Omid Scobie Resurfaces

[NotaDuchessIworkalot]

Looks like the appetite for all things Royal from Britain is not going away soon as his fiction novel Royal Spin is to become a show on Universal Television. They’re a division of Universal Studio Group, who acquired the rights to the show when they took part in an ‘intense bidding war’.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/prince-harry-meghan-markle-omid-scobie-show-b2582621.html

I just listened to another very interesting Scandal Mongers Podcast. Clive Irving thinks Scobie is accurate re William being restless for the crown.

“Which brings me to the Scoby book. And my major takeaway from it actually is not the race or the color of the skin.
^^
My major takeaway is the rising power of William. And I think on this Scoby is probably very accurate. And I think the understudy is getting very restless, because he's 16 years older now than the queen was when she came to the throne.
^^
She was very inexperienced and had to learn under the tutelage of a mentor, Churchill, for quite a while. He's done all the learning already. He's ready.
^^
At the age of 41, there's no doubt he's ready. So what's being asked? Is he being asked to wait until he's 50 by which time this problem of the broken connection will have become so severe that maybe the monarchy might have been swept away by then?”

From The SCANDAL Mongers Podcast: Royals and Racism: crisis or smear? - with Clive Irving - The Daily Beast | Ep.44 | Scandal Mongers, 6 Dec 2023
podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-scandal-mongers-podcast/id1653614176?i=1000637603461
This material may be protected by copyright.

I’m glad I’ve started listening to this podcast. I be found it very interesting.

Doesn't the title give a tiny hint about the nature of these podcasts? 😂

The Scandal Monger’s podcasts are good, I recommended them on these pages a long time ago, because I do like Andrew Lownie, who has been an absolutely tenacious advocate for openness of what should be publicly available records, and has lost a fortune pursuing government via FOI. But I don’t find the hosts particularly probing of a lot of their guests’ assertions. Rather, they let them speak their opinions and take an open minded approach to what they are saying. Lady Colin Campbell, for instance, has been a returning guest with some opinions and assertions that are controversial to say the least. They let guests speak, they listen, they don’t push back an awful lot, and they respect other people’s opinions and the research that has gone into forming them.

At the age of 41, there's no doubt he's ready. So what's being asked? Is he being asked to wait until he's 50 by which time this problem of the broken connection will have become so severe that maybe the monarchy might have been swept away by then?”

Just to clarify this - he’s saying that a British public that is supportive of Prince Charles, who succeeded his highly popular mother when he was in his 70s, might completely turn against highly popular William because he’s likely to be…50 when he comes to the throne?

it hasn’t been a problem for King Frederik of Denmark. And given the most popular TV personalities in the UK are all well over 50, doesn’t sound terribly likely to me.

'And I think the understudy is getting very restless, because he's 16 years older now than the queen was when she came to the throne.'

This sounds complete rubbish tbh. There's never been any suggestion that William wants his father to abdicated in his favour. William had the example of Queen Elizabeth who's sense of duty meant she remained in post until her death, his father who became King in his seventies. Why would he think it would be appropriate for him to take over before his father dies or is ready to hand over?

He has a young family and his priority appears to be ensuring they have a stable and loving childhood and preparing them for the future.

William's detractors have previously suggested he doesn't want to be king but now he's prepared to oust his father so he can grab the role .

'She was very inexperienced and had to learn under the tutelage of a mentor, Churchill, for quite a while. He's done all the learning already. He's ready.'

So despite people calling him workshy he's obviously been working a long time, learning the ropes.

I think it's far more likely to be Scooby stirring the pot as usual.

I’ll dip in too. 😊

Diana famously wanted Charles to disappear off with ‘his lady’. I think I remember also that there was some chatter/gossip in certain groups about Andrew taking on some protector type role of the monarchy until William was old enough to reign properly. Wishful thinking but if Diana ever did openly speak about these matters in the presence of the boys then it could explain the comment made regarding William. I always think it must be a strange environment to bring up kids as from a certain age the conversation has to begin. Aside from that, if William has a big ego and was impatient it might have a kernel of truth to it.

'If William has a big ego and was impatient it might have a kernel of truth to it.'

And if the moon was made of cheese we'd eat it.

😂

He has a young family and his priority appears to be ensuring they have a stable and loving childhood and preparing them for the future.

William's detractors have previously suggested he doesn't want to be king but now he's prepared to oust his father so he can grab the role .
This is not my opinion.

Andrew Lambie, Phil Craig and Clive Irving are all either historians or journalists or royal experts or a combination of the three.

Here’s the text again relevant to Scobie and William that I supplied above, the text that you seem to have confused as being my opinion.

“My major takeaway is the rising power of William. And I think on this Scoby is probably very accurate. And I think the understudy is getting very restless, because he's 16 years older now than the queen was when she came to the throne.”

It’s not my opinion.

Bit it’s starting to feel like it’s a bit of a theme on here to misunderstand a post. Sometimes it’s just not reading closely enough. But other times it seems to be a deliberate misunderstanding.

People please excuse the length of this post. It contains a lot of further text copied and pasted from the podcast we’ve been talking about above. Please scroll past if long posts and lots of text bothers you.

@Serenster here’s more text from the podcast - it is earlier text that flows on to the text I posted above. (This is Clive Irving to be clear).

“But no, the real question to me is, how can you survive losing the connection that has been lost?

