Lord Frederick Windsor did not attend the Trooping of the Colour on Saturday or the Service for the Duke of Edinburgh's 90th birthday on Sunday at St. George's Chapel, Windsor. His wife, Lady Frederick, did attend both events with his parents, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent.
Lord and Lady Frederick Windsor are based in the Los Angeles, where Lady Frederick, who uses her maiden name - Sophie Winkleman - professionally as she is an actress, has been working. Lord Frederick works for J.P. Morgan. He has worked for J.P. Morgan for several years, and asked to be transferred to California. But as the transfer was to another country, Lord Frederick's benefits would change. This includes choosing health insurance plans and paid and unpaid leave. As a newer employee (just over a year), Lord Fredrick probably gets two weeks of vacation per year. He probably used some of that leave for the Royal wedding.
Here in the US, it is unusual to get two weeks at the start of the job. You accrue the time, perhaps a day per month. It is also unusual for employees to use all their vacation. According to the International Labor Organization, Americans work the most hours in the industrialized world.
We work 137 more hours per year than the Japanese. 260 more hours per year than the British and 499 more hours than the French. Yet only 57% of American workers use their vacation time.
Lord Freddie will have noticed that his American co-workers will spend more time at their jobs, work while they are on vacation -- someone has to do the job when they are away -- and do short trips or long weekends.
There are no federal laws that require employers to provide a paid vacation, and at least one fourth of U.S. employers do not offer paid vacation. In 2009, Congressman Alan Grayson (D-FL) introduced the Paid Vacation Act that would have required firms with more than 100 employees to provide one week of paid vacation after one year. The bill never got out of committee, and did not become law.
It is unlikely that Lord and Lady Frederick will stay based in California as Sophie has not yet made it in Hollywood. She came to Hollywood in the fall of 2009 to star in a new NBC comedy series, 100 Questions, but the program never truly got off the ground. Only six episodes were made, and were televised during the summer to not-so-glowing reviews and abysmal ratings.
By the way, this is just a guess. I have no idea why Lord Frederick was not present for the Trooping nor the Service of Thanksgiving.
4 comments:
I think the more burning question is "Why was Lady Frederick there when her husband was not?" They live in California and she's barely been a member of the family for a year. It seems more than a little odd to me that she would turn up without him, having to come from so far away. It's not as though they live close to London and he just happened to be away on business. She came all the way from California, seemingly without him? *scratches head*
She does not have a full time job and she could be in the country.
Oh, I count myself lucky then. Because I get 4 weeks vacation, and my company has a strict policy of not allowing employees to carry unused vacation time over to the new year. Consequently, everyone in our organization is encouraged to take their benefit time.
Maybe she was working on a new project in London and cut expenses by staying with the in-laws? Frankly I've never seen the attraction of Lord Freddie. He looks eerily like the late Duke of Clarence. I've never cared for his mother who always manages to get right behind the Queen in formal pictures so SHE is the focus not H.M. Michael is just long-suffering like his brother, I think. At least the Duchess of Kent has too much class for Prss M's tactics.
Post a Comment