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Thoughts on Prince William's speech?

550 replies

Aspiringmatriarch · 22/05/2021 12:12

I've been musing on this, I'm not sure I agree with the idea that the Bashir interview created a 'false narrative'. Obviously Diana was lied to, which is appalling, and I'm sure that fueled some of her paranoia but isn't it true that she was spied on at times e.g. with the squidgygate tapes? And she'd already collaborated with Andrew Morton saying many of the same things, and apparently wanted to do an interview after Charles gave his.

I don't know... it just feels odd to me that William is essentially asking for it to be struck from the record. He was apparently angry with her after the Bashir interview and was teased about it at school, which must have been horrible. Is he trying to protect her memory or is there an element of trying to tidy it all away?

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StormzyinaTCup · 22/05/2021 23:56

longwayoff
Will somebody please join me in noting that the RF should not nab the right to rewrite their history as they see fit. Let them complain about the interview as much as they like but removing it from the record, as with the earlier RF at home film, is not on. Let it stand.

That decision should lie solely with PH and PW to decide between them. Its about their mum, their mums pain and their own grief. If they decide they don’t want it shown again then that is what the BBC owe them and it’s not for anyone else to demand otherwise. Just my opinion.

OvaHere · 23/05/2021 00:01

@StormzyinaTCup

I didn’t watch the funeral and couldn’t quite understand the public outpouring of grief I was seeing, people were just besides themselves.

I can quite understand people moaning, wailing, crying out her name and throwing flowers at them was as disturbing if not more so than the actual act of walking behind their mums coffin and I’m very glad I wasn’t part of that circus.

I’m with PH on this one (a first for me recently!)

I believe the Queen and PP wanted to keep the boys in Balmoral and then have a much quieter, and more importantly for the boys, a private funeral with a burial at Frogmore (although that probably wouldn’t have happened because her brother wanted the eventual resting place at Althorp) but such was the public’s outpouring of grief and demands for more that it snowballed.

Both PW and PH (and only them) were entitled to speak out on the Panorama outcome and they both spoke very differently but from the heart. On this occasion I'm not buying that PW has ‘just done it for PR’.

They seem unable/prevented from being able to get closure and move on. I expect Netflix will still release their new Diana documentary though.

I do agree with PH on this point. The media and public reaction in the days and weeks following Diana's death became completely OTT. At his age (and William's) I would also have felt petulant and angry. I was 21 at the time and thought everyone had gone a bit nuts.

The RF were forced into less than optimal decisions largely due to the media whipping the general public into a frenzy and also the likes of Blair sticking his oar in too, if we believe it was him and his spin doctors that were insistent about the boys walking behind the coffin.

It's easy to think with hindsight they should have stuck to their instincts about keeping W&H out of the public eye in Balmoral but their existence depends on keeping most of the public onside.

It must be a bit of a head fuck for someone as long lived as HMQ to keep up with changing opinions from generation to generation. The prevailing view now, 25 years later, seems to be that they screwed up bringing the boys to London, exposing them to the craziness of that period and the way the funeral was managed. No doubt this in part is due to W&H talking as adults about how they experienced it.

It was not the view at the time though and in 1997 I reckon at least 7 out of 10 people would have agreed that the RF should have been back in London 'where they belonged' and 'comforting the nation'.

Upshot is you're a bit damned if you do etc...when your existence depends on ongoing public support and that support is quite fickle.

Roussette · 23/05/2021 00:03

Yep. That article sums it up. The hypocrisy by some elements of the MSM is breathtaking

Roussette · 23/05/2021 00:05

Great post Ova

Blossomtoes · 23/05/2021 00:14

@Roussette

Yep. That article sums it up. The hypocrisy by some elements of the MSM is breathtaking
And the British public. As Marina Hyde points out, there would be no reason for the MSM to publish this stuff f people didn’t buy it.
StormzyinaTCup · 23/05/2021 00:50

Yes Ova

As a poster on another thread said, Prince Phillip’s ‘F**k Off’ should have stood.

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Aspiringmatriarch · 23/05/2021 04:48

As a poster on another thread said, Prince Phillip’s ‘Fk Off’ should have stood.

Yes, and it's come to something when Prince Philip is the sensitive, child-centred one... maybe he learned from 'Colditz in kilts' after all! He was apparently quite supportive of Diana too, which surprised me.

To go back to William's speech, I've realised that part of what I disliked was the rather authoritarian thrust of it. As he is our future monarch, I'm not sure I like that glimpse of his character. Just my interpretation, obviously, but I think just because it's about Diana, that shouldn't be overlooked.

Anyway, off to try and get some more sleep after being woken by my cats thundering around the house!

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AnnunciataZ · 23/05/2021 07:00

@TruelyStruttingHotpants

Just seem this. I don't think I have ever wanted a newspaper article to be fake as much as I hope this one will be ☹

Source said: ‘Harry’s grandmother has taken this very personally and is deeply upset by what Harry has said, in particular his comments about Charles’s parenting and suggesting his father knows no better because of how he was brought up. It has been a very upsetting time.’

If it's the Sun or Express who are saying this then I really don't think you need to worry too much!

And anyway, Charles himself was pretty critical about his upbringing in his authorised biography years ago.

KFleming · 23/05/2021 07:09

William does not allow his kids to call her Grandma etc.

