Many years ago, even years before Prince Harry met Meghan, many of us longtime royal-watchers posited a theory that Prince William was an undercover small-r republican. The theory was that he would – however purposefully or inadvertently – end up burning the whole thing down because he didn’t actually give a sh-t about the monarchy. The Sussex situation actually changed that for a time. William’s courtiers and Tory handlers used his jealousy of Harry and Meghan to begin “preparing” him for his reign (of terror). All kinds of royal sources came out to say that William was newly keen on his kingship preparation as soon as Harry and Meghan became engaged. Which begged the question: why wasn’t he keen before then? In any case, eight years have passed, and William’s kingship will probably happen sooner rather than later. And now it looks like William’s big post-Sussex plan is to… hide out in Forest Lodge and Norfolk and barely do any work. Well, the Guardian tried to spin this into a good thing, asking: “As William moves to Forest Lodge, an era of pushbike royals beckons. Will that save the monarchy?”
The move to what William intends to be his family’s forever home is apparently symbolic of that reshaping. Above all, it is goodbye, Buckingham Palace. Charles’s current refusal to move his residence there from Clarence House is to be permanent.
William’s eight-bedroom Forest Lodge is actually smaller than the couple’s country retreat of Anmer Hall on the Sandringham estate. It has a handsome interior but, valued at £16m, it is no grander than an average Kensington mansion. More to the point, the house is to be exceptionally private, within and without. The royal family will reportedly have no live-in staff. William apparently wants to be a normal father who, even as king, wants to be seen on the school run.
This is the most drastic move out of town by a British monarch since the Hanoverians deserted St James’s for Kew. William could have moved to his grandmother’s palace in Windsor Castle. He chose not to. He will also have his dissolute uncle, Prince Andrew, occupying the much larger 31-room mansion at Royal Lodge just down the road. He is clearly determined to join the modest ranks of the “bicycling monarchs” of Scandinavia and the Low Countries.
In years past, there were intimations that the present king wanted to slim down the paraphernalia of monarchy. We have seen few examples of it in practice. The coronation ceremony was still out of the dark ages. Nonsenses such as the king’s speech, the changing of the guard and Maundy money stumble on. William had to dress up and spend a day at Royal Ascot, which he is said to hate. But there is a sense that Charles and Camilla are happy to conclude the Elizabethan age rather than initiate a new Carolean one.
All the more reason to welcome a significant move by William. He wants to strip Britain’s monarchy of what the peerless commentator Walter Bagehot called its “mystical and theatrical” dignities. A hereditary head of state has legitimacy only insofar as the state grants its consent. For that to be the case nowadays, he or she should seem as normal and uncontroversial as seems fitting. A majority of Britons still support their monarchy, though only about one-third of under-25s.
A bicycling monarchy is what it says. It implies an ordinary person doing an extraordinary job as the personification of a nation, not one anointed “by God” after undressing in a church cubicle. Dutch monarchs have cycled since the 19th century. The Dutch king used to be a part-time airline pilot. These royal families are not turned into tortured celebrities as press officers seek headlines about their “making a difference”.
The heir to Britain’s throne might have been perfectly cast for the job, given the possible alternatives. But the future lies ahead. One thing emphatically not yet sorted is the royal estate. This rambling arrangement of ancient buildings, storerooms and cobwebbed attics is a relic of the British empire left to gather dust. What does William intend to do with Buckingham Palace, St James’s Palace, Kensington Palace, Windsor Castle, Sandringham and Balmoral, not to mention his father’s Clarence House and Highgrove? If France, Austria and Spain can forget their empires and set their palaces free, Britain can surely do likewise. Versailles, Hofburg and El Escorial no longer shelter royal uncles, aunts and cousins.
Indeed, if the monarch is to be content with a hideaway in Windsor Park, his family had better watch out. The most his son George might expect is a two-bedroom semi in Clapham. As for Charlotte and Louis, what chance of a cosy bedsit in Stoke Newington? They would probably be happier that way.
The clear answer is to treat these palaces as some are treated now, opened to the public as museums of royalty in the care of the Historic Royal Palaces agency. The real excitement should be Buckingham Palace and its gardens. The house would be a fine museum and art gallery of monarchy. But what of its gardens? Every royal park in London was donated to the public at some point in history by a monarch. Charles I gave us Hyde Park and Charles II St James’s. Regent’s Park was opened under William IV and Kensington Gardens under Queen Victoria. The Windsors have as yet given nothing. Buckingham Palace has the largest private garden in London. Its 16 hectares (39 acres) lie unused and unappreciated in the heart of town. Tearing down its walls and merging it with Green Park has often been mooted, but for obvious reasons never dared.
I’m writing this earnestly: this piece is actually making me look forward to William’s reign. Now, do I actually think any of this is William’s intention, or the intention of his handlers and courtiers? No. I do not. But it might happen all the same, especially if William continues to plan a part-time kingship (if that) based in some manor house in Windsor. There’s honestly a good chance that Buckingham Palace and several of these other palaces and castles could just be opened up to the public full time as well. The BP gardens *should* be open to the public already anyway. Now, do I think that people are throwing out this alternate-monarchy fantasy to get under William’s skin? Perhaps.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instar, Cover Images.
