opportunity to work at.
Even Diana’s worst critics admit that she was the most hard-working member for a long time. Anne still didn’t like her. I know people like to pretend that she is as two-dimensional cut out who just wants to get on with the work and has no pretensions but that’s clearly untrue. She’s as bad as all of them, how could she not be having been raised as a demi God? Those nannies that raised her and her brothers knew their station in life. And as much as people like to talk about how the Queen has enabled Andrew, never forget that Anne has never sent out any kind of signal of disgust. And never will. She’s just a spoilt rich white lady who happened to be athletic.
Anne has the mind set to use it up and wear it out…but if she needs a support pillow on the couch it’s time to refurbish it or replace it. The clutter is ridiculous and unnecessary and she desperately needs a hair makeover.
Yeah. They’ve gone from frugal to cheap. The house doesn’t need to be FANCY, but you shouldn’t need a chiropractor after sitting on your sofa. (This is a sore spot for me, as I’ve been harping on my husband for us to get a new sofa for at least a year.)
Anne likes her hair the way it is. If you look back through old photos, she has really thick hair that doesn’t look all that manageable. Easiest thing to do is pull it back and forget about it.
True, but the styling and dark dye is soooo dated. No one else with long hair has done that huge poof around the face and crown since the 1970s and the way it’s dyed reminds me of Wayne Newton. Anne could still have long hair and pull it back and look like she is in the 21st century. Meryl Streep is about the same age with long hair at times and she does ponytails and updos that look quite modern and flattering.
Do you think Anne colors her own hair? I ask because the “dye job” does not look, to my eyes, like it was done by a professional licensed hair dresser.
It is what she likes, so that’s how she keeps it. Why should she be required to update her look? It isn’t a royal’s job to be fashionable.
Bay, that sounds like something Anne would do herself.
Why is this a preoccupation- that everyone and everything has to look ‘modern’? It’s so tiring.
This looks exactly like my great aunts living room lmao. Broken down couch, TV stand from the old TV with a flat screen on top, clutter and dog beds. Like I’m not falling for the PR, but this does look like someone we knows living room.
I think she’s just an older lady. My mom was a neat freak with a meticulous cleaning schedule but when she but her 70s her living room was like this too. She liked having her things from her life around her, photos, knick knacks, books, just a lot of stuff. It gave her comfort. Also: dog beds. Lol!
Arthritis made it difficult to clean too so lots of dust and dog hair.
My mother is almost 80. She is still a neat freak. Her place looks like a magazine photo shoot. My brother 48 is almost as bad. I am 60 and while not a neat freak and home interior design feel, my home is comfortable. Just wish a little bigger lol. One bedroom and my 6 yr old grandson lives with me😂
I can smell the mothballs from here. This looks like my grandma’s house. Very lived in with years of memories and not a single update since 90’s.
This photo contrasts The Guardian article perfectly. What hidden assets? That said, I find the room fascinating-so much interesting clutter-it’s almost panic inducing.
Two big, nondescript rocks plunked on the coffee table. LOL
Those are probably moon rocks.
None of this surprises me in the least, this is how the legit aristo/old money/country types live. Your home is functional and the bricks and mortar equivalent of that slightly threadbare but comfortable old dressing gown that you can’t bring yourself to throw out because it’s so comfortable.
This is a tragic absence of any taste or style. You can see that the room has some nice proportions … high ceilings and look at that intricate millwork around the door. But I zeroed in on that coffee table and it looks like there are rocks sitting on it amongst the other mess of papers and books. Um, what? Sorry, this isn’t aristo old and charming … you can find the real thing in Tatler, and in those cases, even if it’s used and worn there are some high-end furniture pieces and expensive upholstery and carpets and evidence of a classic style. This is just bad taste and low standards. I can’t believe they didn’t even bother to straighten up for the photo if they intended to release it worldwide. What is even in that back corner stuffed with tables and junk? Gross.
That corner caught my eye, too. The china cabinets/breakfronts look older and well made, that junk in the corner, and the tv cabinet or whatever it is, do not. The whole place makes me want to sneeze.
I agree, Harper. It made me wonder if they typically have a maid who “picks up” but isn’t working due to COVID.
Keeping things until they wear out can be spun as virtuous, but not cleaning up after yourself cannot. There is nothing particularly “old money” about paper clutter.
