Oprah - anybody staying up to watch?

[Elizabeth_S]

Did any of you read these pieces in the Guardian last month
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... -democracy
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... n-petition
I thought it was all very concerning, so not really a ceremonial role.

[merseymouth]

Hi all, I don't know about it being racist but I recall a televised comment regarding Queen Salote?
She was in an open carriage during some Royal occasion or other in London. As mentioned she was a very large lady, so when in the carriage she was an imposing figure. Sitting opposite in the carriage was a very small gentleman, an equerry or such thing. The commentator mentioned her then quipped - "I think the little man is her lunch!". Very Non-PC I think? MM

[kwackers]

Hi all, I don't know about it being racist but I recall a televised comment regarding Queen Salote?
She was in an open carriage during some Royal occasion or other in London. As mentioned she was a very large lady, so when in the carriage she was an imposing figure. Sitting opposite in the carriage was a very small gentleman, an equerry or such thing. The commentator mentioned her then quipped - "I think the little man is her lunch!". Very Non-PC I think? MM

Funny though.

Sir Noel Coward is apparently credited with the remark and of course it was a thing of its time.
Loads of things don't sit well through modern eyes.

And of course one assumes it's actually true and hasn't been modified over the years...

[thirdcrank]

One of the daft things I remember from those far off days is that us raggy-trousered kids in Armleyleedstwelve ran around chanting

Thanks a lot!
Queen Salote

which seems not to have been the correct pronunciation of her name, but less sexist than our improvised line in "Lady of Spain."

I've remembered another insight into attitudes in that era, which was a film about the Commonwealth tour undertaken by "My husband and I" in 1954.

It took a bit of finding because I was searching for the original title The flight of the white heron which has since been dropped.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeaUhtcX0Bs

Colonialism in all its glory.

[sjs]

I'll state an interest, in that I was eight at the time of the coronation and it's one of the strongest memories of my primary school age childhood: over a year in preparation for the big day; conquest of Everest reported to coincide; huge outside broadcast on the actual day and crowding round somebody else's telly to see it. One of my memories is of a seemingly endless parade of Commonwealth soldiers marching to "Soldiers of the Queen." Some of that won't be from the telly but Pathé newsreels at the pictures, in the days we went more often.

One of the last events of my primary school career was to sit through what seemed many hours of the investiture of Charlie, P of W. Still stands out as among the most boring days of my life.

[Jdsk]

The other thing not to lose sight of is the Commonwealth. Largely ignored or treated as a sideshow here, it occupies more significance in many other countries. The most recent countries to join were Mozambique (1995) and Rwanda (2009). Neither country had any colonial link with Britain. Mozambique was a Portuguese colony, Rwanda was a colony of Germany, then Belgium and later had ties to France which it severed after the genocide, citing French support of the killings.

If the Commonwealth is so irrelevant, why are countries still keen to join it?

"The Queen is the head of state of 16 member states, known as the Commonwealth realms, while 33 other members are republics and 5 others have different monarchs."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Nations

I think that shows why the Commonwealth is irrelevant to a debate about the British monarchy. But it's an impressive example of countries choosing to associate.

Jonathan

[Mike Sales]

"The Queen is the head of state of 16 member states, known as the Commonwealth realms, while 33 other members are republics and 5 others have different monarchs."

I think that shows why the Commonwealth is irrelevant to a debate about the British monarchy. But it's an impressive example of countries choosing to associate.

Jonathan

Other Commonwealth countries are dropping the Queen.
This latest row is likely to help the republican cause.

Republics on the increase

Where once the Queen was the head of state for all Commonwealth countries, she now retains that role only in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and a number of smaller island nations.

These are Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, the Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea, Saint Lucia, Solomon Islands, St Kitts and Nevis, and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

The last Commonwealth country to remove the monarch as head of state was Mauritius in 1992. Buckingham Palace noted that the move by Barbados to become a republic was “not out of the blue”, having been “mooted many times”.

When Dame Sandra Mason, the Governor General of Barbados, served notice this week of the Caribbean nation’s intention to remove her employer as head of state, the response from London was careful to observe all diplomatic and constitutional niceties.

Buckingham Palace said the transition to a republic, thereby putting Dame Sandra out of a job by November next year, was entirely a matter for the Barbadians and their government.

It is a statement that could be repeated soon in other countries where Queen Elizabeth remains the official head of state, with a leading expert on the Commonwealth saying a “domino effect” could not be ruled out.

Jamaica is viewed as the most likely to be next in announcing its intention to drop the Queen and become a free-standing republic.

Pro-republican campaigners in Jamaica this week renewed their longstanding demand to select their own head of state and a poll last month showed a majority – 55 per cent – in favour of removing the Queen, with just 15 per cent saying they favoured retaining the sovereign.

https://inews.co.uk/news/world/barbados-domino-effect-removing-queen-jamaica-republic-653888

Perhaps an independent Scotland would become a republic!

[Ben@Forest]

Interesting letter in The Telegraph:

SIR – Talking to Bryony Gordon in a 2017 podcast (still available online), Prince Harry revealed his own mental health problems associated with the tragic death of his mother.

He said he would not have done anything about this had it not been for the persistence of his brother, who urged him to get professional help. He was universally praised for his openness.

Yet in the Oprah Winfrey interview, he said he would not ask members of his family for help with his mental health because there was no point.

As co-founder of a mental health initiative, Heads Together, with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, why did Prince Harry not act quickly to persuade his depressed wife that she needed treatment, and to arrange a medical appointment for her?

She would have received the same praise for seeking help that Harry had for his brave podcast. Who would have stood in her way to prevent her?

Like so much of the interview, their account doesn’t add up.

[mjr]

Interesting letter in The Telegraph:


Yet in the Oprah Winfrey interview, he said he would not ask members of his family for help with his mental health because there was no point.

Not my recollection of what he said and not quite what's in the transcript. I guess some newspapers will publish any old scat in letters. Here's some of what he actually said:

Oprah: So then did you tell other people in the family, ‘I have to get help for her. We need help for her’?

Harry: No. That’s just not a conversation that would be had.

Oprah: Why?

Harry: I guess I was ashamed of admitting it to them.

Oprah: Oh.
[...]
Harry: You know, we’ve got some very close friends that . . . that have been with us through this whole process but for the family, they very much have this mentality of, ‘This is just how it is. This is how it’s meant to be. You can’t change it. We’ve all been through it’.

Oprah: ‘We’ve all been through the pressure. We’ve all been through being exploited’?

Harry: Yes. But what was different for me was the race element, because now it wasn’t just about her, but it is about what she represents. And therefore it wasn’t just affecting my wife. It was affecting so many other people as well. And that’s . . . that was the trigger for me to really engage in those conversations with Palace . . . senior Palace staff and with my family to say, ‘Guys, this is not going to end well’.

[thirdcrank]

HRH Harry seems to be lining up some good sinecures

[mjr]

HRH Harry seems to be lining up some good sinecures

How so?

[Bonefishblues]

HRH Harry seems to be lining up some good sinecures

How so?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-56510583

[Oldjohnw]

HRH Harry seems to be lining up some good sinecures

You mean he has got himself a salaried job? Isn't that what people have been demanding?

[thirdcrank]

The reported job description for chief impact officer sounded like a sinecure to me. I've no problem with him cashing in on his celebrity - while it lasts.

[Oldjohnw]

Like too many of our politicians, you mean. Both during and post office.

I think it might be a sinecure. But I don’t mind. He is becoming self-sufficient, perhaps.