General Questions & Random Facts about the British Royal Family


If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Some great anecdotes about the RF - I love that Queen Victoria smoked marijuana for cramps; that lady knew a thing or two about medicinal pot and was certainly ahead of her time.
 
Some great anecdotes about the RF - I love that Queen Victoria smoked marijuana for cramps; that lady knew a thing or two about medicinal pot and was certainly ahead of her time.

That was definitely an interesting one. But if it helped with the pain, and didn't harm anything else, then all was well. Still the thought of Queen Victoria a little high is an amusing image :lol:.
 
It's my opinion that it says a lot about people which paper they prefer to read.

I don't know if this really is general knowledge, but if it isn't and you were to offer a qualified guess, which paper do you believe is the preferred of.

QEII?

Prince Phillip?

PoW Charles?

Lady Camilla?

Harry?

William?

Catherine?

And why?

ADDED: This clip provides a clear defintion of who reads the various British papers: (From 1:04). :p
Who reads the papers? - Yes, Prime Minister - BBC comedy - YouTube
 
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Does Prince Edward, The Earl of Wessex want to do any more productions of documentaries or dramas?

On June 27, 1727 George II opened the first Parliament of his reign. In its very first sitting, Parliament voted a rise in the King's civil list financial settlement. George was granted 800,000 pounds a year. A further 100,000 pounds entitlement was granted for Queen Caroline.

Every year Queen Elizabeth II sends Christmas trees to Westminster Abbey; Wellington Barracks; St. Paul's Cathedral; St. Giles and The Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh; Crathie Church; and local Sandringham schools and churches. :xmastree::xmastree::xmastree::xmastree::xmastree:

Princess Alexandra's 1974 visit to Poland was the first by a member of the British Royal Family to a Warsaw Pact country.

King John was very partial to eggs.
He ordered five thousand eggs for his Christmas festivities in 1206. :holly::holly::holly::holly:
 
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Illegitimate heirs

Hypothetically, what would be the situation today, if it was ever discovered that Prince Charles say, had fathered an illegitimate child, born before William. In the times of Charles II, his children by Nell gwynn were given titles and estates. What do you think might be the situation today ? After all, allegedly the advice of his Uncle was to go out and sow his wild oats and he was 32 when he married, he wasn't a monk up to that point. Any thoughts ? Or would the royal family refuse DNA testing and just claim it was all made up nonsense ?
 
There would be no titles. Charles would probably be pressured heavily into acknowledging the child and would be raked over the hot coals by the press for his behaviour, especially if he didn't acknowledge the child.

Legally, the child would have no place in the line of succession. He would likely be entitled to inherit part of Charles' personal estate when Charles dies - but only his personal estate.

The man who gave Charles this advice was his great-uncle, Louis Mountbatten, not his uncle. Charles' uncles were all by marriage, as his parents both only had sisters. Lord Mountbatten was the DoE's mother's brother.
 
Any Royals in Queen Victoria's Court with Brown Eyes?

Everyone seems to have blue.

The reason I ask is that the museum I volunteer at recently acquired an enormous painting of a brown-eyed woman (mid 20-30s maybe) and two dogs dated 1897 by Maud Earl.

The size of the painting (5 feet x 8 feet) would seem to indicate someone of importance.

The artist was painting some the Queen's dogs as well as the Prince and Princess of Wales' pets at Sandringham during that time.

Any brown-eyed possibilities?
 
I don't think that one of them have brown eyes. Because, they have germanic roots not latin roots. Blue eyes genes seem to be strong.
 
Who are the senior royals?

The terms senior, major and minor royals are widely used when referring to members of the BRF, but is there a definitive list of who is in which category?

The Queen, Philip and Charles are unquestionably senior royals, and most would agree that the Queen's cousins and York girls are minor royals, but what about the others?
 
There is no official designation.


Some use the line of succession which would make George a more senior royal than Harry.


Others use direct relationship to The Queen - so her children are more senior royals than William who is only a grandson but that will change when Charles becomes King.


Some regard the senior royals as the ones who do the work on behalf of the Queen making Princess Alexandra senior to Beatrice.
 
Why does the British Royal Family fly commercially?

Why doesn't the British Royal Family have its own plane, or at least charter one?

