Robert Jobson is one of the old-guard royalists and royal biographers. He’s more of a King Charles supporter, having covered Charles for decades. That being said, a few years ago, Jobson authored a biography on Prince William, and he portrayed William as insolent, mean, volatile, angry and childish. The quotes and excerpts were so bad, the whole thing sort of got buried and barely anyone mentions the book or those quotes anymore (sidenote: I always believed that Jobson’s sources were mostly Charles-affiliates). Of course, Jobson says a lot of sh-t about the Sussexes, but I doubt he would be able to book lucrative columnist and commentary gigs if he was positive about the Sussexes. In any case, it looks like Jobson believes that royalists should go ahead and start panicking, because 2024 has turned into the Windsors’ “biggest crisis since the abdication.”
The royal family is in the midst of a challenging time, which royal expert Robert Jobson likened to King Edward VIII abdicating the throne.
“I think people will be talking about this as the biggest crisis since the abdication,” Jobson said in ABC News Studio’s IMPACT x Nightline: The Crown in Crisis broadcast special, which is currently streaming on Hulu. “It’s quite vulnerable.”
After 70 years as sovereign, Elizabeth died in September 2022 at the age of 96. Her eldest son, King Charles III, subsequently assumed the throne. Eighteen months later, Charles, 75, was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer and took a step back from his public duties. (He has continued to hold a few audiences at Buckingham Palace and attended the royal’s Easter service late last month.)
In Charles’ absence, he has leaned on wife Queen Camilla, son Prince William and brother Prince Edward to take over at his engagements. William’s wife, Princess Kate Middleton, is also a senior working royal but is in the middle of her own battle with cancer and canceled all of her public duties while she undergoes treatment.
“I’ve covered the royal family since 1990 and it’s always been a roller-coaster,” Jobson said in the special, which dropped on Thursday, April 11. “I think this particular period of 2024, where you’ve got Camilla who used to be regarded as the ‘Rottweiler pariah,’ she’s leading the royal family into ceremonies at Westminster Abbey. I think it’s been quite shocking.”
“I would argue that the royal family, prior to any of this happening, was already facing a crisis regarding their future when it came to their popularity, when it came to apathy towards the royals in the U.K., particularly when it came to younger generations,” royal expert Omid Scobie claimed in the documentary. “This health crisis in the middle of it has given them their biggest challenge in all the years.” Per Scobie, there is a “huge void in the royal lineup.”
“This is not the slimmed-down monarchy that King Charles dreamed of,” Scobie added. “He imagined a lineup of his strongest royals in the family, including Prince Harry. And now we have a really limp lineup at times. And you know, the queen said it best herself: ‘To be seen is to be believed.’ If we’re not seeing the others and what they’re doing, what are we believing in?”
ROTTWEILER PARIAH!! LMAO. Us Weekly added some historical context, because most casual royal-gossips don’t live and breathe royal history. King Edward VIII abdicated in 1936 and became the Duke of Windsor. Everyone blamed it all on Wallis Simpson. Most royalists have tried to compare the Duchess of Sussex and Wallis Simpson for years, to the point where I imagine that Jobson intended this as a dog-whistle reference of the Sussexes and their 2020 exit. I mean, the Sussexit was actually called “the biggest crisis since the abdication” as well. Maybe we should just call this five-year period “the biggest crisis.” It’s a slow-motion crisis and so much of it is self-made. Literally, all these people had to do was not be rageaholic racists. All they had to do was work consistently and stop manipulating photos and videos. All they had to do was hire competent managers and quality communications professionals. Oh well!
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