Prince George turns eight years old tomorrow and, per tradition, his parents have released a new portrait ahead of his big day.
The photo, as usual, was taken by Kate, and shows G sitting on a Land Rover, a tribute to his late great-grandfather, Prince Philip. Big G was at Anmer Hall, the unofficial family seat of House Cambridge where the family spends much of their time. As you can see, more and more, Big G looks like his dad. That smile! It’s almost exactly like Prince William when he was a child.
Curious to see how tall Big G will get, especially since his parents are both quite tall. He looked tall to me when he attended Euro a couple of weeks ago standing between Will and Kate. Not that I’m an expert on the average eight-year-old’s height, but he cleared the railing by a significant margin. When I was eight that bar would have been at eye level for me, lol.
Taking it away from G’s birthday though, can we talk about the Land Rover? The Land Rover has been mentioned a lot lately in association with the British royal family. And it’s been a long association. CNN published a piece about Land Rover’s relationship with the British monarchy back in 2016.
“…the royal relationship with the brand goes back to 1948. It was then that the Queen's father, King George VI, was presented with the 100th production Land Rover. As marketing ploys go, it was a work of genius, because it gave Land Rover the kind of exposure that money can't buy.”
Jaguar and Land Rover are the “only automotive manufacturers to hold all three Royal Warrants from Her Majesty The Queen, His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh and His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales”.
What’s a Royal Warrant? Per the website:
“Royal Warrants of Appointment are a mark of recognition to those who supply goods and services to the households of HM The Queen, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, or HRH The Prince of Wales.”
These were established decades ago, and yes, it was a different time, but in today’s terms, by today’s standards, you know what we call them? Brand partnerships. A super f-cking fancy brand partnership, but a partnership all the same. When Land Rover is getting namechecked at a royal briefing out of Kensington Palace about the birthday portraits, it’s a reminder that, yes, the brand and the family have a longstanding, meaningful connection – a connection between two institutions that both gain from the relationship.
The point? They’re influencers, the British royal family are the OG influencers. Their deals are printed on the classiest scrolls and stamped with royal seals and sh-t, but at the core of it all, the members of this establishment are influencers who licence their status for business purposes. They may be more selective about it, but the practice is the same. And I’ll just leave that there for you to think about how this relates and applies to other conversations.
