The Disadvantages of Being Royal

[kathl29]

I don't think it is sad to be a royal but I think the life is a lot more difficult than it looks from the outside.

Mary and Maxima had to give up their home countries and leave their families behind. (I did the same thing but I didn't have to get used to a new country while being all over the media). I find I miss my family most at important times like Xmas, the birth of my child, serious family illness etc and that must be even more difficult when you are expected to put that aside and go to an event and smile and wave as though everything is ok.

I would love the clothes and the beauty treatments etc but on the downside everyone will comment on what you wear. If you have a fat day everyone will start writing stories that you are pregnant or that you have let yourself go. Clothes are nice but I wouldn't want to watch everything I ate every single day for the rest of my life! I don't like salad that much!

You are expected to produce an heir and a spare and within a quick timeframe. If there is a delay the media immediately starts speculating that something may be wrong (you may just want to wait!) and it is normally the princess they speculate about.

I always feel sorry for Masako (I too only have one child and constantly get asked when we will have another, unfortunately although I get pregnant easily, my pregnancies don't last). I cannot imagine the pressure that has been placed on her to produce another child and the feeling from the media/country that she has failed. Women who can't have children are susceptible to depression etc without the outside pressure which must be immense.

There are though many upsides to being royal - you get to support charities that mean a lot to you and can make a difference. You get the very best medical treatment and care in any country you go to as well as your own. You have enough money to ensure you will never want for anything material again.

Overall it is not sad to be a royal but it would be a challenge at times. I am sure I could give it a go though

 

[Duchess of Darwin]

I guess anyone who is born Royal doesn't know any difference, and can cope with all the attention, like Princess Anne, you don't wan't to follow her around with a camera

I would never marry into Royalty, though. I just couldn't give everything up

Those who are born into Royalty get scrutinised aswell but they at least, don't have the extra attention caused by being a "Cinderella" and are under less pressure to produce a baby

If I had to go to a parralell universe, where I was Royal, it would definately be by birth

 

[CrownPrincess5]

In a way I think it is.
They have no freedom and they have to seem perfect at all times. Everything they do is scheduled...they can never be spontaneous.

 

[FanofMonaco]

In some countries you can't get married without the ruler's permission; or if the ruler asks you to do something and you don't you can be banished or have to abdictate. Basically you feel like a traitor to your country. Fancy clothing, jewelry, etc is only special if you get it once in a while. Haute couture is just work clothes to royalty. You're not just responsible for your own family but every family in your country. More so in Monaco and Leichtenstein where they actually rule. You have no privacy. There are advantages to being royalty but there are equal or worse disadvantages. I think they work alot harder than most people give them credit for. Those that felt entitled are no longer around.

 

[countgregor]

If you are a commoner I guess becoming a royal because of marriage would be a daunting task. Of course after the wedding you can't avoid the paparatizzi,--they seem to be everywhere. Many that wish to escape the problems of notoriety slip away and come to America, and they blend in without notice if they are careful. Here in the Finger Lakes Wine Region of Upstate New York -we sometimes see such folks. However here the natives don't seem to fuss about anything and no one really cares who you are. It is a place where a man can live to a full measure without much interference. I have often said at any one minute of the day there are more royals and nobles in America than in Europe. I bet you folks are glad we are here. Enjoy life.

 

[Little_Rain]

I don’t know if I can say it’s sad. There are ups and downs with anything. From a person looking from the outside I can say I am glad (Praise the Lord) that I was not born a royal, nor would I marry a royal. There may be some perks but to me it seems more a burden and hassle. At least if you’re high up on the succession. For example Peter Philips seems to be able to live a fairly normal life yet he has perks because he’s Queen Elizabeth’s grandson. Yet because he is further down the LOS not as much pressure as say his cousins. Marius Borg is another example he has perks of having his step-dad be the Crown Prince of Norway, and his sister will one day be Crown Princess.

I could never be a royal I am too of much free spirit. I read some of the things that Kate Middleton will no longer be able to do once she marries Prince William. A few I could understand but most I found just plain silly and ridiculous.

On the other side I love helping people so if I was a royal I would want spend my time working with charities and volunteering. It be nice to have a personnel hairdresser to do my hair every day or whenever. It be nice to be able to travel and see places not that you could go just anyways even more if your higher up.

 

[Kastalia]

It's probably tough sometimes especially for those who weren't born into royalty but not sad.Everything in life is a matter of habit.

