I didn't post last week. Exams.
Despite that, I was not too busy to spend a lot of time on various Royal Confession pages on Tumblr. Now, I love the royal family to bits, but there are only so much Kate-hate confessions you can read before you start wondering whether they aren't so wrong after all. (Of course, I agreed with some of the confessions right away. Like Jecca Craig for godmother? Yes, please.)
So I thought I'd write a post filled with my own royal confessions. It was originally meant to be me ranting about the things about royalty that bothered me after I'd read them on the confessions pages, but it took me so long to actually get around to writing that I forgot everything bad that I'd thought about the royals and began to feel animosity towards the confession pages. But I didn't have anything else to write about, so the subject stayed. Except, instead of me ranting, it's mostly me defending.
Except Prince William. He may be future King, but I don't defend him.
Duke of Windsor
When Edward VIII abdicated to marry Wallis Simpson, the Duke of York became King and he was under a lot of pressure as a wartime ruler, and he smoked heavily, and that lead to his early demise. A lot of people at the time blamed Edward for sending his brother to the grave by forcing him into becoming King, a job that he didn't want.
But it wasn't a job that Edward wanted either, was it? All he wanted was to marry his girlfriend (Not mistress, mind you), which he wasn't allowed to do. Besides, Bertie was probably adequately trained to take over as King, seeing as their father was the Duke of York too. King George V only became King because his elder brother Albert died of pneumonia, so he was just as well prepared as Bertie. And he ruled for 26 years and through a war to boot. So it wasn't Edward's fault.
Duchesses of Cornwall and Cambridge
While the majority of hate on the confession pages was directed towards Kate, a fair share was directed towards Camilla as well, and almost all this hate was due to the fact that neither Kate nor Camilla are anything like Diana was. And I just thought it so unfair.
It isn't right to compare Kate and Camilla to Diana. All three entered the royal family under extremely different circumstances; Diana was the young, innocent virgin who was going to marry the Prince of Wales. Camilla, on the other hand, was the woman who ruined Diana's life and was now taking her place, and Kate was just the new Diana. Everything she did would be compared to the late Princess, and great things were expected from her as the new 'People's Princess'.
Princess Diana was a wonderful woman. She was compassionate and charitable and she brought up her children well. She did a lot for the royal family, and for England, but both Camilla and Kate aren't bad either. They do embark upon charity work, and they dress well (Well, Kate dresses well), and both of them support their husbands without overshadowing
them, without making them feel less important, and that's something that is valued in a royal spouse. And, honestly, Kate is one of my favourite people in the world. I respect her for not using having had a baby as an excuse to stay at home, and for putting on a brave face despite all the terrible things that paparazzi have done (including that topless photo scandal), and for allegedly saying about William, "He's lucky to be going out with me".
They aren't ruining the monarchy, they aren't 'lazy'. And they aren't anything like Diana, but that's fine.
Prince William
Prince William constantly expresses his desire to lead a normal life. It's common knowledge that he doesn't like his position as a royal and heir to the throne, and would give it all up if he could. But does William really know what it's like to be regular? Sure, the royals have problems like the media, and the lack of privacy (caused by the media), and the rigid protocol (so that the media won't have anything to write about). Basically, all the royals' problems boil down to the media. What doesn't bother them, however, are bills, and the economy, and good grades, and getting a job, and buying a house; all the things that bother regular people. And it's never bothered them. I wonder if William knows what it's like. And if he realises that if he was regular, he wouldn't have been able to quit work just because his son was born and he wanted to look after him.
Except for a few rare cases, when you're born into a certain class of society you stay in that class for the rest of your life. And if that's how it is, isn't it better to be born into a privileged class, where your biggest worry is whether a photographer took a picture of you leaving some posh nightclub, than to be, say, below the poverty line?
And being a royal doesn't consign you to a life of being stalked by cameramen. Just look at the royals from other countries. Frederik and Mary and Willem-Alexander and Maxima and all their children lead fairly normal lives. They go to school, and public places, and participate in regular events, and they don't really feel the effects of being a royal. Granted, the British press is more ruthless than anywhere else in the world, but it can't be all that bad.
Also, the monarchy is Britain's greatest tourist attraction. So much of their money just comes from the fact that people from all over the world flock to see their royalty. This summer, I spent over 2,000 pounds on staying in London and sightseeing and buying merchandise just because I'm fascinated by the royals. Multiple that by the millions of tourists who come in every year, and it's no wonder the Duchess of Cambridge can afford dresses that cost 7,000 pounds. And the reason the people come is because the royal life is so exciting compared to their own, with palaces, and servants, and balls (I think). They live this exiting life vicariously through members of the royal family, so I don't think they'd pay quite as much to see a bunch of regular people. If I wanted to see a regular family, I wouldn't travel halfway around the world or spend hours on end on the Internet. I'd shut down my computer and look at my own family. They're quite normal. Or I'd look at Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive. They are perfectly normal, thank you very much.
The point is, no one wants to see the royals as regular people. It's boring.
With Prince William, it's a simple case of the grass being greener on the other side, isn't it? Except, this time, the grass really
isn't greener.
~
That's all the royal... things I can think of at the moment.
Because I have classes on Saturday, I don't usually have enough time to also write something for my blog, so from now on, I'm going to be posting on Sundays instead.
I wish enough people read my blog to actually care.
N
