When Prince William becomes king – IF, I mean – he will become the Defender of the Faith, the “supreme governor of the Church of England,” making him “formally superior to the archbishop of Canterbury.” I’m sure history buffs can explain all of this in the comments, it’s something to do with Henry VIII and divorce and the split from the Vatican. But the King (and currently, QEII) is the symbolic and actual head of the Church of England. But what does this have to do with Scotland and the Church of Scotland? Again, I’m sure history buffs will explain it to me, but it seems like Queen Elizabeth II was in a position to appoint Prince William as the Lord High Commissioner to the Church of Scotland. It seems like a gaudy title in general, and it seems especially hypocritical considering William’s wandering sceptre and general air of rose-bush-trimming.
Prince William has a new title. On Saturday, Queen Elizabeth appointed her grandson as the new Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. In the position, William will become the British monarch’s personal representative to the Church of Scotland, carrying out various official visits and ceremonial duties.
William, 37, takes over the role from Richard Scott, the 10th Duke of Buccleuch and 12th Duke of Queensberry. Before Scott, Princess Anne held the position.
The appointment comes as William’s brother Prince Harry and Harry’s wife Meghan Markle step back as senior members of the royal family.
It feels notable that William was given this appointment one week (exactly) after the Queen and the Sussexes came to their separation agreement. I can’t decide whether I think this was a punishment or a reward for William. Perhaps a bit of both? It’s a gaudy, fancy-boy title for the prince who stuck around, for the prince who bullied and exiled his younger brother out of the country. It gives William the opportunity to pretend to be a Lori Loughlin-esque faith-based person, the perfect cover for all kinds of liars, frauds, schemers and adulterers. But on the other side, it is a punishment too, right? Because now Ol’ Work-Shy is going to have to do more WORK. Bummer summer.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
These titles seem to be given out as compensation. Kate was rewarded with a Royal Order for enduring the rose bush trimming ways of her husband. I assume Willy threw a fit when the Sussexes were allowed to move to Canada instead of “exiled” to Africa like he wanted so now he gets a new title.
I agree Aurora, but when I read this article yesterday I busted out laughing. As it has been said: careful what you wish for. Will and Kate will now have all the spot light and the work and criticism that comes with it. Now THAT, is a Meghan saying: Check Mate.
Queenie is trying desperately to salvage her reign. The irony is, her actions just bring more attention to the dysfunctions of that outdated institution.
Exactly. And it shows just how out of touch she, her advisors and the entire BRF are.
Amen! The only way she could look more out of touch is by appointing Andrew to be the Archbishop of Canterbury. This ridiculous meets the sublime.
I’m trying to understand how Wills with the Wondering Willy can be put in this position. What a fool. Reminds me of the emperor without clothes.
Since the role was given to Anne and not Charles, I wonder if the intention was to confer it to Harry.
I just read the article about it in the Telegraph. It seems like someone new is appointed every year.
@bamaborn, the sad part of her trying salvage it is that she was so popular at the time Harry and Meghan married. If she and the rest of the BRF and her courtiers had truly embraced H&M, and defended Meghan from all the tabloid attacks, things would be a lot different.
I’m gonna have a nice glass of something sparkly when the Scots finally get independence, and they can tell Workshy Wanderdick to take his Ecclesiastical title and stick it in an English rose bush.
No matter how many fancy titles Will gets, he is still boring af. Same with Kate. What will the British press do now that they are stuck with mayonnaise after feasting on spice?
I like how the press can’t write a single article about the rest of the BRF without tacking on a reference to Harry and Meghan. When will this sick obsession end??
“Today, Duchess Kate was seen in a chic aubergine coat dress from Alexander McQueen, which featured 48 buttons. This comes 2 years, 3 months, and 12 days after the Sussexes stepped down as senior royals and moved to Canada, during which time Prince William was incandescent with rage and Her Majesty mourned the loss of baby Archie. Kate’s newly highlighted auburn tresses were on full display whilst she smiled at the children from Abercathynandyshire School.”
😂😂😂👏👏👏😂😂😂
Good one, lol! Yeah they will milk that cow for all it’s worth.
😂😂😂😂
😂🤣 And GreenTurtle sticks the landing and the crowd goes wild!
Gramma E give these titles out like my Gramma gave out candy on a rainy saturday night. It’s really so arcane and silly …
I don’t follow the Royals and monarchies in general but these titles always sound so fake. More of a ceremonial thing than something significant.
To me these titles sound extremely arcane and Grand-Poobah-ish.
@Louise177 – Totally – just like the ridiculous fake uniforms and medals they wear to big events that make them look like Gilbert & Sullivan extras.
+1, they look bizarre with all the decoration on their jackets…
@GR and @Elisa … I just looked up the significance of uniforms and medals worn by the royal family. The uniforms worn represent their personal armed service or the regiments the Queen has assigned to them.
The same is true of the medals and insignia (a badge or distinguishing mark of military rank, office, or membership of an organization; an official emblem) they wear. Charles, Williams, and Harry and even Princess Ann wear sashes, medals, and insignia representative of the honors, titles, and/or armed services assigned to them by the Queen. I think the occasion may dictate which uniform and insignia are worn.
For instance, in 2017 the Queen appointed Prince Harry as the Captain General of the Royal Marines, which he succeeded from Prince Philip. That entitles Harry (or entitled, because this is one of the titles he had to give up) to wear the uniform and insignia of a Field Marshal.
150 years ago, these honorary titles still held real weight and responsibility. I actually admire the British for holding on to part of their history (and for many other things as well), but that’s just me. 🙂
Yeah, but for 3 pretend royal heirs, allegedly – why the enrichment?
