Princess Beatrice of York 10: May-June 2008

[Elspeth]

Originally Posted by LadyCat

Does anyone know what will be involved in her role as Junior Ambassador (I think that was the title) for Children in Crisis? I hate to admit I know nothing about this charity at the moment. Guess I need to find the we bsite, But if anyone knows off the top of their head I would appreciate any info. Thanks.

Cat

I can't really find much other than it's one of Sarah's charities. I hope this isn't going to be a case where Beatrice is just roped in for publicity purposes by her mother. If she's going to lend her high profile as Princess of the United Kingdom to charity work, it'd be nice if more of the initiative would be taken by the Windsors and their advisors. It's beginning to look as though they've just shrugged and given up on her and left her to Sarah, which would be an unfortunate message to send.

[Jo of Palatine]

About Beatrice's job at Selfridges:

Princess Beatrice works Selfridges' shop floor - Telegraph

The Headline is:
Princess Beatrice works Selfridges' shop floor

Just a question for the native speakers: I learned that "somebody is working a place" means that this somebody is a prostitute of some sort and that the place just shows on which level. Like: "working the streets of London" means a normal whore while "working the salons of London" means she is a high-class hooker finding her clients on society events. Is that true? And what does "working Selfridges' shop floor" means under the circumstances? That the Telegraph does not find it dignified for a princess of the UK to be a shop assistant?

As an addition: the article claims that Beatrice is a "natural". A natural in what? Being a servant? Ahhh... assitant, I mean?

[Warren]

Different nuances. Sometimes there is nothing to read into the word usage. The expression "working the shop floor" in this instance has no connotations of anything untoward or unsavoury; it means exactly what it says.

[Roslyn]

Originally Posted by Jo of Palatine

The Headline is:
Princess Beatrice works Selfridges' shop floor

Just a question for the native speakers: I learned that "somebody is working a place" means that this somebody is a prostitute of some sort and that the place just shows on which level. Like: "working the streets of London" means a normal whore while "working the salons of London" means she is a high-class hooker finding her clients on society events. Is that true? And what does "working Selfridges' shop floor" means under the circumstances? That the Telegraph does not find it dignified for a princess of the UK to be a shop assistant?

As an addition: the article claims that Beatrice is a "natural". A natural in what? Being a servant? Ahhh... assitant, I mean?

I think this is one of those expressions that has changed usage and meaning over the years. To me the expression that someone is "working a room" means that a person is moving about a room availing themselves of the opportunity to talk to as many people as possible with a view to promoting their law practice/shoe shop/political party/forthcoming dog show/etc., or indeed body. It definitely connotes promoting something. Whether or not it is unsavoury depends on context and, as Warren observed, nuance.

If said about someone taking inappropriate advantage of a private social gathering to promote their buisiness, it has a somewhat disparaging connotation. But promoting a dog show or church fair in those circumstances would probably be OK. For Beatrice to be trying to sell things in a venue specifically designed for that very purpose is perfectly appropriate and warrants no unsavoury connotation whatsoever, though the paper may have intended to imply that it was inappropriate for a princess to be doing it.

As for Bea being a "natural", I take that to mean she is polite, charming, knows her objective, and is persuasive.

[Elspeth]

I've deleted most of the posts dissecting Princess Beatrice's appearance, weight, and dress sense (please check the OP of this thread, which requested that these topics not start to dominate). Let's please keep this thread on the topic of her current events. If she doesn't have any particular current events for a few days, it isn't a crime to say nothing for a while; there's no need to fill the spare time with posts about her weight and dress sense, because they'll only end up deleted again.

Elspeth

British Royals moderator

[tommy1716]

According to the Sun Beatrice has moved into an apartment in St james's palace, this seem to be instead of buying a house/apartment. However no other newspaper has reported this so it may not be true. The apartment has 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a living room and a dinning room.

Shopgirl Princess Beatrice moving into lavish apartment | St James's Palace | The Sun |HomePage|News|Royals

Aparently the Queen "will allow Beatrice to pay 'peppercorn rent'"

[princess leonor]

Originally Posted by tommy1716

According to the Sun Beatrice has moved into an apartment in St james's palace, this seem to be instead of buying a house/apartment. However no other newspaper has reported this so it may not be true. The apartment has 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a living room and a dinning room.

