Civilian Career Ideas for British Royal Family

[Lady Bluffton]

This thread is a spin-off of a question I raised in Thread 4 of Prince Harry's current events -- assuming Prince Harry resigns his commission in the army, what would be a proper civilian career for him?

And the larger question -- what are "proper" civilian careers for members of the British Royal Family. The extended family don't seem to have much of a problem with choosing a career path (think Zara Phillips, Helen Windsor, etc.), but the immediate family closest to the monarch have (Edward comes to mind).

I'm interested in what everyone's ideas might be! Have fun!

 

[HRH Kerry]

Have fun you say?

Supermodel!

I guess we would have to know what he's good at. Art Curator? Overseeing a national military musuem.

 

[Henri M.]

I think there are a lot of opportunities, simply see foreign examples:

Don Jaime de Marichalar y Sáenz de Tejada, Duke of Lugo:
Managing Director's Senior Advisor for Crédit Suisse First Boston, Advisor for Sociedad General Inmobiliaria and President of the Winterthur Foundation.

Prince Friso, Count van Oranje-Nassau van Amsberg:
Director of TNO Space Technologies

Archduke Lorenz of Habsburg-Este, Prince of Belgium:
General Partner E. Gutzweiler & Cie. Banquiers Basel, Geneva & Zürich

Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands:
Strategic Consultant for the RAND Corporation Europe in Brussels. Furthermore he is advisor to the European Commission in Brussels.

Don Iñaki Urdangarín Liebaert, Duke of Palma:
Director of planning and development for Motorpress Ibérica and a founding partner of Noos Consultoría Estratégica.

Etc.

 

[cowarth]

He got A-levels in Art and Geography at Eton.

 

[cowarth]

Harry does not have the aptitude for higher education, that is why he went in the service.

 

[BeatrixFan]

Are you suggesting that only morons go into the armed forces? You've got to have some intelligence to do what he's done and I think it's unfair to say he's too stupid for furthur education.

 

[cowarth]

I simply meant that based on his A-levels that he would not be attending a school like St Andrews for higher education.

 

[Skydragon]

Harry does not have the aptitude for higher education, that is why he went in the service.

Nice but dim, is the general description, although not an expression nowadays for armed forces personnel.

Gentleman Farmer perhaps, outdoor/survival course instructor, I think it would have to be something physically taxing.

 

[Sister Morphine]

I simply meant that based on his A-levels that he would not be attending a school like St Andrews for higher education.

As I said in the Harry thread, if he applied himself I feel he would succeed. I don't think he's stupid, just lazy. My sister is the same way. She made the Dean's List this semester at her University because for the first time she actually applied herself and she saw the results of that work. If Harry does the same, he too could advance in school.

If he really can't be in the Army because they won't let him do what he a) wants to do or b) what he's trained to do, then a furtherance in his education would be the course to take.

 

[cowarth]

He could go back to Africa to study African art.

 

[cowarth]

He has to have some smarts, he attended Eton College, a tough school to get into and even tougher to stay in.

 

[Sister Morphine]

He has to have some smarts, he attended Eton College, a tough school to get into and even tougher to stay in.

You could make the argument that he got in because he's Prince Harry, but I do feel he is genuinely a smart guy but needs to apply said smarts better. Just saying he got into X school doesn't mean as much as you think....there are things called legacies and people benefit from them more than they probably should.

 

[Elspeth]

Just to remind everyone that this is a thread about civilian careers for British royals in general; it isn't a thread to discuss Prince Harry's current situation; that should be done in his Current Events thread.

Thanks

Elspeth

 

[Sister Morphine]

Since Harry has a genuine love for children and he takes after his late mother with her humanitarian side, perhaps he should look into careers in the following sectors:

Social Work
Child Development/Child Psychology

 

[Little_star]

It's an interesting question as I cannot think of such a high-ranking royal who does have a civilian career, with the exception of Edward or maybe Zara.

I actually think it's hard to decide for Harry as he seems to be somebody who would be well-suited for the military. I guess it would have to be something "outdoorsy", I couldn't imagine him working in an office or something similar. Moreover I think it would have to be quite challenging, which would really test his physical abilities, possibly related to fitness in some way.

 

[cowarth]

In the late 1980s, he worked for two theatrical production companies, including Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Theatre Company. During his time at Lloyd Webber's company, he worked on such plays as Phantom of the Opera, Starlight Express, and Cats. Prince Edward's first foray into the world of television production was the widely-ridiculed, It's a Royal Knockout television programme in June 1987, in which teams sponsored by himself and other members of the Royal family competed for charity.
In 1993, Prince Edward formed the Ardent Television production company, under the name Edward Windsor. Ardent was heavily involved in the production of documentaries and dramas, particularly on the royal families of Europe. With exclusive access to the Royal Archives at Windsor Castle, Prince Edward had plenty of material for his work. However, he was accused in the media of using his royal connections for personal and business gain, particularly given the financial problems of Ardent since its founding (it reported losses in all years of existence except one).
In 2002, the Prince announced that he would step down as director of production and joint managing director of Ardent to concentrate on his public duties and to support the Queen during her Golden Jubilee year.

This is Prince Edward's civilian career.

 

[cowarth]

Princess Anne is very involved in charity work.

The Princess Royal is involved with over 200 charities and organisations in an official capacity. The Princess Royal works extensively for the charity Save the Children of which she has been president since 1970. The Princess Royal Trust for Carers [1] was created on her initiative in 1991 - her work for the charity takes her all over the world, including many poverty stricken African nations. Also her extensive work for St. John Ambulance as Commandant-in-Chief of St. John Ambulance Cadets has helped to develop many young people as she annually attends the Grand Prior Award Reception. She is also a British representative in the International Olympic Committee as an administrator, and is a member of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games.

