Her mother hyped it as Princess Beatrice's first step in the real world. (At nineteen she has left it a bit late!). HRH Princess Beatrice Of York was going to be working in top London store, Selfridges as a personal shopper to some of it's most prestigious customers.
However, the truth does appear to be very different to what has been allowed to leak out via the newspapers. The Princess only works three hours a day and is only an assistant to the personal shoppers.
Three hours? How is that a step into reality? When I was FIFTEEN a mere four years younger then Beatrice I did all sorts of work experience, most of them being at least six hours a day.
And the fact that she was 'dressing' the customers is also tosh. She deals with a very select circle of customers and is in fact helped by store workers so not to alienate these customers. That is fair enough. You can't expect someone who dresses like Beatrice to be able to choose clothes for other people. That would at least be cruel, at worst idiotic.
What seems even more absurd also is the fact that her private detective has to follow her everywhere. So if she is looking for lingerie to suit a outfit, he goes with her. If she has to dash off to find accessories, he is in tow.
It all seems a very weird situation and one that Fergie, who has been keen to boast about Beatrice's achievement of getting a placement at Selfridges knows very little. It's designed to give Beatrice an idea of real life, but how can that be? Who is followed around by security men, how is that 'real'?
Personally I would of preferred it, and if would be more honest and far less patronising if Beatrice took a job in a exclusive boutique or in a big company where she can be locked away from the public and seen only by those in the right circles.
Saying that working three hours a day and being shadowed by a detective is giving her a sense of 'normal' life is ridiculous. And if it's true then her day to day 'royal' life must be very strange indeed.
