The Windsors’ Easter guest list was slimmed down this year, slimmed down like the number of working royals in the family. King Charles only allowed one of his nephews to come to church, and that was James, the 16-year-old Earl of Wessex. James’s older sister Lady Louise did not go to church, and I thought perhaps that Charles had banned Louise and all of his other nieces and nephews. But the Mail claims that Louise was probably still in Scotland, where she attends St. Andrew’s. Hm. I doubt that, but sure. While King Charles clearly doesn’t want his nieces and nephews to do any work on behalf of the crown – please, they might steal the king’s thunder! – the British media continues to try to convince Prince William that he needs to bring all of his cousins into the “working royal” fold. Especially Lady Louise.
As the British monarchy has faced health crises in past months – with both King Charles and the Princess of Wales undergoing cancer treatment – key players have stepped up. Among the royal family the Princess Royal, her brother the Duke of Edinburgh, and his wife Sophie, appear to have ramped up their public appearances and engagements. And amid them, one young member could be set for key role in the Firm’s future – Lady Louise Windsor.
Writing in his Palace Confidential newsletter, the Daily Mail’s Diary Editor Richard Eden expressed that contribution from the Duke of Edinburgh and his family ‘has never been more important’.
‘Although way down the line of succession, in 14th place, the Duke of Edinburgh is busier, and more prominent, than ever as he carries out duties while his eldest brother, King Charles, is undergoing treatment for cancer,’ he said last month. ‘Edward and his wife, Sophie, are often overlooked because they don’t seem to court attention from the media and appear happy to undertake their numerous royal engagements and foreign visits quietly and without fuss.’
He continued: ‘In my opinion, another great service the couple could do for the country would be to encourage their children, Lady Louise and James, the Earl of Wessex, to become working royals when the time is right. Louise, 20, is in her second year at St Andrews University, while James, 16, will sit his GCSE exams this year. When Prince William becomes King, I hope that he will follow the example of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, and ask his cousins, including Lady Louise and James, to share royal duties with him.’
‘Hopefully, William will realise that a “slimmed-down” monarchy wouldn’t safeguard the institution, as some claim, but would lead to its irrelevance and eventual death. What better way to build on its strengths than with an injection of energy from young people who have had values of public service and duty instilled in them from birth?’
[From The Daily Mail]
LMAO “Hopefully, William will realise that a “slimmed-down” monarchy wouldn’t safeguard the institution, as some claim, but would lead to its irrelevance and eventual death.” It’s so wild that they’re saying all of the quiet parts outloud. “If we don’t get some young blood in here, everything will fall apart!” Yep. I mean, in this very narrow case, Eden is actually correct. Which is why Charles and William will refuse! Huevo is just like his father – terribly afraid that someone will steal his thunder or get more attention in any way. Besides, as I’ve said about Louise this whole time – it’s not clear she wants any part of royal life. She’s not like her mother. Speaking of, “Edward and his wife, Sophie, are often overlooked because they don’t seem to court attention from the media…” LMAO again! Please, Sophie wants all of the attention!
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, attend the Easter Mattins Service at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, UK – 31 Mar 2024,Image: 861384161, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: James Shaw/Shutterstock / Avalon
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Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, attend the Easter Mattins Service at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, UK – 31 Mar 2024,Image: 861384199, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: James Shaw/Shutterstock / Avalon
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King Charles III, accompanied by Camilla Queen Consort and members of the extended Royal Family, attend the traditional Christmas Day morning service at St. Mary Magdelene Church on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk
Featuring: Lady Louise Windsor, Sophie, Countess of Wessex
Where: King’s Lynn, Norfolk, United Kingdom
When: 25 Dec 2022
Credit: John Rainford/Cover Images
**NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE UK**
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Prince Edward Duke of Edinburgh, Lady Louise Windsor, James Earl of Wessex during appearance on the Buckingham Palace balcony to watch the flypast after the procession and the coronation of the new King and Queen at Westminster Abbey in London, UK.
Featuring: Prince Edward Duke of Edinburgh, Lady Louise Windsor, James Earl of Wessex
Where: London, United Kingdom
When: 06 May 2023
Credit: Dutch Press Photo/Cover Images
**NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE NETHERLANDS OR FRANCE**
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King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla, Prince William of Wales and Catherine Princess of Wales, Prince Louis, Princess Charlotte, Prince Edward Duke of Edinburgh, Sophie Duchess of Edinburgh, Lady Louise Windsor, James Earl of Wessex, Princess Anne Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, Princess Alexandra, Duke of Kent, Annabel Elliot, Lady Fiona Lansdowne, Freddy Parker Bowles, Louis Lopes, Arthur Elliot, Gus Lopes, Lord Oliver Cholmondeley, Prince George, Nicholas Barclay, Ralph Tollemache during appearance on the Buckingham Palace balcony to watch the flypast after the procession and the coronation of the new King and Queen at Westminster Abbey in London, UK.
