September 8, 2014
"Congratulations & best wishes to the Earl & Countess of Strathearn."
Tweeted the Scottish prime minister, Alex Salmond, using the Scottish titles for Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge (Kate Middleton), who've just announced the expected birth of their second child. Salmond is in the process of campaigning for Scotland's independence.
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The only advantage a vestigial system of aristocracy gives a society is a wealth of opportunities for snark.
This is the first time I ever blogged about Prince William. Had to make a tag for him. Had blogged about Kate a few times and also had a tag for Prince Harry.
Prince William is a bit boring. Good for him. I hope he never does anything wrong and blandly continues in the path that was preordained for him. It's the best choice, no?
It's the best choice, no?
I wonder. Too many people in Britain are ashamed of being British, or at least that is how it has seemed to me for years. The horrible events in South Yorkshire only reinforce that impression.
Maybe what England needs (The Scots may be too far gone at the moment; they tend to be that way from time to time.) is a monarch who can inspire some basic, rock-ribbed pride in the average work-a-day Jack and Jill. Elizabeth has been the very quintessence of bland these 60-odd years -- dogs and horses and ceremony have been her life. But there more to kingship than that, even in a 21st century constitutional monarchy.
William may not have it in him. But he does have a younger brother who might be able to help a future William V make the right moves, say the right things. Elizabeth didn't have the advantage her son and heir has in his brother. Sister Margaret, like her nephew the reigning Prince of Wales, inherited the Hanoverian brain -- a organ that seems human but lacks a few of the higher functions that make humans generally preferable to chimpanzees. Harry and Will are each at least half a Spencer, which means that the Marlborough dash may well be there. Harry definitely has it. Will may have some too.
Much of the immediate attention focused on the duchess’s ability to fulfill her royal duties, including a trip to the Mediterranean island of Malta that is scheduled in less than two weeks, which would be her first official overseas visit without her husband.
No offense lads, and I wish Kate well, but she already is fulfilling her royal duties very well thank you :)
an heir and a spare in 2 years.
Oh what I goof! I forgot Price Charles is Will's dad. I stupidly called Prince William the heir. Wishful thinking run amok I suppose.
Allow me to re-compose that second paragraph:
William may not have it in him. But he does have a younger brother who might be able to help a future William V make the right moves, say the right things. Elizabeth didn't have the advantage her grandson has in his brother. Sister Margaret, like her nephew the reigning Prince of Wales, inherited the Hanoverian brain -- a organ that seems human but lacks a few of the higher functions that make humans generally preferable to chimpanzees. Harry and Will are each at least half a Spencer, which means that the Marlborough dash may well be there. Harry definitely has it. Will may have some too.
So sorry. At least I caught my own mistake. That counts, doesn't it?
Prince Charles at age 65 may be expected to live another 20 years, his mother may be expected to live another 7 years. That's a lot of bland living.
Will the United Kingdom still want the monarchy in 2034? Will the other Commonwealth realms, such as Canada?
And what of Scotland? The Daily Mail reports: "The Queen, who is thought to strongly favour the Union, will be in Scotland on September 18 – the day it could vote to break away from the rest of the UK."
Ah, Scotland! Should they go "independent" they will have removed the bulk of the liberal MPs from the parliament of the UK. It would be a long time before another Labour government reigned in England.
The Scots have talked themselves into thinking that the North Sea oil drives the economy of the whole of Britain while in truth it is a diminishing asset that is not enough to run Scotland, especially since the rights to the oil do not reside exclusively in Scotland. That and the small matter of not having a treasury or a currency of their own make the Scots incredibly vulnerable. They seem to think England will go along with them keeping the GBP after "independence" but fail to note that once "independent" they are a foreign country and cooperation is not required.
Like a woman seeking a divorce they wish to go their own way but keep using the checkbook and credit cards
Funny. I dreamt Kate offered me a job last night. I said yes, then said wait, what about salary and benefits and she said, "whatever you want."