Maybe this is their version of clean? If that’s the case then,,,,EEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWW.
This place makes me anxious, but it’s on brand for rich English aristos. One of the shadiest ways to say someone is new money in that set is to comment that someone had to buy their own furniture.
Im sorry but the interior is so ugly😭
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People have different money priorities. Some put it on home decor, fancy clothes, hair and make up. Others put it elsewhere, like travel and experiences.
I imagine Anne puts a ton of money into horses and stables and other very expensive hobbies. I bet those horses have better living quarters than she does.
In a weird way I respect Anne. Because at some point, she clearly decided she didn’t care about her standing in the family or pulling power moves. She didn’t give her kids titles and has probably enjoyed being able to lay low and just crack on with it. Like, if it all went away tomorrow, she would be totally fine. Unlike the rest of the family, who cling to the money and power desperately.
It probably also helps that she was never an immediate threat to the heir because she was bumped in line for Andrew.
I mean, I could be all wrong and she could be pure evil. But she has always had that no muss, no fuss vibe. I was able to catch that documentary before it got pulled from YouTube. And out of all of them, she seemed the most comfortable with herself.
She does care, as I wrote above. She’s complained to her mother repeatedly to get changes in family events, Order of Precendence, etc. to make sure her position is reflected. She is a complete snob, and frequently brusque and offensive at engagements too. Anne has a huge sense of entitlement, to the point she doesn’t properly train her dogs because she doesn’t think she should have to. More than once she has gotten in trouble with the law, like when her out-of-control dogs attacked a child.
She is a moron
Poor child and puppies
Just because you’re old money doesn’t mean you have to lack taste.
The couch needs to be upholstered. She needs to have people organize her mess. This looks like the room of a person unable to tidy up.
I get not upgrading furniture or things – my parents just changed some pieces after more than 50 years and they still wear clothes they’ve owned for so long it’s now a recurring joke at how quality has decreased over the years. But their décor has always made sense and their clutter is organized and stored neatly. Anne’s looks like the beginning of a hoarder’s nightmare.
Rich people are cheap. That’s part of why they’re rich. I was an event planner in a swanky part of D.C. for five years and…damn, rich people are cheap.
Also: I researched the guy who broke into Buckingham Palace twice after it was dramatized on the Crown. Take it for what you will, but he said the interior of the palace was shabby.
To quote Crazy Rich Asians “No one likes free stuff more than rich people!”
To quote a rich father of the groom I once worked with, “I’m going to stand next to the bar and make sure everyone only orders two drinks.” And he did! He actually did!
My father is pretty wealthy and absolutely loves a sale, a deal, or free things. He also loves “negotiating” prices with people.
Yeah they are, I remember my mother once telling me a story about how J Paul Getty used to reuse postal stamps.
The family and guest quarters at Buck House haven’t been refurbished since the 50s or 60s. I remember a photo from a designer working with Sophie. They posted a pic from inside Sophie and Edward’s quarters, to highlight an outfit Sophie was going to wear. Dated furnishings, bedside tables mounted on the walls to make cleaning easier, greeny/yellow carpet.
So true about DC! They tried a “real housewives of DC” – it lasted all of 11 episodes, LOL.
My father’s family was an extreme example of the old money aesthetic… I always hated the furniture when I was a kid – it was really uncomfortable. I realized when I got a bit older that was because they hadn’t bought new furniture *since the 19th century*. Literally, the sofas were stuffed with horsehair, and the footstool still had its tag from the cabinet-maker who made it by hand. The parlor wing chairs had been reupholstered sometime in the early 50’s, I think. The beds – I kid you not – were hand-carved rope beds with feather mattresses. The only things new were in the kitchen – the white enameled appliances were from the (19)60’s, and the TV. They used a sterling soup tureen to hold cut flowers and ivy from the garden on the dining table. My great grandmother wore a skirt-suit and white kid gloves to play bridge with her lady-friends even in the 70’s – she’d sewn the suit herself, in the style of Chanel.
One thing that I do think gets left out of these discussions of old vs. new money is philanthropy…. people today who make money aren’t very charitable compared to old money families, it seems. The same family members who mended holes in wool socks they kept for 40 years (not kidding) gave money to the church, to women’s clubs and fraternal organizations, sponsored children, and considered it a personal responsibility to share their literal good fortune with others. Today, it seems people feel giving away money is for fools, unless it brings them fame or recognition.
