55 thoughts on “Royal Round Up: Queen Elizabeth, Prince William, Princess Charlene, Queen Mathilde, CP Victoria”

1. Oh, yes, Daniel is such a dad! And, Estelle is adorable.
   I think Prince Albert needs to get in shape. He has a stunning wife and he
   should be taking care of himself better. It’s nice to hear that he is in tune with his little ones and
   Charlene’s descriptions of her twins is very sweet.

   As for HM giving the Heil Hitler salute as a child? Now, really. She was a child. And, as reported, her mother went on to become a fierce opponent of Hitler’s regime and his march across Europe. I don’t think anyone knew at that time, the horrors he was capable of. Certainly, HM’s parents rallied their people to the cause of fighting the Nazis and showed tremendous strength and character during the war years.

   And, Happy Birthday Prince Haakon. Yes, we need to have him celebrated in an upcoming Hot Guy of the Month.

   1. I’m making Haakon August’s Hot Guy.

      The video was interesting when it came out over the weekend. I thought I’d cover it since it is newsworthy (though I realize I’m a few days late on covering it), but I think the press is trying to make it a bigger deal than it is. HM was a child and it was well before WWII and the Holocaust. As I said in the post, it was dumb of them to do it (though I read where they could have been making fun of it as British people often did make fun of it at the time), but no one knew at the time what horrors Hitler would unleash years later. I think the whole video thing has been blown out of proportion.

      I agree Albert needs to lose some weight. Just for health reasons. He’s getting up there and holding onto that extra weight is not good for him. Also, if he’s going to be playing with his kids as they get older he’ll want to be a bit more fit.

      1. I really really like looking at Haakon. I’ve never seen video of him speaking – if you come across something let us know if it adds or detracts from the visual!

         What I don’t understand is why they didn’t destroy the film. It was foolish to keep it. Prince Phillip’s sisters and families always interested me and its fascinating how they’ve been able to keep them out of the public eye.

         1. I imagine that the film got put into some private family storage and the contents were forgotten. I read that the Palace had given this film to a independent film maker who was making a documentary on the Queen, so it’s possible that this was just a little blip on a bit of film that might have shown the family spending time together.

            1. And no one reviewed the film before it was handed over? That’s really sloppy.

            2. it isn’t really feasible to pay a person to simply review all footage reqested. It is many hours of work – and archives simply don’t work that way because they are mostly lightly staffed. Generally, archives distinguish between accessible and restricted material. If something is deemed accessible to the public then it won’t be screened before going out on request.

            3. Yay, ArtHistorian, you’re back!! We were all wondering where you were and missing your in depth and knowledgeable commenting.

            4. Thanks! *blushing*

               It is summer and I just needed a little break from the internet.

               I’m going to see the exhibit of QMII’s dresses this thursday – and I will report back.

      2. Oh my! KMR what a great review on the BRF relationship with the Nazi Party. I have a 7 year old and I can honestly say that her beliefs at this age are passed on from my husband and I. If we told her to make the Nazi gesture she would (which we would never ever do!). On to Albert, I can’t take my eyes off his belly, WTF!!!