What are you talking about? I think I missed something.
I agree. They are meaningless. Like he needs another title. I think the Royal Family is making a mistake in pushing against becoming more modernized. William seems like a narcissist, spoiled brat, and Kate seems full of herself as well. Neither strikes me as very nice. I do think Harry is a nicer person, and I think he and Meghan did the right thing, especially for their son, in getting away from all that toxicity. The Royals need to stop giving themselves more royal titles and start trying to build more bridge between the reality of the common people and their struggles…more like Diana did. Sadly, I doubt William and Kate have the empathy or desire to do so.
Oooooooooh, Kaiser, your last paragraph…! 🔥
My younger sister and I were talking about this today, and I (typically) cynically opined that this latest 🙄 title was a reward from Gan-Gan for William cleverly pushing himself forward as the Golden Grandson. She asked, “So, what do you think about Sussexit?” I replied, “Good on them.” She said she couldn’t stand Meghan, but didn’t really know why, and that their move to Canada to live a more independent life was “hardly independent” since Charles was still going to finance them. I told her that Charles wouldn’t be totally financing them, but even if he was, there’s nothing wrong with sharing family finances if you have that ability, and that perhaps he was swinging money Harry’s way while he still could, because I doubt that when Bill is in control of the Duchy of Cornwall, he’d gift Harry even a fiver. I think William is a poncey snake.
Isn’t it weird how so many people say that they don’t like Meghan, but say they have no idea why. “There’s just something about her”. Uh huh, sure.
When someone says they “don’t like Meghan” I always ask why? And what she did wrong? They never have a proper answer, or they just repeat some headline about her breaking protocol.
Like Hilary Clinton phenomenon
I first side eyed her when she said in their interview she didn’t know much about him…. girl please. Her friend has even said since how excited she was to be going on a blind date with prince harry. I don’t fault her excitement or doubt their love, but do not act like you didn’t know much about him. Reminds me if the Eminem song, “you’re just plain old Marshall to me”
@Melody. The average person doesn’t know much about the royals. They know who they are by name and can recognize a picture of them but they don’t know much more than -he’s the son of Diana and Charles, he has red hair, ran wild in Vegas, didn’t he wear a Nazi costume -they know the infamous parts but not the person.
In that context of not really knowing the person, it makes sense to ask, Is he nice. I would ask the same about any of the other royals -Are they nice and how do they treat different types of people.
This reminds me of my former massage therapist who always disliked black celebrities but couldn’t say why. I terminated my relationship with her when she went on a rant about Rep Cummings but couldn’t say why she disliked him. I told her her services weren’t working for me anymore but I couldn’t say why…
@melodycalder she would have known as much about harry as anyone else. Know one really knows what any celebrity is like, we just go on snippets of information and form and opinion. It’s an awkward question to ask, cos she can’t really say yes or no. It’s worth noting that in William and Kate’s engagement interview Kate was asked about having williams poster on her bedroom wall. She denied it, but I don’t think anyone called her out on her stalking.
“They have no idea why.” Well, this is the point at which we would all do well to recall the immortal words of Arthur Spooner, “IS IT BECAUSE SHE’S BLACK?”
Well, what I should have asked was, “Is it because she’s a black/mixed race woman?’ Instead, I told her. “Oh, it doesn’t matter; Harry likes her enough for everybody, and, stop reading the Daily Mail.
You get a title, and you get a title and you get a…see where I’m going with this?
Wonder what the great prince of “pedophillia“ new title will be?
No I dont. What do you mean?
Yes it is fascinating to me how many people don’t like Megan but don’t really know why. The one thing they seem certain of though is that it isn’t about racism and that they are not racist!!!!! Suuuuuure!!!!!
@Val I fear you are correct. It’s clear there is a full on campaign to rehabilitate Pedo Andy.
Didn’t the Church of England just announce that sex is for heterosexual married couples only or was I reading The Onion?
Is The Church of Scotland affiliated with that?
Does the appointment have anything to do with revived talk of independence for Scotland and one small attempt to tie it closer to the royals given who William replaced?
Or is it all as meaningless as all the rest of the meaningless royal titling claptrap?
Yes, they did, but the Church of Scotland is separate from the Church of England.
William replaces an actual Scottish person (and Chief of one of the Scottish Clans) so this is not a good look.
Thanks. and yah not a good look.
I wondered about the political context re Brexit and Scottish independence as well as the possible broader message of Sussexit…sounds like this is the BRF circling the wagons…
The Church of Scotland is actually a Presbyterian Church, not Church of England. They believe God to be the head of the church, not a physical person (a la the Pope or QE). There are a lot of different beliefs between the churches.
I looked this up on Wikipedia and it feels like the royal equivalent of when I got to take home the ‘Most Well-Behaved Brownie’ trophy for a year.
It’s usually only held for a year or two, and I can’t figure out how it’s assigned. Princess Anne had it for a year recently, Edward had it for a year back in 2014, and loads of random minor aristos and politicians have held it too.
ROLF this whole post, and all the comments on it so far, are hilarious 😀
It really does seem as through the BRF are doing whatever possible to oversaturate the media and bury anything to do with H&M.
Tomorrow, the news headlines might be, “Wills trimmed an actual rose bush” and “the Queen’s Corgi farted”.
