HBO's The Royals

[ilovepuppies2019]

I just watched an advertisement for HBO's The Royals which is a satire of royal family life and focuses on Prince George. It openly mocks Prince George as being out of touch with other children, rude to staff, arrogant and has him cursing. I'm horrified and wondering how others feel about this. Unfortunately Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis also appear and are mocked. The only relief is that Archie and Lillibet weren't featured (in the ad at least) so I certainly hope that they will be left alone. I'm horrified that network and actors (Orlando Bloom voices Prince Harry) who advocate an end to bullying would then openly bully children. How can Orlando Bloom expect his children's privacy to be protected if he his comfortable to take part in mocking a young boy. Am I missing something 'funny' about this show or is this as awful as it appears. I'm disgusted that this passes for humour and that well known actors are taking part in mocking children - any children! Apologies if there is already a thread on this, I couldn't find one.

the use of humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices the stupidity and vices of an 8 yo, 6 yo and 3?? yo??

Apparently Orlando was in two minds, being British and all, but Katy convinced hom to do it as it's done affectionately. Apparently.

@Dreamstate

I mean I have to laugh about how people find it horrid for a child but not if its an adult. If you truly believe its bullying then you will stand against bullying no matter the age.

Adult who has chosen to remain active in / join the royal family and understands that they are putting themselves, their actions and their behaviour in the public arena.

Vs

Children who have no choice but to be photographed etc whenever they're seen in public, and whose behaviour largely amounts to waving, getting into planes, playing like children do

But the creator says that he's only parodying Prince George with affection. So that's OK then.

Mocking kids is not OK.

Will not be watching this, and I think it should be removed from the air.

@Dreamstate

As you say OP its a satire programme. Do you know the definition of satire, here let me remind you:

the use of humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.

People...being anyone of any age.

If you don't enjoy satire then don't watch it. Its not bullying.

Yes, I understand satire and I'm aware of the definition. I can't understand what stupidity and vices you think three very young children have . Perhaps recheck the definition of bullying or mocking yourself. I think it's a problem regardless of whether I personally watch it or not because it 'criticizes the stupidity' of a young boy very publicly. I would hate it if it was done to me and would be livid if it was done to a child of mine so I don't think it's acceptable. If another child at school made something like this about classmates we would absolutely call it bullying.

I'm heartened to see that most people on this thread think it's awful.

@Westchesterarms

But the creator says that he's only parodying Prince George with affection. So that's OK then.

Oh gosh really. That's disgusting. I would like to see how far the 'I'm doing it with affection!' excuse would get anyone who was racist, sexist ageist or just a bully in a workplace. It would rightfully be shouted down as completely missing the seriousness of your actions.

Typical mumsnet, have no problem mocking other royals and their children except spt when it comes to Kate and Williams.

You never see a big backlash against those posts!

I've never seen anyone mock any of the royals' minor children on here. Beatrice and Eugenie got some criticism over their fashion choices and security budgets as young adults, and maybe some of that was before they turned 18, but that's very different from picking on an 8-year-old. I also don't see anyone criticizing the program for mocking William and Kate, or any other adult.

I've never seen anyone mock any of the royals' minor children on here

That's untrue. I've seen some horrible posts about M&H's Archie on here... lots and lots of them. Laughter about the fact it will serve Meghan right that he looks like Thomas Markle, posts about his features, his eyes, the lot. And this was a baby and there was a lot.

Children are out of bounds as far as I'm concerned whoever they are.

@PurpleOkapi

I've never seen anyone mock any of the royals' minor children on here. Beatrice and Eugenie got some criticism over their fashion choices and security budgets as young adults, and maybe some of that was before they turned 18, but that's very different from picking on an 8-year-old. I also don't see anyone criticizing the program for mocking William and Kate, or any other adult.

See this is my point there is always a 'but always an excuse why its okay despite the age to mock/ pick on/ bully (whatever you call it)

You either against the all of that or not, there is no but or exception. You csnt say oh its okay to pick on and mock so and so but not x,y,z

And if you think its okay then perhaps you need to look hard at yourselves and consider whether its the right thing to be doing...bullying, mocking, picking on is wrong regardless or age, gender etc.