      3. I was going to say the same ting about Albert! Has he put on a bit of weight or has he always been that fat? I have to half agree with the Nazi video controversy. Elizabeth of York can’t possibly be held responsible for what she did as a seven-year-old in a private video and in all likelihood following the instructions of her parents and/or uncle, the then-Prince of Wales. However historically there was enormous anti-Semitism in the United Kingdom. King Edward I expelled the Jewish people from England in 1290 and they were exiled until Oliver Cromwell permitted them to return in the 1650s. In the 1930s, there was vicious anti-Semitism with the British Union of Fascists led by Oswald Mosley. In October 1936, a police-protected march of the Fascists turned into a riot when anti-Fascist supporters (or as I call them, People with Functioning Brains) tried to disrupt the march and turned it into what became known as the Battle of Cable Street. Almost 200 people were injured. Oswald Mosley’s second wife was Diana Mitford, who was part of a famous aristocratic family that produced several notable sisters. Their wedding was held in Joseph Goebbels’ home (the Nazi Minister of Propaganda) with Hitler as the guest of honour. Unfortunately sympathy to the Nazis was very great, especially in the British aristocracy and anti-Semitism was considered entirely normal. Sir Louis Grieg, who was a courtier and aide-de-camp to the Duke of York (later King George VI) was a member of the Union of Fascists. Another member was Lord William Walter Montagu Douglas-Scott, from a prominent Scottish landowning family. His sister Alice married the Duke of York’s brother, the Prince Henry, who became Duke of Gloucester and holds the record for the longest-lived member of the Royal Family, dying in 2004 at the age of 102 as Princess Alice, the Dowager Duchess of Gloucester. In 1938, Great Britain also refused to accept any more Jewish refugees seeking asylum from Nazi Germany. Even though King George and Queen Elizabeth eventually staunchly opposed Hitler, they were like many, many people in the 1930s and saw the rise of the Soviet Union and Communism as a greater menace to the world than fascism. The King had served in the Royal Navy during the First World War and saw combat at the pivotal Battle of Jutland, while Elizabeth’s brother Fergus served as a captain in the Black Watch Regiment and was killed at the Battle of Loos in France, her brother Michael was captured as a prisoner of war and her brother John suffered a nervous breakdown as a result of combat. No one wanted another war with millions of dead and wounded, both physically and psychologically. They believed staunchly in appeasement b/c they thought “…To jaw-jaw is better than to war-war.” Buckingham Palace tries to brush things like that off but there it is. People knew full well of the Holocaust all through the war. There were daily death totals published in the newspapers. It was the pervasive anti-Semitism of the day and self-preservation that prevented most people from seeing what Hitler was until it was too late. The difference between the King and Queen and the Duke of Windsor, is that he was quoted decades after the war as saying “I didn’t think Hitler was all that bad a chap.”
         Sorry to rant about this. Clearly the video was designed to shock, which the Sun does best and it’s difficult to place blame on young Elizabeth.

2. My problem with Heil Hitler thing is that the Sun presented it as a scandalous bombshell. OMG! Its not. Its a curious anachronism from eighty years ago. I don’t think it should have been buried, but it could have been written about in a more respectful way. She’s earned it.

   1. I agree. The Sun is sensationalizing it and blowing it out of proportion.

      1. Sure – but why does it exist? Why wasn’t it destroyed years ago? It is so curious that they would keep it.

         1. At this point Hitler was being seen by most of Europe as an able leader who was helping bring Germany out of their economical and political crisis after WWI. It would be years before the true Nazi horrors were revealed. At that time, I’m sure the last thing on the minds on of the royal family was a 17 second home video clip.

            As for why it was kept even years later, it is possible that the clip is preceded and proceeded by normal family films. If this was filmed on video reel it wouldn’t be so easy to edit out this part without risking damaging the whole reel. Or maybe it was stored away in Edward VIII time and the Queen and Queen Mum never knew about it. Surely they can’t be expected to keep records of all their family videos. Like KMR says the Sun has blown the whole thing out of proportion and it’s quite disrespectful.

         2. Its seventeen seconds. Presumably its part of a much longer film that has, if not historical, then sentimental value.

         3. 17 seconds…did they even realize they had it?? Doubt it. The fact that this has even come to light and made much of by the press is ludicrous. They are grasping at straws for sure

            1. Yes, but who hands over film/footage without reviewing it first? Someone on her staff failed to look over what was given to this person. THAT’s a bit troubling.

3. Thank you so much for this wonderful, royal palette cleanser, the whole W&K show is starting to leave a bad taste in my mouth.

   Happy Birthday to such a handsome man! M-M is a very lucky woman 🙂

   Yawn, this is such old news, 80 years old in fact. As has been said before, including here, this happened before the true nature of the man was revealed and at a time when the fear of communism was in the forefront of everyone’s mind. How unfortunate for it come out now, just under 2 months before HM becomes the longest reigning monarch.