Featuring: King Charles III and Queen Camilla, William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince Louis, Princess Charlotte, Prince Edward Duke of Edinburgh, Sophie Duchess of Edinburgh, Lady Louise Windsor, James Earl of Wessex, Princess Anne Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, Princess Alexandra, Duke of Kent, Annabel Elliot, Lady Fiona Lansdowne, Freddy Parker Bowles, Louis Lopes, Arthur Elliot, Gus Lopes, Lord Oliver Cholmondeley, Prince George, Nicholas Barclay, Ralph Tollemache
Where: London, United Kingdom
When: 06 May 2023
Credit: Dutch Press Photo/Cover Images
**NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE NETHERLANDS OR FRANCE**
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Lady Louise Windsor on a carriage in the Castle Arena at the Royal Windsor Horse Show in Windsor Castle, Berkshire.
Featuring: Lady Louise Windsor
Where: Windsor, United Kingdom
When: 12 May 2023
Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages
**NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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Members of the British Royal Family attend the Christmas Day service at Sandringham
Featuring: Lady Louise Windsor
Where: Sandringham, Norfolk, United Kingdom
When: 25 Dec 2023
Credit: Cover Images
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Easter Mattins Service at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in Berkshire.
Featuring: The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh and the Earl of Wessex
Where: Windsor, United Kingdom
When: 31 Mar 2024
Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages
**NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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Easter Mattins Service at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in Berkshire.
Featuring: Sophie Duchess of Edinburgh
Where: Windsor, United Kingdom
When: 31 Mar 2024
Credit: Cover Images
Ban all the young and lively royals! Heck, lock them away in the Tower! If you’re not gray and joyless, you must be shunned!
and you know who should become a working royal? will the lazy and inept. let’s start with getting him to become a working royal.
They are already irrelevant to more people than they would like to believe and there is no coming back from that.
“undertake their numerous royal engagements and foreign visits quietly and without fuss.’” because no one cares not because they don’t want attention. Also does the media in that country need a placard with the definition of autonomy stuck on the wall above their desks? They have written a version of this story about Louise and James every few months since 2020, and never once do they say” but maybe they aren’t working royals because they don’t want to be”. Zero consideration is given to what those kids may want in their own lives. They need young people to write about, and by golly you are going to sacrifice yourself to allow them.
And if they generate no interest from the media and public, why should the public continue to fund them for these empty visits? The royal visit is supposed to create buzz in order for a good PR. It isn’t like they are negotiating trade deals.
That was my thought–if they visit foreign countries quietly, what’s the ever-lovin’ point?
“No fuss.” Except for the gaffes.
James has never looked a bit comfortable in public. Let him be.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a photo of him looking in the camera. He clearly does not want the spotlight and he’s still a kid for heavens sake! Let them both just live their lives. The real issue the monarchy faces is that no one wants to be a working royal. Yes Bea, Edo, Zara and Mike look like they enjoy the spotlight but they aren’t giving up the perks of private life. What happens if George, Charlotte and/or Louis feel the same?
@Tina, there was already an article about how K&W will let non-heirs be part-time royals. They are supposedly gonna earn their own money and help the firm when needed. I think, Will is planning to reduce the royal work to a minimum while getting the same money with less number of working royals.
He avoids the camera as much as possible. I hope they let him do as he pleases.
It would be downright child abuse for their parents to encourage them to become working royals. Why would ANYONE willingly put themselves in William or Charles’ crosshairs, let alone the press’. Kids, go to college and get a job far away from that clown show.
These articles give me the creeps, it’s like they are auditioning these kids for the next Royal workhorse/scapegoats. Leave the children alone, neither of those children look like they want the attention or job.
I’m hoping Lady Louise is enjoying her time getting her degree so she can have a career far away from the Royal rat race. Poor James seems pretty shy and possibly doesn’t have any appetite for Royal duties and no one can blame him.
All this hand wringing over the future of the Monarchy is overdone. No one’s going to change anything. It would have to be worse than them being on the bones of their asses. It would mean too much change. OMG who would they put on their pound notes?! Honesty, it’ll be consigned to the too hard bin for at least a couple more generations. No, the press are just pissed they have nothing of interest to write about.
Yes the press have nothing new to write about. But they do have enough old stories about Charles and William. And probably Camilla. To write about. Stories that have been locked up for years. So that is going to be the end of the Monarchy. So when they truly learn of Charles I don’t think it will be that hard to get his picture off of the money. And the King opening parliment. Shouldn’t be that hard to change.
