American Living in London for 12 Years: AMA

[Anonymous]

Have you watched Catastrophe? I think intercultural relationships are interesting and that there's not enough of them in the media,

[Anonymous]

Is there still any kind of British aristocracy? Do they keep to themselves or do they mingle with everyone else?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there still any kind of British aristocracy? Do they keep to themselves or do they mingle with everyone else?

NP - yes, and yes, they keep to themselves. They are very invisible but still own a substantial portion of the country's acreage.

[Anonymous]

What do YOU think of Meghan and Harry’s fiasco? And what do most others think?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there still any kind of British aristocracy? Do they keep to themselves or do they mingle with everyone else?

NP - yes, and yes, they keep to themselves. They are very invisible but still own a substantial portion of the country's acreage.

Who are they? Do they have jobs?

[Anonymous]

What a riveting AMA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there still any kind of British aristocracy? Do they keep to themselves or do they mingle with everyone else?

NP - yes, and yes, they keep to themselves. They are very invisible but still own a substantial portion of the country's acreage.

Who are they? Do they have jobs?[/quote]


Person who originally asked this question. I'm aware that there are still people in Britain who have titles, but does it really mean anything? Do they still live in manors and have boatloads of servants? Do non titled people treat them with deference? Do they work alongside non-aristocrats, or do they still have their own very exclusive world?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am assuming your children attend independent schools. How are the fees compared to Sidwell?

Do you have private health insurance?

Do you employ Polish or Slovakians as household help?

I’m sure OP will answer, but generally UK independent schools are MUCH cheaper than in the US.

Take Thomas’s Battersea for example, which is the school little Prince George attends. The fees are something like 6,500 pounds a year. They go up to 7,200 when the kid is 8-13 years old.

https://www.thomas-s.co.uk/our-schools/battersea/admissions/fees-and-bursaries

I have to point out that these fees are per term, not per year. There are three terms in a year. So triple that amount.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there still any kind of British aristocracy? Do they keep to themselves or do they mingle with everyone else?

NP - yes, and yes, they keep to themselves. They are very invisible but still own a substantial portion of the country's acreage.

Who are they? Do they have jobs?

The previous NP: Who are they? The landed aristocracy and gentry. Google them if you want. They don't have the dominant hold over the country as in the past but they still exist as a class and landowining force.

https://eastnorcastle.com/about/

http://www.tissingtonhall.co.uk/about.html

https://www.chatsworth.org/about-chatsworth/history-of-chatsworth/

https://www.kneppestate.co.uk/

If you're really keen on the minor landed gentry, this is a great website: https://handedon.wordpress.com/

Do they have jobs? Sure. The estates almost always passes from oldest son to oldest son (although changing somewhat these days). The younger children go off to fend for themselves in the professions or creative industries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there still any kind of British aristocracy? Do they keep to themselves or do they mingle with everyone else?

NP - yes, and yes, they keep to themselves. They are very invisible but still own a substantial portion of the country's acreage.

Who are they? Do they have jobs?

The previous NP: Who are they? The landed aristocracy and gentry. Google them if you want. They don't have the dominant hold over the country as in the past but they still exist as a class and landowining force.

https://eastnorcastle.com/about/

http://www.tissingtonhall.co.uk/about.html

https://www.chatsworth.org/about-chatsworth/history-of-chatsworth/

https://www.kneppestate.co.uk/

If you're really keen on the minor landed gentry, this is a great website: https://handedon.wordpress.com/

Do they have jobs? Sure. The estates almost always passes from oldest son to oldest son (although changing somewhat these days). The younger children go off to fend for themselves in the professions or creative industries.

But when they do go work, how do they interact with their professional peers who are not part of the aristocracy. Do their coworkers refer to them as my Lord, when addressing them? Does anyone still refer to them as my Lord?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am assuming your children attend independent schools. How are the fees compared to Sidwell?

Do you have private health insurance?

Do you employ Polish or Slovakians as household help?

I’m sure OP will answer, but generally UK independent schools are MUCH cheaper than in the US.

Take Thomas’s Battersea for example, which is the school little Prince George attends. The fees are something like 6,500 pounds a year. They go up to 7,200 when the kid is 8-13 years old.

https://www.thomas-s.co.uk/our-schools/battersea/admissions/fees-and-bursaries

I have to point out that these fees are per term, not per year. There are three terms in a year. So triple that amount.

Ok. Still. So that's about $25,000/year for the younger kids and $27,000 for the older kids. Still way less expensive than the top private schools here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am assuming your children attend independent schools. How are the fees compared to Sidwell?

