You can’t imagine King Charles booting a rusty tin can, but the decision over Harry and Meghan keeping their royal titles is one he’s been kicking down the road far too long. Even after 2020’s hard Megxit and ditching our welcoming embrace for the sun-weathered palm trees of Montecito, California, the newlyweds being stripped of their Duke and Duchess of Sussex titles seemed kneejerk to many.
But just as the world was rocked by Queen Elizabeth‘s death in 2022, so has Britain’s royal landscape dramatically shifted in the three years since. The Windsors can be a dizzying and crazy carousel ride of a soap opera for us all to follow.
How can such privilege, structure and tradition so frequently explode in scandal, stroppy rebellion, reckless flirtations with sycophants, dodgy business bods, possible spies and mega-rich paedophiles?
Andrew and Fergie alone could fill a Cluedo board with the nightmare bad characters they’ve welcomed into Buckingham Palace and their circle of friends over the years.
If James Bond villain Goldfinger was real, Andrew would probably be his pal – he’s rich, flaunts his wealth, is slightly unhinged and loves golf.
Auric Goldfinger never owned a tropical island getaway but, if he did, that would tick another of Andrew’s boxes.
Over the decades our Royal Family has spun a circle of fairytale wedding, estrangement/divorce, minor scandal, shocking TV interview and then onto a new fairytale wedding again.
If you love the Royal Family like I do, the ‘heads in hands’ moments seem never far off. It’s the circle of strife.
But even Agatha Christie – or Jilly Cooper – could not have penned some of the drama we have seen bubbling up from Windsor in recent years.
And as King Charles has carefully arbitrated the fragile dynamic between his sons, two facts have become clear.
Firstly, Prince William is the rock our future monarchy must be built on.
Secondly, I see so many similarities between Prince William and the Duchess of Kent on one side – and Andrew and Harry on the other.
Let me explain.
Look at the incredible life of selfless service the late Katharine Lucy Mary Worsley, the Duchess of Kent, gave both in her royal duties and, even more spectacularly, her quiet role as plain music teacher ‘Kath’.
She was the first royal to enter the Catholic faith since 1685, so knew her own mind, and recognising her twin passions were music and children, quietly withdrew from royal life and became a music teacher at a primary school in Hull.
She even stopped using the title Her Royal Highness. In the staff room she was simply “Kath”, and to the children “Mrs Kent”. She probably took in a packed lunch.
That sense of approachable public duty is what William and Kate are striving for with the modern royal family.
Then on the other hand there’s Andrew and Harry. Both feel Buckingham Palace owes them either a lifestyle, tickets to every VIP A-list party – or an eternal apology.
William’s hand can already be seen in the excommunication of the now Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.
How long will it be before King Charles accepts the same must be done for Harry and Meghan, for William to evolve the institution into one he can be the head of?
Harry and Meghan always teased they would permantly ride off into the Santa Barbara sunset. I hope for all sakes it’s sooner rather than later.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.express.co.uk ’