   I have to say I love the swan counting tradition and the title is so elegant, The Sovereign’s Swan Marker, the Brits do know how to make an impression with their titles.

   I had read just before the wedding that Victoria was the first in the family to meet Sofia and made sure that she was welcomed into the family. I did see pictures before the wedding showing all 3 siblings and their spouses hanging out in a casual mode and they all appeared to get along great.

4. I knew if I kept refreshing the page…..:) Thanks as always, KMR, for the Round-Up. I have a question prompted by Carole Malone’s opinion piece with regard to William’s dodging royal responsibilities and the public’s not getting value for money. I’m hazy on exactly what “royal responsibilities” are and what public “value” they have, and would love to have clarification. This blog has introduced me to the idea of “engagements,” but I’m not sure what these actually accomplish for the public. The specific examples cited about Prince Charles – the Prince’s Trust and the influence of his personal interests in architecture and organic farming – demonstrate the impact that a member of the royal family can have, but it’s not clear to me how these relate to “engagements.” From my perspective, William’s work with the air ambulance is indeed work, that has value to the public (assuming this isn’t merely a passing fancy of his).

   1. Constance – this is one of my issues with Kate and William. Take this upcoming engagement for Kate – she will be watching a sport and handing out trophies. So what? That doesn’t do anything for the people of GB. This engagement doesn’t actually support the 1851 Trust. It’s not a fundraising event or have anything to do with engaging at-risk youth. It’s watching rich people sail. It’s like going to the SuperBowl and saying by doing so you are supporting Pop Warner football. When actually, no, you aren’t – nothing about you going to the SuperBowl supports the charity.

   2. Royal duties/responsibilities – charity work, state opening of parliament, trooping the colour, garter day, state visits, remembrance services etc.
      The royals represent Britain and they tend to do their bit to help charities.

      This is where people find william and kate to be seriously lacking for two adults. They’ll take all of the special perks because he is heir to the heir, but when asked to show up at these functions… It isn’t necessary – he is only heir to the heir. See how that works. Very shady.

      William has a spotty track record of showing up and not finishing the job. He almost lost his wings during his time in the raf because he wasn’t flying enough. So he quit the s&r in 2013 to take a gap year to figure out what he wants to do in the future.

      Only to show up two years later, doing the exact same job! Also, William likes to tell his superiors that he needs time off for royal duties, that never seem to materialize.

      He allegedly never finished the farming course at cambridge. William is all about himself. He has no sense of duty and is not a solid #2.

      As for Charles, he was derided for years about organic farming, the press gleefully mocked him when he admitted speaking to his plants. Decades on, organic farming is quite popular.
      Charles, good or bad – right or wrong, has ideas and influence.

   3. Thank you, Lady Blue Ribbon and Kip, for the very helpful examples of engagements that are more and less meaningful. I hadn’t been fully aware of William’s disappointing work-related record; somehow, I guess, I like to think of him as “better” than he actually is (or behaves).

      1. I do think that royals need to do more than just engagements. Yes, an engagement brings brief notice to the charity visited. However, I would like to see a more targeted approach to help bring about change to social issues.

         I think that Charles’ Prince’s Trust is a great example, so is CP Mary’s Mary Foundation that seem to work on a similar principle to the Prince’s Trust. Founded with seed money from the royal in question, then made operational with money acquired through fundraising and with a very specific articulated goal. I don’t know very much about Charles’ Trust but I do know that the Mary Foundation raised 150 million DKR on top of the 1 million DKR seed money, and it often works together with other large foundations/companies on particular issues. The Foundation focuses on loneliness among children (fx bullying, etc.) and domestic violence. It does hand out money but it also initiates its own programs as well as conferences, etc.

         1. It’s wonderful to see you back, ArtHistorian! I always love your well informed posts.

         2. So glad to see you again ArtHistorian!!! We’ve missed you, hope all is well.

         3. So glad you are back. As always, you are a wealth of information.

5. btw, that video of the Queen isn’t what turned me off to her. It was the article about her dogs and how she didn’t give a sh*t that they were biting everyone around her.

