Description
Quotation: Craig Prescott, an expert on the constitutional role of the monarchy at Royal Holloway, University of London, says he describes the royal family’s work as “a step or two behind party politics”.Quotation: Prescott, who is writing a book on the modern monarchy, says the royals need to tread a fine line and avoid directly putting pressure on politicians to change policies. “I suppose this is why Catherine’s work [on early years] has stopped short of this. It is commissioning research, writing reports, making proposals or suggestions, but stops short of making explicit demands for government to start doing ‘x’, because inevitably that becomes a party political question.”
Quotation: Prescott thinks there has been a noticeable change in tone. “There’s definitely a sharper edge to things. The state visits to Germany and France have a distinct theme of the environment, perhaps in a way that state visits of the Queen didn’t.
“You also saw this on Friday night, with the dinner at Highgrove,” he says. The king hosted celebrities and the Italian ambassador at his residence last week to celebrate Anglo-Italian ties and culture. “The ‘slow food’ [on the menu] fits in with the king’s views on sustainability and food waste. Of course, none of this is party political, and they have to be careful not to drift into that territory.”
| Period | 9 Feb 2025 |
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| Held at | The Guardian, United Kingdom |