Although appointed Kanpaku, Saneyori was no maternal relative of the Emperor; he wrote in his diary that he was frequently taken light of, lamented that Morosuke's children, who were the maternal uncles of the Emperor, acted dominantly, and called himself 'yomei kanpaku' (nominal Kanpaku).
実頼は関白ながら外戚ではなく、自らの日記で何かと軽んじられ、外戚伯父にあたる師輔の子たちが跳梁していることを嘆き「揚名関白（名ばかりの関白）」と称している。