Charles and Camilla

[hoipolloi]

An interesting article from The Guardian on what C3's accession to the throne means for at least dozens of BRF employees:

Quote

 

Dozens of Clarence House staff have been given notice of their redundancy as the offices of King Charles and the Queen Consort move to Buckingham Palace after the death of the Queen, the Guardian has learned.

Up to 100 employees at the King’s former official residence, including some who have worked there for decades, received notification that they could lose their jobs just as they were working round the clock to smooth his elevation to the throne....

According to Clarence House’s annual review earlier this year, the King employed the full-time equivalent of 101 staff. There are 31 in the private secretaries’ office, including private and assistant private secretaries, research, administrative and equerry staff.

A similar number work in his treasurers’ department, while he employs 12 in his communications office. The 28 members of his household staff include four chefs, five house managers, three valets and dressers and a couple of butlers. According to the most recent sovereign grant report, the Queen employed 491 full-time staff.

 

 

[viii]

Damn, they couldn’t even wait until the state of mourning is over? I’m sure a lot of them saw the writing on the wall but come on. 

[rosamundi]

On 9/13/2022 at 5:39 AM, AmazonGrace said:

More of the insane ancient royal customs: Charles III owns British swans now and If he got peckish he could claim one to eat.

 https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/britains-swans-get-new-owner-with-royal-succession-2022-09-12/

He doesn't own all of them. The Crown has "ownership" (insofar as you can "own" a wild bird) of all unmarked mute swans in open water. Right of ownership can be granted to British subjects by the Crown, and would traditionally be granted to landowners - they would have "ownership" of the swans on the bodies of water on their land. These days, the only entities which exercise those rights are two of the City of London livery companies, the Vintners' Company and the Dyers' Company.

The other major owner of mute swans is Abbotsbury swannery on the south coast near Chesil Beach, which is the only managed colony of mute swans in the world.

56 minutes ago, viii said:

Damn, they couldn’t even wait until the state of mourning is over? I’m sure a lot of them saw the writing on the wall but come on. 

Seems to be a fairly standard redundancy process. "We are legally required to warn you that your job is at risk, we will try to redeploy you to another role within the Royal Household, the consultancy period is this."

But, yeah, the optics and timing are awful.

[AmazonGrace]

The man who claims to be Charles and Camilla's son has resurfaced saying he feels slighted because William got recognized as Prince of Wales and he's not getting a DNA test. https://7news.com.au/lifestyle/queensland-man-who-claims-to-be-charles-and-camillas-son-drops-dna-bombshell-after-queens-death-c-8211844

Supposedly his adopted grandmother told him outright that he was their son. IDK it seems strange to me that if the BRF had a child they wanted hushed up that they couldn't hush it up more effectively. Surely they could get him adopted by someone who had no idea who the parents are.

Quote

Dorante-Day says he is frustrated Charles has never responded to his repeated requests for DNA testing.

“If it was really not true, if he really is not my father - it’s gone well past the point of Charles being able to respond amicably and clear up the issue,” he told 7NEWS.com.au.

“Him not responding just makes me and many others suspicious - what does he have to hide?

I mean it's pretty much their entire MO to not respond,  ignore  and fail to comment on anything they can not respond, ignore  and fail to comment on. Whether Charles had a secret love child or a deranged stalker claiming to be his secret lovechild I wouldn't expect him to be vocal about it.

[hoipolloi]

 

17 minutes ago, AmazonGrace said:

The man who claims to be Charles and Camilla's son has resurfaced saying he feels slighted because William got recognized as Prince of Wales and he's not getting a DNA test.

From the article:

Quote

The 56-year-old says he’s been inundated with requests from media and royal watchers around the world in the days following the Queen’s passing on September 8, with many keen to know his next steps in the controversial case. [Emphasis added]

If this were true, C3 would have been 17 when Dorante-Day was conceived/born; Camilla would have been 19. It seems to be highly improbable, to say the least.

Stranger things have happened but somehow this sounds more like a long con than anything else. I hope, at least, that his letter to the Queen afforded her some amusement.

[AmazonGrace]

Reportedly Charles and Camilla first met when Charles was 22.

[tabitha2]

Oh. Well maybe he and Diana’s secret daughter can have pint somewhere. 

[QuiverFullofBooks]

Has everyone seen the video of Charles being crabby about a leaky fountain pen? Camilla must have quite a job managing his emotions.

 

[viii]

I DIED watching that video. He seems like SUCH a whiner sometimes, lol. However, his emotions are probably brimming very close to the surface these days. I can’t imagine it’s easy to bury and mourn your mother while starting a brand new job. 

[tabitha2]

I knew we would come around to this soon enough. 
 

Look. He is Human. He is elderly. His mom just died. He is now King. He has been moving literally constantly for over a week. And now he just got ink all over himself! 
 

Bravo if you are always calm always kind never ever snap or get stressed. But The rest of us are not so perfect. 