Uh Oh Banannas —- You forgot the last part of that headline, “……Corgi farted just 9 days after Meghan and Harry stepped down from their royal roles.” 😱 Does anyone else see the trend lately? Tons of articles about all the royals toiling, sacrificing, and thriving and yet every single story has to bring Harry and Meghan into it. I wonder if that’s because the name MEGHAN is still one of the most Googled words and by inserting her name they not only get to keep throwing shade on her, but the article will Pop up in search because searching her name pulls it up. Such a WIN/WIN for the royal PR and the writer/paper running the story.
On another note, did anyone else read that Vanity Fair article by Sally Bedell Smith. SBS wrote a kiss kiss biography on Prince Charles (where everything was Diana’s fault and thank God Saint Camilla was steadfast and true). She also wrote a bio on Diana that tore her to pieces and once again painted Charles as righteously long suffering. When asked about getting Queen’s approval to write bio on her, SBS said she thought it was a reward for the positive slant she put on Prince Charles and the Firm in both those books. I mention this so you’ll understand she has a horse in the royal race.
Anyway, SBS VF article claims insider knowledge —due to all her close royal sources—and says that the Sussexes began agitating about leaving about 2 months after their wedding and that Queen/Charles did everything royally possible to make them happy, but Meghan could not be satisfied. SBS goes on that Meghan never intended to stay …throws some serious shade on Meghan and indicates everyone thinks Harry will come home once he realizes he needs to dump her ass (or she dumps his). SBS then — bizarrely side tacks about Meghan’s abandonment of her dog, (Bogart) proving Meghan’s ‘Never Planning to Stay’ strategy and the fact that Bogart’s sibling is owned by her son; which she seems to give her insider knowledge on this tinfoil hat theory.
I found article thought provoking and unsettling because I thought SBS was writing as a well respected, unbiased author with serious biographies under her belt. After I did some research and read some reviewed critiques of her bios by respected reviewers, I realized she is not unbiased and VERY MUCH liked by Charles.
So — Kaiser, Fellow Commenters — does anyone else have any thoughts on this? It bothers me that Charles or someone is now pushing this timeline of “by the early Fall of 2018” Meghan began her push to exit. I’ve also noticed the uptick in headlines such as: It wasn’t a joint decision; Harry had no idea he would loose everything. Sounds to me like the royals are going to continue to tar and feather Meghan and encourage stupid, naive Harry to get his ass home. Blessings, best wishes, and still part of the family INDEED.
How on EARTH would this crazy lady know that her son has Bogarts sibling? And how would that make her an insider? Our dog has plenty of siblings but we have no idea who adopted them.
This women’s job is to make the RF look good because right now, they are looking terrible.
I wouldn’t trust a word this crazy lady says. What an idiot.
@Ja country this seems to be the new spin- that Meghan plotted ever since she was young& pictured at BP to get into the royal family& then aim was to capitalise off this newfound fame etc by leaving the royal family 🥴
The Times has an article that the BRF are worried about paps in Canada& are offering them a return to U.K.& place at Sandringham to lay low without having to do royal duties. Calls them vulnerable& fragile& says that they are specifically reaching out to Harry to restore relationships& that whilst Harry may wish to return to the U.K, Meghan might not.
“Calls them vulnerable& fragile& says that they are specifically reaching out to Harry to restore relationships& that whilst Harry may wish to return to the U.K, Meghan might not.“
@GuestOne…so the campaign to malign Meghan continues. I don’t get the stupidity of this PR. If the reason Harry left was cause y’all was gaslighting and abusing his wife, Meghan, and you’re still continuing to abuse and gaslight her with these BS articles about it’s all Meghan’s fault and poor innocents Harry was duped, why/how do they think this PR is gonna work?
Exactly. If H&M went back to the UK and just laid low, they would be criticized for not working. “Why are our tax dollars supporting these layabouts?” The only reason why the RF want them back is because the RF is a firm. And it doesnt look good to have “employees” fleeing the firm. Reflects badly on the firm and calls into question its existence and practices. The RF don’t want that. The talk of being papped in Canada is kinda strange. I’ve only seen that one pap shot. And that they were never papped in the UK. True there were no pap shots in the newspapers, just words that eviscerated them every day.
I’m guessing their hope isn’t to change Harry’s mind but the public’s.
I would hate to have a family like that. Harry has been saying for years how he wanted out of royal life but he resigned himself to staying. How he would not have his wife and child bullied. They expect him to just run off and leave his son? Or do they plan to take Archie from Meghan? I have to believe that these stories are total b@llsh!t otherwise the RF is worse than Thomas and Samantha Markle. Even they just want money, not to destroy a family.
Has William even been to a church in Scotland?
If he’s gone with Granny near Balmoral, yes?
Maybe, but likely not the Church of Scotland, which is a different denomination (and belief system) than the Church of England. This is the equivalent of the President of the Baptist Church to be appointed as the Leader of the Lutherans. Just odd.
Maybe during his time at the University of St Andrews? Guessing. This is such a bad look and I am beginning to think the queen’s secretary really needs to be let go.
He was trotted out to Crathie Kirk with Granny, Da, and others September 2014. Five days before the Scottish Independence vote. Queen was overheard telling people in the crowd to think ‘very carefully’ about their upcoming vote. His appearance there was clear PR – monarch, heir, heir-to-heir.
It was days after W&K announced they were expecting their second child. He was so worried about his wife and her ‘HG’? He left, spent a few extra days hunting in Scotland, then showed up at church with Granny for the photo op.
This is going to blow up in queen face. I think in few months the press will get bored of Meghan and harry and william rose story will come out with clear evidences and everyone going to laugh at queen for giving this to William where he is going to defend the faith of the chruch. Let’s wait and watch this shit show.
