duchessrachel
Serene Highness
- Joined
- Jun 15, 2011
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Thanks. I love this forum.
You are very knowledgeable. I would love to be more knowledgeable on the British royal family. Do you have any suggestions on how I could approach this? Books, websites? Thanks.
Queen Elizabeth II does appear to be closer to Andrew and Edward than she is to Charles, but isn't Charles also to blame for that ?
Why do you think Charles is to blame for that?
Because he has chosen to distance himself from his mother too. I am not making a statement, just a conjecture.
I would think that a lot has to do with extenuating circumstances. When Charles and Anne were small, its when the young mother of two was suddenly thrust into her role as monarch and that took quite a bit of adapting to balance home and family on top of being the monarch and the head of state and all that entailed.
By the time Andrew and Edward came along a decade later, the Queen's role as monarch had achieved a good sense of balance and it was easier to balance both home and family life along with her duties as a monarch.
Charles may have felt alienated from his mother in his younger years but as he aged and his roles grew and he prepares to be monarch one day, I would imagine that he understands quite well what his mother had to deal with when he was young. From what I've seen of Charles, his perspective as a child and young adult very much differs from his perspective today.
Yes, things had changed when the younger children arrived. Having said that though, I remember reading in a biography that when Andrew was growing up and wanted to see his mother for something a courtier remembered him asking 'Would the Queen be available at such and such a time today?' And the courtier noted that he always referred to 'the Queen', not 'my mother'.
I have noticed that with a couple of notable exceptions (the Golden and Diamond Jubilees and Charles's documentary about his mother when he used "Mummy" and "My Mama") The Queen's children ALL refer to her as "The Queen" in public - never "my mother." William and Harry generally do as well. It is Beatrice and Eugenie (more so Eugenie) who have referred to her as "Granny" in public. I'm sure though, that the York girls would never do that if they hadn't gotten at least tacit permission to do so.Did Prince Edward refer to The Queen as The Queen when he spoke to the staff as a little boy?
It's been revealed on the Jeremy Paxman documentary 'The Queen's Children' that the Queen once forgot Prince Edward's birthday. Of course the Fail in reporting this said it was the Queen's 'youngest child Andrew' but that's par for the course isn't it!
Anyway, Twitter users went online to express their sympathy with Edward.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/...irthday-revealed-Paxmans-Queens-Children.html
That's a weird story. The Queen has numerous aides who oversee her diaries & I can't believe a family member's birthday wasn't recorded & planned for.