King Charles is the head of state, but his sons are more popular than him, it’s been reported (Image: Getty Images )
The Royal Family is not immune to ageism, but unlike the rest of the world, they may not feel the effects, at least, not in the same way.
With ageism spilling into everyday occurrences for us regular folks, like at the grocery store or in the workplace, royals are not ones to be rushed or pushed out of their jobs with their roles as public servants lasting a lifetime.
If anything, it may have an impact on public perception and how much space aging royals take up in the spotlight, but that’s from the outside looking in, it’s not to say the royals themselves feel discouraged by any public pull back.
We were hoping to explore ageism in the monarchy by reaching out to four experts who shared their opinions on the matter.
Speaking exclusively to Pauline Maclaran, Brittani Barger, Ian Pelham Turner and Eric Schiffer, we seem to have a handle on how the royals handle the universal issue of aging and how they are treated by others.
The royals do age like the rest of us, but it doesn’t play a role in job security
Princess Anne is the hardest working royal, but the least talked about (Image: Getty Images )
When speaking to Ian Pelham Turner, a former royal photographer and now TV presenter, he agreed that this is a much talked about topic.
Pelham Turner said: “The debate on whether the older members of the Royal Family do not receive as much media attention is a constant issue for ‘The Firm.’”
While members of the Royal Family will not be pushed out of their jobs — due to age — they can be pushed out of the spotlight, and according to Pelham Turner the royals are not fans of being overshadowed.
He explained: “Individual members of the Royal family in my view hate being overshadowed by other members which in my opinion when Meghan came on the scene breaking old fashioned Royal rules they were in Queen Victoria’s terms ‘Not amused.’”
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Aging may push royals out of the spotlight, which could have an impact on the monarchy
Pauline Maclaran, who is a royal author and Professor at Royal Holloway, has a different take on it, that a lack of public support can play a role in the success of the monarchy.
The royal expert said: “There can be no doubt that the aging Royal Family is a problem with the younger generation who continue to indicate much less support for the monarchy in surveys than those who are 50+.”
Maclaran, who is a professor of marketing and consumer research, went over why the public pulls back from the older royals, putting it into context.
She explained: “We live in an era of celebrity culture that puts huge value on youth and beauty.”
According to Maclaran, the younger generations relate to Prince William and Princess Kate more so than King Charles and Queen Camilla because of the glamour factor.
She said: “It is unsurprising that William and Kate are much more popular than Charles and Camilla amongst the younger generation because they are a glamorous couple they can relate to.”
Queen Elizabeth II didn’t age out, she was beloved throughout her reign (Image: Getty Images )
When speaking to Brittani Barger, co-founder of Royal News, she took a step back and looking at the topic, said it may not necessarily be an issue age or more so interest level.
We love Princess Anne, she is our favorite out of the Royal Family, because she’s just so sassy and not one to hold back, but she’s not talked about as much as the other royals.
We asked Barger about this with the royal expert saying: “I don’t know that I would say her age is overshadowing her. I think it’s a case of people seeing her as more boring and glamorous as opposed to the Princess of Wales and even the Duchess of Sussex.
And when speaking to Eric Schiffer, leading reputation expert, for him, ageism is not an issue, because the Royal Family are not influencers, they are world leaders.
He put it in a way that it relates to living in a digital age, saying: “The Crown isn’t TikTok, longevity is the product. Ageism can become spontaneous combustion in showbiz, monarchy is not showbiz where service ages like beautiful oak.”