This is the year that the Royal family has changed forever, with deep breaks, power shifts and a new hierarchy emerging after the coronavirus pandemic. From the ‘Megxit’ crisis, which threatened to plunder the monarchy to constitutional unrest in early 2020, to the year that ended with a greatly reduced royal Christmas, these were 12 months as if another for Windsor House.
But as the Queen prepares to deliver her Christmas broadcast, she will have reason to reflect on the first Prime Minister Winston Churchill ‘s mantra of not letting’ good urgency go to waste ‘. For while The Firm has been the scene of much unrest since the country went into lockdown on March 23, its willingness to change in an effort to ‘keep calm and continue’ has reminded the public that important is an institution that has transcended political unrest.
With both The Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge being hit by Covid-19 at the start of the crisis, the pandemic has had a direct impact on how the Royal family has fulfilled its day-to-day responsibilities. Without walks and excursions, they had to make do. Last month, the 94-year-old monarch came in with joy while surrounded by dozens of Cyprus schoolchildren online, to mark her 73rd wedding anniversary. It came after The Princess Royal gave her mother her first lesson in online art in June, when they spoke to a number of carers to mark Carers Week 2020.
Along with Anne, who tried her own for the country with her ‘I can do it’ idea during ITV’s documentary, The Princess Royal at 70, which aired in July, are small royals like Sophie, Ban -the earl of Wessex, has also taken steps to fill the gap left by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. The mother of two, 55, is dressed in jeans and a sweater to help out at her local food bank in November, while Anne has accomplished more than 50 events since the first lock ended, including visits to Cumbria, Cambridgeshire and the Islands. of Wight.
The Palace has not yet recovered from the economic impact of the uprising, with the Royal Collection Trust, the charity that looks after the Queen’s art collection and official residences, expected to £ 64 million lost after tourists are expelled. Its total revenue for 2019 to 2020 was £ 72 million. It is inevitable that roles will be necessary.
Regardless of the R level, the royals have also faced a series of unrelated pressures, including an ongoing study of the Duke of York’s relationship with the convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and their fall from movement Harry and Meghan to the USA. Prince Andrew, 60, has yet to speak to U.S. authorities investigating the crimes of the late treasurer, who died in prison last year by suicide. Prosecutors have asked him to enter an interview with the FBI while investigating another of his friends, socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, who is accused of giving Epstein teenage girls for abuse. The father of two has always strongly denied a false suggestion. The Duke’s legal team has previously said that Andrew had made three offers of evidence.
If not enough of the books told about the kingdoms this year, they must also suffer the ghost of Diana, Princess of Wales in the form of the latest season of the Crown, evoking sad memories. Rarely did the publications in Finding Freedom, a hagiography of the Sussexes, which claimed that Harry thought William was a ‘snob’ after he warned him to take things slowly with him. ‘this girl’, along with details of The Duchess’s lawsuit against The Mail on Sunday over the publication of excerpts from a letter to her father, Thomas Markle. Last month, there was some controversy in court documents over whether she had shared authorized personal information with the authors of Find Freedom. Her legal team has refused to cooperate.
A recent broadcast of Martin Bashir’s 1995 Panorama interview with Diana, inspiring BBC-led research, has dragged William into the mire – serving as another reminder of brutal nature separation of his parents, 25 years on.
While 2020 has undoubtedly been a year of scandals, fears of health, cruelty and major change for the Royal family, somehow the Queen has avoided being the second ‘annus horribilis’.
Again unexpectedly for the Duke of Edinburgh, 99, in ‘HMS Bubble’ as they spent much of the year parting alone at Sandringham and Windsor Castle, the Queen may not have been so prominent but she was its presence is felt throughout the greater country. crisis to confront Britain since World War II. The Duke, who retired in public life in 2017, would normally have spent much of this year at Wood Farm, his five-room farmhouse on the Sandringham estate, while he remained. the Queen ‘in office’ at Buckingham Palace. But the pandemic forced the couple – and their closest supporters – to come together for practical interests as they have split their time between Norfolk, Balmoral and Windsor since March. Insiders say they may never have had the opportunity to spend so much quality time together, effectively with the Queen for the first time in nearly seven decades.