The Royal Family

[Rolta]

1 hour ago, DeadlyDirk said:

That's the Royal Family for you, as mentioned by other posters, their way of life and expectations placed upon them are pretty alien to the rest of us. It's not just a cushy life without worrying if you can pay this months electricity bill, it's a 24/7, 7 Days a week, 365 Days a year, for the rest of your life job.

Is it though? This kind of thing just feels impossible. They obviously go about being treated like royalty everywhere they go, but they definitely also have loads of recreational time we don't see. The queen was meant to be riding her horses the other day. Harry was out on the lash in fancy dress. I remember Prince William came to a club when I was at uni and he was allowed to put on all of his own music. He basically took over the club (pics were in The Sun if you want to see). There are plenty of pics of Prince Andrew at parties, and he obviously hung out with Jeffrey Epstein on his private island. My point is we definitely only know a fraction of what they actually get up to, which goes for a lot of the aristocracy types. 

Now I've said all that, I think we should stop treating people like royalty. What century is this?

Edited September 9, 2022 by Rolta

[The Fun Factory]

1 hour ago, AndyM3000 said:

Such a strange thing to have to do just 24 hours after his mum died. Find the whole thing very odd.

Yes it is strange but monarchy is a strange concept itself. Charles has been waiting virtually his entire life to wait for his mum to die to get a job. And now when he is at an age when most people would like to be retired he is now embarking on the most importance part of his life.

[ccfcman]

[DeadlyDirk]

4 minutes ago, Rolta said:

Is it though? This kind of thing just feels impossible. They obviously go about being treated like royalty everywhere they go, but they definitely also have loads of recreational time we don't see. The queen was meant to be riding her horses the other day. Harry was out on the lash in fancy dress. I remember Prince William came to a club when I was at uni and he was allowed to put on all of his own music. He basically took over the club (pics were in The Sun if you want to see). There are plenty of pics of Prince Andrew at parties, and he obviously hung out with Jeffrey Epstein on his private island. My point is we definitely only know a fraction of what they actually get up to, which goes for a lot of the aristocracy types. 

Now I've said all that, I think we should stop treating people like royalty. What century is this?

I'll be honest, just realised the context isn't fully clear in my post, I was referring to the role of being the Monarch, King or Queen. When you take on that role you are that for the rest of your life. For me you have to then embody it 24/7.

[ccfcman]

50 minutes ago, Kuwabatake Sanjuro said:

A good report here for those wondering why the mourning was not universal.

It's a mindset shared by many of the UK's nearest neighbours too. There's few tears shed in Ireland. Ultimately, however ceremonial the position is, the  head of state title remains.

[The Fun Factory]

8 minutes ago, KentVillan said:

It's weird how all the right-wing tabloids will gush 365 days a year about the qualities of the British people: understatement, stiff upper lip, keeping calm and carrying on, dignity, irony.

And yet all of these things have died an unholy death, and we're absolutely humiliating ourselves with all this faux grief oneupmanship.

Why can't we just do simple stuff like one minute of silence before kick off, a nice state funeral, an extra bank holiday, flags at half mast. Instead we've got **** Ann Summers and Poundland paying tribute, digital billboards everywhere, weirdos crying in front of Buckingham Palace, everyone just scrambling over each other to be the best at being sad.

It's completely insane. (Yes, I am mainly just annoyed about the football being cancelled.)

Its because we have 24 hour news channels and interweb. Had she popped her clogs at about the same age as her dad ( that would have been about 1982)  it wouldn't be as all consuming.

[bickster]

4 minutes ago, DeadlyDirk said:

When you take on that role you are that for the rest of your life. For me you have to then embody it 24/7.

No you aren't you can quit at any time. Madge decided not to

[Demitri_C]

Charles look as old as the queen id be suprised if he survives the next ten years to be honest

[Rolta]

5 minutes ago, DeadlyDirk said:

I'll be honest, just realised the context isn't fully clear in my post, I was referring to the role of being the Monarch, King or Queen. When you take on that role you are that for the rest of your life. For me you have to then embody it 24/7.