I think William and Catherine are near perfect. He had more than enough drama when his mother was alive. He is very close with Prince Philip and I think he is following his grandparent's footsteps, not his parent's. The Spencers are a mess.
It is very different to grow up as the heir presumptive than the spare like Harry. Harry has a lot more freedom and has had embarrassing moments. I don't think William would even consider, for example, strip poker.
William is also very lucky in his wife and her family.
I am an unapologetic anglophile. I don't consume everything about the royals, but I do love them. I wish them the best. My mother's ancestry is from Derbyshire.
Kind of sad that soon, Scotland may secede.
A great book is Rick Atkinson's "The Guns at Last Light." My favorite bit is about Churchill, standing amid a demolished Rhine bridge during Operation Varsity. American officers were concerned for his safety, and demanded he return. Churchill "put both arms around one of the twisted girders of the bridge and looked over his shoulder, with pouting mouth and angry eyes."
Scotland's secession is pretty much perfect.
1. An amputation of leftist political power in parliament, as well as removal of a large bloc of pro-EU constituencies.
2. A precedent of the peaceful dissolution of a state based on the wishes of the citizenry. Popular secession, baby!
3. The reestablishment of the idea of the nation state along homogeneous ethnic and cultural lines.
4. Undermining the Tories while massively cutting Labour. Couldn't happen to better groups.
For the 'price' of letting Scotland belong to the Scots, with a bit of luck we can start reclaiming England for the English, return national sovereignty to the nation and not to some well-heeled parasites in Brussels. Eliminate the multiculti left from being a player in national discourse and start grilling the conservatives to take a pride in the heritage and culture it's supposed to be conserving!
Now sure, it will probably take a few more ladies and soldiers beheaded and not a few thousand little girls raped at the hands of immigrants who are only seeking a better life... maybe a couple of bus bombs and a larger segment of British Muslims declaring loyalty to ISIS than the British army... but hey, it's a start!
Churchill "put both arms around one of the twisted girders of the bridge and looked over his shoulder, with pouting mouth and angry eyes."
my favorite Churchill line is similiar
"There is nothing more exhilarating than being shot at and missed"
don't recall if that was Leftenant Churchill in the Madhi Uprising or Journalist Churchill in the Boer War...
Elizabeth, the Queen Mum was my fav. Though all the royals did good service in wartime.
Elizabeth publicly refused to leave London or send the children to Canada, even during the Blitz, when she was advised by the Cabinet to do so. She declared, "The children won't go without me. I won't leave the King. And the King will never leave."[
Queen Elizabeth waved at my Dad once. (Well, she was a Princess at the time). This was during WWII, Dad was stationed in England.
I read that Kate had wretched morning sickness last time, and this time too, so pregnancy is not easy for her. I wish her a speedy 9 months and a healthy child.
I think I'm related to all of them, from about 15 or 20 generations ago.
Re Churchill and the Rhine ...
I was waiting for the reference to WSC urinating in the Rhine:
Most famously, General George S. Patton relieved himself in the Rhine on March 24, 1945—and made sure he was photographed doing so. Patton later recalled: “I drove to the Rhine River and went across on the pontoon bridge. I stopped in the middle to take a piss and then picked up some dirt on the far side in emulation of William the Conqueror.” (At the time, actually, Patton was less concerned with emulating William the Conqueror and more worried about finishing off the enemy. Later that day he sent a communiqué to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, in command of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force: “Dear SHAEF, I have just pissed into the Rhine River. For God’s sake, send some gasoline.”)
It wasn’t just American generals who seemed preoccupied with pissing back in 1945. Three weeks earlier, Winston Churchill had visited the front lines near Jülich. Churchill had long dreamed of urinating on Hitler’s much-vaunted Siegfried Line to show his contempt for Hitler and Nazism. Unlike Patton, Churchill forbade photographs of the occasion. But General Alan Brooke, chief of the Imperial General Staff, who was with Churchill that day, later wrote: “I shall never forget the childish grin of intense satisfaction that spread all over his face as he looked down at the critical moment.”
http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/men-war_616727.html
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