Trapped???

That stiff upper lip has worked wonders hasnt it. I think the rf are an absolute example of the damage a stiff upper lip can do.

“i think Prince Charles did v well to carry on carrying on today.”

Stiff upper lip and all that, it’s all part of the job, he would have been very angry indeed, as would other members if the RF.

i think Prince Charles did v well to carry on carrying on today.
he went to Jesus House, a predominantly black church near Brent Cross. basically it's in an industrial estate at the side of the North Circular Road, where it's 10 lanes across.
they are very good people there. i have nothing to do with them, but they came and literally helped me and mine in our hour of need, spent 2-3 days, giving free labour, lots of people, some with expertise, and equipment.
i offered them a donation and at the end of the day, the group leader said she had a favour to ask me. she gave me back the banknotes i had given her, and said she wanted me to take it to spend on something for myself. she pushed it in my pocket.
anyway they organised a vaccination drive there, which is particularly valuable as so many black people have been wary of having the vaccine.
and the black people there don't think the RF is racist.
and if PC had to go somewhere the day after that interview, i'm glad it was there, to those genuinely good people.

yes, that's a good point.

The people I felt really sorry for were all those who had met Harry while he was a working royal and had lovely stories to tell about how happy and charming and natural he was, and how he had made them smile and laugh ( we've all seen the pictures.) Only now they all know it was just him putting on show. I'd have been very upset to hear him say that if I had been one of the people he had helped.

mrsmopp I too thought that. H said regardless of what was going on in your own life you had to go out and smile and shake hands. But so many people are coping with major problems in life whilst holding down real full time jobs.

Oh, yes, quite agree, we have helped our children out when the need was there. But neither of us, I suspect has children who demand that we house them and feed them, and pay them a living wage, while they lie around doing nothing or worse still have earnings or capital of their own but still expect us to help support their lifestyle.

Some families have children like that, and in this case the RF clearly does.

“You are obviously reading different threads to me Pantglas” - methinks you’re right Monica, those threads would have me tearing my hair out?!

I suspect most parents have ‘helped out’ one way or another when needed but ingratitude isn’t attractive is it!

You are obviously reading different threads to me Pantglas the threads I am thinking of are threads from desperate parents trying to get rid of these great greedy cuckoos who are draining them dry, either refusing to work or making no effort to work and expecting to live off their parents, or making grandparents earn there visits to grandchildren by providing enough service. There are others where parents help children struggling and in need, but those are very different threads.

The royal family are having exactly the same problem, a younger member and family who think the world, or at least their parents, owe them a living and kicking and screaming like 2 year olds having a tantrum because they have been told that they either join the family firm and pull their weight or go and find themselves another job elsewhere to earn their keep.

I'm currently living in a beautiful Victorian building, overlooking gardens and a small river, backed by a castle and a church. It is clean, peaceful and lovely. But I am stuck here because of covid. Yes, I feel like I am trapped, in a way I didn't in lockdown one in my home.

It's all relative. (Yes, still preferable to being locked in a tower block.)

I know Monica but most of those are genuinely stretched on huge outgoings/low wages etc and I’m sure most wouldn’t have the brass nerve go on telly with the “poor me” act when they have inheritances in the bank from their mother/great grandmother!

The huge downside of being a member of the Royal family is having to put on a good face for the public and, worst of all having to put up with the constant intrusion of paparazzi and the press, especially the appalling UK tabloids.

It seems to me that there are now two sorts of people - those who want to be famous and those who don't. I am firmly in the latter camp. I can't imagine anything worse than having my picture in the newspapers and being constantly reported or misreported by the media.

Meghan Markle was an actress, and because she had appeared in at least one popular tv programme, had become a "celeb". Being famous should have been second nature to her. Where did it all go wrong?

Apart from small girls under the age of 10, is there anyone who would like to marry into the Royal family?

That could also apply to the male of the species!!

Pantglas there are plenty of threads on GN about ordinary people like us, with AC still stuck in the nest, their mouths open like great big cuckoos waiting for the mother bird to feed them and provide every domestic service they need - and there are ACs, who may be partnered and with children but who still expect parents to provide endless childcare, pay for car repairs and other items.

There is nothing happening in the RF that is not mirrored at every level of society.

I can remember back in the 1940s, when I was very young saying something about it being nice to be a princess, and my mother saying, she could imagine nothing worse, having to live your whole life in public - and the papers were monuments of discretion then.

No one is going to tell you off Armadillo welcome to GN. I agree with your post entirely. Not the cushy life some people think it is.

They certainly won’t get any privacy if they opt to do an interview with Oprah!!

Money can't buy happiness, simple. Why does an adult male need servants? Having someone to put toothpaste on your toothbrush is just being an overgrown infant.
We are all, to a large extent, trapped in the circumstances dictated by our birth and upbringing. No wonder the royals have affairs and mistresses and have unsavoury paedophile friends. Presumably the single mum didn't get vetted for her virginity or her suitability as a mate before being allowed to consort with the father of her child!!
The Royals have horrible lives and our tabloid newspapers should be closed down!

I wouldn't have their life for a gold clock, or all the tea in China.

The problem with being a Royal is that you cannot have a private life, it’s a goldfish bowl, every move you make is scrutinized and if you don’t make a move that’s scrutinized too.

How true this is. Even those Royals who keep their heads down are fair game. There was a recent documentary about Princess Anne and her unsuitable boyfriends. If having a RF is still a requirement, then it is time to prune it down to a bare minimum and let the rest of them get on with being private citizens. The idea of being Royal has had its day, imo.

? Congratulations Armadillo on your new - experience. So true.

A Buddhist friend used to say "life is about suffering". (I used to say life is about love)
I wouldn't like to live any of my friends lives & you wouldn't like to live mine either.
However, I dwell on the positives & sometimes it's just that the sun is in the sky, someone smiled at me, a heart warming story on tv, a flower, dinner turned out nice again.

They are trapped in a different way from a single parent in a tower block existing on a cleaner's pay.

I agree about the luxuries. Yes, they get to be miserable in comfort which is clearly better than being miserable with not much to eat and in difficult housing.

I think the people in the RF have a rotten life in many ways, such as being constantly watched and having limited privacy, and I would not like it. Sometimes, though, they do not help themselves.

I think remember that saying, money doesn't buy happiness. I'd hate if I wasn't safe leaving the house just because I was royal. Look what happened to Diana because the press were hounding her everywhere. That's not a life I'd want my children living really and if I brought children into it I think I wouldn't take away the security they needed just for being my child. Horrible life where your only use is to be royal and make your family look good.
Sorry my first Tim commenting here and now worried I've I'm going to get told off. Just what I think really.

Wealth and privilege mean you don’t have to worry about paying the bills. It doesn’t protect you from mental health or family breakdown.
It isn’t either or. As some posters on gransnet are fond of repeating - all lives matter.

Put,not out

Yes, you can be trapped by the expectations out on you just by being born into that family, the role you are expected to have and the career you can or cannot follow.

It can be overwhelming to have to be picture perfect because a pic can be taken anytime and even then, anybody can bash you

Yes, very trapped