Aging with Grace

Royalty is completely different from celebrity. Royalty has all its own magic.

Phillip Treacy

This years tulips at the Denver Botanic Gardens

The prince watched his father’s Coronation, thinking that one day he will be the one wearing the crown. Next to the new king sat the wicked step-mother who had just been crowned queen. How could the prince not think about his mother? She should have been queen. His brother, the prodigal son, sat back from the ceremony. He would not be so easily forgiven for his sins against the family. To round out the tableau was the prince’s son, carrying the king’s train. One day he, too, would be king. It was a family gathering with all the flaws and foibles of our own families, but with much more panache.

Leo Tolstoy writes in his novel, Anna Karenina: “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” He might have been suggesting that happy families are boring. Unlike dysfunctional families, who have a great deal going on. Calm seas are not nearly as exciting as turbulent waves crashing onto the shore. That’s part of what make the royals so interesting. One could never accuse them of being boring.

I have followed the British Royal family for many years. I recorded the hours long Coronation ceremony and watched much of it. The origins of the English monarchy date back to the 7th century. It’s worth watching just for the history.

Of course, there is the drama. Enough to fill several more episodes of, The Crown. Will Harry return to the fold of the family? Will Catherine ignore William’s infidelities, much as Queen Elizabeth did Philip’s? Will Charles have a long reign as King or as he gets older will he abdicate the throne and allow William to become King? Stay tuned.