6. Happy Birthday Haakon! Good choice for August KMR. Hope to learn more about him.

   I think the whole HM/Nazi salute thing is ancient history and as you said she was a child and at the time Hitler had not committed the atrocities that he is now known for. It’s like someone is trying to discredit her. I don’t think it’s working.

   I love seeing Albert and Charlene since the babies arrived. They genuinely look happy. I think Charlene was so sad looking before because she way going through issues conceiving and/or carrying to term. But now they’ve got two gorgeous bundles of joy and it’s good to see them happy.

   I want a display of some kind of HM’s brooches and hats. I love the one she has on in the first photo. She must have hundreds of them. And as usual she rocks the bright colors and accessorizes perfectly.

   I too like Mathilde’s shoes and her skirt shorts whatever they are…lol

   Skipping over CP and Sophia to focus on Vic, Dan and Estelle. Wonderful family, I wish them nothing but happiness. One quick note though…is Sophia wearing one of CP’s jacket designs. I remember him doing some puffy jacket and lately she seems to be wearing them a lot. Must have every color they’re made in.

   1. Hi Lisa, here is a link for a great site focusing on the Queen’s jewels.

      http://queensjewelvault.blogspot.com/

      1. Thanks Lauri!

   2. I agree with your comments about Princess Charlene. We can only guess what issues she faced. I think these two have gotten a bad rap since right before the wedding.

      Prince Albert has gained weight. I guess being in charge doesn’t leave the time for much sport. He does seem to be quite busy. That said, I do think people and the press seem hard on these two. In my eyes they seem to make a better effort than W&K.

7. I agree that the Queen was too young to have any idea of what the Heil Hitler salute meant. But I also feel like people are misrepresenting history in some of the other defenses of her/the older royals; I think the older royals should be condemned greatly for that video. For one thing, Hitler may have not begun killing Jewish people yet, but by the time this video had been made, he had won an election where his main campaign point was that Jewish people were to be blamed for Germany’s woes and that Jews in Germany needed to be eliminated. By this video, he had already banned Jewish people from working in government jobs or attending college. He also organized a boycott of Jewish businesses. So yes, he wasn’t killing them yet, but he was already incredibly anti-Semitic publicly. I don’t blame the general public of the time for being excited about Hitler, because of the way the media reported it, but the royal family had other avenues of getting information and had no excuse for ignorance about Hitler’s intentions at the time of this video.

   1. Well said.

   2. I think the comment “seemingly giving the Nazi salute” was good. How do we know what was really happening? They could have been playing a game? David seems to be putting his hand up, not making a nazi salute. I have seen another piece of film where thew Duke of Windsor is meant to be making Wallis do a nazi salute, or was he just making her wave?

      1. To be honest, it seems fairly obvious to me after watching the video that they are doing the Nazi salute. I also think the palace would have denied that that is what they are doing unless it is true.

   3. We shouldn’t forget that there was a lot of fascination with and support of the Nazis among European (including the British) aristocrats at the time – mainly because of the fear of communism and anti-semitism.

      Edward VIII’s Nazi sympathies are well-known now and they persisted throughout the war. I don’t know much about the rest of the BRF but I do find the QM’s enthusiatic salute somewhat disturbing to watch.

      1. King George VI employed an aide-de-camp Louis Greig, who was a whole-hearted member of the British Union of Fascists. Obviously His Majesty was not fascist but as you and others have said, there was enormous anti-Semitic sympathy in Britain and the rest of western Europe (and the United States) at the time. Another member of the British Union of Fascists was the then Duke of Gloucester’s brother-in-law. The difference between the King and Edward was that once the war started, the King wholeheartedly supported the fight against Hitler. In *1970* Edward VIII (whom I REALLY detest) was quoted as saying in an interview “I never thought Hitler was such a bad chap.” UGH.

         1. I also loathe Edward VIII! I do believe his adication saved the British monarchy.

            We shouldn’t forget the anti-semitism in Easter Europe and Russia/Ukraine, which was more directly virulent and violent – just take a look at the many progroms in the 1800s.

