In appreciation of Princess Anne

[TheLoneRager]

Princess Royal gives Gloucestershire history lesson to army officers

The Princess Royal educated senior army officers on "a very important bit of Gloucestershire history".

She had visited the army barracks to open new accommodation.

"The new officers' accommodation at the Imjin Barracks in Innsworth were named after Colonel James Calne.
Col Calne was the commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment during the Korean War in 1951."

"The princess reflected on a trip to Korea after asking if there was an explanation for the name of the block, to which she was told there was not."

Of course Princess Anne knew better, if not by virtue of a sharp memory then because she had done her homework before the visit.

"It seems very relevant to Gloucestershire, and I was at a reception the other day for Korean veterans," she said.
"Funnily enough, when I went to Korea the first time, they took me out to the Glosters' memorial.
"As it happens, I think it is much more relevant to go and see the territory and terrain that they had to fight in. It was horrendous.
"The temperature in winter… they said minus 40."

www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-68637512

Those senior officers must have been very red faced, fancy being caught out having failed to brush up their history or even ascertain the reason for the choice of name for their new barracks!

Thought it was time to have a break from threads about you know what and have some simple appreciation for the chief workhorse of the Royal family.

It's perfectly possible to be driving over the speed limit and be driving safely at the same time.

I just think as someone who doesn’t get to retire

Not retiring from royal 'duty' isn't compulsory.

None of 'em are chained to the palace radiators and only released for forced ribbon cutting.

For what it's worth I didn't say 'if I only get done twice more in the next 30 years, I'll be ok with it', it was another poster.

No justification for Anne or myself, just an acceptance that we all make mistakes.

We clearly aren't going to agree on this - Happy Easter anyway!

CathyorClaire · 27/03/2024 20:04
That's a nice story.

Makes a change from shooting Scottish wildlife I suppose...

Oh this old chestnut!

I don't eat meat or fish but I'm a realist...

Do you mean shooting red deer? The red deer in Scotland have no natural predators (that would mean introducing wolves and bears, which I think would be controversial) and if not culled regularly, many would die a lingering death from starvation. I would also bet that all the deer shot are eaten as venison - not just used as sporting trophies.

While I would personally hate to shoot an animal I would much rather eat meat which has been shot (game birds, venison) than that which has been industrially farmed, deprived of light and freedom, starved and crammed into a lorry for transportation and then industrially slaughtered - meaning that (chickens in particular) are sometimes dismembered alive.

I would have far less of a problem eating venison or pheasant which has lived a free life and then been shot - having just a bad few minutes to live through at the end of its life.

@CoffeeCantata you make a good point, and some rewilding projects and species reintroductions will cull meat for sale.

It's a premium product in terms of price and possibly nutrition. I prefer it to the current food industry solution of lab grown meat analogues as a way to address the demands for meat in our diets.

Do you mean shooting red deer?

I was thinking more of the grouse intentionally bred to be shot while living in an environmentally damaging artificial habitat but if we're talking red deer too I'm not a fan of blood sports and think the royals could score a very easy PR win by eschewing them and opting for humane culling.

They won't though.

CathyorClaire

I'm not sure what you mean by 'humane culling'.

When the RF (or others) stalk red deer, they do it under the guidance of an experienced ghillie. The idea is to creep up on the deer, select an older animal at the non-breeding season of the year and wait until you can get the 'cleanest' shot possible in order to kill the beast outright. It may never know what hit it, and certainly wouldn't feel any fear because once the deer spot anyone, they'd be off like the wind.

I don't know how you can make killing an animal any more humane than that? How else do you think deer hunting is done?

If you feel very strongly about animal welfare, I suggest starting with mass-farming-industrial-meat production. That's where the worst cruelty takes place. And the live transportation of animals to slaughter.

I don't know if we still export live animals to be slaughtered overseas, but that was the worst of all.

I'm not an animal rights extremist - I don't mind people eating animals! I just hate the hypocrisy of those who eat meat but don't like the idea of killing animals. And deer stalking is one of the most humane kinds of obtaining meat.

When the RF (or others) stalk red deer, they do it under the guidance of an experienced ghillie.

There's provision for professional culling that the royals could make use of if they chose.

Why manage Deer? - The British Deer Society (bds.org.uk)

I wonder why they don't?

I’ve a lot of time for Anne.

I do like that she is no-nonsense and the love there seems to be between her and Charles. I loved that she went into the room where he was (after the Coronation) and went ‘hello old bean’.

And her lovely jaunty decent sized hats.

