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How can the Royal Family prevent history from repeating itself when it comes to Prince George, the heir apparent, and Princess Charlotte, the ‘replacement’?
This is the question Daily Mail editor Richard Eden is asking himself this week, as he looks at sibling relations within the royal family.
Writing in his Palace Confidential newsletter, Richard explained: “From what I hear, the Prince and Princess of Wales want seven-year-old Charlotte to grow up with the expectation that she will get a job and not be a full-time royal.” .
This path for the young princess would be in line with the vision of her grandfather, King Carlos III, of a reduced monarchy.
Daily Mail Diary editor Richard Eden explains how the Prince and Princess of Wales may bring in seven-year-old Princess Charlotte (pictured) in the expectation that she will get a job.
His father, Prince William, 40, who will one day be king, also shares this ideal for the future.
Richard described how he can understand these views, but said he doesn’t necessarily agree with the idea of a reduced monarchy.
He explained: “Personally, I would prefer to see a bigger royal family, make more official engagements and meet more members of the public.”
“If Charlotte is going to get a job and not be an active member of ‘The Firm,’ she must be ready to fill the position, if necessary.”
King Charles III and Prince William share a vision of a reduced monarchy with less hard-working royals.
Richard asks if this future plan for the royals is to prevent history from repeating itself when it comes to Prince George (far left), the heir apparent, and Princess Charlotte, (far right) the ‘spare’.
In his memoirs, Spare Harry, who is two years younger than Prince William, explained how this idea of ’heir’ and ‘spare’ had been reinforced throughout his life.
Richard’s comments come after the Duke of Sussex’s “embarrassing and jilted memoir, Spare,” in which he revealed years of tension between himself and his brother, the heir apparent.
Writing in Spare, the 38-year-old Duke of Sussex said he grew up knowing he was there to give his older brother Prince William, 40, an organ donation if he needed it.
“I was brought into the world in case something happened to Willy,” he said, claiming that his parents and grandparents even referred to him and his brother as the heir and the spare as a form of ‘shorthand’.
He described his life as a “mission to provide a source of distraction, entertainment, and in a pinch, a spare part,” such as a kidney, blood transfusion, or bone marrow.
Harry, who is two years younger than Prince William, explained how this idea of ’heir’ and ‘spare’ had been reinforced throughout his life.
He said that this idea of being in the world only in case something happened to William became “very clear” to him from an early age and was “regularly reinforced” throughout his life.
Although Prince Harry was deeply critical of the Royal Family, ‘The Firm’ and his upbringing, always seeing himself in his brother’s shadow as a spare part for him, Richard argues that there are lessons to be learned from the book.
He said: “The book inspires deep reflection on how to avoid a repeat of the break in relations between the royal heir and the ‘spare’.”
Before Prince Harry, Princess Margaret and Prince Andrew also struggled, in different ways, with the role of ‘spare’, or brother of the heir to the throne.