So proud to be British right now

[BayMareAlert]

Everything has been amazing , such a great tribute to our Queen
The choristers , the army and the horses
Bloody beautiful

You're referring here to The Guardian's 2021 report which didn't claim the Palace didn't employ non-white people to certain roles.

"Claims based on a second-hand account of conversations from over 50 years ago should not be used to draw or infer conclusions about modern day events or operations. The principles of Crown Application and Crown Consent are long established and widely known."

And:

"The Royal Household and the Sovereign comply with the provisions of the Equality Act, in principle and in practise. This is reflected in the diversity, inclusion and dignity at work policies, procedures and practises within the Royal Household. Any complaints that might be raised under the Act follow a formal process that provides a means of hearing and remedying any complaint."

Sir Ken Olisa was the first BAME appointed by Queen Elizabeth II as her Lord Lieutenant. See attachment.

See attachment showing a BAME pallbearer too.

Third attachment - bottom of image is a Naval officer from a BAME background.

You'll find a good number of BAME soldiers in today's procession from the British Armed Forces and from other Commonwealth Armed Forces on parade.

@caringcarer Pomp and Peasantry sums it up perfectly.

There were also food banks shut today as a mark of respect, so some families were not able to actually access food they needed.

Golden Typo lol 😆

@DownNative anyone who says there were a good number of BAME individuals in today's proceedings needs to go and look up the BAME statistics for the UK, they then will realise how false that statement is.

Extremely proud of all the armed forces and civilian representatives

can only imagine how parents/family/friends felt to see them in the parade

particularly those who were part of moving/carrying the coffin 🫡🫡🫡

The Queen's funeral and poverty are separate things.

If the funeral had just been a quick coffin in the ground job there wouldn't have been more money anywhere else. That's not the way it works.

I'm not a 'royalist' by any stretch of the imagination but I think the Queen deserved today and I'm proud of all of the armed forces that took part, especially the Royal Naval ratings, who mostly only joined the Navy three months ago.

There's a lot of history and tradition, and years and years, of planning that went into today. I, for one, think 'we' did it very well.

That doesn't mean I don't agree that there are lots and lots of things wrong with the UK right now. But today wasn't one of them.

Pissed fighting for a wedding maudlin singing for a funeral

@Isaidnoalready

Nah, I reckon Sophie wessex is on the gin giving Harry and Megan what for.

Randy Andy will have started on Charlie for not giving his princesses more attention

🤣

Nope. I’m referring to the fact that the Queen and palace are/were exempt from several key pieces of UK legislation including equalities legislation.

you can hold up individual people from BAME communities as ‘tokens’ of equality if you wish . I suggest that if you go so again you refrain from using phrases such as “Sir Ken Olisa was the first BAME appointed by Queen Elizabeth II”. Pretty sure he’s a person, not “a BAME”.

Using diversity in the armed forces to argue that palace employment practices are not discriminatory is an odd straw man argument. Unless you’re implying the Palace employs the armed forces? (It doesn’t).

I guess I’m wondering why the palace needs/wants such exemptions? Couldn’t be that it’s not such a beacon of ‘British values’ as some folk on this thread wish to believe is it?

It's approximately the same proportion of the population of Northern Ireland as a percentage of the total UK population. 3.5%.

This does not change that there was a good number of soldiers from BAME backgrounds, including a high ranking Naval officer.

Notice the non-white soldiers from Commonwealth countries as their representatives?

The Commonwealth lead the entire funeral procession and all the flags of those nations were on full display at Parliament Square too.

On top of that, a lot of non-white political leaders and dignitaries were in attendance at Westminster Abbey on behalf of their countries.

Literally none of those serving military personnel are employed by the Palace. So how is it relevant?

And you’re seriously using commonwealth representatives and foreign dignitaries as ‘evidence’ that the palace can’t be racist 😂😂😂

Yep, definitely not recent history/current racist examples….

www.vanityfair.com/style/2021/06/buckingham-palace-racist-1960s-hiring-policy-scandal/amp

www.harpersbazaar.com/celebrity/latest/a20090038/princess-michael-of-kent-racist-past/

www.insider.com/prince-philip-long-history-racist-problematic-language-2021-4?amp

www.insider.com/british-royal-family-racist-history-black-lives-matter-2020-8?amp

www.independent.co.uk/life-style/royal-family/meghan-buckingham-palace-racism-allegations-b2063160.html?amp

it’s probably just an unfortunate misunderstanding.

like being close friends with three significant sexual predators for years and years.

I mean stuff like that happens to every well educated and informed family right?

definitely couldn’t be a choice…

Agreed. This is embarrassing. As Frankie Boyle said its like living in an asylum and pretending you're mad. This is not normal

London has no shortage of tourists, as anyone who has ever visited there will testify.

And yet so many wanted to be a part of it, watching or visiting. Maybe we’re all in same boat and like a bit of pageantry (except those who hate it of course but huge amounts watched)

Agreed. Not much pride there...

Certainly the ability to give out blankets to people in a queue is impressive, but not to the homeless of course and making trains available for people to sleep in, but not for the homeless of course.

After watching the ceremony today and all the organisation I’m proud to be British and a royalist. Thanks to all those who took part today to make it so memorable for so many.

😂All who extol 'pomp', I'm curious as to what real, tangible benefits this brings to the country overall. Where, outside the gilded bubble of the Windsors and their unremarkable birth, marriage and death rites common to us all, do these offer something valuable and useful to the rest of us?

I suspect not much. They provide, say on average, 2-3 weddings/funerals a decade. 3 jubilees in a 70-year reign. Does this justify the ridiculous claims that they pump billions of tourist revenue into our economy, and that ALL this revenue is purely down to their existence?

And even if it did, and the country didn't rejoice in their banal rites of passage as though they were witnessing the second coming whilst others scratch their heads over the inequalities they represent, our colourful history is hardly dependent upon a set of two-dimensional, cardboard cut-outs being there to keep it alive.

Sorry to all who've had your operations, appointments and loved ones' funerals cancelled. You deserved better.

You clearly got this information from the Guardian's 2021 report which is where those quotes were in response to.

Sir Ken Olisa is a good example of a person from a BAME background who was appointed to a high ranking role. One example is enough to show the absolute nature of your comment as incorrect.

You might want to act obtuse, but you knew full well I was using Olisa as an example of a person from a BAME background.

You haven't demonstrated that the Palace is being discriminatory against non-white applicants. Just posted rhetoric following a non-sequitur.

You argued that the Palace "avoid employing people from BAME backgrounds." It doesn't as 8.5% of Buckingham Palace staff are from a BAME background. They plan to increase it to 10% in the coming year or so, IIRC.

My point with the funeral procession in general is that people from a BAME background were involved and represented. Not just in the UK tri-service, but also in the Commonwealth armed forces on parade.

What specifically are you proud of?

genuine question. What virtues/qualities were shown today that were worth that price tag and the disregard for the healthcare/childcare/economy of the general public?

I said this to dh. Anyone can see it on a mobile but to be actually there and in the moment you will remember forever.

It's relevant in that people from non-white backgrounds played a significant role in the Queen's funeral procession today.

But you carry on ignoring what doesn't suit your narrative.

Blatant Strawman Argument. 👏

After initially denying you got the Palace "avoid employing people from BAME backgrounds" from the Guardian, I note you've used Vanity Fair which was based on it. Again, it isn't claiming the modern day Royal Family are doing that.