To work in the real world or not – it’s a question that has troubled members of the British Royal Family for decades. In the week it was reported that Kate Middleton has quit her job at her parents’ party supplies company, BBC royal correspondent Peter Hunt examines the pros and cons of royals keeping their careers.
To its originator, the idea may have appeared inspired. Once it was exposed to the cold light of day, it withered on the vine of royal non-starters. Back in 1948, someone suggested Prince Philip should spend a month working as a coal miner. The tentative plan was rejected as a “stunt” which would “play to the gallery”.
Sixty years on, such a subterranean experience will not be on offer to his grandson’s fiancee. But the quickly aborted proposal of placing a prince with the working man, highlights how officials have wrestled with this challenge – what to do with a royal?
