Using someones surname to refer to them, Harry and Caroline Flack.

[themessygarden]

So it appears (from the excerpts) in Harry's book, that he discusses his relationship with Caroline Flack.

"Very soon after they papped me and Flack, those photos set off a frenzy. Within hours a mob was camped outside Flack’s parents’ house, and all her friends’ houses, and her grandparents’ house,” Harry recalled in Spare."

I think I saw in a previous post where there was a heated discussion about referring to someone by their surname only. @Serenster gave one of her very rational explanations as to why it might be used and wasn't exactly the insult some people claimed it to be. I see now that her explanation was perfectly correct.

It’s in the book, that it’s what William calls him.

To get this grammatical rule right, think about what you would say if talking about only you.

"The paps chased me" will become, "The paps chased Caroline and me".

"I ran from the paps" will become, "Caroline and I ran from the paps".

How has it taken me until now to be taught this!! Thank you!

Meghan! 😅 recipe for disaster - she is so (not) culturally aware

No, take Flack out of it - you wouldn’t say they “papped I”, you’d say they “papped me”. So it’s Flack and me.

The unconvincing character Alfie in Emily in Paris refers to Emily as "Cooper" in much the same way.
In that programme I suspect it's a device to signal that Alfie had a public school education without having to spell it out, but nonetheless it makes him appear like a twat (in my opinion!).

I have a cousin married nearly forty years. He still calls his wife by her surname. So say she was born Murphy he still calls her Murph and always has. Actually it's quie nice as its what he called her when dating and is a sign of affection. He is definitely not public school educated. I think some names lend themselves better to that and Flack is a perfect example. Other names would sound ridiculous. I presume everyone in that circle might feel odd if he used her full name as it would turn her into a stranger.

I’ve seen the ‘type’ do it to women they don’t respect.

This Just makes him look an even bigger twat
Caroline's family don't need this to deal with and since her death there has been plenty of time to remove this from his book

I hope it ends up in Poundland

I’m called by my surname by a group of friend as in their opinion it suits me better. I also heard Caroline referred to by friends as “the flack”. More concerned over privacy boundaries