 

[Skydragon]

Since Harry has a genuine love for children and he takes after his late mother with her humanitarian side, perhaps he should look into careers in the following sectors:
Social Work
Child Development/Child Psychology

In the UK, these are all university based positions. With Harry's apparent temper, he would not be considered for any of them. You do not need to qualify for Eton, it is a fee paying private school.
Just because Harry has put his name to co starting a charity and has kicked a ball about with some youngsters, that does not make him an ideal candidate to work with children. It's all very well to enjoy spending a few hours with them, but to deal with them every day....

Zara is lucky to be good at her chosen career and that it is now a recognised field.

We saw the trouble that Catherine had, I expect the York sisters to have the same problem and they do not have the benefit of being attractive, IMO.

Being a top civil servant, again is a university biased occupation.

 

[cowarth]

Following graduation, Peter worked for both the Jaguar and WilliamsF1 Formula One racing teams. He was the Sponsorship Accounts Manager at WilliamsF1 until September 2005 when he left to work at the global headquarters of the Royal Bank of Scotland in Gogarburn, Edinburgh.

Peter has a career.

 

[Skydragon]

Harry and William are a lot closer to the throne and that would make it difficult for them to get civilian employment.

 

[cowarth]

National rugby or polo team member.

 

[cowarth]

Zara frequently attends various events for charity and has taken to supporting certain causes herself, mainly for spinal injuries, equestrian charities and children's causes.
In 2005 she auctioned off one of her evening gowns (worn at the London premiere of the film Seabiscuit) to help with tsunami relief. She also undertook a royal visit to New Zealand in her role as patron of The Catwalk Trust.
From 1998 to 2005 she served as the president of Club 16-24, a group which encourages young people to take an interest in racing.
Zara is also linked to INSPIRE, the Salisbury based medical research charity that helps to improve the quality of life of people with spinal cord injuries, and Sargent Cancer Care for Children, the UK's leading children's cancer charity.
Zara also appears at events for The Cauldwell Charitable Trust, which is targeted at children with special needs, disabilities and serious illnesses.
Zara has continued her family's long patronage of Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and has visited on many occasions.
In 2006, Zara took part in a special charity day for Cantor Index, whose staff were killed in the attacks on September 11, 2001.

It is to bad Zara had to withdrawl from olympic consideration.

 

[cowarth]

Currently the Duke of York works for the Department of Trade and Industry as the United Kingdom's Special Representative for International Trade and Investment. He took over from Prince Edward, Duke of Kent in this role. The role involves the Duke representing the UK at various trade fairs and conferences all over the world.

Andrew has a career after the service.

 

[HRH Kimetha]

Andrew has a career after the service.

This sounds more "ceremonial" than actual civilian work to me. Does he work at out of an office? Does he receive a paycheck? I don't know any of this, so if anyone does, let me know.

 

[Iluvbertie]

Andrew's role is to go to various conferences etc and to talk up British products and business for sale or investment for overseas companies and countries.

He needs to be thoroughly briefed about the product, service etc he is endorsing and the way that the overseas market could benefit by buying or investing in said product.

This is a major aspect of royal work - supporting and promoting British products etc overseas and this job has now fallen to Andrew. In the fullness of time I would expect it to fall to Harry but not for another 20 years or so - when Andrew reaches 'retirement' age (not that royals retire but there are some things that are better done by a younger person). Harry at that stage will be about the age Andrew was when taking on that role and that would be a good age to take on the aspect of royal work.

To the person who said that there are no requirements to get into Eton I beg to differ - like many fee paying schools that have a larger list of potential students than places Eton has an entry exam. One of the reasons given for Harry staying at Ludgrove for the extra year was to increase his chances of passing that entrance exam - which he did. If I remember correctly it was reported at the time just how proud Charles was that he had passed it and would be following his elder brother to Eton. It was also reported that Harry was the only person at Eton, in his year, to receive a D grade for one of his A levels.

I don't believe Harry was lazy at school but rather that he just doesn't have the academic smarts. There are plenty of kids like that - I teach quite a few and they work their butts off but still only get average marks.

 

[cowarth]

I feel for Harry he is in a family full of smart, academic, confident people, while he barely passed his A-levels.

 

[Elspeth]

The royal family aren't all that academically inclined. Prince Charles would never have got to Cambridge with his couple of mediocre A-levels if he hadn't been royal; the Queen and Princess Margaret had a fairly sketch education; Princess Anne and Prince Andrew didn't get the required number of A-levels to get to university; so far Lady Gabriella Windsor is the only female member of the royal family to have graduated from university. Diana wasn't academic, nor was Camilla, nor was Sarah. Harry's not as much of an academic misfit as you might think.

 

[HRH Kimetha]

I feel for Harry he is in a family full of smart, academic, confident people, while he barely passed his A-levels.

I thought he talked about having dyxlexia? (spelling?)

 

[Iluvbertie]

I read reports that he had dyxlexia (sp) as well.

That would certainly explain why he had some trouble learning but it may not be the entire reason, if he was picked up early on and taught accordingly.

 

[Skydragon]

This sounds more "ceremonial" than actual civilian work to me. Does he work at out of an office? Does he receive a paycheck? I don't know any of this, so if anyone does, let me know.

He does receive payment for his 'employment' and he does have an office, however he would probably not have been in the running for this job, if he hadn't been one of the Queens sons.