Meet the reality royals
How the Windsors are taking over the airwaves
The new monarchy has certainly changed the channel, as the Royal Family floods the airwaves. This week it was reported Mike Tindall has signed to appear on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! He has previously appeared on The Jump and Bear Grylls: Mission Survive.
Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales appeared on BBC radio this week to discuss mental health and even King Charles is in on the TV act – it was announced he has filmed an episode of the BBC’s The Repair Shop asking experts to fix his antiques in Dumfries House. The episode airs on October 26.
It’s a long way from the first time the Royal Family let fly-on-the-wall cameras follow them around for the 1969 documentary Royal Family. Viewers saw them barbecuing in Balmoral and doing family activities including watching TV and eating breakfast. More Brits watched it than the moon landing that year. The decision the Windsors had to make was whether they “calmly sat back and let television devour them on its terms, or whether they took a more active part in deciding how they might use TV,” said Sir William Heseltine, former private secretary to the Queen, in new biography Courtiers, by Valentine Low.
Fifty years later, you could argue, the Royal Family are the biggest reality stars on the planet. Kerry wrote an opinion piece for The Sunday Telegraph this week, taking a look at the TV royals and pondering the question, what is different about Mike’s jungle fun and Harry and Meghan’s Netflix deal?
Obviously, we can assume Mike won’t be moaning about his relatives on screen, as he’s always been very positive. “I can only say how kind they’ve been to me. I’ve always felt part of it… They’re a fantastic family,” he told The Telegraph last year. But essentially, he has agreed to go on (another) reality show, for cash. So why is that OK, but Harry and Meghan making a documentary is not? Both couples are non-working royals, free to make a living however they want.
Mike has a popular podcast - The Good, The Bad and The Rugby, which nobody minds, even when he shares royal anecdotes. Compare that to Meghan’s podcast Archetypes, which is ridiculed every time an episode is released.
Anyway, The Royal List is here for this new generation of TV royals. It’s the best thing since Prince Edward’s It’s a Royal Knockout in 1987, when royals competed on an assault course against celebrities including John Travolta, David Bowie, Kiri Te Kanawa and George Lazenby, whilst wearing medieval costumes.
It was derided back in the day, but how much would we love it now? As for the future, we can only dream of Catherine on Bake Off, Harry and Meghan on Escape to (Another) Country, Camilla on Come Dine With Me and Zara on Strictly. Watch this space, or should we say, screen…
What to expect from the Coronation
From The Repair Shop must-see TV next week to a date with destiny on May 6 2023, when Charles and Camilla will be crowned King and Queen at Westminster Abbey. But don’t expect an hours-long production full of pomp, circumstance and ceremony, Charles, sensitive to these straitened times and mindful of diplomatic hot potatoes, is planning a more modest coronation than his mother’s in 1953.
Our modernising monarch will still put on a spectacle but it will be a simpler, shorter and a more culturally diverse one reflecting 21st Century Britain. Queen Elizabeth’s coronation was a lavish three-hour ceremony with 8,000 guests and a five-mile procession involving 40,000 military personnel. Preparations are taking place under the codename Operation Golden Orb and will likely see Charles cut his coronation down to between one to two hours, trim the guest list to 2,000, have a shorter procession and ditch the dress code for peers from the ermine-edged robes to lounge suits. However, Charles, described as a “stickler for tradition”, will keep: the anointing with consecrated oil, the crowning and the coronation oath.
It’s not all about the King though, Camilla was expected to be crowned with the Queen Mother’s Crown, which features the Koh-i-Noor diamond, (one of the largest in the world). But with India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan all having laid claim to the 105-carat diamond, it looks like another less controversial one will be found. Crowns used by Queens Adelaide, Alexandra and Mary are the favourites to date. Or, as is Queen Consort tradition, will a new one be made? Now, if only one could pick one up in the middle-of-Lidl aisle.
Terrific trio spread the love
They’re the palace’s superwomen and this week Princess Anne, Sophie, Countess of Wessex and Camilla, Queen Consort were busy spreading the love at various engagements.
The Countess of Wessex has been in southern Africa – she was the first royal to visit the Democratic Republic of Congo, where she highlighted the issue of conflict-caused sexual violence. She was also in Botswana and Malawi. On World Sight Day on Thursday, she wrote on Instagram, “Only the people who lose their sight know how precious the gift of vision truly is. Today on World Sight Day, on behalf of everyone who has regained their ability to see … we say ‘zikomo’. Zikomo for choosing sight as a priority, zikomo for supporting your communities, zikomo for helping Malawi see into the future.”
On Thursday, Camilla visited Chelsea and Westminster Hospital to hear about their services providing domestic abuse survivor support. And the day before, Anne presented British Paralympic Gold Medallist Maisie Summers-Newton with an MBE.
Love your work, ladies.
The King says it how it is
Well, we’ve all been thinking it, but the King said it. When Charles met PM Liz Truss at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday, he was heard muttering, “Dear, oh dear” as he shook hands. A clip filmed at the start of their weekly meeting shows Liz Truss being ushered inside the room and an equerry announcing, “Prime Minister, Your Majesty.” The King says, “Back again?” then adds, “Dear, oh dear. Anyway.”
Dear, oh dear, indeed.
Aww, Queen’s corgis share birthday love
The indefatigable Sarah Ferguson made our week this Saturday cuddling up with the late Queen’s corgis, Muick and Sandy. The Duchess of York, who was celebrating her 63rd birthday, posted six photos with the corgis on Instagram calling the adorable pair “the presents that keep giving.”
We last saw Muick and Sandy during the Queen’s funeral and now they live with Sarah and Prince Andrew at Royal Lodge, Windsor. Last week the Duchess described them as “national treasures” and that they had “been taught well.” Fingers crossed they get on with the couple’s five Norfolk Terriers. “They all balance out,” she said, “the carpet moves as I move but I’ve got used to it now.”
Tributes to treasure
And finally but also fabulously, Vogue and The Lady both celebrate the life and legacy of Her Majesty The Queen this month.
On sale now, The Lady’s October issue has a glorious cover illustration by Charlie Mackesy and includes features by The Royal List’s Kerry. We’re biased but it’s obviously a must buy! And on sale Tuesday, is British Vogue’s farewell and thank you to the late great Queen Elizabeth, commemorating her with a royal purple cover for its November issue.