Shopgirl Princess Beatrice moving into lavish apartment | St James's Palace | The Sun |HomePage|News|Royals

Aparently the Queen "will allow Beatrice to pay 'peppercorn rent'"

That's very friendly of the Queen. Just wondering what such a young girl has to do with a 4-bedroom, 3bathrooms apartment! It's good for parties of course

[zembla]

Is St. James just for royals to live?

[magnik]

Originally Posted by zembla

Is St. James just for royals to live?

St. James's Palace is the senior Palace of the Sovereign, with a long history as a royal residence. As the home of several members of the Royal Family and their household offices, it is often in use for official functions and is not open to the public.

Today St. James's Palace remains a busy working palace. The State Apartments are sometimes used for entertaining during in-coming State Visits, as well as for other ceremonial and formal occasions. They often host receptions for charities with which members of the Royal Family are involved.

The offices of the Royal Collection Department, the Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps, the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood, the Chapel Royal, the Gentlemen at Arms, the Yeomen of the Guard and the Queen's Watermen are all located at St. James's Palace.
St. James's Palace also retains an important ceremonial function. The Accession Council meets in St. James's Palace following the death of a monarch, and later the accession of a new Sovereign is proclaimed by Garter King of Arms from the Proclamation Gallery overlooking Friary Court.

The Royal Residences > St James's Palace > History

[Incas]

Originally Posted by tommy1716

Aparently the Queen "will allow Beatrice to pay 'peppercorn rent'"

I don't understand, if the Queen owes the palace, why would anyone be concerned on how much, if any, rent her granddaughter would be paying? I'd think it would be a scandal also if she was charged rent at all.

[jcbcode99]

Peppercorn (legal) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Peppercorn Rent

[Incas]

jcbcode99, did you meant to post this link? Peppercorn (legal) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Elspeth]

Thank you, Incas; I've edited jcbcode's post to fix the link.

[Jo of Palatine]

Originally Posted by tommy1716

Shopgirl Princess Beatrice moving into lavish apartment | St James's Palace | The Sun |HomePage|News|Royals

From this article: “Obviously it will be nice for her to have a London base. She will also be able to make the most of the party and club scene.”

If I was the queen and read this I would think again!

[indian princess]

that girl really needs to find some direction in her life.....any directions not involving the nearest club or clothing store...

[Bella]

I think moving into an apartment in St. James Palace makes more sense than her shelling out $3 million or something ludicrous like that. It'll give her a measure of independence but she'll still be within the family fold, so to speak. And more ppl will be able to keep an eye on her and what she's up to (perhaps this was the idea behind the decision).

[rmay286]

That's exactly what I thought. Living at St. James' Palace is better for Beatrice's image because if she buys an expensive apartment in the city, people will say that she's taking advantage of her status as as a princess to live more extravagantly than anyone else. But if the Queen herself offers Beatrice an apartment in one of her own palaces, it's harder to say anything, because if anyone has a right to the monarchy's wealth, it's the Queen.

Plus, I also thought that having Beatrice live in the palace might allow the Queen to keep tabs on Beatrice...make Beatrice accountable to her. I think overall, it's a good decision.

I wonder, though, if Sarah's going to be banned from staying overnight at Beatrice's apartments the same way she is from Royal Lodge. The way Sarah and Beatrice are so close, I figured that, whether or not it would be a good idea, wherever Beatrice got an apartment, Sarah would be an occasional guest.

[Jo of Palatine]

Originally Posted by rmay286

night at Beatrice's apartments the same way she is from Royal Lodge. The way Sarah and Beatrice are so close, I figured that, whether or not it would be a good idea, wherever Beatrice got an apartment, Sarah would be an occasional guest.

As far as I know, Sarah has her own room at Royal Lodge and stays there occasionally. The Duke of York is the master of the household there and can invite whoever he wants, I'd say, even the mother of his daughters. As for St. James's Palace I doubt anyone would gainsay Beatrice to invite her own mother when she lived there. Andrew could invite Sarah to his Garter ceremony and noone minded, remember? A permanent residence of Sarah of course is unlikely. But then she has stayed in London before so knows where to find a bed for the night, IMHO.