Women of Windsor: The 2020's
The 2010's were a big decade for the Royal family that featured three royal weddings, four royal babies, dozens of international tours and another wave of modernization. The 2020's are already shaping up to be another big decade with a Princess Beatrice's and James Middleton's respective weddings already planned. The chances of more royal babies are also high given the number of weddings in recent years.
The 2020's will be a decade of transition for the Royal Family. With Queen Elizabeth approaching her mid-nineties, Prince Charles is taking on more responsibility within the firm and the younger generation seem to be doing more each year. Fans will see a more "scaled back" version of the family in the coming years as it has been reported for years that Prince Charles has a vision for a more streamlined monarchy. While nobody knows exactly what that means or what it will look like, more of the "minor royals" such as the Queens cousins, (The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, The Duke and Duchess of Kent and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent) will likely be retiring from public life as they all are either in or approaching their 80's.
The first glimpse the public was given of a 'streamlined' monarchy happened during the Queens Diamond Jubilee when only Prince Charles, The Duchess of Cornwall, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry were on the Buckingham Palace balcony. Compared to events like Trooping the Colour where the balcony is typically overflowing, this vision of the future of the House of Windsor was much more manageable as well as being less expensive for the British taxpayer.
2020 will also be a decade where the younger generation of royals cement the projects and areas they will continue to work on throughout their lives. The earthshot prize, spearheaded by Prince William, has already been announced, the Duchess of Cambridge seems to be turning her attention to midwives and nurses for the NHO's year of nurses and midwives and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will launch their own charitable foundation where they will drive the majority of their work through.
The Windsor's have always kept a delicate balance of continuing to modernize in order to stay relevant and having to maintain tradition and stability in order to be seen as a vital and reliable institution. The 2010's featured extensive modernization with the future king marrying a commoner for the first time, an American joining the family to mark the first prominent interracial marriage in the family, removal of male primogeniture to have the daughter of a future king not be usurped in the line of succession, and work centered around what used to be controversial topics such as climate change, feminism, AID's and mental health.
The 2020's will therefore be a decade the Royal Family focuses on stabilization. Since the Queen would be 103 years old by the end of the decade, the probability of a new monarch by the end 2020's is (unfortunately) quite high. Queen Elizabeth has been a stabilizing force during her sixty five year reign and the family will be trying to replicate that throughout the decade.
What are some things you would like to see throughout the 2020's?
Leave a comment below!