No, Wills ‘wandering sceptre’ will never be spoken about in the mainstream media as they have a deal.
They will never speak ill of the future king so long as he provides inside information and his brother is fair game.
And that inside info and lack of protection for H&M is what lead them to leave.
Lol do you think the press will keep the deal. Now their whipping boy is gone and they are mad as hell plus press will quickly turn on them . Look at fergie , when she was in brf diana was praised to haven and when she left and the press didnt bother. Diana become more into press whipping boy. This is take a turn quickly and they need gossip to run those paper. Wait and watch the whole rose bush story will unfold.
They won’t mention his affairs. He’s made a deal with them. Look at the new calendar insert for sale featuring the Cambridge kids. Quid pro quo. William won’t pitch a fit as long as the Fail continues to prop him & Kate up.
I hear their are 2 pictures of Archie in that calendar of the Cambridge children. Does anyone know if that’s true? If so, I find that hysterical given that all the royal souvenir shops and sites have suddenly pulled or run out of every Sussex souvenir. Talk about petty! who at BP authorized that BS?
Wills is the future, future king we must remember…..there is plenty of time for those stories to come home to roost
The press are keeping hold of the affair to use as collateral. They need to milk that cow until it runs dry. The day will come when the cosy relationship between the Cambs/press turns sour, as we know William tends to lash out and doesn’t think things through logically. Dealing with him will be like negotiating with a baby. They will pull the trigger one day, but not for a long time.
Rule #1, the press are loyal to no one. Whenever you think you have a deal, see rule #1
I hate to say this, but I don’t think the press will get bored with Harry and Meghan, until the Cambridge children become adults.
Not even then. It’s more likely that the press will move on to Archie.
i think the press bore with meghan and harry is that cant cover them like they used to be in uk. they cant complain about wasting taxpayer money. plus people will get bored and press need a much gossip story forever to run like camila diana and chrasles. thats why i said rose williama and kate story will come out. they will sell the paper because what is juciy then history repaeting itself with next future king. thats why william / kate whoever it is pushing that story of them like diana and charles. but they have to be careful that if kate thinks she will get public sympathy from these cheating , she will be in rude awkening. Public took diana side because she was a child, plus kate know william for many years and his wandering eyes so i dont think she will get any sympathy. In their dating days kate desperately tried press paps following her like diana. to gain public outrage to press but nothing from public. i mean during that time uk was in eu and they have strict privacy law and kate is privtae citizen where she can easily filed the lawsuit to the press and no one will harsse her . instead she copied like diana last days with paps following her and to gain public sympathy. the irnony is no one cared about paps harssing her and that fell flat on her face. she is copying diana for long time with her game that during this scandal she wont get any sympathy because diana left charles that he didnt love her anymore and cant stand the cheating. but in this kate will stay for tiara and title, thats why public wont sorry for her. she is copying diana to gain sympathy for long time but too bad she didnt copy diana work ethics.
Isn’t Scotland talking about leaving the United Kingdom in the wake of Brexit. Is tossing Normal Bill, the rose bush expert and the Controller of African Children at Scotland supposed to be a good thing?
62 percent of the vote in Scotland was anti-Brexit, pro-staying in the EU. They’re being removed from the EU against the will of the majority of voters in Scotland. There is talk of a second Independence referendum, but it would take years for them to be accepted into the EU as an independent nation.
I wondered about that too.
If Scotland leaves, which seems likely, wouldn’t this title ve meaningless? Or I should say even more meaningless?
I’ve posted this before, but polls by both the Glasgow Herald and YouGov in 2019 showed that there’s a significantly lower level of support for the monarchy in Scotland than in England. It’s certainly tied to the independence movement, but also to religion, colonialism and a general sense that the RF are far away and have nothing much to do with us. When there are big events – weddings and jubilees – they tend to go almost entirely unmarked up here. This title won’t make a difference but it’s probably not unconnected to the absolute sh*tshow that is Brexit.
The palace is probably trying to strengthen ties with Scotland to thwart off another Scottish independence movement. This should be interesting in light of the Rose bush trimming. Also, didn’t William use E.U. Privacy laws to shutdown the Rose stories? Now, with Brexit, Britain is no longer a part of the E.U. So, what laws prevent the British media from reporting about the Rose story? Is that why there are pictures of the Cambridge kids all over the tabloids…as payment to stay quiet?
Interesting theory Guest 2.0. Are the tabs just waiting for Brexit so that William can’t use threat of suit to keep lid on? Any legal minds out there to weigh in on this? Will Brexit affect William’s legal injunction on “whatever non-story” 🤔 he’s’s so desperate to keep press from pursuing?
Oooof, given the timing it certainly feels like a reward for William. All of the recent shenanigans are going to end badly for this family.
It sure will! But they are too blind with hate to see it.
Normal Bill, Lord High Commissioner to the Lighting of Gas.
Hahahaha 😀
I looked up the title on Wikipedia too. It’s ceremonial and awarded to one for public service in Scotland and close ties to the Church of Scotland. William’s only tie to Scotland prior to this participation award is that of a honorary position in the Royal Society of Scotland since 2017. I wonder how Scotland is taking this news.
Didn’t he go to university in Scotland? Too lazy to look it up, but I thought he went to St. Andrews—a school named for the patron saint of Scotland if not actually locate there.
He did, as did his equally lazy wife. Incidentally, so did my father.
The university is named for the town where it’s located, and yes, it’s on the east coast of Scotland, about 70 miles or so from Edinburgh.