Do you have private health insurance?

Do you employ Polish or Slovakians as household help?

I’m sure OP will answer, but generally UK independent schools are MUCH cheaper than in the US.

Take Thomas’s Battersea for example, which is the school little Prince George attends. The fees are something like 6,500 pounds a year. They go up to 7,200 when the kid is 8-13 years old.

https://www.thomas-s.co.uk/our-schools/battersea/admissions/fees-and-bursaries

I have to point out that these fees are per term, not per year. There are three terms in a year. So triple that amount.

Ok. Still. So that's about $25,000/year for the younger kids and $27,000 for the older kids. Still way less expensive than the top private schools here.

Yes, but what are the unwritten rules for who gets in? I imagine they use some pretty selective/judgemental criteria for admission of students - no matter their family income.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there still any kind of British aristocracy? Do they keep to themselves or do they mingle with everyone else?

NP - yes, and yes, they keep to themselves. They are very invisible but still own a substantial portion of the country's acreage.

Who are they? Do they have jobs?

The previous NP: Who are they? The landed aristocracy and gentry. Google them if you want. They don't have the dominant hold over the country as in the past but they still exist as a class and landowining force.

https://eastnorcastle.com/about/

http://www.tissingtonhall.co.uk/about.html

https://www.chatsworth.org/about-chatsworth/history-of-chatsworth/

https://www.kneppestate.co.uk/

If you're really keen on the minor landed gentry, this is a great website: https://handedon.wordpress.com/

Do they have jobs? Sure. The estates almost always passes from oldest son to oldest son (although changing somewhat these days). The younger children go off to fend for themselves in the professions or creative industries.

But when they do go work, how do they interact with their professional peers who are not part of the aristocracy. Do their coworkers refer to them as my Lord, when addressing them? Does anyone still refer to them as my Lord?

Brit here. I've worked with and am friends with a few of these people - Honourables, and some Lords. They never use their titles, and everyone just calls them Nick or Will or whatever. You'll only see their titles if their name is written on the programme for an event or something like that. Similar to how you might have Mr Blob written on your placecard at an event (they'd have Lord Blob), but you would never introduce yourself as Mr Blob, you'd say "I'm Joe Blob". Lord Blob would also say "I'm Joe Blob".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am assuming your children attend independent schools. How are the fees compared to Sidwell?

Do you have private health insurance?

Do you employ Polish or Slovakians as household help?

I’m sure OP will answer, but generally UK independent schools are MUCH cheaper than in the US.

Take Thomas’s Battersea for example, which is the school little Prince George attends. The fees are something like 6,500 pounds a year. They go up to 7,200 when the kid is 8-13 years old.

https://www.thomas-s.co.uk/our-schools/battersea/admissions/fees-and-bursaries

I have to point out that these fees are per term, not per year. There are three terms in a year. So triple that amount.

Ok. Still. So that's about $25,000/year for the younger kids and $27,000 for the older kids. Still way less expensive than the top private schools here.

Yes, but what are the unwritten rules for who gets in? I imagine they use some pretty selective/judgemental criteria for admission of students - no matter their family income.

Brit here again. For some of these schools you need to put your child's name down when you're pregnant or as soon as they are born. But I've read the private school threads on this board and I wouldn't say that it's any easier getting into schools here!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am assuming your children attend independent schools. How are the fees compared to Sidwell?

Do you have private health insurance?

Do you employ Polish or Slovakians as household help?

I’m sure OP will answer, but generally UK independent schools are MUCH cheaper than in the US.

Take Thomas’s Battersea for example, which is the school little Prince George attends. The fees are something like 6,500 pounds a year. They go up to 7,200 when the kid is 8-13 years old.

https://www.thomas-s.co.uk/our-schools/battersea/admissions/fees-and-bursaries

I have to point out that these fees are per term, not per year. There are three terms in a year. So triple that amount.

Ok. Still. So that's about $25,000/year for the younger kids and $27,000 for the older kids. Still way less expensive than the top private schools here.

Yes, but what are the unwritten rules for who gets in? I imagine they use some pretty selective/judgemental criteria for admission of students - no matter their family income.

Brit here again. For some of these schools you need to put your child's name down when you're pregnant or as soon as they are born. But I've read the private school threads on this board and I wouldn't say that it's any easier getting into schools here!

Interesting. Yeah, I mean it's interesting to me that the fees are so much lower than here. Why do you think that is? Is it purely just what the US market has come to tolerate, or is there something else going on?