The Prince Harry and Meghan Markle saga

Discussion in 'Off Topic Area' started by Mitlov, Mar 9, 2021.

  1. bassai

    bassai onwards and upwards ! Moderator Supporter

  2. Dead_pool

    Dead_pool Spes mea in nihil Deus MAP 2017 Moi Award

    Harry and Meghan: The union of two great houses, the Windsors and the Celebrities, is complete

    This is a fantastic bit of writing!

    "
    Having a monarchy next door is a little like having a neighbour who’s really into clowns and has daubed their house with clown murals, displays clown dolls in each window and has an insatiable desire to hear about and discuss clown-related news stories. More specifically, for the Irish, it’s like having a neighbour who’s really into clowns and, also, your grandfather was murdered by a clown.

    Beyond this, it’s the stuff of children’s stories. Having a queen as head of state is like having a pirate or a mermaid or Ewok as head of state
    "
     
    axelb likes this.
  3. SWC Sifu Ben

    SWC Sifu Ben I am the law

    Speaking as someone living in the Commonwealth I find it
    And beyond that it makes for a horrendous relationship between the public and the government in any nation which believes it governs its subjects based on the authority of the crown, instead of from the permission of its citizens.
     
    Mitch and Dead_pool like this.
  4. Smitfire

    Smitfire Cactus Schlong

    I think part of the not fitting in was Meghan being American as much as being mixed race. She had no chance marrying into such a dysfunctional family and institution. Although when she was in suits I thought she was latino. So what do I know.
    If I had my way the whole lot of them would be given a million quid each and told to do one. Turn all the palaces into museums, transfer all their ill-gotten gains into public ownership and turn all their land into public parks and nature reserves.
    The whole concept of a "royal family" offends me to the very core. "Your highness"!?!?! High? As in above me? Not a chance.
    I think it embodies so much about subservience, hereditary deference, privilege and class structure that burdens Britain. I wouldn't bow to any of them.
    That said Harry seems about the only half decent one.
     
    Dead_pool and Tom bayley like this.
  5. Smitfire

    Smitfire Cactus Schlong

    And the British press can do one too. Story after story about Harry and Meghan but pretty much nothing on the criminal test and trace contracts and collosal waste of money this government has perpetrated in their farcical handling of covid-19.
     
    Mitch, Mushroom, Anth and 2 others like this.
  6. Tom bayley

    Tom bayley Valued Member

    What Smitfire said
     
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  7. Botta Dritta

    Botta Dritta Valued Member

    Don't hold back Smitfire! Tell it how it really is! Seriously I was on the guardian the other day and my cursor hovered over the Harry and Megan article and I and to stop myself

    "Why am I even clicking this....I. DO. NOT. CARE." I thought to myself.

    Its everywhere saturating being forced on the national narrative.
     
    Anth and Dead_pool like this.
  8. Anth

    Anth Daft. Supporter

    I've read one article that was just the key points of the whole thing so that I was in the loop ready for the inevitable conversations on it at work but apart from that I've managed to avoid most of it. 37+ billion quid thrown at a still unsolved problem and the government saying there was no shortage of PPE this time last year when everyone knows there was should be everyone's priority at the moment but no, let's fill the media with somebody's family problems instead.
     
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  9. Dead_pool

    Dead_pool Spes mea in nihil Deus MAP 2017 Moi Award


    Whilst that does include all the testing, which was a good thing, but very badly implemented, 37 billion could pay for 20 individual mars missions, obviously excel is a very expensive programme to get hold off.

    Perhaps we could complain about Dido Harding the conservative life peer, to the conservative MP who is the Anti-Corruption champion in public life, but that would be her husband, unfortunately.
     
    Mitch and Anth like this.
  10. Dead_pool

    Dead_pool Spes mea in nihil Deus MAP 2017 Moi Award

    Meghan racism row: Society of Editors boss Ian Murray resigns

    The head of the society of editors has resigned now too, after his statement the the media hasn't got an issue with racism, was contradicted by multiple media organisations that are members.

    Perhaps this might have a positive effect on "news papers" such as the sun, daily mail and express.

     
    Mitch likes this.
  11. bassai

    bassai onwards and upwards ! Moderator Supporter

    Maybe in the short term , like when they promised to be less intrusive/aggressive in the wake of Diana’s death , but it won’t last long.
     
    Dead_pool and Mitch like this.
  12. Mangosteen

    Mangosteen Hold strong not

    Folks dont visit Japans castles for their royals... they have them but they arent the draw, the history is.

    Also I'm surprised that anyone is surprised with the vitriol and dog whistle racism the british media has.

    The Spectator consistently says derogatory things about black people.
    We have loads of mad stuff by major outlets.
    Harry gave a fair assessment that the british public arent generally racist but the media is. And that has had a massive impact on how megan is portrayed.

    The monarchy is an overpowered and outdated institution that is at least thankfully far removed from the public.
     
    axelb, Dead_pool and Mitch like this.
  13. Botta Dritta

    Botta Dritta Valued Member

    Keeping freedom of expression by the press going while protecting individuals from the worst instincts of the media is a tricky balance. Generally here in Europe freedom of expression is guaranteed right but unlike the US where some see it as absolute (but still nuanced as far as i see in the US) generally here in the old continent it is 'qualified' as opposed to absolute, that is to say it can be restricted when certain general conditions are met, that being where individual rights need to be balanced with the interests of the wider community. For example in the UK under article 10:

    A) national security, territorial integrity or public safety
    B) preventing disorder or crime
    C) protecting health
    D) preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence
    E) maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary.
    F) protecting other people’s reputation or rights

    Examples of this would be the authorities restricting your right freedom of expression if you are encouraging racial hatred (B maybe A), mass protests during a pandemic (C), or preventing gobshites such as Tommy Robinson from prejudging justice through contempt of court (E)

    F - However is tricky. Too stringent and powerful individuals can gag the press on their misdemeanours as is done say in Italy or France through defamation laws, too lax and it becomes easy for the press to ruin peoples lives with impunity and pay paultry fines, like those imposed by the largely toothless Press Complains Division like in the UK.

    What has always puzzled me is this insistence on financial reparation. I cannot conceive why in the UK apologies by the press are allowed to be buried on the 35th page on a tuesday behind the obituaries, rather than say being forced to retract or apologise using the same amount of published space on the same page and word count as the original offending article. It would certainly clean up journalism and make sure editors made sure that what they published wasn't egregiously false or defamatory and certainly would kill much of the more sensationalist Front Page nonsense that has ruined private individual lives, though I suspect this would almost be impossible to enforce on internet media.
     
    Dead_pool likes this.
  14. Mangosteen

    Mangosteen Hold strong not

    But Tommy Robinson was just letting the world know the truth! #thepeoplesking
    /s
     
  15. Dead_pool

    Dead_pool Spes mea in nihil Deus MAP 2017 Moi Award

    Man who says asylum seekers should stay in a war zone, seeks asylum from a country that isn't at war:

    Tommy Robinson asked wealthy US backers to help him claim asylum

    It's almost as if he was a disingenuous grifter!
     

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