      2. Nice to see you ArtHistorian! 🙂
         I agree, I’m more disturbed by the Queen Mother’s salute. I’ve read that once she had married into the British Royal Family that the QM was said to always be very careful about what she did as she knew people were judging her all the time. I think that the support she gave her husband was great and the way she helped keep up moral during the war years was great too. This salute could have been one of her only slip ups? I would be interested in the context and what happened before and after this little segment of film was shot. But the Sun are in the business of selling papers so will we ever see the rest of the film?

8. Great roundup as always, KMR!

   I have a soft spot for Haakon. He fell in love with Mette-Marit and was willing to take himself out of the line of succession for her. I also have an enormous amount of respect for him in the way in which he’s loved and helped nurture Marius, Mette-Marit’s son. You never hear of royal step-parents. So, he’ll always be a prince charming in my opinion.

   Hearing Charlene’s speech in French was nice. I’ve studied French since I was a girl and it is not easy. I wouldn’t speak it in front of all of those persnicity Monegasques. She did did a good job. I like that she is now blooming in her role. I’m glad her babies brought her happiness.

   Dan and Vic and CP and Sofia we t to a Roxette concert? It doesn’t get any more cheesy than that. They were serving 80’s/90’s realness! I find it to be so cute. Vic does strike me as a warm and charming woman, so it’s nice to hear that she welcomed Sofia. Dan and Estelle are a sight. It always makes me smile when I see a man dote on his daughter.

   I really don’t have much to say about Mathilde. She ways looks nice.

   The swans are so beautiful. Do you know that it’s a punishable crime to kill one of HM’s swans? As far as the salute, I find it to be quite vicious. She was a child and did what her parents told her or even mimicked them. It was a nasty part of our world history. You really cannot hold a child accountable. Her parents should have known better. Hitler already ran on an anti-Semetic platform and had quite inflammatory remarks. I just question why.

   William…I’ve said all I can say. I think that he’s ill prepared and ill tempered. Is he contributing to society? Yes. But, he is not William Middleton. He is the future Prince of Wales and King of England. I am getting tired of this “normal” crap. He never has been and never will be.

   1. Well said Rhiannon! William is NOT normal and should stop pretending to be. And that includes his wife too! Kate married a future King and she should step up or step aside.

   2. “Her parents should have known better. Hitler already ran on an anti-Semetic platform and had quite inflammatory remarks. I just question why.”

      Rhiannon,

      Anti-semitism came to be seen as such a shameful thing because of the Holocaust. It was quite acceptable before the Holocaust was documented extensively. It should also be kept in mind that Europe has a 1000-year old history of anti-semitism (sometimes quite organized with the establishment of ghettos and jews being forced to wear yellow pieces of clothing – long before the Nazis). There was a long heritage of this ugly kind of thought – and in some countries (with a strong anti-semitic tradition), certain factions of the populace were enthusiatically aidid the Nazis in hunting down jews, despite the Germans being an occupying force.

9. Mein Kampf was first published n 1925 in Germany. Edward’s video was taken in 1933. Obviously a young Elizabeth wouldn’t understand the gesture. Her mother, not sure if she had access to the document? Did she read Hitler’s words?As for Edward I believe he was informed thus, making his Nazi salut authentic.

   1. Was Mein Kampf ever for sale in the UK?

10. Happy Birthday Prince Haakon. I have only seen photos on here of him but he looks very handsome and also very kind.
    I have to admit I was shocked when I saw the news reel. The fact it is a family film makes it slightly chilling. Six or Seven year old Elizabeth and three year old Margaret may not have known what the gesture meant but the Queen Mother then Duchess of York did and she read Mein Kampf. Where is the Duke of York in all this I wonder. Yes it was before the atrocities were known but it was a fan of Adolf Hitler knowingly showing them the salute. Mind you the Nazis were popular with the British Aristocracy in the 1930’s. The Sun should not have published it. Though it coming to light does question what is private with the monarchy. William looks in his element with his buddies. Good to see Eugenie working in some capacity at least. Adorable photo of Daniel and Estelle. I hope the Swedish Royals have a lovely holiday.