 

[Yekaterina]

royals are exceptionally gifted. they have the best dresses, live in the greatest castles, they can have the best education and the best treatment for their children, they see the world and they meet most interesting people. when people are so gifted they must give back something. they have to do something for the country and people. where is sun there is shadow too. that is my opinion.

 

[KittyAtlanta]

I can't imagine that anyone could say the life of a royal is sad. It's like any other life, with all the crap and joy and motor oil. Not to say that SOME royals don't have sad lives, some do, so I'll fall back on the old adage of "life is what you make it."

 

[nascarlucy]

It depends on your life. I came from a family who was encouraged to write letters to people in power (judges, people in Congress, people in the state legislature, local officials) and to participate in political forums or other such activities. My grandparents often wrote letters to the editor of the local newspaper. As long as the letter or comments were in a civil matter and even when disagreeing being polite in tone, this was fine. I did this as well. If you were born a royal, you probably never did this at all or if you wanted to be a royal, you never did it in the first place. The last thing a royal family would want would be an outspoken opinionated family member who would not be quiet or shut up.

 

[IloveCP]

There are ups and downs like people are always interested in your personal life and there always people watching you.

And also no matter how much hard your working in your royal duties,you can never satisfy everyone.There is always going to be someone complaining that you are not working enough and that the monarchy is useless.

 

[IloveCP]

I think one of the saddest things about it is,your family's dark secrets are out for everyone to read.Everyone will never forget the mistakes royal past and present make.

 

[nascarlucy]

Like everyone else, I'm sure being royal has its sad moments. When you have tragedy in your family, you aren't really given much privacy to grieve in your own way. Sometimes you're own mistakes are never forgotten.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

For those born royal they can experience sadness.
A few examples: A daughter or daughter-in-law may lose a baby at birth. This is sad.
A Royal is engaged and the fiancé (fiancée) breaks off. This is sad. Now there is no royal wedding. What will the public think?
​

 

[COUNTESS]

For those born royal they can experience sadness.
A few examples: A daughter or daughter-in-law may lose a baby at birth. This is sad.
A Royal is engaged and the fiancé (fiancée) breaks off. This is sad. Now there is no royal wedding. What will the public think?
​

Are you joking? Everyone experiences sadness. Anyone can lose a child at birth. Anyone can break off an engagement. Who cares. All people in the public eye face scrutiny. They are born to privilege and money, that they may have tragedies is life. They have the means to do anything, unlike people who work for a living. And they earned none of it. Really work. Nine to five so to speak and have to be there. Their work
is a fiction of nothing. Real people face long days, bad bosses, poor pay, they don't cut ribbons and smile. I just thought you were being sarcastic.

 

[nascarlucy]

No one is immune from sadness and royals are no exception. I've had people in my family who have had miscarriages or had broken engagements. The only difference is that these events were not national or world wide news items and didn't end up on the newspaper stand or on the internet.

I would not think badly of a royal who broken their engagement as I don't know the circumstances that led to it. Usually they are good reasons to break an engagement, one being a potentially bad or unhappy marriage. In some cases it would have saved the couple grief and their children grief if they had broken the engagement rather than marrying. Some were pressured into marriage which wasn't a good thing.

A broken engagement while sad is better than an unhappy marriage that leads to divorce.

 

[royal rob]

Are you joking? Everyone experiences sadness. Anyone can lose a child at birth. Anyone can break off an engagement. Who cares. All people in the public eye face scrutiny. They are born to privilege and money, that they may have tragedies is life. They have the means to do anything, unlike people who work for a living. And they earned none of it. Really work. Nine to five so to speak and have to be there. Their work
is a fiction of nothing. Real people face long days, bad bosses, poor pay, they don't cut ribbons and smile. I just thought you were being sarcastic.

Totally agree and being able to get the best medical care available could stop a lot of the sadness in our life.


Sent from my iPhone using The Royals Community

 

[AdmirerUS]

I think there are probably happier and less happy royal houses and that changes over time.

Certainly, Spain's royal family has faced difficult recent years.

With the press coverage of Andrew and Charles in the last several weeks, it must have been hard to be their mother.

There are all kinds of examples.

I don't envy them, but I do love to follow them.

 

[miss whirley]

I wouldn't trade places with them for a billion dollars. I really pity them. I actually feel guilty even following them because I'm contributing to the tizzy they live in. Celebrities sign up for the freak show, the royals are born into it whether they like it or not.

 

[Lee-Z]

I'm only sad for royals who can't handle royal life, like P.Claus of the Netherlands for a number of years and currently P.Masako of Japan.
It must be very difficult to have committed yourself to a person you truly love and then get all those lifechanges with it, that are almost too much to handle...