Plus  he was not being ugly or abusive to anyone there just going off the pen though  I bet Camilla has got the brunt of his moods lately. 

 

I think some understanding is in order. 
 

 

Edited September 14, 2022 by tabitha2

[viii]

I don’t think anyone thinks poorly of him for it. It’s more humorous than anything. But he does have a history of being fussy. 

[hoipolloi]

28 minutes ago, QuiverFullofBooks said:

Camilla must have quite a job managing his emotions.

In the two clips I've seen, the expressions on Camilla's face suggest that she's very familiar with this behavior and probably anticipated his public outbursts.

C3 may have grown up in a spotlight but it got turned off for long periods of time, allowing him to have a fairly private life. I'd guess that for many years his public appearances have also gotten minimal coverage. That's all changed now. 

 

[AmazonGrace]

What is this book signing ceremony for?

I am going to give a grieving man the benefit of a doubt and suppose he is very stressed over the death and all the other changes.

But he looks very king and master when he just walks away and won't wait fifteen seconds for Camilla to be done.

[tabitha2]

Presumably His 70 plus years of training kicked in and he composed himself. Also they may be getting into the  “Walk behind the King” state of being. 

[AmazonGrace]

I think she could still walk behind him if they left the room at the same time.

[rosamundi]

1 hour ago, QuiverFullofBooks said:

Has everyone seen the video of Charles being crabby about a leaky fountain pen? Camilla must have quite a job managing his emotions.

 

If my mum had just died and I was having to grieve in the full glare of the world's cameras, and I'd been in three (four? Did he go to Wales yet?) different places in five days, and now I was covered in that awful registrar's ink which is difficult to get off, I'd have lost it at a pen before now

[AmazonGrace]

At least this is a solvable problem. If he's not happy with the pens he's surrounded with he can get an aide to carry around a supply of pens that he likes.

[Bobology]

2 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

he can get an aide to carry around a supply of pens that he likes.

and maybe an extra, identical shirt, tie and suit. I didn't watch so I don't know where the ink went. But I do know he can order new clothing without batting an eye. Most of us would be upset over ruining a $50 anything, much less a suit (or whatever) fit for a king. His aide could also carry around ink cleanser in case it happens again. Heck, he may need to splurge and get one of those expandable sports wagons for his aide to haul around his emergency supplies.

[SassyPants]

The everyday problems of the Royals are very different from those of us commoners. A couple of days ago I was stressing about the late Queens Corgis and how Princess Anne was going to get them back to London/English countryside, and then I remembered that this duty would be assigned to a paid staff member. Yes, I was imaging the Princess accompanying her mother’s remains AND the dogs back from Scotland. 

[tabitha2]

It’s Anne. All she probably has to do is give them the “Look” and they fall in line

[louisa05]

7 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

What is this book signing ceremony for?

I am going to give a grieving man the benefit of a doubt and suppose he is very stressed over the death and all the other changes.

But he looks very king and master when he just walks away and won't wait fifteen seconds for Camilla to be done.

He also looked exhausted on Saturday when this happened. He is at Highgrove now to take a day off tomorrow. Much needed, I'm sure. 

3 hours ago, Bobology said:

and maybe an extra, identical shirt, tie and suit. I didn't watch so I don't know where the ink went. But I do know he can order new clothing without batting an eye. Most of us would be upset over ruining a $50 anything, much less a suit (or whatever) fit for a king. His aide could also carry around ink cleanser in case it happens again. Heck, he may need to splurge and get one of those expandable sports wagons for his aide to haul around his emergency supplies.

Charles is notoriously cheap with clothing. He keeps and repairs the same suits for decades. 

[viii]

Isn’t Anne the same? I feel like I’ve read articles about how she recycles clothes and hasn’t purchased a new outfit in years. 

[Bobology]

19 minutes ago, louisa05 said:

Charles is notoriously cheap with clothing. He keeps and repairs the same suits for decades. 

 

6 minutes ago, viii said:

Isn’t Anne the same? I feel like I’ve read articles about how she recycles clothes and hasn’t purchased a new outfit in years. 

This is pretty impressive!

Edit: I just watched the video and it seems the ink leaked on his finger. He was quite disgusted and it's possible or likely that he didn't realize he was being filmed. Maybe he walked off ahead of Camilla to wash his hands and then rejoin her.

Edited September 15, 2022 by Bobology
I watched the video

[SoSoNosy]

Anne can show up in evening wear, and the newscasters can go back 20 years and cite the date and occasion Anne wore it last.  Most of the time it's a win, but not every single time.

 

[KnittingOwl]

7 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

But he looks very king and master when he just walks away and won't wait fifteen seconds for Camilla to be done

Or he just wanted to go wash the fountain pen ink before it dried and set. I know that’s what I try to do any time my fountain pens leak on my hands. Otherwise it takes a lot longer to get the ink off.