For a week and a half, the Windsors have desperately tried to figure a way out a trap they built themselves. Last week, Prince William’s cousins joined him for a soggy palace garden party and this became a larger conversation about why those cousins cannot simply “pitch in” and take on some royal work given the fact that King Charles and the Princess of Wales have cancer. The cousins can’t do “royal work” because the Windsors have spent the past four-plus years ranting and raving about how the Sussexes are no longer working royals and they should never be allowed the honor of royal busywork! They did all of that to snub the first Black duchess, and it boomeranged right back on to the left-behinds.
Speaking of, the Windsors have also spent the better part of five years ranting about how the Sussexes are “not allowed” on the fakakta balcony, one of the most idiotic and racist punishments designed by this cadre of morons. Now that the Princess of Wales is likely to be missing for much of the year and no one is saying much about the Wales kids, the Trooping the Colour balcony will absolutely be pretty sparse. Especially if they’re only doing “working royals.” Enter Richard Eden at the Mail, who thinks he has a brilliant idea: perhaps the balcony should just be for the whole family? Gee, why didn’t anyone think of that years ago???
With both King Charles and his daughter-in-law, the Princess of Wales, undergoing treatment for cancer, this has been a tough year for the Royal Family. Rarely has there been more need for an uplifting royal occasion – the sort of thing that Trooping the Colour might provide in a fortnight’s time.
Traditionally, Trooping has also been an opportunity to toast the extended Royal Family on the monarch’s official birthday. Inviting minor royals to join her on the Buckingham Palace balcony had been the late Queen Elizabeth’s way of thanking relatives for their support. Meanwhile, the public enjoyed a glimpse into what was, in part, a private family occasion. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who enjoyed seeing the younger royals and how they’d changed in the past 12 months. They added a dash of colour, youthful appeal and even glamour.
When Trooping the Colour returned in 2022, it was a double celebration as the nation also marked the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee – 70 years of her record-breaking reign. Although all members of her family were invited to join the party, including Prince Harry and Meghan, as well as Prince Andrew, only ‘working royals’ were invited to appear on the balcony. This meant that the Queen avoided offending either the Sussexes, who had quit royal duties, or Andrew, who had been stripped of them. Yet it also ended decades of tradition. The minor royals were now banished from view.
For me, there was something slightly sad about the sparsely populated balcony that remained – and still remains, as King Charles has decided to stick with this rather radical change after coming to the throne in 2022. Once again, we saw only the ‘working royals’ and their families on the balcony last June. This included the King and Queen, the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children, Princess Anne and her husband Sir Tim Laurence as well as Prince Edward, Sophie and their two children. We also saw the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, who have stepped into the breach in recent months, the Duke of Kent and Princess Alexandra. In my opinion, this year should mark a return to the former tradition.
The King should invite all members of the extended Royal Family to join him and Queen Camilla when they step outside to acknowledge the crowds. What about Zara and Mike Tindall for example, who are so popular with the public? Or, the Duke of Kent’s children, such as Lady Helen Taylor, or even the duke’s glamorous granddaughters, Lady Amelia Windsor and her sister Lady Marina?
All, that is, except for Prince Andrew, whose presence would be an embarrassment. And the Sussexes, whose inclusion would be an insult to the Royal Family and its millions of supporters.
A full balcony would cheer the nation. It would be a fillip to the monarchy at a difficult time. It would be a powerful display of unity and strength.
They twisted themselves in knots to explain why the Black duchess wasn’t allowed on their precious all-white balcony and now they’re not even keeping up the We’re Very Much Not A Racist Family appearances. “The balcony should be for the whole family, except Harry and Meghan!” Despite Eden giving the greenlight to the Windsors to throw caution and “working royal” pretzel logic to the wind, we’re once again confronted with the simple fact that Charles and Camilla are extremely worried that someone will steal their thunder. That, too, is why the balcony remains pale and stale.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.