The irony here is hundreds of years ago the British monarchy actively tried to force the Scottish Church to follow the same rules and regulations as the English church by brutality, leading to a very bloody period in Scottish history known as the War of the Covenanters.
This is one of the bloodiest periods in our, already pretty gruesome, history.
A very obvious attempt to try and get support from a Scotland already on the brink of jumping the British ship.
Some of my ancestors were Covenanters. They came to New York in 1764 with Rev. Thomas Clark and fought under Washington in the American Revolution.
I come from Church of Scotland blood as well. We might be related!
Cool! My people were Livingstons. My ancestress Agnes married John McDonald. We haven’t been able to get any further back, but the supposition is that those Livingstons were related To Rev. John Livingston. The McDonalds we know nothing about. My Mom was working on it while she was retired, but she died before she was able to get them back to Scotland. There’s a book about the Cahans Project from when they were in Northern Ireland, which I want to get one of these days.
When I read the article title I thought this was a joke.
Interesting timing.
The timing is terrible. It completely looks like a reward from grandmama for getting rid of the Black member of the BRF. The tabloids and racists love it of course. But younger and international royal watchers see this for what it is- racism, while pedo Andy is kept in the fold and given Mamas and others support. It’s a terrible look. And tells you where her and the BRF priorities are.
Zzzzzzzz Will bores me.
Minister of Silly Walks
Right on UpStateNow! And Harry and Meghan got …..the Spanish Inquisition.
William must be a Freemason by now so the sweet deals are rolling in.
For me the question is, why didn’t she appoint William to a religious function _earlier_. The queen has allowed William to reach the age of 37 without taking on any religious responsibilities, but the dude is supposed to be head of the church some day! It’s not just that he needs to know his faith-based responsibilities, but he has to start forming relationships with these people now, not in 20 years when he would be forced to rely on advisers for every decision b/c he doesn’t know anyone personally.
Just seems like a political move tbh. The man isn’t religious. But he is the FFK and Scotland may leave after Brexit. Not sure the Lord High Commander can keep the country together but C for effort.
Defender of the Faith was the Catholic title Henry VIII got before splitting with the Vatican for writing Defense of the Seven Sacraments. It’s not the same thing as head of the Church of England.
Also this is a terrible idea. William is not Scottish and this is another slap in the face to the Scots.
Defender of the Faith was the title of Queen Elisabeth I after her father Henry VIII split from the roman catholic church. Lizzie I was clever enough to use a somewhat obfuscated phrase because she wanted to end the conflict between the new Church of England and the old catholic faith. Cause it got people killed.
Nomen est omen, I am not sure where you get that from. Pope Leo X gave Henry the title, which is well documented historically. It was a Catholic title like “Most Christian” for the French monarch. His successors also used it. It’s obviously always been ironic in many ways.
This is all about setting Prince Big Willy up as heir of the heir. The Fail has 2 interesting stories; one that TQ offered them a chance to walk away before they got married but at the point Meghan wanted to be a woking royal and secondly Sophie has been asked to step up and support TQ more and NOT Katie Keen as we would ALL expect.
With what, the Commonwealth work that Harry and Meghan were doing? This is not what Charles wanted. He was trying to off Sophie and Edward along with Andrew. Now they’re going to keep using the Sovereign Grant to ‘fund’ the staff and lifestyle of the Wessexes at massive Bagshot for decades.
Digital Unicorn —- Perhaps Kate is playing her “rose card” with the Queen so that she doesn’t have to step up. After all, Queen gave her a special honor to thank Kate for her silence; perhaps Kate is now saying, I’ll still keep quiet as long as I don’t have to step up?
Also, Robert Lacy is saying the York girls are going to need to step up. Sounds like Charles’ streamlined Firm is growing bigger instead of smaller
Adding Beatrice and Eugenie is the second-to-last thing Charles wants. Last thing he wants is letting Andrew back in. I see him extending Edward and Sophie’s tenure to lifetime appointments rather than letting Beatrice and Eugenie in. B&E as working royals has been Andrew’s dream for 30+ years; Charles isn’t giving him that unless he has no other choice.
He has nominal Scottish heritage through the Queen Mum and the Bowes-Lyon, Lyon-Bowes, Earls of Strathmore & Kinghorne, with the family seat Glamis Castle.
charles wont allow sophie to claim the ladder. obsively this is william doing to include sophia to get off the work load. but charles doesnt like sophie or edward and he will have his way to remove them , thats when the war of wales will start and charles and william leak like crazy.
I can hardly read this – can we just do away with the old-racist, good for nothing Monarchy already? I guess if the Brits want to finance palaces and castles and 7star vacations for people who earned nothing, but were born into it, so be it. As an American – ENOUGH ALREADY!
The Brits don’t care about the monarchy, you see. I mean sure, they represent the British people, act as their unofficial cultural ambassadors, are funded by the tax payer money, go around the world to generate good will for the British government, engage in a lot of soft diplomacy and whatever else, but the Brits don’t actually CARE. They live in unimaginable splendor while the homeless population continues to increase and poverty levels continue to climb, all while the govt continues its policy of cutting benefits for the desperately needy–but the average Brit doesn’t care about the monarchy, it’s all the Americans who fuel their press, most British people don’t even think about them and would like to not have to read about them constantly in the tabloids (that sell millions of copies and generate millions of clicks online, even though most people somehow don’t read them!)
