a bit o’ fun with the british monarchy & family

And if he deigns to come to visit them in Canada, who will carry Prince William’s throne?


Would the Canadian Secretary of State even allow Uncle Epstein Andrew to enter the country?

‘Risky pitch? Labour leadership hopeful calls for ‘referendum’ on British Royal family (VIDEO)’, 10 Jan, 2020, RT.com

“Clive Lewis — the Labour politician bidding to become Jeremy Corbyn’s successor — has suggested as part of his leadership pitch, that the British people should decide the future of the Royal family in a referendum.

Following his speech in Brixton on Friday, the Norwich South MP was asked by a reporter to give his views on the state of the monarchy, with regards to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s recent decision to “step back” from senior royal duties.

Lewis said that he respected the couple’s decision due to the press treatment that they have received, along with “the racism that Megan has experienced in the British media.” Moving on to the topic of democracy, Lewis — who is struggling to gain enough nominations from his Labour MP colleagues to get on the leadership ballot — claimed the public should have a say on the monarchy’s future.

Lewis claims there is widespread support for the Royal family to be “scaled down;” a point he reiterated later on social media, adding that he wasn’t calling for the monarchy to be abolished, but merely for the public to have a say over “their size and the money they receive.”

I say ‘Down with the Monarchy!  What say you?

(cross-posted from Café Babylon)

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edg's picture

I'm flabbergasted that there is still such a thing as "royalty" in the 21st century. And it's amusing that British taxpayers support the "royals". Maybe the 22nd century will usher in the sunset of monarchies worldwide.

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18 users have voted.
wendy davis's picture

@edg

but "the people love their Queen! they line up for hours just to see her wave (back-handed in the royal way) at them as her golden carriage rolls by!'

if the monarchy gets pustched, what would become the british national anthem, i've been wondering.

to all: suggestions?

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjLXyqD3lvI]

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edg's picture

@wendy davis

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY0WxgSXdEE]

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wendy davis's picture

@edg

but kinda unwieldy as a national anthem, eh wot? ; )

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6 users have voted.
edg's picture

@wendy davis

The US national anthem is archaic, forgettable, and extremely hard to sing even for professional singers.

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TheOtherMaven's picture

@edg

It expresses quite effectively the malignant belligerence that characterizes US foreign and domestic policy.

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4 users have voted.

There is no justice. There can be no peace.

wendy davis's picture

@TheOtherMaven

the colorado rockies baseball team's theme song.

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edg's picture

@TheOtherMaven

We will we will bomb you...

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wendy davis's picture

@edg

national anthem,after the end of the monarchy (likely never):

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9eK9fWUb3s]

no one can sing the USian anthem in key! fuck that song.

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edg's picture

@wendy davis

The pun I intended to convey was in the video's title: Queen - Another One Bites The Dust. i.e. Another queen (monarch) bites the dust.

I'll work harder on clarity in future comments.

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wendy davis's picture

@edg

sorry i was a thickwit.

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CB's picture

@edg
C'mon, lets sing along and enjoy an evening of debauchery and wine.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydAIdVKv84g]

To Anacreon in Heav'n, where he sat in full glee,
A few sons of harmony sent in a petition
That he their Inspirer and patron would be;
When this answer arriv'd from the Jolly Old Grecian
"Voice, fiddle and flute,
"no longer be mute,
"I'll lend you my name and inspire you to boot,
"And, besides, I'll instruct you, like me, to intwine
"The Myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's Vine."

(...)

Ye Sons of Anacreon, then join hand in hand;
Preserve unanimity, friendship and love!
'Tis yours to support what's so happily plann'd;
You've the sanction of Gods and the fiat of Jove.
While thus we agree
Our toast let it be:
"May our club flourish happy, united and free!
"And long may the sons of Anacreon intwine
"The Myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's Vine."

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dervish's picture

@edg far more than people realize, but most of them aren't as scandal prone as the Saxe-Coburg & Gothas, and try to keep a lower profile.

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8 users have voted.

"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."

CB's picture

"Off with their heads!"

Perhaps we can just evict them and turn the palace into a home for wayward children?

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wendy davis's picture

@CB

LMAO. how about evict them and open it to as many homeless as possible? and with free heath care, food, etc.? don't you reckon that the Royal Chirren are quite wayward enuff?

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CB's picture

@wendy davis
About 20 or so English Kings and Queens have been murdered, decapitated and/or poisoned throughout history. (Edward II was believed to have been killed in 1327 by having a red hot poker inserted up his anus.)