 

[nascarlucy]

Yet at the same time you have people out there who would want to be royal, who seek royals out because they want attention or want the status associated with being royal. Or they hope to get personal gain from royals. This is one thing that royals are constantly on guard for and they never know what person might try this (this can be individuals who are commoners or those royals who are social climbers or want a higher status).

 

[Thumbahlina]

I don't know if someone already started a thread like this one but I think it's quite sad to become a royal just because you love someone of the royal family! Take for example princess Mary, she felt badly in love with prince Frederik, she left her country, her job, her friends in Australia and now she has to become a queen one day..I know she is happy, they are having a cute baby but on the other hand it's sad. You know, her life will never be the same as before.

Personally, I have empathy even though I have no idea what the royals feel like. I was social, had friends, had to give everything I knew as a way of life up to be and stay married, (it's for the better and I am happy), sure I make brief acquaintances, but at my age you only have what you have made out of life. Same thing with the royals but their jobs have an impact, I couldn't want or fathom to make like they do. If I had to add that kind of impact after caring for in laws that took me over a decade to get used to, tending to my own life, lives of others in the family, putting up with all the asinine bullheadedness lol, having a nice honestly polite fun time in public then be a royal, the exhaustion would wither me away. I get so emotionally involved in all I do, being a royal would exasperate my wits and drain me of all remaining sanity, lol. Sad? I would be incapacitated if I was a royal without the charity work. So if that in any way is relating, lol, there you have it. I love my life though too and all I do, even though the weight, impact and merit of it could never be judged, it's nice like that and I wouldn't want it any other way. So while I can understand or empathize or give sympathy about the royals as everyday people I also respect the role they have and am glad they have them.

 

[nascarlucy]

Most people in the US couldn't tell you anything about Royals outside of Britain and Monaco. I don't know a lot about royalty but I probably know more that you're average American citizen and certainly much more that you're average person in Florida.

In this life, you don't chose you're family or who you are born to. Being born royal is a privileged life compared to you're average person. As much as many royals hate being the center of attention or bothered by the press (this I don't blame them), few of them would want to give up their lifestyle which includes being pampered all the time, never having to cook, clean or do housework (unless they chose to), going to interesting and nice places,having opportunities to do things that the average person dreams about, and having the best medical care money can buy, few royals would give this up to have a more private life.

There are some people that would love to have their lifestyle (of course I could hear some say, well they don't know what the lifestyle is like which is probably true). I really don't think it's sad being royal as you're life is what you make it.

Marrying into royalty is a whole different thing. Some things are the way they are and you either accept it or you're don't. Some things you can't change especially if the royal household is very rigid or resistance to change and if you try to change things, you would get nowhere. If you can't accept certain things, then you probably shouldn't marry into royalty. What you can or can't accept or live with depends on one's personality, character and temperament.

 

[Osipi]

This is one area where I really have to admire Camilla. When one is young, in love and ready to take on the world or a life in the public eye as a member of a royal family, I think it would be much easier to adapt and grow into the role. It must have been a far greater challenge for Camilla to marry into the British Royal Family and royal life at a time in life when most women are looking forward to their retirement years and knowing that perhaps the busiest years of her life are yet to come.

I don't think I could take the structure of royal life. Its not only having a day planner but an hour to hour plan sometimes with no option of deciding to stretch out and watch reruns on TV or even taking a power nap because of a headache. Being royal means putting on the royal game face each and every time you step outside of your private residence whereas I can't remember the last time I put on any kind of face to go anywhere. They're constantly noticed and I pretty much can walk through Walmart and no one would remember me being there. It might look like they've got everything and people waiting on them hand and foot but what they don't have is the free time to do that stuff for themselves. No wonder Philip enjoys BBQ'ing so much and retreating to Balmoral away from the masses is so looked forward to every year.

With every lifestyle though there is the down side to it. As its often said, the grass always seems greener on the other side of the fence and it works both ways.

 

[Olyashka]

As a person who wants to marry an unknown prince if ever we would have the chance to meet & fly in love (out of my sudden "impulse" that I want to get to know him better - in a "looking for a husband" perspective, not "press" people's perspective), I only thought of his being royal as a way for me to know him. He is not famous, at least, because he is royal, I learned about him. (However yeh, even though we breathe the same air, see the same skies and step on the same earth, there is a 0.000001% possibility we'll meet).