Oh, Maureen…the Edinburghs want attention. It’s just no one wants to give them any. Remember when they showed up in the Bahamas or Barbados (I forget which ones) and gave the head of state a framed picture of themselves? And the person was like, WTF?
They want the old school “let’s go to the colonies and shine our white lights on the natives” attention. They want gratitude for showing up and shaking hands. But that kind of 1950s style royal visit looks rancid now.
Leave the Edinburgh kids alone–they need to make their own lives if they ever want any happiness or fulfilment. Sophie and Edward are the epitome of joylessness. In that, they are perfect emissaries of the Windsors. That’s the message that the Windsors are selling these days. Utter joylessness, mediocrity, entitlement, with a whiff of sleaze over it all, compliments of the Duke and Duchess of York.
“ But that kind of 1950s style royal visit looks rancid now.”
That is the most brutally accurate description I’ve ever seen about them.
The rancid royals. 🎯
I honestly couldn’t care less about yet another boring story about this or that nobody royal achieving the label of “working” royal. What gets me about this, however, is how the rules seem to be made up as they go along. For example, I thought that being a non-working royal came along with the perks of not be scrutinized i.e. abused by the Daily trash and their cohorts? So, if Lady-what-not and her brother want to suddenly become working royals, will they accept the intrusion into their private lives that accompanies that status? Of course not, they will expect a whole lotta puff pieces about how hardworking they are, while the Sussexes, who themselves are not working royals, will continue to be abused by the invisible-contract media. If you think this has nothing to do with the Sussexes, let me remind you about what Harry said during his interview with Anderson Cooper, about why he feared his father marrying Camzilla: here’s one more person who will be jockeying for position with the press, and thereby bargaining to safe her azz by throwing others (like Harry) under the bus.
Yep, the whatever benefits of being a working royal are minimal compared to the media scrutiny, privacy intrusion, and knowing that BP and KP will always brief against you to protect their own interests. Being a working royal basically means you can never go on a date again without fear of papps.
All I came to say is the pic of Lady Louise in the navy getup is giving big Anne, Princess Royal energy. Fashion-wise she was channeling her auntie.
Seems like Anne is a good role model for a minor royal: be elegant, hard working, and uncomplaining (while also having all the aristo affairs).
But realistically Louise should be learning a profession not aiming for life in a dying institution that doesn’t even want her.
@Bettyrose, did Charles ever throw Anne under the bus? I think, he was leaking news about his brothers, but never about Anne. I don’t think, Anne would be silent if Charles ever threw her under the bus like he did with own son.
It’s the opposite I think. My sense is Anne is the other woman who has always known how to manage Charles and I think he adores her. I also have the sense she never craved the spotlight but took her responsibilities seriously so for better or worse had the right demeanor to be a minor royal.
I certainly agree. Besides Camilla, Anne must be the only person he ever cared about. She is allowed to do royal work without royal rota, no leaks about her to the media. There is also a financial stability given to her by QE2. So, she is really the luckiest royal alive.
If someone gave me an assload of money to do what essentially amounts to part time charity work, I would ROCK that job. But I’m gettin’ up in years. When I was young and wild, I would’ve been too dramatic for the limitations of a royal life. I was probably more like Harry, looking for meaning but ready to party when the moment called for it. But I really don’t get these senior royals who resent their life. Unlike Edward, Margaret, and Charles, Wills wasn’t even denied the ability to marry the person he truly loved. No one wanted him. It’s hardly tragic. He coulda bought a few issues of Cosmo and worked on personal growth.
Regardless of whatever other drama the royals have been kicking up purposefully for the last 3 months, one thing has been made so crystal clear that even the Firm can no longer pretend not to see it: Will is unfit for duty and will be an unmitigated disaster on the throne.
In January they gave him an excuse (dutiful husband staying by his wife’s side) and he couldn’t stand to do that for even a week because something something HARRY and so he reneged on the first statement of staying gone til Easter and instead proceeded to go on the most embarrassing sequence of royal events since Jamaica broke up with him live on tv.
Will proved that he is incompetent in every aspect: staying out of sight and allowing the comms team to spin his absence; making pleasant small talk with actresses and celebrities; doing basic duties like giving out medals or attending a memorial service; staying out of the political realm by refraining from wading into important issues with grandiose personal statements. Every single attempt was a spectacular fail, including but not limited to blaming his cancer-stricken wife for attempting to manipulate the international media via a fake photo.
Lady Louise isn’t enough cover for an issue the size of William, she’d be temporary tabloid fodder at best.
💯 this! Very well stated, Sunday.
Last week it was the York sisters want to be working royals and they are mad the king is not allowing them but this week is Lady Louise and her brother who should be working royals. They take a look at the slim down working royals and it frightened them because in five years there may not be any.
Yet another “secret weapon.” Yes, so secret as to be invisible. Let these two go off into their own lives and careers.