@JA Lowcountry – SBS must have missed the latest story from the Fail that Charles and William want Britain to be a “safe haven” for the Sussexes if things don’t work out in Canada. They stay at Frogmore at well. Chuck and Bill know their shenanigans have damaged the reputation of the BRF and to an extent the UK. They have to be seen as caring for them.
Great commentary article — for once — in The Sunday Times by Rosie Kitchens. ….It’s Time to Cut Meghan Some Slack… I love her last sentence. Worth the read, here are her closing paragraphs:
You may feel Harry and Meghan have sacrificed their right to our sympathy. That this is a mess of their making. That when they announced they would be “retiring as senior members of the royal family”, they were pulling the pin out of the grenade and the ensuing explosion was inevitable. After all, it is not easy to feel sorry for a woman who seems to have it all: her prince (even if they can no longer use their HRH titles); a beautiful baby; all the advantages of royalty with none of the responsibility. But I suspect none of that will make any difference if she is struggling, as she seemed to suggest in that interview.
Becoming a parent is a seismic shift. It forces you to confront the decisions your parents made, to consider how you want your own child to grow up. And you do not need to be a close friend of Meghan and Harry’s to know that their demons may be harder to exorcise than most. If that means pressing eject and retreating to a park on Vancouver Island for a while, so be it.
Bullying is ugly at the best of times, but when a woman holding a baby is fair game, we have to ask ourselves: what’s gone wrong?
THEN, there’s the second article, same paper, by Tim Shipman that William and Charles are encouraging the Sussexes to come home as they are worried about how vulnerable they now are to the press and how vulnerable that will make them period. I mean the article makes it sound like the senior royals want the Sussexes to come back and retreat to Frogmore; Like lions in a cage at the zoo.
The royal family, their PR, and the press are ALL over the place. Is William enbiggened, diminished, sad, happy, threatened, or glad? Is Charles worth over a billion or are the Sussexes taking him to the poorhouse? Is Andrew in or is he out? What a clusterF***.
The BRF have woefully mismanaged this mess from start to finish. They turned a blind eye to the increasing and horrifying racist smearing of Meghan. Under the guise of welcoming her to the family they routinely humiliated her, her mother, and her wish to include some of her culture in HER wedding ceremony and to integrate it with the archaic monarchical customs the BRF adheres to. Charles tacitly approved of William’s underhanded leaking to certain reporters via KP RRs that Harry was “fragile” and struggling, and Meghan was demanding and “uppity”. It all boiled down to sheer jealousy that Meghan and Harry were running circles around Bill and Kate work-wise and popularity-wise. Then when Archie came along suddenly a baby was fair game for insults by the tabloid media. And not ONE WORD was said by the BRF who should have shut that sh*t down immediately. All the while Andrew has been protected and cossetted despite his deep involvement with Epstein and Maxwell. It’s a sick situation and one that has tarnished the already fading reputation of the BRF, and QEII’s elevation of Bill with this new title is a bad joke. I’m sure the Scottish people are thrilled…[sarcasm]
If and that’s a big IF with a bushel of salt — the Sunday Times source is correct and Charles and William are calling Harry daily to convince him (and, oh yeah Meghan and Archie) to come home —- then what kind of pressure is that putting on Harry. They must know that Meghan’s bus has left the station. Do they truly think it would be best for Harry to forsake his wife and CHILD!? Do they really think that Harry has no self governance or ability to think for himself?
@JA LowcountryLady: If it’s true, it’s probably too little too late and Charles, William, Kate and the Queen will only suffer the repercussions in the future. Harry and Meghan were and are still hugely popular and will continue to attract attention to their work, even abroad in Canada. This has really tarnished the BRF in the public’s eye. In this day and age with the immediacy and intrusiveness of social media, there’s little they can get away with that doesn’t come under close scrutiny.
@Jaded, the early smearing of Meghan, especially the sh-t about her sending e-mails and bringing an espresso machine into the office, was so especially egregious. It seemed so STUPID, so juvenile to make fun of her for these things. My take away from all of this is that the British, especially those who are and work in service of the aristocracy and the royals are a painfully mediocre set of human beings. The whole bullsh-t about “tall poppy syndrome” is just them putting the responsibility for their own deeply held sense of inadequacy onto people who work hard and have earned their rewards. “How dare you be good at what you do? How dare you not be as mediocre as I am? Who do you think you are?” There is just something deeply wrong, culturally, with the mentality that is present here.
@Digital Unicorn – I saw those two stories. With Sussexit the bulk of the workload should go to FFQC Kate and not the wife of the 11th in line to the throne. The queen just announced Kate can’t cut it when the heat is on. More embarrassment – A former RPO for Andrew told the Mirror Andy had gross GiGi Maxwell over to BP for picnics – with instruction to leave their names off the visitor’s log. If the BRF thought the drug deals they made with the press would keep their dirt under wraps they were mistaken. The wheels on the karma bus go ’round and ’round…
what queen said about kate? i didnt follow them close enough? did some rr praised that kate is patience and how she was grromed for future queen and the queen of aww of kate commintement to rf?
What a stupid and transparently obvious move. Scotland is on the verge of independence and QEII makes her po-faced, irreligious, smug wanker of a son Lord High Commissioner of the C of S as a reward for smearing his brother and SIL. The Scottish people must be seething.
Grandson, but ai get your rift
Sorry – grandson. My righteous indignation got in the way.
Isn’t this special. The RF give themselves fancy titles to build themselves up while tearing others down. So shameful and the timing is awful and very suspicious as well.
According to Wikipedia, with current low rates of attendance, lack of ministers in training, and a large budget deficit, the Church of Scotland could be defunct in 25 years. So it has bigger problems than Prince William receiving a made up, do-nothing title.
