In one respect, the Duke of Edinburgh was the first millennial. Back in 1947, when he and Her Majesty tied the Windsor knot, men were very much in the ascendency.
omen were expected to know their place, which was generally assumed to be always in shadow of the keeper of the family testosterone.
The challenge facing Philip was that, while men ruled the roost, his wife was destined to rule the country.
The Netflix series The Crown has catalogued, in its own fanciful way, Philip's early struggles to deal with living in his wife's shadow. In the end, he did.
Like your average millennial male, he got over himself and got on with doing his own thing - while, at the same time, supporting his partner.
It would be fair to say that, in the Duke's case, this stemmed not so much from a passionate belief in gender equality as in a sense of duty.
That old thing.
Actually, I'm not sure that the concept of honour and duty is really as outdated as it's sometimes made out to be.
There are plenty of examples around us of people who embody service to the public. To quote Meghan (as I am always loathe to) service is universal.
The national anthem's hope that the Queen would live long has been fulfilled. But the likelihood is that, when that very much older generation of the royals - particularly Elizabeth herself - finally passes on, the relationship between the monarchy and the people will change utterly.
Charles can only ever be a stepping-stone monarch; too late to stamp his mark upon an era. And it's fair to say that he and Camilla are lacking somewhat in the stardust department.
Part of the mystique and indeed popularity of royalty is anchored in its glamour and dazzle and the fairytale fascination of it all.
Not that that always works out. Two words: Harry, Meghan.
While that pair have been riding high on the seesaw of transatlantic celebrity success, posing artfully beneath a "tree of life", plucking from its branches lucrative deals with various streaming services, William and Kate have been forced to go the other way. They've had to ground their end of the seesaw in restraint and an ever-increasing attempt at "relatability", which, in Kate's case, seems to involve an awful lot of bargain buys from H&M.
Charles used to argue that the threat to the monarchy lay in it being treated as a soap opera. Now it's facing soft-soap Oprah amid warnings that Meghan and Harry's upcoming tell-all interview will be a shocker. But if Harry's bus outing on James Corden's Late Late Show is anything to go by, it will just be more of the usual "how inspirational, caring, important and unfairly treated by the media we are".
Besides, an institution which has endured hundreds of years of wars, regicide, decapitations, in-house fighting and tabloid intrusion should be able to weather an hour-and-a-half of Californian cattiness.
So, I doubt that this alone will be the straw that breaks the corgi's back.
A bigger challenge to the institution is how our world is changing. Pandemic has upended old ways, old attitudes, old complacencies.
The Royal Family is transitioning at the same time as people are questioning everything about the way we were.
If anything, Megxit caused many people to feel outraged on behalf of, and protective towards, the elderly Queen and her consort.
The monarchy can't take it for granted that, in the years ahead, that same affection will be passed like a baton to her heirs.
EU's rollover when it comes to lotto
At the time of writing, this week's £180m Euromillions Lottery rollover draw hasn't yet taken place.
It would be lovely if somebody local won it (even lovelier if that somebody was me).
But how, I wonder, are we even allowed to do it here? How come EU bosses haven't clamped down on our access to Euromillions?
Maybe it's a trap. Maybe Ursula Von der Leyen is just waiting for the moment she can tell a UK winner they may have scooped the pot, but the bank withdrawal process is in breach of the Protocol.
Animal magic at political meetings
By perfect coincidence, a Mr Colin Pidgeon, briefing an online Stormont committee meeting this week, was interrupted when his cat deposited a live (we hope) pigeon at his feet.
Mr Pidgeon has been rightly applauded for his cool, calm rescue and release of the bird.
Could this sort of animal intrusion start a trend?
Can you imagine, for example, Nicola Sturgeon having to take time out from a meeting of the Scottish Assembly to deal with the unexpected intervention of a salmon?
DUP dogged by run of own goals
You know that thing where football teams just suddenly seem to lose it? Not just the odd game, but one game after another, gradually building to the point where the fans have had it? The DUP's a bit like that right now. Big mistakes, wee mistakes, endless gaffes. And insensitive timing, such as Sammy Wilson describing Robin Swann as a poodle. Mr Swann is much respected for his calm handling of a hellish job. Yet, how can Arlene call Sammy to heel? She once called Mr Swann's party leader a chihuahua.
