The Palace Papers: Part One

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Back in 2007, Tina Brown, former editor-in-chief of Tatler, Vanity Fair, and the New Yorker, wrote what I consider to be the definitive biography on Diana, Princess of Wales. The Palace Papers, released on Tuesday, is essentially its sequel. It picks up where Diana’s life ended, in the late 90s, but it spends the first few chapters strategically weaving around to cover the Diana-adjacent figures and relationships that are informing the current House of Windsor.

So far, I’m only about 150 pages in, but I would say the focus of the attention thus far is on capturing the broad trajectories, relationships, and emotional realities of two rather important royal women today: Queen Elizabeth and her daughter-in-law, The Duchess of Cornwall. There’s also a solid dash of Princess Margaret, the Queen’s late sister, and The Earl and Countess of Wessex (Edward and Sophie). I don’t have a precise agenda for how I’m going to cover this book, but for the purposes of this post, I want to capture the quotes and tidbits that I’ve found the most informative.

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BRF Attends Duke of Edinburgh Memorial at Westminster

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This morning saw the British Royal Family turn out for a service of thanksgiving honoring the late Duke of Edinburgh. Held at Westminster Abbey, the event not only saw a full array of Windsors, but several visiting representatives of Europe’s royal families as well. With the ceremony lasting roughly 40 minutes, Queen Elizabeth then returned to Windsor Castle.

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A Royal Family After Philip

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When I first started writing here in January 2017 I was a little mad at myself for not having started sooner. The year felt so random at first, coming on the heels of the relatively quiet 2016 and well after the births of Prince George and Princess Charlotte. In retrospect, that year was the beginning of a new royal era – William and Kate moving back to London, William beginning as a full-time royal, the introduction and then engagement of Meghan, and, of course, The Duke of Edinburgh’s retirement.

His final engagement that summer was one of the more moving I’ve covered here and the images captured during it (such as the one above) were incredible. Philip retiring from public life was in and of itself historical – as has been captured in countless headlines and articles covering his life and death over the last few weeks, he was the longest-serving consort in British history. For the three years after his retirement he remained primarily at Wood Farm, a smaller residence on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, while the Queen split her time between Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle. Last March, so as to ensure safety during quarantine, Philip joined his wife at Windsor.

His presence has thus been behind-the-scenes, of late. Very much a part of the family, but not necessarily the institution. Decisions and machinations that will drive how the Royal Family functions going forward have fallen to the Queen and The Prince of Wales – we saw this with how the two handled The Duke of York and The Duke of Sussex, the latter situation also roping in The Duke of Cambridge. Philip’s death, therefore, feels even more so like a family’s private loss. He took his leave of us, the public, a few years ago now.

With that, let’s turn to the funeral and what’s come out of it.

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Royal Roundup: Keep Calm & Carry On

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Let’s not talk about Sussexit. Instead, let’s catch up on literally everyone else in the Royal Family, because surprisingly there’s been a fair bit going on. Most of what follows is from the last week, with a few tidbits that date back a little earlier but were lost in the Christmas shuffle.

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Royal Roundup: The Queen’s Speech, Philip’s Hospitalization, & Beatrice’s Engagement Party

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Happy Saturday 🙂 Let’s catch up on some odds and ends from the week, starting with yesterday’s news that the Duke of Edinburgh is in hospital. There was some speculation earlier in the week when he was seemingly absent from the Queen’s luncheon at Buckingham Palace (given that he largely lives in Norfolk now, he, too, would have been seen arriving at some point), but now we know: he’s apparently been under the weather for a few weeks.

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Will the Queen Implement the Regency Act in Two Years?

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Royal author and journalist Phil Dampier told Yahoo this week that there’s “talk” the Queen will turn over the reins of power to the Prince of Wales in two years, when she turns 95. The move wouldn’t be an abdication, but would rather bring the Regency Act into effect – the Queen would still be queen, and Charles would take over the  majority of the work.

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It’s Not a Good Week For Andrew

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I tend to stay away from the York family, and for good reason. With the exception of Princess Eugenie’s wedding last year, all too often the stories swarming around them are pretty negative. This week is no different in light of news that disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein was arrested, bringing back into the spotlight his longstanding relationship with the Queen’s second son, the Duke of York.

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The Royal Family at Ascot Over the Years

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I thought about covering subsequent days this week of the Royal Family at Ascot, but then thought…nah, let’s go back in time. Honestly, so many of the shots of today’s RF on Tuesday looked like stills from a period film, that I thought it would be fun to go back and actually see everyone over the years. So, a random sampling and a touch of history below…

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Lady Gabriella Windsor Marries at Windsor

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Members of the Royal Family gathered today at St George’s Chapel, Windsor for the wedding of Lady Gabriella Windsor and Thomas Kingston. The bride is the daughter of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, whose grandfather, Prince George, Duke of Kent, was a son of King George V. You can read more about the family here.

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Princess Eugenie Ties the (Windsor) Knot

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Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank are officially married! The Royal Family – and a slew of high-profile British guests – turned up in their wedding best for a ceremony at St George’s Chapel, Windsor this morning. The bride wore Peter Pilotto, the Duke of York walked her down the aisle, Andrea Boccelli sang Ave Maria, Prince George was a ham and Princess Beatrice gave a reading from The Great Gatsby of all things.

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