But if I was a member of that denomination, or even just a Scottish person, I imagine I’d be pretty annoyed by a non-member claiming to have control over me.
William is not Scottish, why is this allowed?
Why are the Scottish people accepting this bull shit?
Because the Crown has a lot of ties to Scotland and does not want Scottish independence.
UK government wants Scotland’s natural resources. Oil & gas, mineral reserves, fisheries, and renewable wind energy opportunities. One third of the UK’s natural resources are in Scotland.
@ Nota – do you know why the Act of Union came about?
I’m sure the Scottish people are insulted by this move, but they have bigger fish to fry like Brexit and Independence. Though they lost the referendum in 2014, it was close and six years on Scotland has placed itself as one of the world’s major players in renewable energy. They plan to reach the zero-carbon threshold by 2045 utilizing their massive offshore wind and tidal resources and currently supply around 60% of the U.K.’s onshore wind capacity. I do think giving William this basically useless title is a slap in the face to the Scottish people who, unlike England, are Presbyterian and don’t have a physical head of faith like an archbishop or even a leadership group. Kowtowing to an Anglican English prince will not go over well.
Forget the titles, Andrew and Megxit and all that stuff, people. That’s not what this is about.
This is the Queen signaling to Scotland, who wants their independence, particularly after Brexit. This move was a baldly transparent political gesture to reinforce to the Scots the connection between England and Scotland that the Queen of England is not going to let them go quietly.
Scotland got screwed in their last bid for independence, and only stayed as a part of the UK based on its membership in the EU. Now that that’s done, I’m sure that this will be seen in Edinburgh for exactly what it is. Let’s face it: The Duke of Edinburgh, Holyrood Palace, Scottish taxpayer funding of the Monarchy, et al, would rightly be on the table of an independent sovereign country. The titles would probably remain, but, it’s the Scottish people who will have to decide whether they want to be a republic or part of the Commonwealth.
That said, I’m for independence of both Scotland and Northern Ireland. Ireland, in particular, deserves reunification.
I find it interesting that the Queen is more and more SEEN to be politically involving herself in various affairs of state. The monarch, by law, is supposed to be politically neutral — although I personally have never thought they were; however, they’ve always done it on the quiet, behind the scenes. I think the Queen is putting the Crown at risk to be so openly political. Who in the world is advising her?
An independent Scotland could decide to tax the inheritance of Balmoral and any other Scottish assets owned by the Windsors.
As much as I support Scottish independence and Irish reunification, I do have worries about how it will all shake out for them if these two events happen. Irish reunification esp might be an issue since the Republic does not have a similar system to the NHS, which they do in Northern Ireland.
However, I do think that staying with the union will have far worse consequences for them in the long run, that they might as well reunify and break off to be independent. There are issues they’ll have to deal with, it won’t be fun, it won’t be pleasant at the outset, but I think if they make a proper, informed decision about all of the issues at hand, they could weather the storm that comes after for a few years and then have a better time of it.
They’re are just now waking up to the fact that FFK has little to no association with other parts of the union! I sense it’s a small attempt to try sway people against the Scottish independence🙄I’d say too late. After David Cameron’s book reveling how the queen got involved to sway people 2days before the vote, I doubt those people will fall for this again.
By the way, this role was taken by almost every other royal except prince Andrew and prince Harry so it’s not really that a landmark position. Nor do I expect bill to take it seriously or even pick up some patronages in Scotland anytime soon🙄
As a Scot who was once a member of the Church of Scotland, I find this appalling. He is a member of the Church of England, he has to be in order to take the throne as he will be the head of it. Both churches are ENTIRELY separate entities, so I have no idea why this was even thought to be a good idea. Another strike against these f***ers AFAIC.
+1,000
The fact that William and Kate vie for meaningless titles bestowed upon them by William’s pedophile apologist grandmother tells me all I need to know about the them and their titles.
Harry and Meghan’s decision to leave looks smarter every minute.
Kaiser’s analysis is spot on. Before the Oceania tour was completed , Catherine Middleton received the Royal Order on full display at a dinner party hosted by the queen.
Kate felt better about herself temporarily then Carol contacted the Daily Heil.
The Sussexes left , Bill has a fancy title (about the Commonwealth and religious faith) reaffirming his “good” prince status. Bill felt good about his self?
The Sunday Times with Shipman as editor printed an article. Willileaks anyone?
The younger heir is demanding that his brother return home under one condition- accept his status as foot soldier and place Willileaks needs above his personal family and especially his well being or he will sic the willing press in the form of the paparazzi on Meghan. (1st – abandon his need for royal duties and a work ethic),
He is aware how painful it is for Harry to see his wife violated by the British tabloid media and is prepared to use it against him.
He thinks that he can tell the press to back off if he can regain control of Harry . Can he really?
By going to Gran Gran and demand this new title it will ensure that he is seen as being good.
It also serve an historic purpose in terms of the commonweal.
The church of Scotland has had a presence in every ex-colony of the Caribbean from at least the 17th century.
They have built schools and churches and along the Congregational Church at the lead agitated for the abolition of slavery.
Many of its members will be aware of this history and Bill is hoping that this good will be extended to him when his father is no longer be the head.
One problem- Those people are small c conservative and do not mix politics and religion so the ruling class will be different and hopefully reject him as new and not continue in this case to reward mediocrity and pettiness.
The patterns are there. Just connect the dots.
The older heir is whinging that it is Diana all over again. So unaware? How much he is contributing to discomfort of his younger son and family.