That’s what is really sad. (Even more than the gaudy displays of wealth.)
It has also been proven that people with money, either new or old, are cheap when it comes to charity. Members of the economic middle and lower class give a higher percentage of their income to charity than the ‘wealthy’.
I once worked in a law firm that specialized in divorces for very, very, very rich people. They did not like paying their legal bills. The lawyers were very good at sending a bill *right* before final judgement on a divorce/ custody/ prenup was signed. They’d pay THAT one, because usually they wanted to get the business done. But once things were final, then it became a lot harder to collect (unless the rich person had good managers/ assistants to handle things.) All the talk about tRump not paying bills? He must be REALLY awful at it for there to be so much gossip because that crap goes on all. the. time.
I feel terrible for the maids who have to dust around all that crap! I know it makes Anne seem more relatable that her home isn’t perfect, but she’s not the one who has to take care of it, so to me, it’s just another example of her privilege.
Totally believable. Some very rich don’t live and spend very richly. My uncle is like this. My dad’s sister married a very wealthy Wall Streeter after a whirlwind romance abroad. She was teaching at the Sorbonne, and they settled in Chapaqua down the road from the Clintons lmao. Anywho, their wealth was only visible in where they lived, their education and my cousin’s wedding lol. Their estate had many rooms like this. No air-conditioning (I guess not necessary?). I remember my cousin’s first car was a used hatchback, again, no ac. I imagine she regretted that at Vanderbilt. I remember my uncle congratulating me on my Sebagos as he thought they were very sensible and would last forever as all purchases should.
That’s clutter? Looks like a well lived in and loved room tbh. Tv, well worn couch, bed for dogo, knicknacks on the shelves etc. The outside of the house is very “Gosford Park” ‘ish.
Re: clutter. I have a neighbor who has a real cluttery place. You know that scene with the Xerox machine in the movie “9 to 5”? Picture that but in an apartment after the machine goes bananas. Papers on every surface. She knows her place is a mess but she’s tried to rectify it. The landlord has been after her for years but it’s all too much for her (she’s disabled) and with covid it’s just gotten harder. I feel for her because I know the landlord is trying to get rid of her so she can remodel then rent the apt (which is currently HUD) for market value. Even in a pandemic.
I couldn’t spend five minutes in that room, but what a glorious greenhouse!
I couldn’t either, but I’d live in that greenhouse.
@Kaiser, it might seem a smaller house but it also has 700+ acres with Gatcombe and the nextdoor Aston Farm purchase. QEII pulled a fast one at the time, using Crown Estate funds to fix up Anne’s new private property.
I’m loving how Timothy Laurence looks like a dad who just came back from the Cheesecake Factory where his daughter had a graduation dinner or something, lol.
Williams:
I’m what they call “nouveau riche,” but then, it’s only the “riche” that counts.
Quote from Midnight in the Garden of Good And Evil.
Anne’s rolling in dough. Everything about her says old money. You’d have to be uber wealthy to maintain her estate. Gatcombe sits on hundreds of acres of land and has a barn with her and Zara’s horses.
I feel like the US we are so obsessed with design and redoing perfectly fine houses because we are so consumer driven and think being in debt over our heads is better than having an outdated kitchen that we forget that rest of the world isn’t addicted to HG TV and actually uses things until they are worn out. My house is never gonna be featured on a design show and probably looks shabby and cluttered to some but I also paid off my house and drive the Corolla I drove in high school (I’m 34) and don’t have any debt. I think living modestly is better than the fake American way of living in debt and trying to look rich. No shame from me for a royal living line a normal.
I use things until they wear out but I try to keep the house de-cluttered because I have to clean and dust for myself and dusting a lot of what-nots it tedious.
You should visit the Apartment Therapy website. People love the older features in homes and regularly rip those who redo perfectly good kitchens so that they look like whatever everyone else and their Aunt Tillie have on HGTV.
