Using t*mpongate as an insult

[tigger2022]

Ok I’m probably going to get piled on but whatever…

Does anyone feel a bit uncomfortable about the way some people casually drop in references from Camilla/Charles’s leaked telephone conversation as a drive-by insult? Or casually use it as a cruel nickname for them or something?

Having that leaked was such a violation, and when it’s referenced so callously to try and humiliate them it feels as ick to me as if people were quoting from leaked revenge porn or something.

There are plenty of ways to ‘take him down a peg’ without referring to illegally obtained, private conversations though.

As far as banter goes, his comment was totally warped and weird which is why it has not been forgotten. It was also belittling the beliefs of people who believe in reincarnation but not in an 'ah, how interesting' challenging way, more like The Wimpy Kid in arrested development which is how I suspect he really is.

Yes, he brought it all up in his latest case against the press in his court documents and that was reported on. So all over the papers, years after it happened thanks to Harry.

Charles seems close to William + kids.

He seems to love Harry, just not Harry's demands.

I would have forgotten anything about tampons if people didn't keep bringing it up.

I bet loads of people have said things to their partner in intimate moments that are totally cringeworthy. I know I have. To think that someone would be eavesdropping on what I said ablnd then publish it nationally, would never coss my mind because its such a disgusting thing for the papers to do. People claim to be horrified that celebrities have had private conversations listened into about meet ups for coffee, but apparently revealing Charles' conversations is no big thing.

I think it's awful that people can be treated criminally and then be victim blamed. If it happened to their daughter, people would be incensed.

Of course it was wrong for it to be ‘leaked’ ( an unfortunate phrase under the circumstances) but the conversation was seen as deeply shocking and distasteful at the time. My father said that he had been through WW2 with some fairly rough guys, and he had never heard a man speak like that.

the worst bit for me was when His soon to be majesty complained that it would ‘be ‘ just his luck’ to be flushed away. His luck….probably the luckiest man in Britain in terms of wealth , power and privilege.

So there are, but this one is particularly memorable and able to be referenced by a single word, so naturally it's popular.

Jonathan Dimbleby observed in his (authorised) biography of Charles (1994) that tampongate would be remembered at all the key moments in Charles's life, including his coronation. How right he was!

Oh so it’s Harry’s fault!!
not the people who did the hacking…. Right

It had been forgotten about for about 20 years. Harry brought it up again in court. No need for him to use that example or discuss his father's business. He just can't help himself. He divulged stuff about William too, again none of his business.

It had not been forgotten about. I remember it verbatim.

Somewhat of a tangent but it was actually worse than that. H mentioned tampongate in the same breath as talking about W’s settlement for phone hacking, basically hinting that some really salacious bit of court gossip about W had been hushed up. In fact it was about a knee injury!

It's more significant than a private conversation exposed. It's was a wake up call - an orientation to reality. He fell off his pedestal. He was secretly seeing another woman when married to his wife Diana. He wasn't open and honest about this fact prior to this revelation. It highlights a fake morality in the institution- and reminder that at the ceremony tomorrow he is not some kind of 'divine' as we are led to believe. Tampongate is a grounding and wake up call. He's human. Nobody special or grand or superior.

I agree. We've all said, or had said to us, daft things in late night phone calls with husbands/partners/boyfriends. DH has said some things to me I'd be so embarrassed if anyone overheard, never mind the whole world knowing and revisiting it regularly. I think it's horrible the way it is gone back to- there were disgusting comments online in The Guardian referring to it.

He's human. Nobody special or grand or superior

I knew that anyway. I don’t need people to reference illegally obtained private conversations to know that a human is, in fact, human. The royals are all flawed, they have been since the beginning of time. Just look at their history of adultery. No one with any sense thinks they’re special, do they?

No one with any sense thinks they’re special, do they?

Tell that to those camping out for three nights on the pavement! Very special

Shocking to older people of the generation of your father. I actually think it makes him seem what he is - a human being with the kinds of desires, vulnerabilities and longings and silliness we all have. I wasn't shocked at all.

Indeed. It was also very cringily unsexy

Yes, but equally knowing about tampongate hasn’t stopped those people, has it? So it obviously wasn’t a ‘wake up call’ to them. Like I said, anyone with any sense knows that they’re human, with human flaws. Those with little sense won’t be out off by sleazy conversations.

The calls have been in the public domain for over 30 years now, so trying to brush them under the carpet might be morally laudable, but it's also completely pointless.

It was not forgotten. It's been written about in many books during the years.

I wonder if he has now revised it to 'I'm happy to come back as a Tena Lady towel' 😆

I don’t think they need to be ‘brushed under the carpet’, I just think making jokes about something that is only in the public domain due to them being the victim of a crime is tasteless and says a lot about the person making the joke.

I struggle to sympathise with Charles. If he'd had the low-key coronation he originally talked about, he might not have stirred up so much ill-feeling. I can't really blame people for bringing this up when most of us are struggling with the cost of living while he spends £100 million + on gold-embroidered robes, air-conditioned carriages and holy oil. That feels like a crime in itself, morally.

while he spends £100 million + on gold-embroidered robes, air-conditioned carriages and holy oil. That feels like a crime in itself, morally.

Total bunkum being regurgitated as usual.
He's not spending anything on new robes. He's wearing his grandfathers.
He's not spending any money on the carriage - it already exists.
The Holy oil is just olive oil.
🙄