Is the Princess of Wales New "Shaping Up" Campaign Getting Political?
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle release their "impact report," which is conspicuously missing $10 million
Kate Getting Political?
Catherine, the Princess of Wales, has started off 2023 strong by announcing a new campaign with her Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood called “Shaping Us.”
It’s a long-term project aimed at transforming the issue of early childhood development from something scientific to one that can be recognized globally as strategically important to societal stability and development.
HRH Princess Catherine said, “The way we develop, through our experiences, relationships, and surroundings during our early childhood, fundamentally shapes our whole lives. It affects everything from our ability to form relationships and thrive at work, to our mental and physical well-being as adults and the way we parent our own children.”
But despite how the wonderful the project is, many are also considering if Catherine is venturing into a problematic realm for royals: politics.
While this venture could have a strong impact on the U.K. and Commonwealth, some of what the campaign is advocating for inevitably means policy changes, which would have to happen at the government level. That’s a territory that the royals generally try to avoid.
As Daily Express royal reporter Richard Palmer explained on Twitter: “Members of the Royal Family have to be careful about interfering in politics, certainly where the parties have different views. But ultimately, the Princess wants to influence public policy, as well as attitudes of employers and others, just as Heads Together has.”
He continued, “As I’ve previously reported, much of what Kate talks about, in improving professional support for parents, sounds like the Sure Start children’s centres created by Britain’s Labour government from 1998. Since 2010 more than 1,000 Sure Start centres have closed in financial cuts.”
Heads Together, by any measure, was a successful venture and though had some political ramifications, it avoided being seen as lobbying. “Shaping Us” could be much the same, but this will not be easy either. Catherine needs to carefully manage advocating for her cause while avoiding the inevitable pitfalls of seeming more political than appropriate for a future Queen.
The monarchy remains in a rather precarious state after the death of Queen Elizabeth. Every royal must proceed with enormous caution, no matter how great the endeavor.
Harry and Meghan Missing $10 Million?
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have released their first Archewell Foundation (AWF) Impact Report, which covers 2020-2022.
It’s an attempt, like many charities do, to tell the world about their great accomplishments, but it raises more questions than answers.
The couple seemingly cite accomplishments of other organizations as their own under the guise of it being a “partnership.” It’s unclear what they accomplished on their own, beyond building a playground in Uvalde, Texas, their only self-cited solo venture.
They also fail to provide any concrete information regarding what their organization personally contributed in terms of finances and resources, beyond just stating that they provided a grant. Did they do it directly or did a partner organization provide another partner organization with a grant?
It’s difficult to tell, and their cheerleader Omid Scobie kicked up more questions when he stated that the couple provided a press release to certain media outlets stating they had raised $13 million in their first year, while giving $3 million in grants.
This begs the inevitable question, what happened to the $10 million? Omid doesn’t answer that. In fact, if you ask, you’re just another conspiracy theorist.
The irony of that argument is laughable.
More Royal News…
The Prince and Princess of Wales visited Windsor Foodshare, a local food bank. The couple stated their desire to come back at another time, without their press core entourage.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced staffing changes via Variety. They’ve added a head of podcasting, though they have failed to secure a season two of Meghan’s Archetypes, and they also hired a co-chair for their Archewell Foundation. In addition, their head of internal content and marketing are both leaving, and their positions will be dissolved.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla commemorated Holocaust Memorial Day with two survivors of genocide, Dr. Martin Stern, who survived Nazi occupied-Holland, and Darfur survivor Amouna Adam.
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of The Netherlands arrived in the Dutch Caribbean with their daughter, and future Queen, Princess of Orange, Catharina-Amalia. Having turned 18 in 2021, this is Amalia’s first big foreign tour as the heir and an opportunity for her to start learning the royal ropes from her parents.
There were also a series of pictures released of King Willem-Alexander and Princess Catharina-Amalia with former queen Princess Beatrix, who just turned 85. The images show three generations of Dutch monarchs.
Queen Sonja of Norway visited a gathering for Ukrainian refugees with the Mayor of Oslo.
King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain greeted the diplomatic corps at the Royal Palace in Madrid.
Upcoming…
The Swedish court has revealed the details of Crown Princess Victoria and her husband Prince Daniel official upcoming visit to Australia and New Zealand from February 13-18.
The Dutch Royal Court announced that King Willem-Alexander will host French President Emmanuel Macron from April 11-12.