The Engagement of Prince William and Kate Middleton

[Duckster]

The Queen of England that I acknowledge:


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I suppose I am going to be extremely unpopular after this post. For this, I apologise in advance as I know that the OP expected this to be a lighthearted issue. But for me it is not a warm and fuzzy issue. A bit of background: I grew up in the UK (Scotland to be precise) and later moved away in my late teens to Canada as my father is Canadian. The rest of my extended family had left before to New Zealand and some to the USA. I come from a working class background in the UK on my mother's side and I am proud of my British background, but love of the Royal Family is not included in this and this most recent announcement frankly, and sadly, makes me relieved that I am no longer in the UK.

I absolutely detest the Royal family in principle and in every respect. Aside from the fact that I believe they are bunch of cosseted wasters who live an extremely extravagant lifestyle on the backs of the increasingly impoverished British people, if you believe that the Monarchy is a good thing essentially you are saying that you believe that hereditary privilege is a perfectly normal way for a society to function in the 21st Century. I want you to understand the bare bones of what this means politically. It means that by the mere circumstances of a persons birth - in this case a member of the Royal family - they are inherently and in principle and in essence of more value than a regular British citizen. I think people truly forget this essential core of the issue and the fact that the Americans had the right idea in 1776 because of this.


In this particular case I would like to remind everyone that these two are going to have a lavish state wedding paid for by the British taxpayer. I hope this undeserved opulence will be remembered as increasing numbers of people experience the extremely hard times that Britain is currently experiencing and as the current government makes some of the most major spending cuts seen since 1945 due to the essential collapse of the UK economy. In this regard as students in the UK are increasingly unable to enter university due to cuts in the educational budget, as the NHS is stripped of its ability to provide medical care, and as the ever increasing number of British people being made redundant will quite possibly be unable to obtain even the dole in the future, I hope they will remember how much public money is spent on the Windsors. I hear this wedding is going to cost conservatively around £ 50m to £ 70m of taxpayer money.

I thank god that fair number of Australians and some Canadians as well, are at least talking about making a move toward a republic.

Excellent post

 

[Phog Allen]

No Politics fellas!
Are you interested in the couple at hand?

If you're interested in starting a political argument, go somewhere else.

Thank you Phil.

And I will add my own thoughts. They are not political to me. Only traditionalist musings.

Even though I am die hard, independent, Republic minded American, I love the traditions of the Isles. The language in its various dialects and accents, the people I have met and worked with, and of course, proper bitter marmalade. And yes, the trappings and intrigue(only a little though) of the Royals. I do NOT follow the gossipy, what-they-are-wearing-today stuff.

I like this young couple and think the Prince handles himself pretty well. And his intended is as lovely as can be and appears quite graceful to boot. My wife loves the romantic side of things so this is big stuff for her. I wish them the best and hope this gives Old Blighty a shot of good will and national pride.

Regards, Todd

 

[Cuttingboard]

Not exactly a peer reviewed source but this:
It is in the valet's workroom that Prince Charles likes to leave personal items such as his shaving brush and razor (he still uses a safety razor), his hairbrushes and cologne.

From the Daily Mail a while back - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/a...eens-travelling-bedroom-mobile-home-home.html

This is what I like reading about.

 

[The Knize]

Are American folk much interested in this? Is anyone, anywhere interested in this?

Personally, I have fond memories of William's mohter, congratulate the couple on their engagement, and wish them every future happiness.

They seem like a lovely and delightful couple. I have sons in their 20s myself and find that I am pleased to see attractive young couples making their way in the world where I would not have paid any attention previously. But my personal situation should have little to do with Americans in general.
I think British royalty in general are the equivalent of Hollywood celecbrities over here. We do not have have our own actual royalty and on some level many Americans feel that because of history we are tied to Brit royalty culturally, or something like that. These two seem like nice symbols/representatives of good things about the UK. Although many Americans bristle a bit at the idea of citizens supporting royals' lavish exsitence.

That said, I sense I am going to be sick beyond imagining of seeing these two in the news over the next year or so. What should be the personal lives of this nice couple, in fact, have no significance to my life, and I would prefer that their lives be kept private. The whole Dinah/Charles thing was unseemly, and it did not start with the infidelities. It started with the overblown marriage stuff, at least to me.

"And thank God that I just don't care
And I guess I just don't know
And I guess I just don't know"