I hear NBC have scaled back on their coverage of the Royal Wedding because they have found out that Prince William and his future bride, Kate, are boring. Someone on the radio said that William was like the boring friend at college – I have no idea as I know very little about either of them in fact I had to look up her name just now on the Internet. When I got back from London a few people asked me if I heard much about the royal wedding when I was there – well the answer is no. I suppose there must be a lot of talk about it in the boonies and the burbs but I didn't hear any; in fact I hear more here in the USA on the radio and TV.
If it had been Prince Harry that might have been a different story; he's a more interesting character. He's a rugby playing blokey bloke and I don't care what anybody says - he looks like his father!!!!
Of course what I mean by that is that he looks like Charles. Look at the nose – it is certainly the royal hooter. If there was any doubt about his parenthood he would have been 'disappeared' at birth – haven't you read the history of the royal family and with the use of DNA these days I'm sure he's been verified.
But the big story there is that there is a national holiday next week for the royal wedding and that goes on top of the week off for Easter. So people are leaving Britain in droves this week for vacations, holidays, trips, cruises and the like and tourists are entering Britain in equally as many droves just for the wedding.
What they will see of the wedding beyond what's on TV will be very little.
But why are America – from what we see on TV – so fascinated with the royal family?
They have the wrong idea about them in any case! A lot of people I have spoken to think that Prince Charles is some kind of sissy. I won't go any further than that but he went to Gordonstoun School – I paraphrase from Wikipedea which describes it as a school based on the traditional private school ethos, modeled on Eton and Oxford, with a philosophy inspired by Plato’s The Republic and other aspects of ancient Greek history.
This is most notable in the title "Guardian", denoting the head boy and girl, the adoption of a Greek trireme (photo above) as the school's emblem, and a routine that could be described as Spartan. There is a high emphasis on militaristic discipline and physical education, particularly outdoor activities such as seamanship and mountaineering.
The school has had a reputation for harsh conditions, with cold showers and morning runs as a matter of routine, and physical punishments, known as "penalty drill" or PD, in the form of supervised runs around one's house (dormitory) or the south lawn of Gordonstoun House.
Charles called it Colditz in Kilts!!
So there we are – enjoy the royal wedding and here he is Carlos de Gales himself – the first Prince of Wales to actually speak Welsh; does he look like a sissy to you – don't answer that!!
I don't think the Royal Wedding has captured the imagination of the British public, in the way that his mother's did. I think you have to look beyond Prince Charles public immage to understand what he does that goes unreported. For instance The Prince Charles Trust that helps youngsters set themselves up in small businesses, and he does give the Trust a "hands on" guidance and interest. The QE Hospital in Birmingham, that houses the Defence Medicine Wing, that deals with all the injured from Afganistan. Prince Charles is a regular visitor, all done on the quiet and soley for the benefit of those that are injured. Prince William and his wife to be have an uphill task in front of them. Yes I am interested in them and how they cope. The interest is also selfish as it is my country's future that is entwined with their fortune.
ReplyDeleteI have no problem with Charles or the Royal Family at all particularly when you consider the alternative - President Thatcher or Blair - but when he becomes King he is supposed to be the head of the church and I don't think he has the dedication to religion that his mother does - so you never know. Also he has alternative medicine preferences.
ReplyDeleteyou forgot his tendency towards ingrowing toenails!Prince Charles is more or less in the same catergory as Edward VII, in fact Charles has just exceeded his predecessors record and is now the longest living heir apparent ever. KE VII took over from his mother Queen Victoria, even though his health was not good. Even then there was talk about him stepping aside, but our countrie's strength is continuity. I have long been an admirer of our Queen since I realised the importance of the promise she made to the people of the UK, when her father died, and she has not wavered from her words. No one can ask for more than that.
ReplyDeleteWell they both had plenty of mistresses but I don't think Camilla is a patch on Lilly Langtry.
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting from Wiki: One of Alice Keppel's great-granddaughters, Camilla Parker Bowles, became the mistress and subsequently wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, one of Edward's great-great grandsons. It was rumoured that Camilla's grandmother, Sonia Keppel (born in May 1900), was the illegitimate daughter of Edward, but she was "almost certainly" the daughter of George Keppel, whom she resembled.[25] Edward never acknowledged any illegitimate children. Alexandra is believed to have been aware of many of his affairs and to have accepted them.