I suppose the British could lock Queen Elizabeth II up in the Tower of London and let her expire gracefully. There is precedent after all. It would be quite humane by historical standards and could do wonders for the lagging tourist trade.

As far as wayward sons raised in Buckingham Palace, there is a rich history we can draw upon so it's a natural that the practice should continue but in a more egalitarian manner.

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wendy davis's picture

@CB

but your final two paragraphs made me chortle aloud. thanks, i was in search of lighter fare compared to all the wars, putsches, attempts at overthroing govts afoot w/ 'made in USA and client states' fingerprints all over them.

my sleep is full of multiple nightmares recently, and i hope they are safety valves and instructive, for i've always been an active dreamer. even with classes in various brands of dream work/analysis/symbols, some have remained...enigmatic/semi-inscrutable to me.

shut up, wd; go get some rest!

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dervish's picture

@CB Isn't that what it is now?

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"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."

It's up to the UK people to decide if they want to support them or not. Not Americans.
It's also up to them if the want to be called "the United Kingdom" "Britain" "CeltLand" or anything else. Since the United Kingdom was united by force, there should also be votes on ScotExit, IrishExit, WelshExit. Not sure about JerseyExit.

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

wendy davis's picture

@The Voice In the Wilderness

you read. of course the Queen has power; ask Boris Johnson! she allowed him to delay Brexit for weeks in her most recent Queen's Speech. they all have the Power of the Pound as well, as well as ungawdly influence as royalty.

well, JerseyExit means you must have a funny bone in there somewhere... ; )

on edit: the Queen also has the power to accept of reject a government, or a coalition of parties, iirc.

one of finest films i ever watched was michael kitchen as (a fictional) king deciding to go activist for the People! whoosh, did he get a hella lotta pushback.

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earthling1's picture

@The Voice In the Wilderness
it may just become "The Kingdom of Britain" anyway.

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

dervish's picture

@earthling1 Wessex, Mercian or Northumbrian separatists rise again, maybe it'll fragment further, as different regions want to rejoin Europe.

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8 users have voted.

"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."

@dervish
He was born in London. He told me his four grandparents were:
paternal grandfather - City English
paternal grandmother - Italian
maternal grandfather - Country English
maternal grandmother - Jewish

He assured me that City English and Country English are two separate ethnic groups.

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

@The Voice In the Wilderness about city English or country English, but it is my understanding that England (Angleland) is mostly Anglo Saxon (German)due to the Bretons (Celtic) being driven out by Romans and then the Angles and Saxons. While Scotland, Ireland and Wales were not invaded or conquered on the same level and are still predominantly Celtic and are part of The Celtic Nations along with Brittany, Isle of Man and Cornwall.

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@pro left
that analyzed the UK genetically. It's conclusion was that despite liberal helpings of Roman, French, German, Scandinavian (York) et al the majority of English genes are Celtic.
Which reminds me of our 23andme results. I was startled to see my wife as 10% Irish because we had traced her family back 150 years and there were no Irish names. I googled about this and found a site that said that 10% of the ancestry of all modern Norwegians is 10% Irish, because of all the Irish slaves the Vikings brought back. I think it was the Faroe islands that are 90% Irish because for centuries it was a major slave market. Lots of people don't realize that slavery had a long history in Europe before the African slave trade. I have a 0.1% West African genetic background. It could come from anywhere but I do know that Sicily was a major stop (actually a holding area) in the Roman slave trade. The other likely possibility is via the Arab Muslim rule of Sicily. But then the genes would have mostly come from Ethiopia, not West Africa.

I read in the Chicago Tribune once about the black descendants of Thomas Jefferson and how some branches cross3ed the color line several times back and forth. I wonder how many Southern racists are black themselves by their one drop rule?

EDIT: My wife is also 0.1% East Asian. I mentioned that to her brother and he immediately said, "Vikings were in Russia."

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9 users have voted.

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Raggedy Ann's picture

watching either Victoria or The Crown, I think about how outdated it is in the 21st century. It had its place but that ended in the 1900’s.

I’m happy to see what’s happening. Maybe reality will set in with the people how useless the monarchy is.

Pleasantry

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"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

wendy davis's picture

@Raggedy Ann

downsizing, etc., but i did grab his tweet, and a few below were far more radical about ending the useless, outdated monarchy. you may be able to read the subtweets if you click this to stand alone.

but on twitter, he does speak about the non-democracy in the UK.

ha! he retweeted this from none other than billy bragg:

@billybragg · Jan 10

'Labour were once the party of devolution, unafraid of tackling constitutional reform. @labourlewis is the only leadership candidate willing to grasp that nettle now as a means of restoring agency to working people. It's vital that he gets onto the ballot.'

yeppers, clicking on it works.

