Margaret Weatherford Column

Sunday 4 September 2005

Royal Roundup

This month�s column is a quick look at everyone in the British royal family, because there doesn�t seem to be enough to say about any one of them for a full column. They�ve been in the news relatively little lately, no doubt to their relief.

The Queen...never changes. That�s the wonderful thing about her. She turns 80 in April.

The Duke of Edinburgh...is still working hard at 85.

The Prince of Wales...seems as happy with his life as it is in his melancholy nature to be happy. It finally looks as though the decades-long media frenzy over his love life is over.

The Princess of Wales...has been dead for eight years now, an accomplishment that got more publicity than most of the royal family ever get. Mohammed Al-Fayed has erected a tasteless bronze statute of Diana and Dodi at Harrods.

The Duchess of Cornwall... I almost forgot � Camilla�s part of the family now. She seems to be settling in nicely, which is hardly surprising, given that she and her husband have been together on and off for thirty years and openly together for a decade. She is doing a little royal work and doing it well, but will not take on a full-time round of royal engagements.

Prince William...is still on vacation after graduating from St. Andrews University. It is rumored that the Prince of Wales will allow him to live with his girlfriend, Kate Middleton, in Clarence House. With no offense meant to Kate, I expect the Queen Mother is turning over in her grave. Presumably Kate will move out if and when William goes into the military. William has done a great job of protecting Kate and presumably other girls from the media. It looks like he has learned from his parents� love lives and will not conduct his romances in a media circus.

Prince Harry...is about to turn 21 and will be giving a television interview. It was revealed just today that he will be joining the Household Calvary after he finishes at Sandhurst. The Household Calvary was formed in 1992 from the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals. The Mounted Regiment of the Household Calvary act as ceremonial guards to the royal family, so Harry could be guarding other members of his family someday. Harry has had many opportunities to observe the Household Calvary � including during his mother�s affair with James Hewitt, who was in the Life Guards.

The Duke of York....plays golf, does some royal work, and stays out of the media these days.

The Duchess of York...(who is not technically part of the family, I know) is planning to write another volume of autobiography covering Diana�s death and other events of the last decade. She was invited to Balmoral this summer for the first time since she was exiled from the castle after the infamous �toe-sucking� photos were published in 1992, and apparently the Queen and others were bored by her talk about dieting and horoscopes.

Princess Beatrice...has made her first venture into the media spotlight by giving Tatler magazine an interview. She just turned seventeen and has entered charity work by supporting a literacy charity, a cause she cares about because she is dyslexic herself. It is unclear what other future plans she has, but she is not planning to go to college. (In fact, no royal woman has yet been to a university. Perhaps Princess Eugenie will be the first, although the Yorks do not seem to be an intellectual family. More likely it will be Prince Edward�s daughter Louise.)

The Earl and Countess of Wessex...are rumored to be expecting their second child, which would certainly be a pleasant surprise, as the Countess is 40 and has previously had an ectopic pregnancy and an emergency Caesarean delivery. Sadly, the Countess� mother died this week.

Princess Anne...works very hard and protects her privacy.

The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester...um, wait, I�ll find something...well, they�re still around.

The Duke and Duchess of Kent...The Duchess of Kent is a shy woman who lives apart from her husband, but they are very unlikely to divorce, as the Duchess converted to Catholicism in 1994. She voluntarily gave up the style of Royal Highness in 2002 and in 2004 it was revealed that she was teaching music as �Mrs Kent.�

Prince and Princess Michael of Kent...are trying to sell their country house. The News of the World has repeated the trick they once played on Sophie Wessex by getting Princess Michael to talk indiscreetly to a fake Arab sheik.

Princess Alexandra...was widowed last December and has continued to quietly carry out royal engagements.

- Margaret Weatherford

The Unofficial British Royal Family Pages

Royal Roundup