Is that really her living room, where she actually receives guests or entertains? It looks like the equivalent of a den where you chill and watch tv , and let your magazines pile up, but doubt
thats the room people first see when they enter her house. Just feel like after all these stories dropping about the Queen’s wealth, this image is to make the reader think they live ever so simply like the rest of us. I get the impression Anne would put most of her money in horses and she’s very frumpy and lacking in style, so yeah,she’s definitely a shabby chic kinda girl, but let’s not pretend those threadbare sofas and rugs aren’t being cleaned by a full time household staff.
Doesn’t Anne have apartments (city residence) in St. James palace as well? Maybe the photo was taken there? Or I might be talking out of my a$$, what the hell do I know?
Yes, she has a townhouse at SJP. If she receives guests or has meetings, it would be in office space at Buckingham Palace, KP, or SJP.
Anne is amazing and brilliant, I worked at Save the Children UK and she was on the board of directors. She spent 10 years listening to experts before voicing her opinion on issues. She brought countless money and attention to the charity and its causes. She stays totally true and doesn’t give two s**ts about how she looks or any gloss.
She is also incredibly rude and often nasty at her engagements. Once when the Queen was quite sick, someone at one of Anne’s engagements handed her a floral arrangement she’d done for the Queen. To cheer her up in her illness. Anne told her straight to her face that she’d wasted her time.
What a coincidence that we were given this pic of Anne’s small, cluttered, shabby living room IMMEDIATELY after all the headlines about how the Queen meddled in politics (Protocol Police must have been off this weekend) in order to hide her vast, vast fortune more effectively. I bet that picture wasnt even taken AT Gatcombe Park. Which, while its no Buckingham Palace, is still HUGE.
Good point. How do we know this room even exists at Gatcombe Park? Could it be one of the cottages on the estate? The floor coverings are terrible as it appears that scatter rugs have been placed down to cover stains. Doggie doo?
I don’t know anything about old monied aristos but I think there must be a generational aspect here. I doubt Zara lives like this. Or Sophie. Kate doesn’t and neither does Meghan in her $14 million home (and I’m sure Frogmore didn’t look like this either). And they never will.
It looks like the house of someone from the older generations. 🤷🏽♀️
My great aunts house was way worse.
Same with my mother-in-law. She has knick knacks everywhere and old fashioned furniture, but she is an extremely tidy person, always has been, so piles of books and stuff on the couch you’re sitting on just won’t do. That room would make her itchy. In fairness, I don’t think Anne would have a problem mucking out a stable but would be surprised if she’s ever made her own bed or washed dishes.
What a musty dusty dingey looking dump. She’s a slob, no kids at home to excuse the clutter, no illness to prevent her dusting now & again and servants at her beck and call. Lazy? Sure looks like it. Very poor taste also. Why keep a couch that needs a cushion to be seatable. Looks to take pride in living like a slob. It’s not just old furniture, it’s a dump. As a family we helped keep up my parents and grandparent’s homes which really wasnt doing much and they loved and appreciated it.
Her grandchildren live right next-door, so I expect they spend time at the big house.
Peter and the kids live in the main house with Anne. Autumn likely lives in the nearby small house also on the estate. Zara lived there years ago. Now Zara, Mike, and their kids live at Aston Farm which is owned by Anne and adjacent to Gatcombe.
on a second look, I Really see not dust, they probably cleaned it that morning, or I am blind as a bat.
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I just can’t stand having the figurines in front of the tv.
I’m a neat freak and a “less is more” kinda person when it comes to decorating. That being said our place is comfortable, calming and we have an interesting collection of stuff but yeesh that living room makes me shudder. That coffee table look like it came out of a Moroccan restaurant and I imagine the place has a terrible pong of unwashed dog.
Anyone remember RHONY Countess Luann “Money Can’t Buy You Class…” haha that’s what this made me think of, just so ugly, no form or function…
Americans expect rich people to have glitzy homes and lifestyles. Old money and royalty, I guess, follow different standards. What you are expecting is nouveau riche kind of furnishings. I read something once about Trump, that he was a poorer, more rural person’s idea of how a rich person dressed, lived and acted, (while he himself is barely solvent), while real rich people’s behaviors and lives are different. P. Anne may be an extreme case of this, but more power to her!
I sincerely don’t believe that’s true about Americans expecting the rich to have glitzy homes. I think most of us have been exposed to more than that.
