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Originally Posted by Skydragon
If it's Saturday, it must be Sandringham
What really goes on behind the royals' gilded doors? And how would an arch-republican feel about staying overnight in a palace? Jeremy Paxman, in the first of two extracts from his new book, recalls the shock of finding himself in a world of equerries, valets and hand-pressed underwear.
http://books.guardian.co.uk/extracts...rc=rss&feed=10
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Skydragon, thank you for posting this link.
I started reading the article but stopped rather early on when I read that" A few years ago, Buckingham Palace advisers decided that the Queen really ought to see a little of the working lives of her subjects." - sorry, but I decided that this reader ought not to read the rest of either articles or the book.
Because I don't buy into a view of the Royal household where "advisors" decide what the queen has to do. It's such a direct - well, not longer just a hint, but a broad one or - clue that the author has no idea of Her Majesty's personality at all. Mind, I don't know Her Majesty apart from reading about her, but the overall picture that is painted of the queen is that she knows exactly what she wants and while she listens to advisors and treasures their efforts, she is the one who is in charge. Full stop.
So, this Paxton guy really seems to be at a complete loss when it comes to royality. But who might be interested in "The world of royality according to Paxton"? - to paraphrase Irving's Garp a bit.
BTW - why doesn't the Prince of Wales use egg coddlers? AFAIK they were invented to prevent exactly the problem as mentioned by Paxton: they are filled according to the master's wishes and cooked à la minute right in the butler's pantry.... I've quite a couple of those by Royal Worcester and my family loves to fill them on a sunday brunch or a High Tea. And I don't think Clarence House knows less than me about British tradtions when it comes to breakfast or High Tea.