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@Raggedy Ann
WW I so disrupted both the economy and the social structure (lots of Barons died leading useless charges against machine guns/artillery). Some claim the aristocracy died at Gallipoli.

The Great war effectively ended the British Empire, the French Empire, the German Empire, the Austrian Empire, the Russian Empire, and the Turkish Empire (leading to today's middle eastern mess). I think the first two formally died after WW II, but were on life support.

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13 users have voted.

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

edg's picture

@The Voice In the Wilderness

The Great War launched the American Empire, which is still busily seeking to expand and rule the world. The sun never sets on the American Empire. Or at least its troops, which are stationed in over 150 countries.

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@edg
But it wasn't solidified until WW II based on two things.
A short lived nuclear monopoly and being the only major Nation that hadn't been bombed into rubble.

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9 users have voted.

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Corporate CEO's are today's kings.

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wendy davis's picture

@davidgmillsatty

'inverted totalitarianism' or government rule by and for corporations (sheldon wolin), especially if one factors in the weapons of war corporations. raytheon, dycorp, lockheed martin, boeing, and so on.

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Hawkfish's picture

That they opposed the monarchy because they oppose all forms of indentured servitude.

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We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg

wendy davis's picture

@Hawkfish

mirrored a number of times in the subtweets under mill's original tweet. quite a food fight: why give them millions for nothing? why not open the palace to the homeless? They should have been abolished years ago. I want to be free. I do not want to be a subject I do not accept subjugation.

and along the way, this fascinating tidbit:

for me, the photo of william's throne being carried on a litter makes a prima facie case for ending the monarchy.

i'd found a prince harry-busting photo of harry just having killed a water buffalo in argentina at some giant spread owned by some elite or other at one of the british online new sites, but it was huge and secret news as he was slated (or already had) taken his place as president of the board of an african wildlife preservation board. so there were photos of harry Saving the Rhinos and Elephants!

but sure, contributions to that organization would have increased mightily with his name attached. that stuff must be why lots of folks had said they work hard for their money...beats me.

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wendy davis's picture

although the buzz was they're headed for canuckistan:

‘Independent’ Royals… really? Why don’t Harry & Meghan go all the way and quit the family?’, 9 Jan, 2020, RT.com, jan 9, dublin based Barbara McCarthy a couple outtakes:

“You can’t really blame them for wanting to fly the nest – or in their case, their gilded, perpetually ridiculed cage, surrounded by stuffy tradition, granny, grandad, a cohort of toffee-nosed family members and scandalous Prince (Epstein) Andrew.

Let them be free of royal burdens, while paying their own way, finding their feet in the land of opportunity.

Oh no, wait – they want to cherry pick from their privileged bubble. It's like when you go to a fancy buffet: We'll keep the titles and Frogmore cottage, the couple's official residence, which cost £2.4 million of public funding to do up last year, and keep the income from the Duchy of Cornwall, Prince Charles' private estate, but we want privacy when it suits and will avail of security on royal business, which will also be paid for by taxpayers.

The couple will kindly be giving up a slice of the Queen's Sovereign Grant, a payment they get for official duties, which covers the upkeep of their home. But they'll be doing fewer duties, so that's fair enough. It's as independent as Marie Antoinette creating the peasant village of Hameau de la Reine in 1783.

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@wendy davis Meghan and spouse, royal or ex-royal, can resettle in the USA where they won't get nearly as much publicity as they do in Britain. She can hang out with her celebrity friends in NYC and LA. He, I understand, never did want to leave the military, that being his calling. Surely Eric Prince could find something for him to do. In return, the Brits find some well-healed bloke with a title to take the Eurotrash Barbie off our hands. The guy she married for his money is getting to be a bit of an embarrassment; she must be about ready to trade him in for a title.

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Mary Bennett

wendy davis's picture

@Nastarana

er...which new title: Disney Queen? but po' harry won't have no 'walkin' around money. will she?

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janis b's picture

from a kiwi perspective ...

“Ok Millennial” – why the Palace drama drama is a delightful new front in the generation war

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wendy davis's picture

@janis b

but your link goes to Page Not Found. can you try to find it again, janis b?

oh, and i finally found a way to contribute my crap photo of our resident immature red fox. still can't get into my flickr account; none of their hints work, two even went to same error messages above. #what.a.place.

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janis b's picture

@wendy davis

Does this link work?

https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2020/01/11/ok-millennial-why-the-palace-drama...