Prince William flew on the US Airways Shuttle between NYC and Washington during his visit. I find that very unusual; he could have chartered his own Amtrak train and gotten to Washington just as quickly.


Prince William even flies coach sometimes, such as when he went to Memphis recently. (The plane had first class on it, but he was in coach.)

As the head of state of 16 or so countries, it just seems odd for the BRF to fly like that.

Thoughts?
 
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Simple answer - cost. The cost of having their own plane isn't worth it to the British taxpayers. They used to have their own yacht which they used for international travel and entertainment but it was scrapped as too expensive to maintain. There are even questions these days about the cost of the royal train and its cost.
 
That makes sense...but flying COACH on a two-class plane on the trip to Memphis, TN?

I'm by no means wealthy, but I avoid that as much as I can (by getting frequent-flyer upgrades), but even when those aren't available, you can usually just buy an upgrade for maybe $100 for a short flight.


Running his own train, or even just chartering a private train car attached to a regular train, would not have been particularly expensive for his NY-to-Washington trip (maybe $3,000 for an additional train car).
 
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General Questions & Random Facts about the British Royal Family

When William went to Memphis- it wasn't a direct flight from/to London. He went from London to Chicago and then to Memphis. On the way back it was via Dallas. The flight that you want First Class is the transatlantic one. The other ones are short flights. NY to DC is a 41 min flight. A train between the two cities would take longer with the speed limited and it's going to make stops along the way.


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When William went to Memphis- it wasn't a direct flight from/to London. He went from London to Chicago and then to Memphis. On the way back it was via Dallas. The flight that you want First Class is the transatlantic one. The other ones are short flights. NY to DC is a 41 min flight. A train between the two cities would take longer with the speed limited and it's going to make stops along the way.


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The flight to Memphis involved a 1 hour and 40 minute flight between Dallas and Memphis. That was on a 2-class plane. He was in coach.

For NY-Washington, the train takes about the same time as the plane; I do the trip pretty regularly on both (including on the US Airways Shuttle).
 
Compared to the flight to London, the connections are short and you really don't need first class for them plus his police officers have to sit by him and they are paid for by the govt.

The security people probably also determined plane versus train. A plane is easier to secure.


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The flight to Memphis involved a 1 hour and 40 minute flight between Dallas and Memphis. That was on a 2-class plane. He was in coach.

For NY-Washington, the train takes about the same time as the plane; I do the trip pretty regularly on both (including on the US Airways Shuttle).

Wow, what train are you taking? The Acela Express, which I believe is the fastest option, runs at least 2 hrs 45 mins. The shuttle takes about an hour. That's a pretty big time saver, especially when just hopping down to DC for part of the day.
 
I just looked on Amtrak's website the train time on the Acela Express between NY to DC is 2 hrs 48 min for a weekday trip with a stop in Philly. Prices from 150 to 300 bucks for a ticket.


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Wow, what train are you taking? The Acela Express, which I believe is the fastest option, runs at least 2 hrs 45 mins. The shuttle takes about an hour. That's a pretty big time saver, especially when just hopping down to DC for part of the day.

And I believe William was driven directly to the plane, so he wasn't spending much time in the airport.
 
CSENYC,
Prince William is not (yet) the head of state. As he travels on the cost of the taxpayer plus he claims to be environtmentally concious, it would be indeed, very odd to him to travel with chartered flights or to use RAF planes when it's not necessary. Not using first class is an another plus for his public image, even if we all know how luxurious lifestyle the Royals lead.

Simple answer - cost. The cost of having their own plane isn't worth it to the British taxpayers. They used to have their own yacht which they used for international travel and entertainment but it was scrapped as too expensive to maintain. There are even questions these days about the cost of the royal train and its cost.
Well, I think that there is truly a reneissance time for the rails and tramways in the world, especially in continental Europe and North America. It seems to be extremely eco and very cost-efficient mean of transport.

But, using an entire train for only one or two passangers is not very timely ;)
 
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It is never 'one or two passengers' as each royal who would use it would have security and other staff with them. It is also really only one or two carriages attached to an ordinary train but it can be put aside at night for instance so that they can move on the next day and they can sleep on it overnight.
 
:previous:
By "one or two" I meant THE passengers, not their staff. It's because of and for them that the train is used. And in "normal" trains, that of public transport, there are as much passengers as there are tickets sold. The passengers, who are the reason for the trains to turn on the lines.
 
