September 30, 2018

"The Queen's first openly gay footman has stood down after reportedly being demoted for 'courting publicity.'"

The Daily Mail reports. What a fantastic job:
Ollie Roberts, 21, was required to accompany Her Majesty on all her carriage rides and carry out other duties like collecting her mail at Buckingham Palace and walking the Corgis.
But you're not allowed to call attention to yourself in this fantastic job!
The former airman was told he would be bumped down to an ordinary footman after the palace became concerned about his increasingly high profile, with several articles in gay publications.

34 comments:

Laslo Spatula said...

"But you're not allowed to call attention to yourself in this this fantastic job!"

Well, that IS kinda part of the job.

The Bodyguard only gets a starring role when he is Kevin Costner.

I am Laslo.

Fernandinande said...

bumped down to an ordinary footman

That's a big demotion from "openly gay footman".

gspencer said...

"The former airman was told he would be bumped down to an ordinary footman"

Still a pretty good "position" in the alternative lifestyle community.

tcrosse said...

Wait until they have to deal with an openly gay heir to the throne.

buwaya said...

Yes that is part of the job.
It is after all a bit of theater.
Anonymity is essential to the role.

Its like an opera, it would not suit if a spear-carrier attracted attention away from the soprano.

It would be pretty funny actually.

gilbar said...

if a openly straight footman courted publicity, and was demoted for that; would we ever hear of it?

If a tree fell in the woods, and it wasn't a media protected minority; would it make a sound?

FIDO said...

No, you are not.

She hired him to be her footman, not her Drama Queen.

MadisonMan said...

When you work for Her Royal Majesty the Queen, "Look at Me! Look at Me! Look at Me!" takes a definite back seat to "Look at Her! Look at Her! Look at Her!"

FIDO said...


Wait until they have to deal with an openly gay heir to the throne.


Well, Prince Charles openly outed himself when he married that man...


(Whisper whisper)


What? A woman? Have you SEEN him?


(Whisper Whisper)


Camilla? Look, he clearly dresses like a drag queen.


(WHISPER!)


Okay, okay...if you say so. Prince Charles, despite all evidence to the contrary, did NOT marry a man, but he clearly outed himself as a handicapable blind heir to the throne. Satisfied?


(Whisper)

Etienne said...

Uppity is bad in class based society. There's no in-between.

We could have had that in America if it wasn't for the terrorist overthrow of the government.

FIDO said...

One does NOT throw shade on the Queen of England.

Etienne said...

Bottom line: his shoes were better than her shoes.

Darrell said...

There's only room for one queen at a time. . .

gilbar said...

i think Darrell just won

Drago said...

We can make fun of this guy for being gay now, right?

Or did the liberal/left rotate the dial back to Can't Gay-bait right after SNL last night?

Perhaps Althouse could implement a device, like the doomsday clock or forest fires likelihood scheme, that would provide clues about the on again off again societal approval of such.

Thanks in advance.

Dude1394 said...

Good, no one cares to hear who you are boffing. Especially your employer.

robother said...

"Footman" is a vestige of a time when positions around the monarch were filled by those indulging in a particular fetish. Cromwell and the Puritans must've overlooked this one.

rehajm said...

Must be running out of first openly gay things. Footman is a bit obscure.

Big Mike said...

It’s never been a secret that the royal family’s support staff, going back to the present queen’s grandfather’s day, at least. “Confirmed bachelor” was the wink-wink, nudge-nudge back in the day IIRC. The royal family has never cared, provided they do their job and are discrete. This guy forgot about the “discrete” part of the job description.

JaimeRoberto said...

I think being a royal or being in their sphere would be horrible because you can't be yourself and always have to put on a show. This is just one more example.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

How would anyone know his sexual preferences unless he made a BFD out of it? He has an insignificant bit part in one of history’s longest show biz productions. When he seduces one of the princes, then he can ask for a screen credit.

buwaya said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ralph L said...

The DM quotes a Royal Insider:
'He feels badly let down when he was proud to be gay in such a good job.'

Sorry, a Royal Insidehim.

Birkel said...

Imagine a society with a standard set of rules that apply to everybody without fear or favor.
Equality, we might call it, under the law.

n.n said...

Transgender/homosexual pride parade.

Ralph L said...

I thought those were trained and armed security guards on the carriages, but the Brits don't seem to be cavaliers with their monarchs.

stevew said...

Well, at least the Queen's Corgis know their place, and keep to it.

-sw

Rae said...

He was fabulous, now he's just ordinary.

rcocean said...

When I was boy and saw "confirmed bachelor" I thought it meant he didn't like girls. Too much bother. Which made sense to me.

chickelit said...

Mr. Carson approves.

Bill Peschel said...

We can make fun of this guy for being gay now, right?

Or did the liberal/left rotate the dial back to Can't Gay-bait right after SNL last night?

It's really clear, Drago. If he's a Democrat, he's safe so long as he stays on the plantation. If he's Republican (or in his case, Tory), he's fair game.

That's why Kathy Gifford, et al, can drag out the gay slurs over the Kavanaugh hearings.

rehajm said...

The Queen's breast man is still closeted, however.

tcrosse said...

There's a story that the Queen Mum had to go to the pantry to scare up a servant, and said something like "Would one of you old queens bring this old queen a drink, please?"

Martin said...

Well, if you show a pattern of "courting publicity" is would be stupid to have you in a position to see and hear things that should remain strictly private.