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wendy davis's picture

@janis b

the flip side of the coin; and while there are too many worthy passages to quote, i'll go w/ her finale (and dayum; i'd forgotten to look if there were comments):

"Personally I don’t care about any of it, they could all go join ISIS for all I care and I still couldn’t give a toss, but watching the self-righteous justifications and grand pronouncements on why Meghan has every right to pack up her bags and walk because her privileged existence makes demands on her reminds me that Western culture has become so soft and weak that the simple idea of obligation and duty are too much and require a trigger free safe space with emotional support peacocks.

The sacrifices the Queen made in the face of fascism built a life long dedication to public service, that’s an obligation the Instagram Influencer generation only reserve for their biggest paid sponsor and best free products.

God Save the Queen because Millennials won’t.

thanks a zillion, and i'll try to remember to go back on your thread.

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janis b's picture

@wendy davis

even when he goes over the top at times. He was banned from National Radio several years ago, where I first heard him, as too controversial for public consumption. The comments are well worth reading.

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wendy davis's picture

@janis b

Queen of the kiwis, too, i'll look at the comments soon.

this is purdy funny, though. RT.com has a piece up about miz markle sussex having penned a deal with disney hollywood voice-over work before they'd decided to #Megexit, as the new hashtg goes. but i loved this bit:

Markle and her husband have also filed to trademark the phrase ‘Sussex Royal,’ which suggests that, though they are not going to be performing royal duties, they will still benefit from their titles.

the guardian says there's to be a major confab w/ all the players to work things out at the queen's house on monday in their 'Prince William: Harry and I are now separate entities ; ‘I’ve put my arm around my brother all our lives and I can’t do that any more,’ prince says'.

they really are a bleeping mess, aren't they? "Will the Queen Stand by Prince (Epstein) Andrew?" tabloids: "she gave him his walking papers, sources say..."

thanks, janis. this thread was just what the doctor ordered for me. frustrating dreams, but no nightmares.

on later edit: jeezum crow, the comments were illuminating, especially snow white's. kiwis funding the clinton foundation to the tune of 5.5 million? duchess markle lying about her college grants, etc.? on and on. glad i read them. harry's crap grades and no Firsts? and cheating? oh, my....

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They have great weddings and souvenir cups and plates and stuff. I say we trade them for the the Bush clan, the Kardasians, Bezos and Zuckerberg and a copy of the Pee Tape.

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@Snode

if we are going to have an aristocracy, that it pronounce itself unequivocally as what it is.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

wendy davis's picture

@Snode

loaded w/ party gift bag bling, too!

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dystopian's picture

@Snode ROFLMAO Snode! Yeah man, those plates, and all those cool coats of arms... We can add Bill Gates, Peter Palantir Thiel, and Eric google Schimdt can't we? Or do you think that would screw the deal?

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6 users have voted.

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein

@dystopian Cheryl Sandberg and Chelsea Clinton, and we get a copy of the BBC catalog and all the Laddettes they can spare and it's a deal.

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boriscleto's picture

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" In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry, and is generally considered to have been a bad move. -- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy "

wendy davis's picture

@boriscleto

them dudes had some huevos!

“God Save the Queen” is a song by the English punk rock band Sex Pistols. It was released as the band’s second single and was featured on their only studio album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols. The song was released during Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee in 1977. The record’s lyrics, as well as the cover, were controversial at the time, and both the BBC and the Independent Broadcasting Authority refused to play the song.

(from genius lyrics):

God save the queen, the fascist regime
They made you a moron, potential H-bomb
God save the queen, she ain't no human being
There is no future in England's dreaming
Don't be told what you want, don't be told what you need
There's no future, no future, no future for you...

oh, my; thank you, boriscleto! (whatever a boriscleto is...)

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Bollox Ref's picture

is that a family of three can't make do with some £30,000,000.00 in the bank, to live the private life they supposedly want.

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11 users have voted.

Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.

janis b's picture

@Bollox Ref

that all that money and notoriety can't buy peace and quiet in a world of no privacy and constant drama.

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wendy davis's picture

@Bollox Ref

wrapped in an enigma, and tied up with a gordian knot. guess ya gotta be one to know...

(side note: i'm not even able to read what that figure with a dozen zeroes implies)

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wendy davis's picture

thank you all for playing, and especially for the many laughs! i needed them in the worst sort of way. my guess is that i might not have night terrors tonight.

as a closing song (maybe the post-monarchy national anthem?) i'll go with billy bragg again:

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbddqXib814]

the UK woody guthrie?

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