I've never seen anyone mock any of the royals' minor children on here.

If only that were true. I've read some really horrible things on here about Archie. There are no limits when it comes to H & M. Any and all nasty comments are defended and nobody in their circle is spared.

You either against the all of that or not, there is no but or exception. You csnt say oh its okay to pick on and mock so and so but not x,y,z

And if you think its okay then perhaps you need to look hard at yourselves and consider whether its the right thing to be doing...bullying, mocking, picking on is wrong regardless or age, gender etc.

I absolutely can say "It's acceptable to mock adult political figures but it's not acceptable to mock eight-year-old children." If you believe both are wrong to some degree, fine - reasonable people can disagree about whether it's morally acceptable to mock politicians and other public figures. But if you believe the two things are equally wrong, and that "picking on" an eight-year-old is no worse than picking on the political figures who happen to be his parents, I think that's a very difficult position to defend.

@PurpleOkapi

You either against the all of that or not, there is no but or exception. You csnt say oh its okay to pick on and mock so and so but not x,y,z

And if you think its okay then perhaps you need to look hard at yourselves and consider whether its the right thing to be doing...bullying, mocking, picking on is wrong regardless or age, gender etc.

I absolutely can say "It's acceptable to mock adult political figures but it's not acceptable to mock eight-year-old children." If you believe both are wrong to some degree, fine - reasonable people can disagree about whether it's morally acceptable to mock politicians and other public figures. But if you believe the two things are equally wrong, and that "picking on" an eight-year-old is no worse than picking on the political figures who happen to be his parents, I think that's a very difficult position to defend.

Well why are discriminating by age. So you think its okay to pick on and bully an adult but not a child. So basically bullying is okay with a few exceptions

Yeah right, bet you wouldn't like it if you were being bullied as an adult.

One of the many things I like about the Windsors is that it does not show the oldest and youngest family members.

bullying is wrong what ever the age.

@SetPhasersTaeMalkie

I've never seen anyone mock any of the royals' minor children on here.

If only that were true. I've read some really horrible things on here about Archie. There are no limits when it comes to H & M. Any and all nasty comments are defended and nobody in their circle is spared.

I have never read anything negative about Archie on here and don’t believe for a minute that those kinds of posts wouldn’t get deleted. Please link to just one negative post about him.

Well why are discriminating by age. So you think its okay to pick on and bully an adult but not a child. So basically bullying is okay with a few exceptions

I'm not discriminating by age. I'm discriminating based on the subject's having chosen a life in the public eye, particularly as a political figure, and made themselves fair game for public criticism by so doing. Obviously no eight-year-old has done that, but most adults haven't, either. If someone did a show where they picked random people off the street and set about mocking them on international television, I'd take issue with that, too. Doing it to an adult would still be less wrong than doing it to an eight-year-old, though, for the simple reason that adults can be expected to understand that the mean things being said about them aren't true and therefore don't really matter.

I've lived in countries where it's forbidden to criticize political leaders, and I'd rather those leaders be expected to put up with a certain amount of "bullying" (which you seem to be using as a synonym for "mean-spirited criticism") than have Western democracies descend to that level of totalitarianism. If you're trying to argue that no one should ever make fun of BoJo's hair because it might hurt his feelings, we're going to have to agree to disagree on that point.

Yeah right, bet you wouldn't like it if you were being bullied as an adult.

Of course I wouldn't like it. But unlike some people, I don't believe the world revolves around my own likes and dislikes. Do you actually believe that whether something is right or wrong hinges on whether you like it or not?

@PurpleOkapi

Well why are discriminating by age. So you think its okay to pick on and bully an adult but not a child. So basically bullying is okay with a few exceptions

I'm not discriminating by age. I'm discriminating based on the subject's having chosen a life in the public eye, particularly as a political figure, and made themselves fair game for public criticism by so doing. Obviously no eight-year-old has done that, but most adults haven't, either. If someone did a show where they picked random people off the street and set about mocking them on international television, I'd take issue with that, too. Doing it to an adult would still be less wrong than doing it to an eight-year-old, though, for the simple reason that adults can be expected to understand that the mean things being said about them aren't true and therefore don't really matter.