Moving on to the real topic, I agree with what most people said here. It's confining to be a royal, and that confinement makes one sad (or depressed). You don't know why people approach you. We commoners find it hard to trust others, how much more do they?
Royal women are even more fortunate today. Had they lived before, they would be preyed on for arranged marriages - with young, same age or older royals. (Note older). Royal men never had that problem (or was there ever a royal man pushed to marry an older royal woman?)
It's also saddening that people would have much expectation of you in many or every aspect of your life. You will have to give up a passion that will hinder you from doing more of your royal duties... and if you choose to pursue such passion, you will get countless criticism from family and strangers. Stressful to think about and saddening.

However, lots of royals since time immemorial have broken rules to show their real selves, to be who they want to be even once in their lifetime, to make a choice for their personal life without heeding others. Look at Elizabeth II, I think the biggest rule she broke on being a royal is her choice of husband. IIRC, lots didn't praise her choice of Philip.

 

[nascarlucy]

I suppose if royals could pick and choose what their public schedule was, they would be happier. Of course that would probably backfire as they would be seen as liking or preferring one thing over another. I imagine some of the things that they have to do are boring to them or they have no interest in it.

If they have a bad day or wake up on the wrong side of the bed or don't feel like going out, they can't cancel an appointment unless they are really sick.

Trusting people would be difficult because everyone seems to want something from you. Of course royals aren't the only people who have to be careful. Celebs, sport stars or others who are wealthy have to be on the lookout for those using them for their money, power and status.

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

Yet at the same time you have people out there who would want to be royal, who seek royals out because they want attention or want the status associated with being royal. Or they hope to get personal gain from royals. This is one thing that royals are constantly on guard for and they never know what person might try this (this can be individuals who are commoners or those royals who are social climbers or want a higher status).

I think royals have an antenna for that. Besides that, there are also very, very royalborn persons who look for rich partners (Prince Pavlos of Greece with Ms Marie-Chantal Miller, Prince Carlos Hugo de Bourbon de Parme with Princess Irene of the Netherlands, etc.). Princess Maria Carolina de Bourbon de Parme (cousin of King Willem-Alexander) married Alexander Brenninkmeijer, scion of the wealthiest family of the Netherlands.

When you look at Mette-Marit of Norway: an unwed mother with no well-paid job. Or Daniel of Sweden: a fitness gym instructor/owner. Or Catherine Middleton: no idea what she can put on her c.v. None of these partners fall in the category of awesomely rich partners which bring something extra.

So maybe it is reverse: when money is important, it are the royals looking for partners with big money. Think about Downton Abbey: the Earl once married an American, not only for her lovely looks but also because her $$$$ guaranteeed a continuation of the expensive lifestyle...

 

[ashelen]

Sad, are you kidding me?
They have a life of privilege, and power! they lift a finger and everything is handed to them! and If they want not to be seen by the public they manage that too! Even the traffic can be stop for them or like CP Frederick cross the bridge when nobody else could! They don't have to worry about their kids when they are teenagers and they start to be independents, they always have bodyguards for them. They will never take s* from anybody. They are always in control.
Sad is when you have kids starving all over the world, when a father loose his job and doesn't know how to pay his bill next month, sad is when some kid have talent for something and the parents can not afford to pay for it, sad is one has to keep the head down and put up with an abusive boss and not to reveal because you need that job to pay for your bills, sad is when a child get kidnap, rape, etc... and I can go on and on.......


Their life is not sad. I know through the years some they couldn't produce an heir and this is sad, but in today era with all the treatments of IVF they do not even have to worry how much it cost! they can have 10 of them if they need too! Not to mention they get the best doctors, the best treatments the best medicine for them......


and I agree with PRincess Olga 400% it is so true what she said:"And still today, we are supposed to admire these descendants just because one of their forebears were war lords. Cause that's what royalty is, how it came about, make no mistake here. These people we call 'royals' are, to quote a famous business man, "members of the lucky sperm club.' And that's true, no more and no less. They are the lucky recipients of the worst kind of nepotism rules one can imagine in a modern world. "

 

[Olyashka]

Maybe few or several (or many) royals have realised those privileges commoners cannot have are things they can thank God for that He made them born royal/married to a royal. Not a cause for sadness at all.

 

[Winnie]

Sad, I think it depends entirely on the individual. Some will think it is a blessing as they are privileged to help make a small part of the world better in some way. Another could use this position for a bizarre life style which would be hidden from public. Another could have the turgid personality of a pathetic user and look down privately on others. Plus yet another could feel their life is a sacrifice to country.


The problem for me would be that it was something I did not personally choose. My life's work would be already designed for me. But then I would have been raised quite differently so maybe that synopsis would not even exist. But sad, no, that would just be a cop-out.