Isn't it a bit condescending to say " Beatrice is confused"? She's 26 years old, university-educated, and can certainly understand her place in the family. And if this lovely, rich, fun-loving princess has hurt feelings because people grouse about her life of privilege, it's quite hard to care! I'll bet she never wastes a moment thinking about it.
I don't doubt that she doesn't waste a moment thinking about it. But the representation of her image does little to increase the popularity of the monarchy in the UK. From appearances she doesn't know what she wants to do with her life, she's come straight out of university and flipped through 3, maybe 4 jobs since. Now i graduated last year, I know how hard it is to find a job, any job, especially one relating to your degree subject. I personally am not doing something relating to my degree subject, and saving money to do exactly that in the future.
I'm not "grousing" at her life of privelige, if she wants to blow through her inheritance and her fathers money, ther boyfriends/future husbands money etc she can. My gripe is that as you say she's a very capable young girl with a degree who can do so much with her life. You just have to look at the pictures from her latest engagement to see that she's fantastic with interaction of this kind. Why deprive her of something she can do, and something she can do well? With the right push/marketing Beatrice could represent the monarchy in so many ways and she doesn't.
You can't argue on one hand that the royal family has to be more streamlined and then later include the same kind of people you earlier excluded based on the eventual popularity of their parents.
Where did I "argue" for a more streamlined family? When amaryllus questioned the fact that we'd have 5 working royals, after The Queen and DOE had passed, I pointed out that we wouldn't we would have 13, potentially losing 4 within the next 10+years.
I am a firm believer that Beatrice and Eugenie are both needed to perform duties if the popularity and the visibility of the monarchy is to stay where it is. All royals are popular, and they all have an effect on the popularity of the monarchy. Whoever has made the decision not to include her/deny her when she's clearly wanted to become part of The Firm made a mistake IMO.
Is there anything keeping Beatrice from being very actively involved in charities if she so wishes? She doesn't need anyone's permission to push a book cart around in a hospital or to peel potatoes at a soup kitchen. And there is plenty of paper-shuffling and envelope-stuffing to be done as well. I think she likes her life just the way it is (who wouldn't?).
We don't know what she's doing when she's not in front of a camera. I might have to check with Bertie's figures next week but I doubt that engagement this week was official. She would have been invited and gone herself. Beatrice is linked to many charities, and I imagine she's asked to be patron or attend events for many more. I can imagine none of them would count of official engagements so she wouldn't be working for the RF whether she chose to do them or not. Point is whatever she does, whoever she represents she would be getting her name out there in a positive way.
I personally wouldn't want to be in Beatrice's shoes, she's between a rock and a hard place and doesn't seem to want to get out of it.
They could need her talents yet, as I mentioned in another post. If everything goes according to plan, William, Harry, and their wives and families are the future of the BRF. However, tragedies happen and plans have to change. I think it's such a shame if she's being held back in royal engagements because her parents have been so controversial. After all, Beatrice's future children won't have royal titles and won't ever be expected to be a 'burden on the system.'