It's a crazy concept for sure. I'd like to see a real fly on the wall un-sugar coated vision of what it's actually like. There will obviously be surprises and she did have downtime, and I wouldn't be surprised if there was more than we realise. But if course it's not like any old job and there would still be all sorts of formality around. 

[mjmooney]

Whatever the 'job' entailed, I can safely say that she did a lot more work than Boris **** ing Johnson. 

[DeadlyDirk]

3 minutes ago, bickster said:

No you aren't you can quit at any time. Madge decided not to

Only one Monarch has ever abdicated, that was Edward VIII and apparently that nearly brought down the Monarchy. The Monarch cannot simply retire, the only option is the retain the ceremonial title and delegate royal duties to the appropriate people.

There's plenty of resource online that back that up. Standing down is not an option and has only ever happened once.

[The Fun Factory]

8 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

Charles look as old as the queen id be suprised if he survives the next ten years to be honest

I think  he is fairly healthy but I think it will be little more than 10 years in the job. He would be more willing to abdicate than his mum.  All of the houses in Europe have done this. Monarchy isn't really designed for kings or queens reigning into dotage. It is going to be a stop gap reign in which the role will be significantly decreased. Kind of in line with our decline in world standings.

Edited September 9, 2022 by The Fun Factory

[KentVillan]

12 minutes ago, The Fun Factory said:

Its because we have 24 hour news channels and interweb. Had she popped her clogs at about the same age as her dad ( that would have been about 1982)  it wouldn't be as all consuming.

Yeah, you're right. I just cringe when I see a heartbreak emoji on an Instagram story, or a picture of the Queen and Prince Philip, caption, "Now you're back with your love". Grow up ffs.

[KentVillan]

Now can someone share some juvenile memes please

[mjmooney]

2 minutes ago, DeadlyDirk said:

Only one Monarch has ever abdicated, that was Edward VIII and apparently that nearly brought down the Monarchy.

Curious fact: lots of people snap up Edward VIII memorabilia - coronation mugs, etc. - thinking it must be rare. It isn't - they had loads of time to design and manufacture tons of that tat. What is rare, is the George VI stuff, as his coronation had to be done at short notice, and relatively few items were produced. 

[tonyh29]

25 minutes ago, Genie said:

I thought Charles was at his house in Birkhall which is 15 minutes from Balmoral.

the report says a chopper was despatched from Windsor to go and get him from Dumfries House in Ayrshire 

seems to be a 4 hour car journey   , time it took the chopper seemed to be only marginally quicker than had he driven it under police escort with blue lights 

 

[bickster]

11 minutes ago, DeadlyDirk said:

Standing down is not an option and has only ever happened once.

Read that back to yourself

[PaulC]

27 minutes ago, KentVillan said:

It's weird how all the right-wing tabloids will gush 365 days a year about the qualities of the British people: understatement, stiff upper lip, keeping calm and carrying on, dignity, irony.

And yet all of these things have died an unholy death, and we're absolutely humiliating ourselves with all this faux grief oneupmanship.

Why can't we just do simple stuff like one minute of silence before kick off, a nice state funeral, an extra bank holiday, flags at half mast. Instead we've got **** Ann Summers and Poundland paying tribute, digital billboards everywhere, weirdos crying in front of Buckingham Palace, everyone just scrambling over each other to be the best at being sad.

It's completely insane. (Yes, I am mainly just annoyed about the football being cancelled.)

Yes on the day of the funeral yes cancel everything but I dont why all the football has stopped this weekend. Parliament was hours or hours of eulogies for the queen. So guess they wont get anything done today. 

[DeadlyDirk]

1 minute ago, bickster said:

Read that back to yourself

Let me rephrase.... It's seen in Royal circles that Standing down is not an option, as the one time it did happen back in the 50's it almost brought down the entire Monarchy.

Happy?  

[The Fun Factory]

7 minutes ago, PaulC said:

Yes on the day of the funeral yes cancel everything but I dont why all the football has stopped this weekend. Parliament was hours or hours of eulogies for the queen.

Is that the funk band collective, or that rotting stinking building on the Thames?