Spanish State Visit to Japan: April 4-7, 2017

[Duc_et_Pair]

[...] Royal couples like Felipe and Letizia go everywhere and see nothing - they get three days of meetings, exhibitions and meals with everyone staring at them and then they fly back to Madrid to prepare for more of the same, at home or abroad. That's their life until Felipe dies or abdicates, (or the monarchy is abolished).

They actually see a gigantic lot. From shaking hands with a robot to witnessing the most rare flesh-eating plant in a botanic garden. From seeing a fabulous ballet in the royal loge of a theatre to watching a tennis final at Roland Garros. From enjoying a sun-soaken holiday on Mallorca to engaging in an exploring session in Antartica. From watching Jheronimus Bosch' paintings in the Museo del Prado to opening a futuristic building by Santiago Calatrava. From kissing the Pope's ring to shaking hands with Meryl Streep. From having a weekend at the hunting lodge of the Dutch royal family to a sail regetta in the Mediterrean. They have an extremely interesting, eventful and privileged life.

 

[camelot23ca]

They actually see a gigantic lot. From shaking hands with a robot to witnessing the most rare flesh-eating plant in a botanic garden. From seeing a fabulous ballet in the royal loge of a theatre to watching a tennis final at Roland Garros. From enjoying a sun-soaken holiday on Mallorca to engaging in an exploring session in Antartica. From watching Jheronimus Bosch' paintings in the Museo del Prado to opening a futuristic building by Santiago Calatrava. From kissing the Pope's ring to shaking hands with Meryl Streep. From having a weekend at the hunting lodge of the Dutch royal family to a sail regetta in the Mediterrean. They have an extremely interesting, eventful and privileged life.

They are very privileged but they're also very restricted in many ways, and some of the things you describe don't seem hugely satisfying while others seem like the sorts of things that many well off people do on their own time and without the constant media glare and pressure to perform.

To be clear, I don't pity any royal couple - they are very privileged people in many ways. But if we're comparing different sorts of privilege I think those who enjoy the anonymous kind have the better deal.