They just want fresh meat and I hope Edward and Sophie protect their children.
“…with an injection of energy from young people…” The BM are vampires feeding off the misery they create for their unsuspecting victims. Plus, they are trying to create new moneymakers. Interestingly, the Wales children appear to be off limits – for now. So they want other royals to serve their children to them to create profitable negative narratives around bc they don’t want to cover the unprofitable older royals anymore.
Louise and James are probably so thankful to be able to live in relative privacy. Why would they want to give any of that up?
And besides, they’re 20 and 16. Let them live their lives, especially James who seems to hate being in the public eye.
Relative privacy but all the benefits of huge unearned wealth. Have you seen the size of the house they live in funded by the late Queen, and Sophie wears a lot of expensive designer gear… yet Ed doesn’t seem able to buy new suits following weight loss.
Lady Louise appears to be uncomplicated and well-trained for royal life. Hopefully, she’s “street smart” about all things royal and will make informed decisions when the time comes. She’s young and at university, so I hope she enjoys her time there and experiences somewhat a bit of real life.
I don’t think any of the royals writers should be urging young people to put themselves up for more exposure. Royal writers are abusive in how they talk about people. It’s like asking the kids to put themselves up to be abused.
I wonder if Louise has any interest in royal life anyway? Before she turned 18 the press was full of stories about whether she would use her princess title but you don’t hear that anymore. I wonder if she told them to kick rocks because I can’t imagine thirsty Sophie discouraging her if she wanted to do that.
That was never up to Louise. Elizabeth said Ed’s kids will NOT be styled as royals. Only a monarch can un-do a prior edict of a monarch. It’s now up to Charles (and later, William) to overrule Elizabeth, it was never in Louise’s (or Ed’s or Sophie’s) control.
No the grandchildren of the SONS of a monarch are automatically Prince and Princess… an exception had to be made for Willi’s children because they were great grandchildren so would not automatically have got a title. That is why Harry’s children are styled P and Ps… but Edward followed Anne and decided not to USE the titles and give the kids the choice at 18. ( I think Anne’s children would have got titles if her husband had accepted a title like Margaret’s husband… but no P or Ps… but someone can correct me on that if I am incorrect. )
All these articles say to me is that the media is DESPERATE for new headline fodder and ridiculous column filling articles on the royals. They NEED something. They are begging Charles and William to throw them some more meat to report on and be sent on to cover engagements. Clearly William and Catherine have no plans to up their outings and the kids are too young to be written on and won’t be working for years to come.
Can you imagine Louise or James or anyone volunteering to be served up when they have their youth and all possibilities open to them?
I wish to god that these “Royal experts”, would stop treating the Royal children and grandchildren like bloody pawns on a chess board. Why the hell would they want to be tied to an institution that is well past its sell by date and would make them little more than indentured serfs
Louise and James look like their mother and here is hoping it stays that way. It is time for any genes that are not Windsor to dominate.
I think Louise looks like her father.
I feel sorry for those kids — it must be tough growing up with a father who wanted and should have had the freedom to live another life.
No wonder Edward and Sophie come across as joyless.
The press told the Palace that Harry and Meghan couldn’t be half in half out and here we are. There’s no way back and begging for non-royal Louise to become a working royal is a sign of desperation by the press.
Sound like poor James lost the toss.
That purple outfit Sophie is wearing is way too saturated for Easter/spring (though tbf Camilla’s outfit was also probably too dark). These people have all the money in the world but still can’t dress themselves properly.
I hope Louise and James stay very far away from the working royal nonsense. The fact that Louise voluntarily worked a summer job in a garden centre seems to indicate she has sense.
Eden is the manifestation of the South Park meme where the guy is sitting at his computer and covered in his “excitement” every time he writes anti Harry and Meghan stories and now “we need younger royals”. The sad part is Sophie would be pushing them out of the door – Louise dressed in her hand me downs – whether they wanted to be working royals or not; she is so thirsty for the limelight and associated benefits of security, funding etc.
I’m not convinced that Edward & Sophie would want their children to work for the Firm. I wonder just how much money they have, because I think one of things that’s kept Sophie from really dressing well is the money involved. I think some have said here that they lease out parts of the home & land that they pay next to little for. I wonder how much that makes over and above the maintenance on that huge place?
If they don’t have lots of money, I suspect they wouldn’t want their children to work for the Firm. I can’t imagine anyone would want any of the cousins to have to work for Billy Idle.
What exactly has Louise done to prove her capabilities as a working royal? Has she given a speech that isn’t just reading from notes? Spoken a foreign language? Attended an international conference such as the World Economic Forum? Hung out with other royal families? Raised awareness of a cause? The York sisters have done all of these between them and yet people say they’re not up to it…