To be fair, I don’t think that by itself shows anything about how he views her. My MIL has a step-dad who married her mum when MIL was an adult, and he’s been in my DH’s life since he was born. But DH calls him by his name, he doesn’t call him grandad. And that isn’t a reflection on MIL’s relationship with him, they get on very well.

Ethelswith · 23/05/2021 07:13

I wasn't allowed to call my grandfather's second wife 'granny' and there was no sniff of anything wrong with first marriage (ended by untimely death through illness)

It's really not that uncommon, and I don't read anything in to it

Gucci1961 · 23/05/2021 07:17

Camilla has her own grandchildren and she is not their grandmother so I get that. I don't think it means ''I hate you Camilla!''

Gucci1961 · 23/05/2021 07:20

It was the same narrative in The Crown. Nobdoy watched the Crown and thought that Charles was parented well, seen for who he was. It was clear he disappointed them. (Watching the crown anyway) so it's just more of the same, but I guess it hurts a lot more from Harry.

Who I always thought seemed happy. I wonder what Chelsea thought. Did he seem this damaged and this miserable to her.

Gucci1961 · 23/05/2021 07:23

@Aspiringmatriarch yes I know what you mean, the authoratitiveness with which he was telling us HOW to view this. What you thought you knew was wrong (well, in reality, it was a bit squeezed through a tube quicker) It was dare I say it a bit like MM telling us how to view things. MM gets angry with public/media/the firm if things aren't viewed the way she wants them to be viewed.

AnnunciataZ · 23/05/2021 07:32

[quote Gucci1961]**@Aspiringmatriarch* yes I know what you mean, the authoratitiveness with which he was telling us HOW to view this. What you thought you knew was wrong* (well, in reality, it was a bit squeezed through a tube quicker) It was dare I say it a bit like MM telling us how to view things. MM gets angry with public/media/the firm if things aren't viewed the way she wants them to be viewed.[/quote]
Yet, rightly or wrongly, MM is criticised for it yet William is labelled a hero.

AnnunciataZ · 23/05/2021 07:33

Argh, too many "yets"! Oh for an edit button...

Snugglepiggy · 23/05/2021 07:36

Great post Ova.Couldnt have expressed it better.
And as for the RF shouldn't nab the right to rewrite their history?Tell that to Peter Morgan who wrote The Crown.As a drama production I was hooked but with so many inaccuracies e.g. the timing of Mark Thatcher going missing,the details of Michaael Fagans intrusion of the palace, even portraying him going to see his MP shown as a blustering Tory where's his MP was John Grant a Labour then Social democrat MP .And many more.But it seems so many now take The Crown as the definitive version of who said what when the reality is we will never know all the nuances of their relationships.I find it particularly interesting that despite a lot of criticism of Prince Philips aloofness Diana in her authorised biography by Tina Brown had immense respect and affection for him and saw him as a sympathetic ally.
It must also be a head fuck for HMQ to have your families relationships so dramatically serialised .

ShamedBySiri · 23/05/2021 07:43

I thought William's speech was authoritative. There's a difference.
He's our future King and he's developing a dignified stature commensurate with that.

goldierocks · 23/05/2021 07:59

"...a real turning point for me was HMQ defending PA by taking him to church the day after the Maitlis interview."

This has been said before, but I've not been able to find any evidence that it's true.

The Queen stares stoically as she attends church alone after Prince Andrew interview (the day after the interview).

The Queen has stepped out in public with Prince Andrew for the first time since his car crash BBC interview (2 months later).

I think it's much more likely that certain press 'recycled' old images of the Queen and PA together and broadcast them again the day after the interview aired.

I thought that Prince William's speech yesterday in Scotland put his views of aspects of his childhood into the public domain.

"I was in Balmoral when I was told that my mother had died. Still in shock, I found sanctuary in the service at Crathie Kirk that very morning and in the dark days of grief that followed I found comfort and solace in the Scottish outdoors." - At the time, the royals -especially the Queen- were heavily criticised for taking the princes to church the morning after Diana died and for staying at Balmoral for days afterwards. Prince William has made it clear he thought these were the right decisions for him.

"My childhood was full of holidays having fun in the fresh air, swimming in lochs, family barbecues with my grandfather in command, and yes the odd midge." - Here we have Prince William's 'truth' about his childhood memories of the time he spent in Scotland.

Andrew Morton's book contained details of when Diana threw herself down a staircase when she was pregnant with Prince William. I wonder whether H or M asked William if knowing this information had harmed his mental health before deciding to go public with Meghan's suicidal thoughts during her pregnancy with Archie. The knowledge that your mother harboured suicidal thoughts while pregnant with you is quite a lot for the children in this situation (William and Archie) to have to live with.

Original poster
Aspiringmatriarch · 23/05/2021 08:09

goldierocks I'm pretty sure it was Harry she was pregnant with, not William.

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NoIdontwanttoseeyourknob · 23/05/2021 08:10

All those positive words about Scotland are far more likely to have been said with an eye to shoring up the Union than to be any reflection of the truth.

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Aspiringmatriarch · 23/05/2021 08:13

@Aspiringmatriarch

goldierocks I'm pretty sure it was Harry she was pregnant with, not William.
Just want to correct myself here. It was indeed William.
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Nishky · 23/05/2021 08:13

@Aspiringmatriarch why do you think that.

KFleming · 23/05/2021 08:14

@Aspiringmatriarch

goldierocks I'm pretty sure it was Harry she was pregnant with, not William.
It was definitely William.
KFleming · 23/05/2021 08:15

Sorry, cross post!