Royal Roundup: Titles, Houses, & the Coronation

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Real Estate

Let’s start by picking up where we left off – the game of royal residence monopoly. Two weeks ago, the big news was that The Duke and Duchess of Sussex confirmed that they had been asked to vacate Frogmore Cottage, their UK base on the Windsor grounds. Rumors were then rife that the home would be taken over by Harry’s uncle, The Duke of York, while his current residence of Royal Lodge, also on Windsor grounds, would be filled by The Prince and Princess of Wales.

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Royally Evicted

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After nearly a day of speculation courtesy of a news article from The Sun, it’s been confirmed that The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been asked to “vacate” Frogmore Cottage, a house on the grounds of the Windsor estate that was gifted to them by Queen Elizabeth and has been used as their UK base since they stepped down as working royals.

To draw a firm line, that’s all of the detail that’s been confirmed. But here’s what else is out there: 1) the couple were asked to give up their UK house shortly after the publication of Harry’s memoir, Spare, and 2) part of the move is because King Charles is hoping to jettison his brother, The Duke of York, from the much larger Windsor estate, Royal Lodge, and thinks Frogmore Cottage is a better fit.

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I Can’t Believe I’m Writing About This Again

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Ok, bridesmaids dresses for children. Let’s get into it. On May 14, 2018, TMZ reported that Thomas Markle, father of The Duchess of Sussex, suffered a heart attack six days prior (so, May 8). This came on the heels of the publication of embarrassing tabloid photos and, as we later learned, an anguished back and forth between the Sussexes and Markle.

The same day the news was reported, according to Spare, the now-Princess of Wales texted Meghan to say that Princess Charlotte’s bridesmaid dress needed altering. The dresses had been created by Givenchy based on measurements of each little girl, not in-person fittings. Upon trying them on, the dress didn’t fit. Meghan doesn’t respond. According to The Duke of Sussex, she was mostly wrapped up in dealing with her father.

On May 15, Meghan finally responds to Catherine that a tailor is on standby at Kensington Palace – where the then-Cambridges lived – to make any necessary alterations to Charlotte’s dress.

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Royal Households “Briefing Against” One Another

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I’ve danced around writing this post for ages now because it always feels like a massive undertaking and frankly it’s a narrative that we’re still seeing play out with the recent Netflix documentary and Sussex memoir. But now feels like a good a time as any to at least try and get this ball rolling, so here we go.

First and foremost, I think it’s important to unravel the various threads of what comprises the Sussexes’ grievances. In my mind, there are three:

  • The British tabloids are unregulated, dishonest, and perpetuate sexism and racism.
  • Palace staff, at the direction of members of the Royal Family, not only failed to protect The Duke and Duchess of Sussex during their respective tenures as working royals from negative press, but actively worked against them.
  • Harry feels betrayed by King Charles III and The Prince of Wales after a lifetime of feeling let down or held back by them.
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The Spare Media Tour Thus Far

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The long-anticipated memoir of The Duke of Sussex is due for publication tomorrow, January 10. Ahead of its release, a series of television interviews were scheduled, including one with Tom Bradby on ITV, Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes, Michael Strahan on Good Morning America, and Stephen Colbert on The Late Show. Three of the four are now completed.

In-between the dropping of interview trailers, however, the memoir was accidentally released ahead of schedule in Spain, allowing journalists to get their hands on advance copies and resulting in a media firestorm over the last few days that was sparked by a scoop in The Guardian that began picking out the most salacious details from the book.

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The Sussex Circus

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I said a couple times during the mourning period for Queen Elizabeth that I would circle back on the full scope of the Sussex drama that played out over the last month. So, here we are. I’m going to attempt to take this piece by piece, so this is somewhat digestible.

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The Waleses in Wales

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The dust is starting to somewhat settle. The official mourning period for Queen Elizabeth ended on Monday night, which means that engagements are beginning to be added back to the calendar – some are related to the new normal and some are traditional commitments. I don’t generally cover one-off engagements anymore; however, I do want to chime in on The Prince and Princess of Wales’s visit to Wales yesterday and take a moment to zoom in on this couple and family in light of this month’s rather seismic events.

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The Funeral of Elizabeth II (Sept. 16-19)

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Yesterday saw the state funeral for Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey, followed by a committal service of her coffin to St George’s Chapel at Windsor. In the evening, after the public events, Queen Elizabeth was privately laid to the rest alongside her parents, George VI and The Queen Mother, her husband, The Duke of Edinburgh, and her late sister, Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon.

The Brits do their ceremonies very well, so, unsurprisingly, yesterday was executed flawlessly. I’m going to break up information into sections, and then backtrack a bit to cover the vigils that occurred over the weekend.

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A Title Explainer

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There’s a lot of confusion out there right now about the various titles and how this all works, so I thought I’d summarize it as briefly as I can. Part of the issue – besides, of course, the fact that this is quite literally a foreign concept in many countries – is that the succession has been relatively stagnant for several years, and so individuals are so closely associated with certain titles. In fact, titles are inherently dynamic (pun kind of intended).

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UK Engagements, Odds & Ends

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Today is a “day of rest” for Charles III and Queen Camilla after a whirlwind six days overseeing the accession and the beginning of Queen Elizabeth’s funeral procession. After yesterday’s service, the King retired to Highgrove in Gloucestershire, while the Queen went to the estate in Wiltshire she’s owned since prior to her marriage into the Royal Family.

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