Royals just like us? No thanks

When a woman in the crowd told Prince William in Norway this week that she’d spotted his wife in Peter Jones two years ago, he apparently replied: “I hope it wasn’t in the expensive department.”

I think we all understand how and why the younger royals have toiled to position themselves as budget-minded realists. It was probably a good idea in the beginning – no one wants an out-of-touch monarchy in $60,000 outfits, à la Melania Trump. We get it: they’re serious, and to their credit their championing of mental health has probably done more to change people’s perceptions in a year than two decades of government quango intervention.

The Duke and Duchess of

Cambridge are clearly A Very Good Thing, and an asset to Britain. But this stodgy insistence on humdrum “relatability” is annoying, and the pretence that they’re “just like us” is condescending.

They’re not, and they’re not paid to be. They’re paid to inspire, or at least lead by example, as the Queen does, embodying a Stakhanovite work ethic and emitting an aura that works magic.

Of course, this isn’t just about William and Kate, it’s about us, and our tortured relationship with wealth and privilege. Have we become so mean-minded that we want our Royal family to furnish their historic homes with Ikea, as William revealed he and Kate have when the two were in Sweden earlier in the week?

No doubt the remark was intended to flatter his host nation. But really, what kind of message does this send? That it’s OK to buy cheap, mass-produced

“stuff ”, even when you can afford to support proper craftspeople, because it’s “just for the kids’ rooms” and will probably be chucked out at some point?

They could easily afford to support the talented craftspeople this country excels at producing. They would not only give a massive fillip to fledgling businesses built on passion and painstakingly acquired skills rather than global domination and profits, but also provide heirlooms for future generations.

After all, if it hadn’t been for William’s forebears’ patronage, the nation would have a lot less Shakespeare, Sir Christopher Wren, Handel…

I’d love to see them patronising makers of beautiful furniture and art. Maybe they do, but dare not advertise the fact for fear of stirring anti-privilege sentiment. In which case it’s our loss. We run the risk of becoming a country that knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.