What should the Royals talk about?
U.K. poll finds more support for hearing from Royal Family members on social issues than personal revelations
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As Catherine, Princess of Wales, continues her gradual return to the public side of her role after chemotherapy for cancer, she offered words of support for those who have addictions.
"Everyone suffering from addiction is another human being, with a story of their own, which many of us don't understand or see," she said in a message Friday marking Addiction Awareness Week in the United Kingdom.
"It is not our place to judge or criticize. We must take the time to sit by someone's side, learning the values of love and empathy. Being a shoulder to cry on or an ear to listen, these simple acts of kindness are crucial in breaking down the misunderstandings that so many face."
Sharing that kind of royal interest in a current issue in the U.K. might be something some in that country would like to hear more of, at the same time as some might be content to hear less about the Royals' personal lives.
Out of a recent poll by Ipsos for The Daily Telegraph, the newspaper highlighted how two in five respondents said they would like to see members of the Royal Family speak more about social issues, promote charitable causes and attend small public engagements.
Almost as many, Ipsos said, "would like to see them spend less or no time speaking about political topics and doing interviews about their personal lives."
For the poll, Ipsos conducted telephone interviews with 1,089 adults aged 18 to 75 across Great Britain from Nov. 8-11.
Trying to decipher what might lie behind those views and how they were reported leads down a multitude of paths, whether it might be how members of the Royal Family have been communicating with the public in the last few years or how reports of what they say and do are set against the social and economic climate of the day.
"Perhaps there hasn't been this much personal detail [about members of the Royal Family] being discussed by the public since the 1990s, when there was the breakdown of the marriages of three of [Queen Elizabeth's] four children," Carolyn Harris, a Toronto-based royal author and historian, said in an interview.
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, had a high-profile and controversial interview with Oprah Winfrey after they stepped back from official royal duties. They also did a docuseries for Netflix, and Harry released his memoir, Spare.
And this could mean that given "the sheer scale of different interviews and revelations that have taken place … this reaches a saturation point and it's clear the public are ready to move on to other things," Harris said.
This also comes at a time of strife in the United Kingdom, where strain over the cost of living is ever-present.
"The economic crisis and with Labour coming into power and the new budget … [Chancellor] Rachel Reeves has put out the new budget and it's quite tough. And so things are going to get worse," said Chandrika Kaul, a professor of modern history at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, in an interview.
"And I suspect it's a bit of that," she said, that lies behind the focus on poll results pointing to increased interest in hearing from the Royals on social issues (along with, she suggested, "the media looking for a new angle on an old story").
Still, there does seem to be significant public curiosity in some personal details from the Royals right now.
There's a lot of interest in the health of King Charles and Catherine, Harris said.
"People continue to ask what kind of cancer that they are each suffering from, what their treatment regime has been."
That, she said, is leading to wider debates about medical privacy for the Royals and what the public has a right to know.
More recently, Harris noted, there's also concern about Queen Camilla, "who's been fighting a chest infection since very soon after the Australian-Samoa tour" in late October.
As for those who wish to see the Royals spending more time on social issues, Catherine's comment for Addiction Awareness Week could fit that bill.
"Just as Catherine has made efforts to destigmatize speaking openly about mental illness through her work with Heads Together and other philanthropic organizations, she is making use of her public profile to address the stigma surrounding people struggling with addiction," Harris said.
"These are issues that transcend a single election cycle and the Royal Family are therefore well-placed to raise awareness of these important issues over an extended period of time."
The public desire to see members of the Royal Family talking more about social issues and challenges facing the country needs to be balanced against opposition toward them straying into the political sphere, said Gideon Skinner, senior director of U.K. politics at Ipsos.
"Generally, appetite for a more active, socially engaged Royal Family is higher among younger people, reflecting the fact that this is the group that feels most undecided toward them at the moment."
Different members of the Royal Family seem to have different approaches to what they share publicly.
"I think [Princess Anne is] someone who's actually managed to have it her own way and who's always prioritized the social agenda, her work, rather than her personality [and] she's actually quite popular, too," said Kaul.
"There haven't been too many scandals. There hasn't been too much that has brought her down so that, you know, the fact that she doesn't engage with the media hasn't really harmed her popularity and … if anything, she's respected for the fact that she doesn't."
The Ipsos poll, of course, is only a reflection of views within the U.K.
"Polling data in the Commonwealth realms is often very closely shaped by whether the question involves the cost of royal tours," said Harris.
In the U.K., Harris noted, the public is aware of the Royal Family not only when they are undertaking public engagements, but also when they are away from the public eye.
"Their private lives as well as their public lives are unfolding in the United Kingdom, whereas … when members of the Royal Family are present in Canada, generally they are undertaking public engagements and that affects how they're perceived."
There are exceptions — Harry and Meghan living in British Columbia in early 2020 and Prince Andrew attending Lakefield College School, near Peterborough, Ont., in 1977.
"But generally the Canadian perception of royalty is different because they tend to be here undertaking either official or working engagements," said Harris.
Harry comes back
Speaking of Prince Harry, he returned to B.C. for a quick visit to promote the 2025 edition of the Invictus Games he founded to support wounded, injured and sick veterans and members of the Armed Forces.
His visit included an appearance at the Grey Cup in Vancouver, and time with children who were taking part in a school program that aims to shift perceptions of service members, veterans and people with disabilities.
"Seeing them learn about the Invictus Games has had a profound impact on me because this is where Invictus starts to go even wider, outside of the Invictus community into schools in Canada and hopefully around the world, as well," Harry said.
