Charles did well today in Germany

[Ndd135632]

I never post on this forum. I am not a massive royalist and have been dismayed recently with all the shenanigans. But with all the division going on I so loved listening to Charles speak in Germany today.

Respect that he did so much in German. That is such a warm gesture. He is in Germany so he speaks German. Shame more Brits can’t do the same when abroad. And also lovely to listen to the peace and warmth in his voice.

I am being an optimist and think solidarity and togetherness is the way forwards.

Ditto.

And what is weird is... my DH and one of the DCs pick up languages just like that. DC is fluent in two, DH one, but can manage to chat in two or three other languages.

Weird I am so so useless. And my god have I tried. I have done duolingo endlessly and also had evening classes on and off for years. But somehow I just can't retain anything. I've accepted it and given up now.

It's definitely a certain type of brain!

Considering some of the nonsense money's spent on in this country it seems rather anodyne.

But of course unless people actually WANT a picture, £8m won't be spent.

What a tricky dichotomy - £8m spent because people are happy to have a pic of the HOS in public buildings. Or £8m not spent because nobody wants a pic, but then you wouldn't be able to complain about it.

Being able to say how much will be spent, i.e. £8M, to me means it is allocated and will be done.

Who knows. Saying money is wasted elsewhere isn't really an argument. Two wrongs don't make a right

So if lots of people want the picture, just because you disagree with the initiative, you'd want it cancelled?

The money may have been allocated but unless councils etc take up the offer, why would it be spent? If allocated money isn't spent it doesn't just disappear into the ether.

you'd want it cancelled?

Yes of course.

@Roussette

How lucky for your husband and children, it’s a great skill and must bring lots of pleasure.

My brothers pick up languages, one even teaching himself Russian for fun. Our brains are wired differently
we were discussing learning music as children and one admitted he could never see the patterns in Bach pieces whereas I’m a complete patterns and sequences geek.

My children take after me unfortunately, but seem to be good at coding which is a new language apparently 😀

It's fascinating isn't it

Yes, my other DC is learning Chinese for fun! And she meets with a fluent english speaking Chinese woman once a week to practice conversational skills.

I think my DH is good at it because he is fascinated with words, derivatives of words, structure of languages etc. So he almost has a scientific approach to learning a language. He knows that to learn one can make another easier if it's the right one.

Hopeless at music too, there's no hope for me lol

p.s. Coding is really useful !

I'm with you on this one Rousette (about the second time in how many years )

What a load of tone deaf nonsense. We don't need portraits of him in public buildings at a cost of millions to us. If it was coming from some kind of special royal money pot fine but this is just obscene.

As others have said they are British.

Woohooo Janiie will you be my new bestie?!

It is beyond a joke. I presume it will be ornate gold coloured frames.. hung in a fire station or one of the nearly extinct police stations, perhaps crime will go down if they see Charles looking down on them!

Are there many portraits of the Queen everywhere?

I suppose they need to go and some might like the replacement

@MarshaBradyo , don't recall actually seeing any portraits of the queen anywhere growing up!

This is nonsense.

I work with lots of families from different countries. They all have British citizenship and still refer to themselves and so do others as their original heritage.

I work with a 'Nigerian family' 'Iranian family' etc. They keep some tradition/eat food/speak the language etc. for both their ancestral origins and British.

You can be both. That is not xenophobia. Stop being ridiculous and go and learn what xenophobia means.

And just how much has been allocated to, oh I don't know, school meals (bar Sadiq Khan), poor students who need school uniform etc.?

@notanotheroneagain

Didn’t a member of the Royal household get into trouble for asking where someone was from after they said they were British ?

I think it’s someone’s choice now they choose to identify and I’ve never heard anyone in the RF refer to themselves as German

Well, I don't recall asking the RF where they are really from over and over again. They have never denied their heritage, infact we are constantly told about it.

Also, this is not xenophobia, go look it up.

You said they are German, though. They may have and acknowledge German heritage but that is not the same thing. And the tone of the post sounded as though it were a negative thing that they were “German” whether that was the intention or not.

You said 'a German family'. Not 'a family with German heritage'.

And given that in 1917 they clearly disassociated themselves with their German heritage, I would say that for the past century they haven't considered themselves as German at all.

Keep digging.

There is not a chance that anyone born in this country would refer to themselves as anything other than British.

Just admit your error and say sorry of course the RF aren't German.

In fact, the last time a 'German' married into the British RF (because Queen Victoria couldn't inherit Hanover, so the British and Hanovarian RFs split at that point - in the 1830s), there was no such entity as 'Germany', and wouldn't be for another 30 years. So it is even more meaningless.

Why do you struggle with admitting that - whatever you think of the RF in general and Charles in particular - it is good that he speaks another language to a respectable degree?

Yes - loads of public buildings currently have a portrait of the late Queen on display (which is quite normal for any head of state, not just in the UK). The scheme being referred to here is to enable those bodies that want to replace their picture for one of the King to do so free of charge. It’s not compulsory!

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/portraits-of-his-majesty-the-king-for-uk-public-authorities

Also, while I have no doubt that North Korea requires most people to have an approved photo of their dear leader hung in pride of place, Thailand is the country that has actual laws about this.

There is not a chance that anyone born in this country would refer to themselves as anything other than British.

To be fair, second/third generation might call themselves British-(other country). DD is a dual citizen and spent her early childhood in South Africa and calls herself British-South African.

But since there have been no German spouses since the 1840s, I suspect that doesn't apply in the case of the RF

Yes - loads of public buildings currently have a portrait of the late Queen on display (which is quite normal for any head of state, not just in the UK).

A lot of them commemorate a particular visit made by the Queen, I think - that's certainly the case in the civic office. Of course, over the course of 70 years she made all sorts of civic visits, which resulted in a lot of photos being left...!

I'm trying to think where else I've seen a photo portrait, but can't remember anywhere.

Unlike South Africa, where a picture of the President is in every police station!

in the civic office near us...