    1. I believe without the context we have no way of knowing what they were doing. There was no sound and the clip was 17 seconds long. Who makes home movies 17 seconds long? Not the Duke of York with his new toy I shouldn’t think. So where is the rest of the film.

       What bothers me is the release of shots from that reel. There are approx 24 frames per second and they isolated a few frames. Without the rest of the reel we can’t know what is happening.

       I was on another forum today where there were a series of “Nazi Salutes” from all sorts of royals, not least Prince Harry to his teacher filmed on his first day at pre-school. It was quite amusing, but the reality was that it was a still shot from a video.

       1. I’m with you, Marg. Context is everything. Manipulating it for maximum shock value and viewership…this has modern media written all over it. Reality tv wouldn’t exist without skewed context, otherwise we’d be moving on by the first commercial break. Now the Sun will sell more papers, which was the ultimate goal right? It all comes back to the ca’ching, and a fine fare thee well to all the people who get hurt in the meantime.

    2. I read that the Duke of York was the one filming this scene. And the children are the innocent party emulating the adults, so it’s the QM and Prince Edward who have to be looked at and even the Duke of York for his complicity in filming this. By this time, Hitler was already laying his foundation in Europe and Mein Kampf was published so this is chilling to watch.

       1. Thank you. Yes it does seem that the children are copying and that is important as that is how children learn. I don’t like the Queen Mother doing the salute as I have said before no one is forcing her so it is her choice. The Queen mother could easily have refused. The Duke of York either knew what they were going to do or did not and just kept on filming. Sometimes people just do the strangest things in shock or if they are nervous.

          1. OH, I think that is very unfair. Revisionist history stinks. Everyone was so swamped with knowledge of things to come that they not only allowed the 1936 Berling Olympics to go ahead, a record 49 countries took part.

             Hitler used the Olympics as a grand platform and yet no country worried about him. The UK along with many other countries were into appeasement. That ended with the outbreak of war in 1939.

             Why were the Duke and Duchess of York expected to know better than the government, after all, Bertie was just the PoW and not a recipient of government briefings.

             1. Bertie wasn’t the Prince of Wales; Edward was. Bertie was the Duke of York. I maintain the difference is in how the brothers behaved during and after the war. Once war came, the King put aside any thought of appeasement (which is NOT the same as being pro-Nazi). On the other hand, Edward was quoted in *1970* saying “I didn’t Hitler was that bad of a chap.” This was 25 years after the war ended, when the full horror of the Holocaust was known. The Sun is just a sensationalistic piece of trash anyway.

11. I meant to add the Queen Mother was meant to have fancied Edward rather than Bertie. I think it was just rumour. I do think Edward loved Wallis. I think both reasons contributed to the abdication. I know Winston Churchill was one of the opponents of fascism long before many of the British cabinet/government. I agree. William needs to accept things. However at least he is contributing with his ambulance work with some degree of integrity.

    1. It really was a rumour. Elizabeth turned Bertie down three times before agreeing to marry. She wasn’t too keen on the “royal lifestyle”. But it has been recorded in many places that they all adored David.

       Now to nicer things, the Swedish royals at the concert. Victoria and Sofia certainly had a ball and initially Carl Philip and Daniel were sitting at opposite ends with the wives in the middle. Both were the very picture of “I wish this was the football!” Their ladies loosened them up considerably.

       As to ‘rumour’ that Victoria doesn’t like Sofia, check out the earrings the bride wore. They loo and awful lot like Victoria’s small diamond drops (worn at many Nobel occasions and many jewellery blogs insist they are Sofia’s “something borrowed” from Victoria.

12. And the gloves are off….

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3168895/SEBASTIAN-SHAKESPEARE-Modern-Duchess-Cambridge-throwback-1500s-says-academic.html

13. char and Albert are doing very well, they look so in love and happy, I just dont get any vibe from kate and william it always looks like a boss and his secretary trailing around.

Comments are closed.