The Invictus Games in Vancouver and Whistler in February will be the first winter version of the adaptive sports competition Harry founded a decade ago.
Francesca Colussi, a member of Team Canada who will be competing in skeleton and seated rowing, told CBC's Lyndsay Duncombe what the Games mean for her.
"The core of the Invictus Games for me is healing, it's healing through sport."
Harry's time in Vancouver reflected his personal commitment to the Games, Harris said.
"He made very clear when he stepped back from his duties as a senior member of the Royal Family that there were certain causes important to him that he's developed in a personal capacity."
The time with the schoolchildren included a game of sitting volleyball, with Harry in on the action at floor level.
"Prince Harry has always had a very strong rapport with children," said Harris.
"He's spoken about his own experiences in school, that academic subjects were sometimes a struggle for him, but being outside on the playing field, playing sports, physical education, that was where he felt happiest."
The visit may also reflect shifting priorities for Harry and Meghan, who are living with their two children in California.
"For a number of years, Harry and Meghan were very focused on ensuring the public knew their side of the story for why they'd stepped back for royal duties — they wanted to ensure that they had some control over the narrative that was being presented to the public," said Harris.
"But nearly four years after Harry and Meghan stepped back from royal duties, they appear to be moving on to other projects."
In his promotion for this round of the Invictus Games, there was also a change in style, including a skit in which Harry appears to receive a tattoo from American rapper and country singer Jelly Roll, who will perform at the closing ceremony on Feb. 16.
"It's a different tone than some of the earlier Invictus Games videos that featured Prince Harry and [Queen Elizabeth] and Barack and Michelle Obama," said Harris.
A royal stamp of approval
Colleen Silverthorn, our CBC colleague in Regina, had this report the other day:
Jeffery Straker has had many career highlights, but a recent thank-you from King Charles may be at the top of his list.
Straker, a Saskatchewan singer-songwriter, was in the midst of a three-week tour of the United Kingdom earlier this month when he received an email from Saskatchewan Lt.-Gov. Russel Mirasty.
Mirasty informed Straker that his most recent album, Great Big Sky, had made its way to Buckingham Palace and King Charles had given it a listen.
"It kind of stopped me in my tracks. I sort of knew a CD had made its way, but I didn't know where it had gone," Straker told host Stefani Langenegger on CBC Radio's The Morning Edition — Sask.
One song in particular, Better Than What We Found, struck a chord with King Charles.
"I really wrote it for him. It was a song for him and that's what was the most staggering about it, that he actually heard it," Straker said.
So Crazy! the office of the Lieutenant Governor of Sask. forwarded me a message from…His Majesty King Charles! No spoofin! The King received a copy of my album ‘Great Big Sky’ at Buckingham Palace & was touched by the song “Better Than What We Found” on it written to help… <a href="https://t.co/cetOMephVN">pic.twitter.com/cetOMephVN</a>
—@jefferystraker"I was moved by it. It was really something."
Straker wrote Better Than What We Found after being asked to perform at coronation celebrations on May 13, 2023, at Government House in Regina.
"It's a hard task to write a song to celebrate the start of something, 'cause you can't go through the list of things that have been accomplished," Straker said.
He eventually decided on a song that encourages all people to do their best and leave the world better than they'd found it.
"When it was done, the lieutenant-governor did a presentation and he sort of leaned in and said, 'I'm going to Buckingham Palace next week, I'm going to tell the King about this song. I really like it.'"
Mirasty wrote a letter to the King this August explaining the context behind the song and enclosed a copy of the album, according to Caroline Speirs, Mirasty's executive director and private secretary.
Ralph Goodale, the high commissioner for Canada in the United Kingdom, was visiting Saskatchewan and planning a trip to London that fall. He promised to hand-deliver the letter and album to Buckingham Palace.
"We didn't have to send it through the mail or anything," Speirs said. "The high commissioner took it in his suitcase."
Speirs read the pertinent part of the letter for CBC.
"I was delighted to receive your most thoughtful gift of the CD Great Big Sky by Jeffrey Straker," it said.
"I was touched to learn that the song Better Than What We Found was commissioned for the coronation celebration at Government House in Regina. It was so very good of you and Mrs. Mirasty to have organized such a wonderful event to celebrate the coronation. Please do convey my very best wishes to Jeffrey Straker for a successful tour."
Straker said receiving the thank you was special.
"He signed it warmest, sincerely, Charles R., for Rex, which was really lovely."
Royally quotable
"I want my children to live in a world where swallows still migrate, gorillas still live in the cloud forests of Uganda and rhinos still roam the arid rangelands of Namibia."
— Prince William, during a speech at the 2024 Tusk Conservation Awards.
William also offered insight into a new hobby one of his children has picked up, telling award guests Rolling Stones bassist Ronnie Wood and former Dire Straits guitarist Mark Knopfler that Prince Louis is learning the drums. "That's why I spend my entire life with my fingers in my ears," William said.
Royal reads
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Australian lawmakers have voted to censure an Aboriginal senator who heckled King Charles during his visit to Canberra last month to express their "profound disapproval" of her protest. [BBC]
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Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, expressed their sadness at the death of teenage photographer Liz Hatton, saying it was "an honour to have met such a brave and humble young woman." Photos released on William and Catherine's social media feed early last month showed the moment Catherine hugged the young cancer patient, who had been invited to take pictures at an investiture. [ITV]
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Burglars broke into a farm on the estate surrounding Windsor Castle last month and stole two vehicles, Thames Valley Police said. [BBC]
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Technology has been used to recreate the voice of the medieval King Richard III, complete with a distinctive Yorkshire accent. [The Guardian]
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