Actually, I sort of wonder the opposite about rich people who post their fancy houses on line. I wonder where they do their real living, especially if they have kids and are displaying all white rooms. I think the expectation of Anne having fancy things would be more because of all the antiques, artworks, jewels and other valuables that her parents exhibit all the time. How nice of you to assume that “rural” people are ignorant about things.
Trump acts like nouveau riche, not old money people. The old money people of NYC never have and never will accept him or his grifter family.
No, not really. America has its own (dwindling) group of old money elites and there’s always been a well-known clash (aesthetically and otherwise) between them and the nouveau riche. The old money tends to be concentrated in the East Coast.
I’m American and I don’t expect anyone to have a glitzy home, rich or not. But I also don’t admire a rich person with a room that looks unclean and cluttered. I know Anne doesn’t give a sh*t, but she opened up her house for pictures, so I’m going to pass judgment on it.
Right when reports come out about the Queen hiding her wealth and she and Charles influencing legislation to enrich themselves… here comes a convenient photo showing how the royals are so down to earth and shabby… never mind Anne lives in a mansion and has a very expensive hobby that could find multiple homes. This is like Kate being praised for wearing Zara while burning money on bespoke coats
I love antiques but I don’t like old couches. I love a big, wrap-around, plush, soft, oversized modern sofa. Old furniture is hard on the as*!
I desperately want to kick off a gofundme to repair her couch, or purchase a new couch and chair for Princess Anne. It feels like it’s needed. Who would have thought a Princess would need our help to get a couch with working springs?? hahahahahahahahha I’m down for the troll though.
There are rocks on that coffee table, and that cushion is totally from IKEA! The posh people are annoying with their pride in worn out furniture. I’ll take my nice, new, comfortable couch, please. You can keep your shabby carpets and dirty wellies.
Most of us would be rightfully embarrassed to have our rooms pictured so untidily for all the world to see. As if they couldn’t have someone take all that mess off the couch and coffee table. I bet most of the time it looks more pulled together than that.
I certainly would be embarrassed! All this tells me is that they are slobs and that they don’t have money to pay someone to come in and clean that sh*t up. Also, they are kind of disrespectful to their company. I’d have anxiety sitting in that mess, but that’s my cross to bear lol
Oh Please!! What a joke! The royal grifters have millions in assets.
Anne has always been the no nonsense, practical sort, the physical embodiment of proper horse girl energy. My two favourite fictionalisations of her have been in the Sue Townsend book The Queen and I and the TV show The Windsors. In The Queen and I Anne is the one who adapts the best to council estate life once the family is dethroned and manages the family affairs with shrewd practicality (and still manages to get a horse). In The Windsors she lives in a derelict castle with holes in the roof where she refuses to put on the heat but goes on strike because the sovereign grant isn’t raised enough lol.
I love The Queen and I. Townsend got Edward right on as well.
Oh yeah, she absolutely did lol
OMG the white cushion!!! 😆
That coffee table is making me emotional! Takes me right back to my grandparents’ various front rooms in the 80s up to early 90s, clutter and all. :’)
This might be their cosy tv room and they’re not bothered with any changes, I doubt the rest of the house is like this. It’s exceedingly English, that’s for sure!
Isn’t that a mark of old money? Shabby, old fur-covered couches, horse paintings, and ancient rugs? Didn’t this lot mock the Middletons for their new furnishings?
Maybe it’s just this picture but her husband looks about 50 years old and for some reason, probably her hairstyle and super sour facial expressions, I always think of Anne as being nearly 80 years old. Like I would believe you if you told me this was a picture of Anne and her son.
He is 65 and she is 70. That’s why it always amused me when people acted like Meghan was so much older than Harry.
Camilla is older than Charles, Kate older than William. There are just some people who have to obsess over Meghan being older than Harry.
The thing that stands out for me is how exceptionally boring the art on the walls is.
Hello 80’s! Did they clean up for this photo??
I honestly don’t get why people call this cluttered or untidy. Well, I sort of do, but there’s just a lot of stuff on the shelves and cupboards – that’s why you have them right? It’s where you keep your knicknack. And while the furniture and the art are not my cup of tea at all, I can’t find fault with stacks of books and paper/magazines sitting on tables and other surfaces. Books are not clutter. This looks like a cozy, lived in room, not like an aseptic presentation space.
I swear, when I first saw this picture I thought it was my in-laws living room. 😂