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The five worst royal quotes of 2017

Members of the Royal Family take up important positions as they represent their country. Therefore, they are expected to act dignified, diplomatic and are expected to be on their best behaviour at all times. However, not all royals succeed in this task. From time to time some royals speak up unexpectedly. This was no different in 2017. Here are the top five worst royal quotes of 2017.

5. “My wife hasn’t shown me the respect an ordinary wife should show her spouse.”
Prince Henrik of Denmark made the headlines in his country and abroad this year. Ever since Henrik became Prince Consort of Denmark, he has been talking about how dissatisfied he is with his title of Prince Consort. He feels disrespected and thinks he deserves the title of King. His collection of inappropriate statements started when he stated that he doesn’t want to be buried next to the Queen when he passes away. To make things worse, the Prince gave an interview to the Danish newspaper BT in which he complained about the way the Queen treats him. He stated the only way to make things better is if the Queen makes him King instead of Prince Consort. However a couple of weeks later, the Royal Danish House announced that Prince Henrik has dementia.

4. “Africa’s rapidly growing human population is staggering (…) [we need] to take measures now.”
In itself, this quote is not that controversial. It is a fact that at this point the population in Africa is rapidly growing. There is also not a big issue with stating that we should take measures and plan to ensure that people and animals can live together in the future. However, it was Prince William who said this at the time he and his wife are expecting their third child. It is true that the Duke and Duchess having one more child is not going to harm the planet that much, but it is the principle. To keep the human population growth rate constant, it is said that people should have 2.1 children. Many believed that if the Prince is so worried about a growing population, he could set the example himself.

3. “[The Catalonian Separatists have] a total disregard for democracy.”
King Felipe of Spain has had a tough year with the Catalonian government organising a referendum on independence and eventually proclaiming Catalonia independent. After the referendum, the King stated that the Catalonian separatists were completely irresponsible and had a total disregard for democracy. However, the King didn’t mention the police violence against the Catalonians. He also didn’t call for dialogue. He is the King of Spain, and one of his main tasks is to keep the country together. From that moment on, when he unconditionally took the side of the Spanish government without creating a space for dialogue, many saw him as not the King of all the Spaniards anymore.

2. “You are adults, and I expect you to act like adults in my courtroom.”
This was not a royal quote, but this statement was made by the judge who presided over the divorce settlement of Prince Louis and Princess Tessy of Luxembourg. At the start of the year, the Grand Ducal Court announced that the Prince and Princess were divorcing. As the couple were not able to agree on the financial settlement, the case was taken to court where things got very ugly. Prince Louis and his entourage were accused of being behind the negative press on Princess Tessy (she was branded a gold digger). Furthermore, Princess Tessy’s legal team claimed that the Prince’s team said he would drag the case on for years if Tessy did not settle soon. Prince Louis became very angry after hearing the accusations and leaned towards Tessy and angrily denied it. The precise quotes were not allowed to be published. The relations between the two have become quite bad. The judge was done hearing the fight, and he urged them to “act like adults”.

1. “It’s a pleasure to be in a country that isn’t ruled by its people.”
This is not a quote from 2017, but as he retired this year, all of his famous quotes were brought to attention once more. Known for his gaffes, Prince Philip stated this to the then Paraguay dictator General Stroessner. Some are funny; some are insulting and even borderline racist. Prince Philip can consider himself lucky being one of the most respected people in Britain as the people often forgive him for many of his statements.

About author

Laura is from Belgium and has a passion for all things royal. She is Europe Correspondent for Royal Central since October 2016 and has contributed to other news websites. In her daily life she is a fulltime student in EU-politics and political communication.