WI: British Royals behave themselves

Since it's past midnight where I am, and I've had a long, hard, day, you can perhaps forgive me this thought - what would the world be like if, since let's say 1950, the British Royal Family behaved absolutely perfectly, with each member exhibiting the utmost level of refinement, intelligence, social grace and oratorical skill. And no, don't just tell me this belongs in the ASB forum! :D
 
One big question: does this turnabout in behavior cause Charles to marry Camilla? Or does he even meet Camilla if his early life isn't defined by a quest to prove himself in the eyes of his father?
 
One big question: does this turnabout in behavior cause Charles to marry Camilla? Or does he even meet Camilla if his early life isn't defined by a quest to prove himself in the eyes of his father?

Hm, good question... I don't think he's marry Camilla even if he met her, but then... hm... I don't know, let's say he never marries her, although given the circumstances of their meeting he'd probably still have met her, albeit only as a marginal acquaintance.
 

Thande

Donor
Bill Bryson once remarked on the fact that the Royal Family always enjoys its highest surges of support when its members behave (as he put it) uninterestingly. So, while nowadays the surges of daftness in the 1990s have passed anyway, the institution would be a little less cracked in the public eye...and relations with the CofE would be less strained without the divorces.

Aside from the media treating the royals with a little more reverence (and there's still a lot of that even nowadays, except on Channel 4, but no-one watches it anyway) I don't actually see that much long-term difference.
 

Susano

Banned
Well, from what Ive read, before the 90s, the British Royal Family was seen by and large as the most respectable one in Europe. It, ah, kinda lost that position of course IOTL. Now, if the british Royals "retain" that reputation, that would of course have no political implications, but it could have cultural implications...
 
I think if anything they might be less regarded than they are in OTL. The overwhelming majority of people have not had 'spotless' records in their lives, and I think they kind of expect the royal family to reflect that to some extent. The whole 'let's be stiff and morally conservative and as boring as possible' is just a Victorian invention anyway; if the royals live up to the Victorian standard (Which I suspect, given human nature and the social changes in the period in question, is probably ASB), there's a risk that they would be seen as even more socially detached than they are at the moment.
 
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Bill Bryson once remarked on the fact that the Royal Family always enjoys its highest surges of support when its members behave (as he put it) uninterestingly.

Actually, Billy Boy's observation, IIRC, was the opposite of that - that everyone seemed to regard the royals favourably when they were boring, but everyone says they are a terrible bunch of has-beens when they start being interesting. Mind you, I wouldn't agree with that. :D
 
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Good to see that this rather off-the-cuff topic got people talking - always fun to see that. :)

@ V - J, I want to clarify something - I didn't mean that they act like a bunch of ram-rod-up-the-arse Victorians, I meant that they'd just be smarter, fitter, better-behaved versions of themselves. Perhaps going off to get degrees instead of getting drunk, or doing impressively in other things, you know.

How about - one of them gets on the British Olympic team and wins a silver or bronze medal, or something? :D

Throw in a Nobel prize for literature or the peace prize or something, just to be fun... :D

Basically, my thought was that the Royals would behave, well, Royally in the sense of being champions of the nation, models that all can aspire to, etc..

And yes, that is being quite a bit ASB-ish, isn't it? :D

But hey, it's all in good fun! :D
 
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