Yeah I knew the gnarly scuttlebutt behind the tensions on display among the royals on Easter Sunday, wasn't going to go down well, especially among casual fans of royalty who are only interested in feel good fantasies. Realistically, this royal scuttlebutt is not much different from all the gossip that goes on in the skating community. I too completely dismissed the 'affair' rumors when I first read about it. I shook my head and laughed. But when the two damning articles in the
Times came out, I began to wonder what exactly was going on, and I checked further and began putting two-and-two together. I too have looked at the royals, and especially the Cambridges, behind rose-colored glasses. But often, where there's smoke, there's fire. Even Prince Charles has referenced the stuff of royal baggage as 'a soap opera.' Even the Queen has lamented the difficulty in bringing royal courtiers' machinations under control. Forget about being able to control royal reporters.
Live in your happy place everyone. The British royals will not be returning to the annus horribilis days of 1992. Never fear. They will all do what is necessary as I said earlier, to move forward, circle the wagons, bury the dirt, repair the relationship fractures and put on a good face.
There was a chance for none of this negativity to have occurred and for none of the affair rumors to have escalated. The past two years was a happy time for the royals, at least on the surface, with babies and weddings, and an increased level of interest in the British royal family being sparked around the world. Some of that interest and goodwill was squandered due to mismanagement at the highest levels of KP, added to poor personal decisions by William. I am a bit shocked and surprised, but it is what it is. Not that the gossip will ever be confirmed. Many of the royal reporters are fully or partially aware of the details, and yet some of them are also selfish, equally as petulant, and very complicit in triggering the damaging sequence of events.
It was announced over a couple of hours ago that the Queen has awarded the Duchess of Cambridge with the Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order:
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/queen-elizabeth-just-bestowed-rare-173400920.html
This honor may or may not have been previously planned to be awarded to Kate this year. But it does come now at a very auspicious time, as the ceremony for the Order will take place on May 3. It puts the spotlight back on the safe and prestigious region of royal pomp and ceremony. It's well known the high regard in which the Queen holds Kate, and this honor (Kate has received others as well) continues to demonstrate the Queen's admiration and goodwill toward her grand-daughter-in-law. The honor is surely also intended to send a reminder to everyone, and especially to certain members of the British aristocracy, that Kate is untouchable and protected. Kate will one day be Queen of England, and she is the wife of the 2nd in line to the throne, mother to the 3rd, 4th, and 5th in line to the throne.
Meanwhile, whether anyone who casually or avidly follows the British royals likes it or not, the stories in the mainstream
Times, happened for a reason. And then there were a million spin angles and backtracking maneuvers. The
Times is not a tabloid and the
Times reporter who broke the initial story which implicated William, is a political reporter, not a royal reporter. It's widely known that William has wanted to be his own man and to make his own decisions and that he has often refused the advice of his father and his grandmother, the Queen. Thus they both reportedly decided to allow William to make his own mistakes. Unfortunately, William's mistakes over the last couple of years have ended up becoming one too many. Still, he is 2nd in line to the throne, and hopefully he will learn from his mistakes. Plus, he still has a good 25 years or more before he will inherit the throne (unless something unexpected happens before then, or unless the British monarchy is dissolved by then).
I doubt William's poor choices keep him from loving his brother or that it means he doesn't care about his brother and his new sister-in-law. But as in most families, relationships are never perfect. It's just that the British royal family is larger-than-life, and the drama is exponentially supersized.
