Banish minor royals from public life,Say No 10 aides By Colin Brown, Political Editor 15 April 2001 The Countess of Wessex and Princess Michael of Kent should be barred from public engagements because of their private careers, according to some of Tony Blair's closest advisers. The Prime Minister's aides are advising Mr Blair that, after the row over Sophie's covertly taped remarks to a Sunday newspaper, an internal review by Buckingham Palace must make radical changes in the way minor royals are allowed to carry out public engagements. It has been reported that the review by Lord Luce, the Lord Chamberlain, and senior palace officials, would recommend curbs on the careers of minor royals to avoid conflicts of interests with their public duties. However, there are growing signals from the palace and Downing Street that instead their public engagements may be curbed to allow the pursuit of private careers. A palace source emphasised that the Queen made clear in a statement last week that she believes that, in a modern world, minor royals should continue to have careers. A senior adviser to Mr Blair said the Countess had "disqualified herself from public engagements by attacking Mr Blair for being "ignorant" about the countryside and claiming that Cherie Blair was "keeping her hand in" at the bar in case Labour lost the election.
"Her privately expressed comments about the Government have disqualified her from a public role. Her very raw and crude, inappropriate political comments show that she would be better to stick with her PR career." Demands for reform of the monarchy have grown in the wake of the "Sophie tapes" and claims that the Prince and Princess Michael of Kent are cashing in on their royal status with 24 free trips overseas in 15 months. Downing Street has avoided becoming entangled in the row. However, the ministerial put-down of the Countess's unguarded remarks was sanctioned by Alastair Campbell. The Prime Minister and his wife turned down an invitation from the Queen to a dinner last week at Windsor Castle to be attended by the Count and Countess of Wessex. The Conservative leader William Hague and his wife, Ffion, have accepted the Queen's invitation to another "dine and sleep" party at Windsor later this month. It is not clear, whether the countess will be there. Prince Edward, Sophie's husband, may also be asked to choose between the trappings of his royal status - including £141,000 from the Queen for public engagements - and his commercial film company, Ardent.
Princess Michael of Kent
THE SPEAKER WE NEED
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"People like the Countess of Wessex and Princess Michael of Kent have got to make a choice of whether to continue doing what they want to do as individuals when it is incompatible with their public position," said one of Mr Blair's chief advisers. "The Countess of Wessex needs to make the choice between carrying on with their PR career and playing a full part in the royal firm.