The new modusoperandi of the media is to harass the Duchess and her mother by printing disinformation, misinformation, mal-information to an ill informed public in an attempt to get a settlement for the three lawsuits.
They will fail to hold her reputation and respectability as hostage because they do not have any moral authority to impugn or define Meghan character.
I hope people of good- will continue to support the Sussexes. It is bigger that them. I hope they grow closer together and endure . They cannot fight this using materialism.
The people and press of Vancouver Island will continue to support them. Canadians are aware of the British tabloid press since the Toronto years.
The press need another post.
People give far, FAR more credence to the Commonwealth than it duly deserves. Trust me, as someone who is part of 2 Commonwealth countries, the only people who are desperate to keep it remotely relevant is Britain and the monarchy. The rest of us see it as a somewhat fancy club. For most of us, our ties to Commonwealth nations aren’t based on our inclusion in the British Empire–it’s based on our RESISTANCE to the empire. Otherwise it’s an outdated institution that nobody really cares about.
Trust me, no one is looking at this thinking, “Oh yes, the Church of Scotland has a presence in the Commonwealth.” Most people don’t even know there is a Church of England and a Church of Scotland to begin with, let alone its history or anything else. It’s not hugely relevant to modern day except when contextualizing historical issues.
Yeah convince Harry to dump Meghan and Archie. Harry will never come back from that, abandoning a baby and the racism cries will go in full force; that the BRF wants nothing to do with a child of African American heritage. Meghan gave up her career and life in North America to be with Harry so unless the cause is adultery no divorce. Meghan may still be angry and hurt and probably does not want to talk to them at this time and she may want Harry to settle things, but trust she is in the loop. Remember Archie is heir apparent to the title Duke of Sussex and 7th in line to the throne. Archie stands to inherit trust funds from the queen and Charles so she is going to make sure that is lockdowned for him and any future Sussex children. Also that bit to not give them titles before the wedding is BS because it would have been announced at that time.
The royal family just hands out awards and honors to themselves whenever they feel like it. Are we supposed to be impressed?
This is so ridiculous, it’s like the queen is making a mockery out of her own reign. Prince William’s formal titles are already a paragraph long, he doesn’t need a shiny new one that he did nothing to actually earn. Honestly what’s the point of the monarchy now anyway? I’m actually kind of embarrassed for all of them now, except for the Sussexes.
One thing I just thought about-if Meghan and Harry have success in Canada and elsewhere they would have funds to control their own lives and the lives of their children. Their children will not have to depend on an inheritance from other senior royal members which would give their children an option in later life to not become part of the monarchy machine. You can’t control your family’s future if you are waiting around for inheritances and other crumbs from the royal family.
I think this is to be expected to a certain degree. William will get a ton of official sounding, “”high ranking”” positions in various institutions associated with the RF. This is one of them. He is in line to be monarch. Future monarchs are not just supposed to be forward facing, they’re also supposed to be rooted in the past, in tradition, and this is a symbol of that.
It’s not a question of how religious he is. It’s a question of what the crown represents and what they WANT it to represent to the people. It’s pretty obvious that the Queen, in the long run, wants to keep the monarchy firmly rooted in a particular type of tradition. I’ll be she sees Charles as something of a write off in that respect–he’s divorced, and then remarried, and he has all of these new fangled intellectual ideas that neither she, nor the people who surround her, really care about. Harry and Meghan wanted to be a more forward thinking force and then everything fell apart. I’ll bet the Queen sees William as someone who will bring the monarchy into more conservative bounds. She probably already relates to his marriage of convenience and approves heartily that these two miserable f-cks are staying together for the sake of their children while he bandies about behind her back, just like how god and the church intended for it to be.
Interesting points. I have no doubt that the queen knows about Bill’s wandering scepter and that a family image is needed to keep the House of Windsor going. It was Queen Victoria’s playbook. The fact that the queen won’t give more responsibility to Kate tells me the queen has no faith in her. Just give her sashes and access to the royal jewel vault. William’s gardening habits will eventually be revealed.
I think that Meghan quite clearly demonstrated what everyone has known–Kate is free to set her own schedule and pace and take as much initiative as she desires. She doesn’t even need to do as much as Meghan did, that would probably get some serious push back from people in the palace, but she could very well do more than she’s already doing and that’s been shown.
I think that the reason Kate hasn’t picked up any of the slack is because she’s known that her purpose isn’t to be a highly visible member of the RF in any way. After Diana, nobody really wanted that. But more than anything, she knows that her role is to play supportive second fiddle to William at all times. She’s there to provide him with stability, a happy home, a picture perfect family, and help him seem like a family man who can be head of state for a country. She’s there to give a veneer of stability to the Windsor line that kind of got shot to hell when Diana divorced Charles. They really want to seem like they did everything right even though all they really did is just stay together when they don’t really like each other and have drifted apart and live separate lives.
Yep, Queenie only likes a Prince who parties like it’s 1899. After the life she’s had with Phillip, she probably can’t understand anyone other than William and Kate right now.
But he’s not Scottish and will one day become the head of the Church of England. This makes no sense whatsoever.
This bullying, and smearing, and the fact that, The Queen took away Harry’s patronages; Comminwealth Youth Ambassador and his Army ones, was all out of spite to hurt him and force him to abandon their plans. An impression was given, that they have abadoned their duties, but we know from their website and from Harry’s statement that they were pushed into taking this option. I think time will prove that The Sussexes made the right decision, for their sanity. The old foggie courtiers can have their palace, and their manipulation of the queen.