I've lived in countries where it's forbidden to criticize political leaders, and I'd rather those leaders be expected to put up with a certain amount of "bullying" (which you seem to be using as a synonym for "mean-spirited criticism") than have Western democracies descend to that level of totalitarianism. If you're trying to argue that no one should ever make fun of BoJo's hair because it might hurt his feelings, we're going to have to agree to disagree on that point.

Yeah right, bet you wouldn't like it if you were being bullied as an adult.

Of course I wouldn't like it. But unlike some people, I don't believe the world revolves around my own likes and dislikes. Do you actually believe that whether something is right or wrong hinges on whether you like it or not?

You clearly don't go to many comedy gigs where comedians pick on people on the audience 🙄 maybe yo unwed to open yoh eyes a bit more and have wider experiences.

I often see people defend being obvious and crude as satire and then they act superior as if that's clever and they're clever for knowing that. Being obnoxious about children who have no say or control of their lives is not acceptable, and honestly, it's not even satirical. But it does show a paucity of ideas on the creators part.

@Westchesterarms

I often see people defend being obvious and crude as satire and then they act superior as if that's clever and they're clever for knowing that. Being obnoxious about children who have no say or control of their lives is not acceptable, and honestly, it's not even satirical. But it does show a paucity of ideas on the creators part.

So long as you say the same about adults too. Cos its no different, like an adult has anymore control over someone mo King or being crude or bullying them .so many examples where nothing is done.

I think its worse that peolle think its okay to say what about the children but think ots okay if its adults.

If I go to a comedy gig or watch satire I'm not going to get offended over what's said or who its said about. Simple as that.

Considering Orlando Bloom is good friends with both William and Harry, it probably does have their approval.

I have never read anything negative about Archie on here and don’t believe for a minute that those kinds of posts wouldn’t get deleted

I believe it's against TG to link specific posts on MN.

However, there are countless threads about Archie, when MM read him a story with him sat on her knee. I won't repeat some of what was said, but there are many posters talking of how bitchy the threads were, and there were very many deleted posts, and warnings from MNHQ.

Of course, the posts were clever, and used as a way to bash MM and how she parents, but for instance... one was saying how awful for him that he looks like Harry, and oh dear he has TM's forehead etc etc.

@Dreamstate

Satire is an overused term for anything that people want to be nasty about. Satire is clever; being nasty about people isn't clever and it isn't satire.

And there's a definite line to be drawn between how you speak about children and adults. People can freely criticise political leaders but their children are off limits. People often tried to make comments about Barron Trump, and, quite rightly, the USA on the whole pushed back against that. As they did on behalf of the Obama children.

If you had a public facing role in your job, it would be inevitable that you would get complaints about things you did. Do you think it would be acceptable if people abused your children in the street for actions that you were responsible for? I don't believe you would be quite as laid back about that offensive behaviour as you claim.

It looks absoutely vile.

@Dreamstate

You clearly don't go to many comedy gigs where comedians pick on people on the audience 🙄 maybe yo unwed to open yoh eyes a bit more and have wider experiences.

Go live in a country where the position you're advocating is actually the law, and then get back to me about "wider experiences." Nothing anyone does in any comedy club will convince me that adult politicians need or deserve the same level of protections as the average eight-year-old. It's also not going to convince me that anyone who needs that level of protection is mentally fit to wield political power responsibly.

So long as you say the same about adults too. Cos its no different, like an adult has anymore control over someone mo King or being crude or bullying them .so many examples where nothing is done.

Adults do have a good deal more control over every aspect of their lives than children do. "Control" here doesn't mean the ability to wave a magic wand and force someone else to stop being mean to them - no one of any age has that level of control over anyone else's actions. It means the ability to make changes in their own lives so that they no longer need to interact with that person. Adults who don't like their colleagues can change jobs; eight-year-olds who don't like their classmates can't do anything about it without their parents' cooperation. Adults can refuse to visit relatives they don't like, and refuse to allow those relatives in their own homes; eight-year-olds can't, nor can they prevent their parents from allowing those relatives to visit their family home. Why do you keep insisting that there's no difference between adults and children here?

There's a lot of middle ground between eight-year-olds and adult political figures, but none of it is relevant here.