Thursday 11 October 2018

Why I read the court circular

The marriage of HRH Princess Eugenie to tequila 'brand ambassador' Jack Brooksbank today provides an opportunity to reflect on the whole issue of 'minor royals' or 'hangers on' as they are often called. It is a bit of a mystery why the Princess Royal's children do not have titles when those of the Duke of York do.

Brian has indicated that when he becomes king he will slim the family down. The extended royal family actually need a minibus to get to the Queen's commemorative service at St. Paul's. Sightings of the likes of Lady Amelia Windsor are confined to the Queen's annual Christmas lunch at Buck House. Indeed, she was not invited to the wedding and the arrival of a baby for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will relegate her from 38th to 39th in the line of succession.

I am an avid reader of the court circular. It is a disappointment when nothing appears in August or just a notification of Divine Service at Craithie Church.

Recently I have learnt that the Earl and Countess of Wessex have been visiting Estonia. Nothing remarkable about that, you might think. What is now largely forgotten is that when Estonia became independent there were quite a few people who thought it should have a monarchy. Where do you get a monarch from? A younger son in an established royal family. Step forward (or not) HRH Prince Edward.

I recently learnt that under the guise of pitch@palace the Duke of York visited Hungary and consorted with various members of this unsavoury regime including the prime minister.

However, one of the most interesting examples of a minor royal is the Duke of Gloucester, the Queen's cousin. It is no secret that his father liked the occasional drink and the company of women. His son is a model of propriety. He was set on a career as an architect until his rakish elder brother (Prince William) was killed piloting a plane and he was called into the Firm to provide additional cover.

On an average day the Duke will perform as many as five or six engagements, including a reception or a dinner. Engaging with people in this way would drive me crazy. The other week he was carrying out engagements in Worcestershire, including unveiling a new statue of Stanley Baldwin. The glamour.

A mysterious entry said that at lunchtime he visited the town centre of Bewdley, but no engagements were specified. So did he pop into Subway for sandwich? Did he check out the charity shops? Or did he pop into Tesco Extra to get something for the microwave that evening?

Incidentally, the Duke and his Danish wife are having to downgrade to a smaller condo in Kensington Palace to make way for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

Finally, it should be noted that HRH Princess Eugenie is the only member of the family to have studied politics in her degree. She cannot match the Grand Duke and Duchess of Luxembourg who met studying in Geneva and are proud of their status as constitutional monarchs and political scientists.

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