Royal Report: April 2020
These monthly wrap-up posts will highlight the highs and lows of the British Royal Family’s public appearances, programs, social media posts, fashion moments and tabloid mentions.
This April was very different for our favorite royals with the pandemic causing them to cancel all public appearances and shift their entire focus. Instead of glamorous outfits and big crowds, we got work-from-home style and virtual hospital openings. Outside of these times, I see them as having three main functions - to boost morale, to raise awareness and to act as diplomats for the government of the royals - and throughout April all of the working royals epitomized this function. They supported the NHS (National Health System, the UK’s universal healthcare system) and frontline workers, volunteered with worthy causes, raised money and launched programs to benefit the well-being of people across the country. To me it was an inspiring effort and I know that seeing the Cambridge kids, getting a sneak peek at the Prince of Wales’ office and hearing inspiring words from The Queen boosted my spirits. While there almost too many favorite moments to list, a few of mine are here:
The Queen made two public speeches, one with a very “wartime” spirit and another for Easter in her role as the head of the Church of England, which was unprecedented and a true sign of the times
98-year-old Prince Phillip released his first public statement since retiring three years ago, another remarkable event
Sophie, the Countess of Wessex (and one my favorite low-key royals), quietly volunteered throughout the month with very little fanfare, making meals and supporting NHS and other key staff
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge launched Our Frontline, to provide mental health services to frontline workers, which is very much in line with the work of The Royal Foundation, their main charitable force
The family-wide participation in #ClapForOurCarers (especially this moment from the entire Cambridge clan!) gave me a giggle
Princess Eugenie celebrated her 10 year dating anniversary with her husband by sharing other people’s anniversary stories over Instagram
Camilla, The Duchess of Cornwall was announced as the patron for the Royal Academy of Dance and showed her support for Silver Swans, a program that encourages people over 55 to learn dance - she even admitted to taking ballet with a group of girlfriends!
A few disappointments
Princess Beatrice fully cancelled her wedding, an event I was looking forward to. As terrible as I think Prince Andrew is, his daughters seem lovely and Eugenie’s wedding last year was exactly what a royal wedding should be!
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their endless pursuit of the headlines, especially after telling us they were leaving to get more privacy. At the end of March they said that we wouldn’t be hearing from them because of the pandemic, however they ended up leaking the name of their new non-profit (Archewell, which sounds like a pyramid scheme selling protein powder), posing for two separate paparazzi shoots, publicly announcing their birthday call with the Queen after being asked by her to keep it private, and causing huge waves in advance of the first hearing in their lawsuit against the Mail on Sunday. While some of this was unavoidable (the lawsuit timing for example), they kept pushing their names and photos out there, which just looked incredibly selfish given the nature of the rest of the family’s laser focus on the crisis.
Key Celebrations in April
April 21 - Her Majesty The Queen’s 94th Birthday
April 23 - Prince Louis’ 2nd Birthday - celebrated by releasing the cutest photos taken by the Duchess of Cambridge to show support for the NHS!
April 29 - The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s 9th Wedding Anniversary
What I’m Looking Forward to in May
May 2 - Princess Charlotte’s 5th Birthday
May 6 - Archie Mountbatten-Windsor’s 1st Birthday
May 8 - Queen Elizabeth will give a speech to mark the 75th Anniversary of VE Day, which was one of the most important speeches her father gave as King