# renouncing royalty for divorce proceedings **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 14, 2020, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renouncing-royalty-for-divorce-proceedings/846416 "2020-01-14T17:08:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renouncing-royalty-for-divorce-proceedings/846416/61 "2020-01-18T18:08:46Z")
And Canada is so BIG! Think of all the flying around they can do while lecturing ordinary people about pollution and climate change. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renouncing-royalty-for-divorce-proceedings/846416/62 "2020-01-18T19:23:57Z")
My personal (conspiracy) theory is that the Queen and Charles are paying them to do what they want to do - go away - as a means of distracting the press from Andrew. Heard anything about him recently? No, it’s all been pushed off the front pages by the hoo-hah about Megxit. Win-win for the royals. There’s that article about Frogmore Cottage - FFS, it’s a _cottage_. There’s a much bigger house on the same estate, plus a mausoleum. It’s been in the Family for centuries. If the government owns it, it’s at the sufferance of some earlier monarch. Last time I was in Europe, half the historical buildings seemed to have some sort of renovations or repairs going on. Heck, the Step Pyramid in Egypt was under renovations when I was there; 4500 years and still not ready - must be a government job. The Taj Mahal a year or two ago had one of its towers undergoing maintenance, surrounded with scaffolding. Raising a fuss about some couple living in the gatehouse Kato Kaelin style instead of shacking up with his brother’s family seems petty even for the tabloids. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renouncing-royalty-for-divorce-proceedings/846416/63 "2020-01-18T19:30:39Z")
The story about Charles and his toothpaste makes sense. Remember this is the heir to the throne since he was born in 1953. Until Diana changed the royal dynamic, the place was pretty stuffy; Charles had butlers coming out of his butlers. every detail was attended to - someone laid out his clothes, took away laundry and brought back cleaned clothes and put them away, someone set out his toiletries for morning or night, someone helped him get dressed, etc. It’s what high end servants did in those days. Walking into the bathroom at night and the tub was drawn, your soaps and towel neatly laid out, toothpaste already on brush, etc. - it’s hard to imagine that level of personal service in modern day North America, but if you watch a few seasons of Downton Abbey or Upstairs Downstairs it’s not difficult to imagine that was the level of personal service back in the day, and the Palace was one of the last places to let go of “the day”. I kind of wonder how much of that he had to get used to doing himself in the army. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renouncing-royalty-for-divorce-proceedings/846416/64 "2020-01-18T20:00:21Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > Remember this is the heir to the throne since he was born in 1953. 1. > [@](#): > > I kind of wonder how much of that he had to get used to doing himself in the army. He never served in the Army, but did do active duty in the RAF and Royal Navy. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renouncing-royalty-for-divorce-proceedings/846416/65 "2020-01-18T20:08:20Z")
They just essentially quit their jobs, and will no longer use his/her royal highness > **[Harry and Meghan will no longer use 'His and Her Royal Highness,' Buckingham...](https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/18/uk/harry-and-meghan-hrh-trnd/index.html)** > > The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will no longer use the titles His and Her Royal Highness after announcing they would step back from their roles as senior members of the royal family, Buckingham Palace announced Saturday. Can I apply for his job? ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2020, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renouncing-royalty-for-divorce-proceedings/846416/66 "2020-01-18T20:46:59Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I remember a story that Charles doesn’t even put the toothpaste on the toothbrush himself because a valet or other servant does so for him. That’s about as high maintenance as you can get, short of needing someone else to wipe his ass. [Higher maintenance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groom_of_the_Stool) ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renouncing-royalty-for-divorce-proceedings/846416/67 "2020-01-19T00:59:51Z")
> [@slash2k](#): > > Her family is from an area very close to Compton geographically, historically, economically, and reputationally. (Four miles, in Los Angeles terms, is nothing.) That makes it hard to dispute “almost.” Crenshaw is closer to both Santa Monica and Beverly Hills than it is to Compton. ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renouncing-royalty-for-divorce-proceedings/846416/68 "2020-01-19T04:01:16Z")
> [@DMC](#): > > Crenshaw is closer to both Santa Monica and Beverly Hills than it is to Compton. Okay? What are the similarities between Crenshaw and either of those in terms of history, economics, crime rate, reputation, etc.? I think I’ve made the point several times that the Daily Mail was emphasizing similarity, not just geographic proximity. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renouncing-royalty-for-divorce-proceedings/846416/69 "2020-01-19T08:49:33Z")
