Royal Family Feud! Is Kate Middleton Getting Too Much Attention?
Welcome to Family Feud, the royal family edition. Queen Elizabeth has needed to referee her two feuding sons as it appears that Andrew believes that Kate Middleton is getting too much attention, compared to his two “blood princesses.” Prince Andrew feels his two daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie, should get the same royal financial perks as Harry, William and Kate. Meanwhile, Charles has implored to his royal mum that he is worried that taxpayers will blame him if the royal family is spending too much tax money. Sounds like the Queen of England does not get a break from family drama. What’s a mother to do? How did Kate Middleton get in the middle of this mess?
Royals: Queen at centre of war between Princes Charles and Andrew over Beatrice and… https://t.co/48zCRtNYkF pic.twitter.com/n8DAggLfok
— Western PA News (@wpanews1) October 25, 2016
A source spoke to the Sunday Express explaining that Prince Andrew, younger brother of Prince Charles, the heir to the English throne, has been quite upset that William, Kate and Harry are getting all of the royal perks including living at the luxurious Kensington Palace. He believes that his two daughters Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice are the only “blood princesses” in the family. As Harry and William are the sons of Charles, thus blood princes, this appears to be a dig made directly at Kate Middleton, who will never be a blood princess. She is a princess only through marriage.
“He has long argued that as the only ‘blood princesses’ in the family, Beatrice and Eugenie deserve proper royal roles like their cousins, along with the same standard of accommodation at Kensington Palace.”
Kate Middleton Is a Vision in White https://t.co/5i2eBAUaZP pic.twitter.com/fJAmOIXfpm
— Harper's Bazaar (@harpersbazaarus) October 25, 2016
This is somewhat understandable as Prince Andrew can see that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry are all dominating the spotlight. With the recent Cambridge family trip to Canada, the fascination for Prince George and little Princess Charlotte, who herself could be described as a “blood princess,” continues to grow. Meanwhile, the spotlight around Andrew’s two daughters has become dimmer. The source has implied that Prince Andrew sees this situation as getting worse.
“He believes his daughters are already being overshadowed by William, Kate and Harry and the situation will get worse as Prince George and Princess Charlotte get older.”
Both of Prince Andrew and Fergie’s daughters are living in what Andrew describes as a “small” shared apartment in elegant St. James’s Palace. He believes that they should be living at Kensington Palace, as they are both “blood princesses.” Seventh and eighth in line for the monarchy, both women are well-educated and many assumed that they wold find their own careers, perhaps like their cousins Zara and Peter Phillips, the children of the Princess Royale, Princess Anne. Yet, it appears that Andrew had higher, more royal aspirations for his two daughters than his sister’s children. He wants to see them as full-time royals.
Royals: Queen at centre of war between Princes Charles and Andrew over Beatrice and Eugenie's roles https://t.co/iGQz3Hmepn
— LindaCSherrin ?? (@courtchauncey) October 25, 2016
Andrew had his personal secretary Amanda Thirsk send a letter to the queen, imploring her to make his two daughters full-time royals. Thirsk reputedly did not create a convincing enough letter for Andrew, so he he tore it up and composed his own, more emotional plea requesting his mother to heed to his wishes.
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— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) October 15, 2016
According to Express, the queen was so “stunned” by this letter, the 90-year-old monarch “was unable to reply.” So, she passed it on to her own secretary, who then conferred with Prince Charles. Charles was not in agreement with this, blocked any sort of action and made it clear that the status of his royal nieces would remained unchanged.
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— HistoryNow (@GetHistoryNow) October 20, 2016
Prince Charles is well aware that by allowing two more princesses to be added to the taxpayer burden could easily tip the scales against the royal family. Charles realizes that for a variety of reasons, he is not as popular as his mother, Her Majesty. His relationship with his children’s mother, the late Princess Diana is at the core of public opinion.
“The Prince of Wales is already conscious that he divides opinion more than his mother. The last thing he wants is additional criticism by keeping peripheral royals on the public payroll.”
Charles wants a streamlined payroll, focusing only on his sons and Kate. In addition, if Will and Kate should have another child, or if Harry should marry and have children, Beatrice and Eugenie will move further down the list of heirs to the throne. Thus, there are potential future royal expenses to consider. Why add his two nieces to the list?
In addition, Charles knows that more than half of all Britons want William to become king. In that same poll, more than 75% of Britons want to keep the royal family. By dangling his sons and daughter-in-law in the public eye, he is keeping the focus on the most popular royals and giving the people what they want.
Prince Charles, his sons Prince William and Prince Harry and, of course, Duchess Catherine are all funded by the Duchy of Cornwall using taxpayer money set aside for the heir to the throne. The government provides money for Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip and Princess Anne through the Sovereign Grant.
Just this summer, Inquisitr reported that there was some concern about taxpayer spending and the perks of being privileged when the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge took a helicopter home from the queen’s garden party. Meanwhile, Sarah Ferguson, Andrew’s ex-wife and mother of the two princesses, took the tube like the working class.
When news of Andrew requesting that his daughters become full-time royals, Graham Smith, from watch group Republic, told The Sun, “At a time of serious economic uncertainty the last thing we need is a grasping, greedy royal demanding more of our cash.” He is, of course, referring to Brexit and the financial uncertainties surrounding this disruptive move.
Although the promise of Brexit was to make England great again, there is always that possibility that if times became that difficult, they would do this without the royal family. It is certainly understandable that Charles is guarding against any negative publicity towards his family, especially before he finally gets to the throne.
Do you think Prince Andrew’s request was reasonable or unreasonable? Do you think that the taxpayers should fund the royal family? Sound off with your opinions below.
[Featured Image by Chris Jackson/Getty Images]