I think she's absolutely delighted to be well out of the betting for the throne. It's the last thing she wants.

CathyorClaire · Yesterday 13:58
When the RF (or others) stalk red deer, they do it under the guidance of an experienced ghillie.

There's provision for professional culling that the royals could make use of if they chose.

Why manage Deer? - The British Deer Society (bds.org.uk)

I wonder why they don't?

I'm not clear at all what your point is. This site describes deer culling by the humane method known as stalking - which I've described above, and which the RF sometimes do. There is no more humane way of practically managing deer populations.

Is it the fact that RF members actively stalk and kill deer which offends? But why? Surely it's the least hypocritical position of all - if you're going to eat deer (or even keep them) they'll need managing, and sometimes culling. So why is having the guts to do it yourself, rather than devolving it to someone else, seen as a bad thing? I've known people who've taken on the distasteful act of killing a creature, not out of pleasure, but because they want to be sure it's done as humanely as possible - scientists in labs, for eg.

Yes, I'm sure that expert stalkers enjoy the activity - which involves pitting your wits against a quarry - but that doesn't take away from the fact that what they're doing might be necessary and done as humanely as possible.

What's the underlining for?

Yes it's the royals doing it that offends in particular. I can accept it needs doing and I can accept paid for shoots may generate necessary income for some estates but tax payer funded millionaires striding round the highlands in a Downton-esque manner DIY'ing and encouraging their children to follow suit is not a good look in an era when so many of the public aren't in favour of killing for sport.

We've constantly been told Charles wants to modernise the monarchy. I'm surprised he's missing this easy chance to update the look.

Members of the RF aren’t professionals at doing this. When people do this as some sort of fun hobby, the chance of distress for the animal is higher.

Culling may be necessary, but it should be respectful and cause the least distress possible to the animal, and as such, should be done by professionals, not amateurs.

I know people who paid to go on a stalking ‘holiday’ and it wasn’t a quick death for the deer.

CathyorClaire
But it's not just killing for sport. With commercial shoots of game birds, the birds are sold for meat and get eaten.

I speak as a non-meat eater, but I don't get the fuss over shooting animals as opposed to the grim carnage of commercial breeding and slaughter.

It's the old joke about the 17th century Puritans - they banned bull-baiting, not because it was cruel to the bull, but because people obviously enjoyed it!! Isn't part of the rage against blood sports tinged with a good dose of class-war?

Just to be clear - I'm not in favour of bull-baiting!! Now that is a bridge too far...😀

But it's not just killing for sport. With commercial shoots of game birds, the birds are sold for meat and get eaten.

The royals aren't shooting commercially.

This is an interesting excerpt from 'Spare' detailing Harold's horrific 'blooding' experience. It sounds neither professional nor respectful to me:

Prince Harry's Face Was Pressed Into Wound of a Stag He Killed in Ritual (newsweek.com)

It's also worth noting that he goes on to say that had the stag not been killed cleanly or even seen the hunting party (how often does that happen in a royal shoot?) the meat would have been inedible.

I really like her red Shibumi coat. I'm really not a royal fan, but have a lot of respect for Anne. I think she should've been the current monarch! I like Zara too.

I don't think Anne is 'accidentally ' stylish - look back at her outfits as a young woman! Definitely fashionable.

But there is a difference between ever changing fashion and long-term style - which is about your consistent personal tastes and preferences.

When you have been in the public eye for so long of course you will have a solid core of personal preferences (suitable for formal public appearances) 'topped up' by more transient trends.

How on earth do you know that?? 😂

I love it when people make statements like this about people they know nothing about 🙄

@RemarkablyBrightCreature are you by any chance a cephalopod?

Anyway, back to the point..Anne reminds me of her distant cousin Margarethe of Denmark, very queenly.

I know lots of people who have met her through her both charity work and horses. All of them thought very highly of her based not only on the professionalism of her visit, but e.g. on an Riding for the Disabled visit, presumably knowing that lots of the horses are lent for sessions by their owners, she went out of her way to say something nice about every single horse there. An owner I knew was thrilled that an Olympian (and the ultimate Horsey Granny) liked their hairy pony :)

I am no monarchist but I do have a great deal of respect for Anne.

I 'met' her once several years ago at a graduation ceremony (in her role as Chancellor of London University). She came across really well in her speech, as someone who had done her research & was thoroughly professional. That was followed by her individually acknowledging and greeting each of the 100's of graduates who filed past her - by no means as easy as it sounds, it must have been gruelling.

I like her. She’d get my vote for employee of the year.