> [@slash2k](#): > > Kate, I think, had a better idea what she was signing up for, after YEARS of being the target of tabloid reporters and paparazzi; her lawyers were issuing warnings to certain newspapers way back in 2005 and again in 2007, and she pursued an invasion of privacy claim concerning certain photographs in 2010. She went ahead and signed up anyway, marrying William in 2011. What goes on behind the palace doors is of course unknown, but since her marriage she has as least appeared to be game to follow the royal routine of tours and banquets and opening gardens. Play table tennis or field hockey in high heels in front of the press? [Sure, why not](https://www.thecut.com/2016/04/kate-middleton-playing-sports-in-heels.html)? > > I don’t think Meghan really understood what she was in for, though. Moving to a new country, getting married (to a man she’d known for less than two years), and having a baby are all extremely high-stress events by themselves; doing all that in full view of the British press must be multiple-orders-of-magnitude worse. I can certainly understand why they wanted marriage and a baby so soon, but that speed made it a lot harder for Meghan to come to grips with the reality of what life in the palace and the public eye would be like. Now that it has hit her, it’s like a pan of cold dishwater in tkhe face. The men they married may have had something to do with how each of them weathered the tempests each of them went through. The William was fifteen, and Harry twelve when Diana died. While it was surely traumatic for both of them, their disparate ages alone would almost necessarily have resulted in disparities in how they processed their loss as individuals. If William was better equipped emotionally to encourage Kate in her dealings with the tabs, that may simply be because he was less primed to see a parallel between his wife’s experiences with the paparazzi and his mother’s than Harry was to see Meghan’s parallels to Di.\* In fact, the _Mail_’s coverage of W & H wrt “Stiff Upper Lip” expectations is a case in point. The _Mail_ wrote approvingly of William calling out the expectation _for his little brother’s benefit as much as his own_. When Harry kept up with defying those expectations, the _Mail_ suddenly decided that it wasn’t kosher to defy, or even question them. \*Also, look! Diana was fucking a BROWN man! And now Harry is fucking a BROWN woman! You can’t persuade me that there wasn’t a racist aspect to both the presence of Dodi Fayed and the presence of Meghan Markle in the love lives of “BRITAIN’S Royals” that influenced the coverage of both. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renouncing-royalty-for-divorce-proceedings/846416/70 "2020-01-19T09:06:00Z")
> [@slash2k](#): > > Probably not. However, I’m not familiar with Carson; does it have a history, economy, crime rate, and reputation very similar to that of Compton? Worse, to tell you the truth, at least lately. See, the goddamned RAMS couldn’t leave well enough alone and let us keep the Los Angeles Basin NFL franchise-free and stay in fucking Missouri where they belonged, so now there’s a goddamned FOOTBALL stadium there. Used to be a high-class neighborhood whose claim to fame was being home to the Goodyear Blimp. How the mighty have fallen. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renouncing-royalty-for-divorce-proceedings/846416/71 "2020-01-19T10:28:09Z")
> [@slash2k](#): > > Okay? What are the similarities between Crenshaw and either of those in terms of history, economics, crime rate, reputation, etc.? I think I’ve made the point several times that the Daily Mail was emphasizing similarity, not just geographic proximity. They aren’t even moderately close to each other geographically. It’s 14 miles from center to center, which is a huge difference in a metro area. They don’t share a history at all. It’s actually not nearly as easy as you’d think to compare crime rates, as Crenshaw isn’t an actual city, unlike Compton. Based on this as well as other reporting, I’m willing to attribute the motives of the Daily Mail’s headline to racism. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renouncing-royalty-for-divorce-proceedings/846416/72 "2020-01-19T13:02:01Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I remember a story that Charles doesn’t even put the toothpaste on the toothbrush himself because a valet or other servant does so for him. That’s about as high maintenance as you can get, short of needing someone else to wipe his ass. That’s where they came up with the term “PRIVVY Council,” innit? ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2020, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renouncing-royalty-for-divorce-proceedings/846416/73 "2020-01-19T21:00:39Z")
> [@DMC](#): > > They aren’t even moderately close to each other geographically. It’s 14 miles from center to center, which is a huge difference in a metro area. From 5400 miles away (distance London -\> LA), they might as well be across the street from each other. > [@DMC](#): > > They don’t share a history at all. Both had a very similar trajectory over the last 80 years: a large Japanese-American population giving way to a large African-American population, middle-class flight, surging gang- and drug-related violence, and recent attempts at revitalization. > [@DMC](#): > > It’s actually not nearly as easy as you’d think to compare crime rates, as Crenshaw isn’t an actual city, unlike Compton. No, but the LAPD provides [detailed online information](http://www.lapdonline.org/crime_mapping_and_compstat) about crimes in the various neighborhoods, which information is quoted in the Daily Mail’s article above-linked. > [@DMC](#): > > Based on this as well as other reporting, I’m willing to attribute the motives of the Daily Mail’s headline to racism. Either racism, or pandering to racism in an effort to win readers, yes, and I’ve said as much. However, motive and subtext are not something the royals can easily dispute; it starts looking too much like censorship or press control. They will dispute specific facts, such as the recent “William bullies Harry” story, but the specific facts stated by the Daily Mail (Meghan grew up in Crenshaw, Crenshaw saw 47 reported crimes including at least one murder in the week before the article, Crenshaw is plagued by multiple violent street gangs, etc.) don’t fit into that category. Sure, saying “Crenshaw is one of a cluster of Los Angeles boroughs famous for gangs - along with Compton, Long Beach, South Central and Inglewood” almost certainly comes from disreputable motives, but what is factually incorrect and hence disputable about it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/renouncing-royalty-for-divorce-proceedings/846416.md?page=3)