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The staff though are also passengers - they would need tickets etc if a normal service was used. They don't somehow just magic themselves to where they need to be - they are people who need seats, space etc for whatever they need to do their job. They have to be moved along with the royal so however the royal is moved the staff and security also needs to be moved.
 
:previous:
Of course :) I don't believe they have apparition skills or that there is Floo Network in the Royal palaces' fireplaces. :D

But there are already trains in use who can carry both THE passengers and their staff, no need to engage special ones.

I'm sure the number of passengers (including the staff) per one carriage is much smaller in the Royal train than in even the Pro Mega First Business Lux First class carriage in a non-Royal train. Not to mention that the train crew is doubled when there are two trains heading to, let's say, Norfolk, one Great Northern and one Royal train. Same direction, same line, double costs of operating the train, including the costs of crew and maintenance, not to mention electricity. I know, I know - actually, the Queen uses the public transport twice a year, while heading to Sandringham for Christmas and coming back to London after the holidays. It's an annual tradition. Maybe she could use the public transport more often?

Anyway, even the Queen should use her train only if there is a real economic, strategic or security reason to do it. and the tradition should die out with the Queen, the train becoming a museum attraction.
 
Why doesn't the British Royal Family have its own plane, or at least charter one?

Prince William flew on the US Airways Shuttle between NYC and Washington during his visit. I find that very unusual; he could have chartered his own Amtrak train and gotten to Washington just as quickly.


Prince William even flies coach sometimes, such as when he went to Memphis recently. (The plane had first class on it, but he was in coach.)

As the head of state of 16 or so countries, it just seems odd for the BRF to fly like that.

Thoughts?

Please no.. They get criticized enough as it is. Just imagine the DM when they charter entire trains, plains (and automobiles ;) ).
 
Wow, what train are you taking? The Acela Express, which I believe is the fastest option, runs at least 2 hrs 45 mins. The shuttle takes about an hour. That's a pretty big time saver, especially when just hopping down to DC for part of the day.

The plane takes 1:16 (per the published schedule) but during rush hours, it takes longer. My trip to LaGuardia is about the same as from the Carlyle Hotel and it takes at least 20 minutes when there's no traffic, but during rush hours, it can take 30 or more.

The Acela takes 2:45 and drops you off on Capitol Hill.

The overall time for each is comparable. Amtrak charges $1.50 per mile to add a private railcar to a train, and the costs of a private railcar are maybe $2,000. So the costs would have been comparable, too.
 
General Questions & Random Facts about the British Royal Family

William had a police escort to and from the airport so the plane is a shorter trip.

Back home in the UK, the train system is much better than in the US since its a much smaller country. Both Will&Kate have used public trains for engagements and private travel. Lupo has even been on the train. They also have access to the Royal helicopter which they used to go to Wales and comeback for Rememberance Sunday.

The only ones that use the Royal train is Queen, DoE, Charles and Camilla and it will probably get scrapped in the future.


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William had a police escort to and from the airport so the plane is a shorter trip.

Back home in the UK, the train system is much better than in the US since its a much smaller country. Both Will&Kate have used public trains for engagements and private travel. Lupo has even been on the train. They also have access to the Royal helicopter which they used to go to Wales and comeback for Rememberance Sunday.

The only ones that use the Royal train is Queen, DoE, Charles and Camilla and it will probably get scrapped in the future.


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I regularly do the East Side to LaGuardia early mornings with no traffic and it takes 20 minutes at a minimum. (Yahoo Maps says 18 minutes from 35 East 76th St., so I'll go with that.)


The NY-to-DC train system in the US is as good as in the UK.
 
But it stinks in the rest of the country. It's only useful in the NE corridor of Washington, Philly, NYC, Boston.

When I went to London in 2012, used the trains to get to Windsor and Edinburgh plus all over the city and to and from Heathrow with the London Underground.

I live outside Atlanta and you still have to drive to catch the public trains unless you live right in the city and then you may have to take a bus to get to a train.


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But it stinks in the rest of the country. It's only useful in the NE corridor of Washington, Philly, NYC, Boston.

Agreed, generally, but for purposes of this thread, it would have worked fine for Prince William's trip to DC.
 
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