Dhe Swedish king showed the way. Already three years ago Carl XVI. Gustaf that six of his now eight grandchildren are no longer royal highnesses and are therefore part of the royal family. They are still part of the royal family, but Prince Carl Philip’s three sons and Princess Madeleine’s children have been private individuals ever since. Basically, this means that they can lead a largely carefree life, the burden of responsibility for performing public duties for the king or queen is relieved of them. The decision was welcomed by everyone, including Carl Philip and Madeleine, because the Swedish taxpayer saves a lot of money if countless princesses and princes don’t have to be financed.
Extensive changes could also be imminent in the United Kingdom. King Charles III has never made a secret of the fact that he wants to slim down the royal family, also out of concern, as he once said not quite seriously, that the balcony of Buckingham Palace could otherwise collapse under the weight of the many princesses and princes.
The undisputed head of the family
Charles’ mother Elizabeth II drew the first conclusions in the Megxit year, following gentle pressure from her two direct successors. Until the beginning of 2020, the extremely popular Prince Harry and his wife Meghan were still an integral part of the nuclear family and were considered indispensable Senior Royals. At the end of the year, however, the Queen also realized that the ducal couple who had emigrated to California was no longer to be expected. From then on, her trusted team only included heir apparent Charles and his wife Camilla, her grandson William with his wife Catherine and their three children, their daughter Princess Anne and their youngest son Prince Edward and his wife Sophie.
The influence of the heir to the throne, Prince Charles, on his mother had recently grown steadily. Together with his son William, he apparently also managed to persuade the Queen that her second son, Prince Andrew, and his daughters should permanently not be part of the inner circle of leaders. Andrew had discredited himself through his ties to convicted American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The brothers also quarreled when it became known that several 100,000 pounds of tax money had been spent on the safety of Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, even though Eugenie simply took a one-year sabbatical during her studies in 2009 had and traveled around the world. The costs for her personal protection still accrued, although she was neither on duty for the Crown nor is she considered to be particularly endangered.
Charles is not only king, he is now also the undisputed head of the Windsor family and thus of the “company”, as his father once put it. And it is important to keep it going. Even if King Charles III. At the moment there is still a lot of sympathy, so most of it is only temporary and often borrowed from his mother. Even shortly after Queen Elizabeth II’s platinum jubilee celebrations in June, the approval rating for the monarchy was only 62 percent. That’s not a comfortable majority. Charles is therefore willing to make short work of the many royal residences, such as Buckingham Palace, which will be extensively renovated until 2027, but will probably not be inhabited by him. He apparently plans to use it more as an office and open it largely to the public. He has already pronounced dozens of layoffs, some of whom have been employees for many years. Which is bitter, but serves the goal of reducing costs. And he will soon include some of the so-called working royalswhich his mother perhaps clung to for sentimental reasons, such as discarding her cousin Richard, Duke of Gloucester, and his wife Brigitte.
