King charles Heckled in Australia

It is very bizarre that these people focus on these tiny slices of history.

Some of my ancestors fled France in fear of their lives, and ended up on a cold rock of an island in the North Atlantic for generations.
Some were dirt poor tenant farmers, which is to say, barely more than slaves, in Ireland.
Some were factory workers in Glasgow living in slums.

What good is it for me to have some people who had nothing to do with this apologize? Why would I think people don't know about this history? How is my life better if I look around at people alive today and feel like they owe me somehow? (I would love to have a French passport however - but maybe not so likely?)

My partner's ancestors were transported from Africa to work on a plantation, and some fled Germany and the Nazis. What does he expect from the Africans, or the descendants of the plantation owners, or the Germans, by way of apology - nothing. In fact he'd be offended because he would see it as virtue signalling an insincere apology.

If we imagine that we deserve apologies from the descendants of people who hurt our ancestors we are all going to be spending a lot of time apologizing.

Australia can choose to become a republic if they want.

Until then, Charles, or his heir, is the monarch and has duties associated with that. Like "parading around."

It's not like he can quit.

Ages of mass movement have happened historically everywhere, throughout history, and people have been pushed out, or become a small part of a larger population, or in some cases have ceased to exist. It stinks for the people it happens to, but there isn't a lot of point criticizing people who are long dead, whatever nationality or ethnicity they were.

It might well be that this visit of Charles3 has pushed back the tide of Republicanism in Australia and in other places.
Can someone tell me about a recent attempt to change the Law in Aus to give 'First Nations' a place in Parliament but it was rejected.

All of history affects us all today. Why single out the potato famine? You must also think that all historical events - most of which were bad - should be apologised for, not just the famine, right? Countries would be spending a lot of time apologising if everyone apologised for history.

But the fall out from the potato famine continued for decades after, spilling well into the 20th century. It affected millions of Irish people, and altered and changed not only Ireland’s physical landscape, but also economic, social and cultural landscapes. It decimated entire generations of families, This horrific event is still in many ways, a recent memory, for millions of Irish people, and not some kind of distant reference, in an old dusty history book.

Exactly, and facing it out when he's old and going through cancer treatment too. The past isn't his fault and he has no power to apologise or make reparations, yet it's all laid at his feet. I bet he'd rather have stayed at home, but he did his duty by going.

Just remember that Royal Family don't go anywhere unless they are invited by the relevant Government. Australia invited him to visit and Australian Govt decided exactly where he should go and who he would meet.
Good for him for facing it out.

Interesting article. How do they think the UK would fund investing in their former colonies' healthcare and education systems when the NHS is broken? It's pie-in-the-sky thinking. Britain can't afford reparations. And I wonder if those people have given any of their own ill-gotten gains to the former colonies. ETA: I see one person gave 100k, which is probably a drop in the ocean to her. Why doesn't she give almost everything she has, if she insists that she's benefited so much?

Living memory means people who lived through those times. And there are people alive today who lost parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, siblings. That is completely different from an event that's 170 years in the past. Unless you want to hand-wring about all of history.

The Holocaust is recent history and people alive today are directly affected to the extent that it's their parents and grandparents who were affected, not ancestors, unless you count two generations back as ancestors, which most don't. The potato famine is 170 years ago. I suppose you could hand-wring about everything in history, but that's a way of thinking I don't subscribe to.

Does anyone here feel that Italy should apologise to Britain for the Roman invasion?

Not for history to be rewound, but to be completely acknowledged for what it was, for what it did, and for the effect it has on the descendants of all those atrocities committed, because of empire, slavery and colonialism.

https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/24/descendants-of-uk-slave-owners-call-on-government-to-apologise

As I've said about four times now, the Holocaust is not in the past, it's in living memory. Read!

Yes, they could give some of it back, including that diamond.

I already explained that the Holocaust is in living memory. The potato famine was 170 years ago. Big difference.

Or give some of it back, eg. the koh I noor diamond.

What does this message mean?

I do think the RF should have a lot less, FWIW. It's truly disgusting what they have. Their personal art collections are worth a few billion, not to mention property. They could share it with the public by putting it all on display and use the ticket sales to fund charitable projects. They could donate some of their land for affordable housing projects. They could sell some of their stuff and raise lots and lots of money for things like new hospitals. I support a bicyling monarchy.

She’s our version of Clive unfortunately.