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Hey, big spenders
Perhaps the most important battle the royals fight, day in day out in the court of public opinion, is against perceptions of extravagance.
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The queen is obsessed with not appearing flashy despite her immense wealth, and is said to reuse wrapping paper at Christmas.
Extravagance is the easiest stick with which to beat the royals, so it’s not entirely surprising that Harry and Meghan were the focus of some outrage this week after the royal accounts disclosed that they spent the equivalent of over $3 million refurbishing their new house in Windsor.
Given that they were turning a property divided into five dilapidated staff apartments into a top-security royal home, the sum doesn’t seem particularly outrageous, and certainly not a patch on another figure tucked into the royal accounts: £1m for resurfacing William and Kate’s driveway at Kensington Palace.
The report states: “The driveway within the Kensington Palace boundary had been deteriorating at an accelerated rate, with the very thin ‘resin bonded’ surface completely missing in numerous areas. The winter ‘freeze/thaw’ action had also started to degrade the subbase, creating potholes and trip hazards. The scope of the scheme included removing the remaining surface, repairing the subbase and then laying a thicker ‘resin bound’ top layer.”
A million quid on a driveway, even for a future king, seems a little excessive.
Archie’s first royal tour
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s baby Archie will doubtless be the focal point of their first official tour as a family, due to take place later this year. After months of speculation, the Sussexes announced on their Instagram account on Thursday that they will be visiting South Africa “this autumn,” saying they were “really looking forward to meeting so many of you on the ground and continuing to raise awareness of the high impact work local communities are doing across the commonwealth and beyond.”
However it was the final line that really caught people’s attention: “This will be their first official tour as a family!”
It seems likely Archie will be christened in the next few weeks, when a photo might be released on Instagram, although word is the press won’t be allowed to take their own pictures of him, so the South Africa tour will likely be the next time the public are able to get a glimpse of the growing royal babe.
‘I Feel Like James Middleton Again’
James Middleton has told Tatler that he is happy, and feeling like himself again. Middleton spoke to the British society magazine after writing a moving article for the Daily Mail in January about his experience of depression.
Middleton, brother of Kate Middleton and Pippa Middleton, had described in his Mail article sinking “progressively deeper into a morass of despair” as clinical depression—or “a cancer of the mind" as he called it—made him feel “a complete failure.”
Middleton, said the depression was so bad he stopped returning his worried family’s calls and texts. He said he had not contemplated suicide, “but I didn't want to live in the state of mind I was in either.”
Middleton told Tatler: “I am happy—I feel like James Middleton again. I feel like I was when I was 13, excited about life. I feel like myself again and I couldn’t ask for more.”
Middleton told Tatler his parents, Carole and Michael, had questioned his decision to write about his illness so publicly. “They were very nervous. They worried I would be exposing myself over what was a very private thing.” But, as Middleton put it, “I did it for ownership.”
Middleton also described what being launched into the public eye was like, especially as he was launching his own business. “Suddenly, and very publicly, I was being judged about whether I was a success of a failure. That does put pressure on you. Because in my mind I’m doing this irrespective of my family and events that have happened.”
Royal fashion watch
As reported by What Kate Wore, Kate Middleton's patterned summery dress, which she wore for a workshop for children co-run by the Royal Photographic Society and Action for Children, was by Ridley London. Middleton just took over the patronage of the RPS from the queen.
This week in royal history
Princess Diana was born Diana Spencer on July 1, 1961 at Park House, Sandringham, in Norfolk. She became world-famous when she met and married Prince Charles, but that fairytale left the tracks in dramatic fashion, and for all the world to see.
Her beauty and spirit made her a global icon, and in life and death her influence transformed the royal family—and, arguably, through her sons and their families she continues to change the royal family.
Unanswered questions
You may have seen The Daily Beast's exclusive concerning the dramatic breakdown in relations between the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid, and his wife, Princess Haya bint Al Hussein, who has fled to Europe.
Will she now speak out on behalf of the Sheikh’s daughter, Latifa, who was captured trying to escape Dubai and returned home? And why did she appear alongside Latifa at a press conference in Dubai, after her forcible return, and minimize the young woman’s plight?
