William and Harry - I'm puzzled.

I am sure the Queen has thought about it without our input!
Personally I think he will have a very different monarchy and it is all to the good that he will be working and working with people from all walks of life.
If he were to twiddle his thumbs waiting for the next duty then he would be called a waste of space by some people and asked why he couldn't have a job!
You can't please all of the people all of the time, so you might as well what you want to do! He must have had discussions with the Queen and the establishment.

Leticia, I certainly do not want William working in Wales, the P of Wales spends a whole week every year in Wales . William in Wales would mean paying for security for yet another property

I can't see why he needs more than one house in London and one proper home outside- but that is beside the point.
I think they do a lot that it is not seen and they really can't help it if a film crew give prominence to one thing.
No one seems to think that people who work for charities do much- not sure why they get such bad press.

You said that there was an empty property there Anniebach and an Air ambulance in Wales. I am not going to look back but apologies if it wasn't you who said 'why not Wales?'

There's one thing, Annie, they seem to keep a lot of people in employment in Wales. Hope they pay more than the minimum wage.

Eloethan I hope you meant that the Royals were a waste of time, not charities, as I first read it.
I agree about the royals.

Durhamjen, they keep a lot of police and army busy , when Charles bought wormwood he shipped in staff, even hired his sister in law as interior designer and his river bailiff was brought in too . They like to visit Tiggys family and the security is something to see. Why not stay at wormwood which has security and have the Legg Burkes visit there . This is what is so annoying, they do not give thought to costs . Harry must accept he cannot live the life he wants, he wanted to do a tour of duty in the Middle East , no matter the costs , he did it and we then read how brave he is, noooo, he was doing what he wants regardless of financial costs or possibly human life

Leticia, not am empty property, it is used as a fishing lodge for family and friends. I said why not Wales? in response to a comment on not Wales . If Cambridge because William is duke of Cambridge I suppose we must be thankful Andrew doesn't choose yet another home in York,

I thought you were complaining that it wasn't used but costing money.

I think that the Prince of Wales's properties are a completely different issue to what his son's do with their lives.

Leticia, I have given my views on the two men. They are pampered and do what they choose regardless of costs to the country, left Anglesey to live in KP, costs of renovations over four million, now he wants out of London to fly helicopters part time. KP is now a town house for use when the next baby is born, why they need over 22 rooms yet have rooms in St James Palace for their offices is for me, wrong because it costs the tax payer . Harry wanted to do a tour of duty in the Middle East regardless of costs. They should realise they should not want it all, there are restrictions and privileges being a Windsor, these two seem to want the privileges but not the restrictions, for you thst's fine, for me it is not . I accept they cannot take any job and so working for charities is fine, but working full time not just attending premiers and dinners . And , do not lecture others on killing animals whilst they both do the very same , one difference is killing animals for poachers in Africa means feeding their families, for William and Harry it's sport

I feel a depressing hint of the Sue Townsend's creeping in here! .

Will he just be attending premiers and dinners or will there be other duties in the weeks between said extravaganzas? Has the job description been published?

I understand the arguement about them owning so many homes but, when I visit National Trust properties I often think how sad it would be now if our ideas about extravagent house building/ownership went back centuries ie what a loss it would be to the country as a whole. It still hurts me to think of the damage done to churches and cathedrals during Henry VIII/Civil War times.

It is a completely different picture than the one that I see!
I am not going over it all again, but I do think it sad that working for a charity isn't seen as a proper job, just a few photo opportunities and gala dinners.it must be very upsetting for those involved.
I also can't think of a better preparation than the Air Ambulance where they meet all sorts in a completely random way.
I don't think any of you would swap lives! I certainly wouldn't.
I can't think of anything worse than the entire country commenting on your every move and the knowledge that whatever you do will be wrong to a large proportion of them and if you changed and suited them then you are wrong to another large proportion!

And we lost a lot, Tegan, after WW1 when so many families couldn't afford the upkeep and they were demolished.

When they are 'damned if they do and damned if they don't' then I think we should cut them a bit of slack. They are in an impossible situation.

I am imagining that if they fitted in with OP's views then another thread could be started by someone saying ' why is William wasting tax payers money doing royal duties when he isn't even next in line?- I think he ought to have a 'proper job'' and 'why are the army signing up Harry for another term when they are cutting back and my son is being made redundant? And Harry costs them a lot more than my son.'

One can theoretically disapprove of The Monarchy without wishing to criticise individual members of the royal family who, as others have already said, can't help who they are.

durhamjen I wasn't talking about the charities.

After WW1 cheap labour was not so easily available for the stately homes , workers were no longer lining up to work as kitchen maids, gardeners etc, but there was an increase in grand homes built in industrial areas

A lot of those were built by wealthy industrialists who had "had a good war". Nouveau riche, dahling, not the aristocranocracy.

There was a 'servant problem' for everyone- those who were traditionally servants had better options.

Or they were dead.

[Anniebach] Well thread and said! I wonder who pays for the PR machine? I can guess. Charles purchased a lot of industrial land in Milton Keynes a few years ago, and collects rent from the leases. MK was designated in 1950 to be this country's next capital. The Prime Minister congratulated MK businesses for showing no signs of recession over the last few years. Anyhoo. The most re-invented people since Diana. My grandfather was amazed that he survived the trenches, and then went on to serve in India at the detention centre in Calcutta. He came back to marry my grandmother - who was an original camp follower in London where granddad now served at The Tower and Buck Palace. The parents supported them financially and my mother had to live with grandparents for the first five years of her life because granddad was not allowed to live outside of the barracks. He used to leave the small lodgings -paid for by relatives- every evening before Taps. My grandmother always had concern and assisted others - she used to share whatever she had throughout her life. She was not a royalist, although Granddad always covered the house in red, white and blue bunting twice a year and stood to attention when the Troop was on TV. She was extremely saddened at the way ex-WWI servicemen were left to sleep rough on the streets of London - many of them limbless. She was wholly disheartened at the poverty, illness and starving population particularly the children. She never forgot. She was extremely bitter when she commented how May of Teck (Queen Mary - grandmother to the present Queen) would ride by in her horse drawn carriage, surrounded by warm furs and wearing jewels from head to toe - with her nose in the air and indifferent to all the suffering. I don't see the 1000 yard stare in the eyes of Harry that I well remember in the eyes of my grandfather and today's service personnel - even an NHS medic I know who volunteered for a tour of duty in the Stan. Sorry for long windedness... it has been condensed though

I was thinking more of the women,merlotgran, who had been needed for 'men's jobs' in WW1 and needless to say didn't want to go back to being servants.
All to the good that William and Harry are working with ordinary people, WhiteCloud and know how they live. Not something Queen Mary would have done!