I am a monarchist but I have not been a fan of Prince Charles. Watching The Crown, his life hasn't been the fairy tale we thought it was. His early child years shows a mother who was dedicated to her country and not her children. He attended grammar school in Geelong, Australia. I've never seen anything on those years but I know he loves Australia. His schooling in his teen years were very difficult. He went to university in Cambridge only to be pulled out and sent to Wales.
The new rumours suggest that Charles is preparing to take over leadership in the royal family when the Queen turns 95. The reports don't suggest that Elizabeth would fully step down as monarch. Instead, it's been suggested that Charles would take on a modern Prince Regent role and assume control of day-to-day affairs while Elizabeth retained the official title of monarch.
Reading the papers about Prince Andrew and his "alleged" affair with a 17 year old you know there will be some changes. Prince Andrew voluntarily stood down from public life two weeks ago, after his disastrous interview with the BBC about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He is the first royal to step aside since King Edward abdicated in 1936.
Prince Andrew is now relieved of all his royal duties. I said, it's about time! The British taxpayers are shelving out a lot of their tax dollars on the extended royal family. While the royal family do a lot of charity work, when does it stop?
Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice do not receive a royal allowance but Eugenie lives with her husband Jack in Ivy Cottage on the grounds of Kensington Palace. Princess Beatrice lives in a tax payer funded apartment inside St. James Palace. Prince Charles is said to be "streamlining" the royals and it will be interesting how far he goes. There are a lot of Brits that are not happy with the costs of keeping a royal family.
The royal I actually feel sorry for is Princess Beatrice who watched her sister have a huge royal wedding. Time will tell if she gets the same royal wedding her sister received. No date or place have been announced.
It is still true that the extended royals perform valuable work. Princess Anne and the Earl and Countess of Wessex for example are some of the hardest working royals, and a slimmed down monarchy would see them as casualties.
It will be interesting watching the streamlining Prince Charles will accomplish and if the British taxpayers are happy with the changes.