And the mood music is bad, because the younger, under 50s and under 40s, are indifferent. Indifference is not saying that they're anti-monarchists.
^^
They're just apathetic or indifferent. In other words, the Royal Family and the Crown plays no role in their lives. That's how they see it.
^^
And we have to be precise about what we mean when we say play a role in their lives, because the Queen did play a role in everybody's lives simply in projecting her everyday presence. We knew she was there. She'd been there for so long.
^^
It was like looking at the Nelson Column in Trafalgar Square. There's a great personage is with us every day. And that's gone now.
^^
And unless there's a reason, a palpable reason, for the royal family to be involved in the life of the nation, that connection will be lost forever. Which brings me to the Scoby book. And my major takeaway from it actually is not the race or the color of the skin.
^^
My major takeaway is the rising power of William”.

From The SCANDAL Mongers Podcast: Royals and Racism: crisis or smear? - with Clive Irving - The Daily Beast | Ep.44 | Scandal Mongers, 6 Dec 2023
https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-scandal-mongers-podcast/id1653614176?i=1000637603461
This material may be protected by copyright.

I agree with earlier posts of yours when you say that people generally grow more conservative as they age. No argument about that. It’s generally the way. A few become more radical.

The late Queen was a constant in so many lives. For most of us she was always there (like Nelson’s column, to steal an example). For younger generations there will be continued change: the Queen, now Charles, then William. Change doesn’t encourage the same sort of strong feelings.

it hasn’t been a problem for King Frederik of Denmark. And given the most popular TV personalities in the UK are all well over 50, doesn’t sound terribly likely to me.

Yes, 5O has seemed to work in regard to Frederick. But there were differences. Margarethe’s handover to Fred - she did not wait for death - and it was touching and sensible, without massive strain on the public purse on. A clever strategy I thought, and in its simplicity very touching. (The moment that Queen Margrethe left the room was a moment.) The crowds still got to gather below a balcony and cheer for Frederick, Mary and children afterwards.

I was supportive of QE2 reigning until death. It was her crown, why should she be expected to hand it over? But, having seen what we’ve inherited after, I now see the argument for handing over earlier. It might be better if they do hand over at 40, when the crown still seems energetic and ‘young enough’ so people of all ages can more easily relate to them?

Also, to address your point that the most popular TV personalities on TV are over 50, I’m sure you are right. But the younger generations really aren’t watching TV generally speaking- they are online on Tic Tok and now No Place etc., and they are streaming.

TV, as we’ve known it, now looks to be have begun its death throes, because there is so much else on offer, and also because the younger generation generally aren’t looking to tv for their news and entertainment.

It’s a different world. Just as tv changed so many things in our life times, new technology is changing so many things yet again. Screens of all sizes will probably be around for some time but not much ‘tv’ as we currently know it.

I'm not entirely sure what your argument is - because young people have a short attention span the monarch should retire at 50?

Constancy and stability were the watch words of QEIi's reign. Perhaps young people don't appreciate those qualities in a world where everything changes so quickly - they certainly seem to be more in thrall to celebrity. That shouldn't mean the rf need to be more like celebrities to survive. Is the monarchy to bend to 'the cult of youth'? What a thoroughly depressing thought.

The Cult of Youth
Depressing indeed. You're not past it at 50!

Why say so much when, what, 3 words will say it all?

So basically Daftlemondog, your argument is that because the young are not watching linear tv, and using tik tok as their go to media source, anything that’s not on tik tok will gradually become irrelevant? I fear for far more than the UK’s Head of State if that is the case!

Quite. Imagine kowtowing to the tiktok algorithm.

///dog.scroll.waffle

Thanks heaps.

have a good day.

Hand over the crown at 40? Not on my watch!

@DeftLemonDog I understand your argument as on one hand it makes for a much better handover than one that comes about through death. However, it’s also the start of a slippery slope because once other reasons other than a monarch dying come to the fore to facilitate a resignation (if it’s a job) then it changes how people view a king or queen. In a throwaway consumer led society the idea of a life born into service until death goes by the wayside as well which then opens up an argument that if a monarch does not have a job for life until death we might as well pick someone to be the head of state from a far more meritocratic pool.

As an American, I have a different perspective of William. He's doing a good job with Earthshot. He's using his own money to build housing with supportive services in his Duchy of Cornwall. He's using his soft power to bring together people for that 5 year homeless initiative.

I saw an article stating that W is now looking to hire a private secretary who speaks Welsh and has a detailed knowledge of Welsh communities and infrastructure. The hire could advise W on using his soft power in Wales.

https://nypost.com/2024/07/19/entertainment/kate-middleton-and-prince-william-looking-to-hire-new-staff-member-with-special-skill-set/

He's been POW and DOC for a year. It looks as though he is moving forward with his initiatives and soft power despite the health issues of KC and C. I think that in a few years. His initiatives will be making a difference.

I think that's the difference, @BemusedAmerican . William has worked under the radar on long term issues of concern and interest.
He's doing projects which will be long lasting and he's doing it with a sincere motive, not to get tabloid headlines, or to swell his coffers or to get some meaningless "award". This is about a life of service. Using his title and influence for positive ends.

'It was like looking at the Nelson Column in Trafalgar Square. There's a great personage is with us every day. And that's gone now.'

Eh?

Honestly, this cracked me up. He had his whole life to prepare for being POW and didn’t do much about the place or become a speaker of the Welsh language. King Charles spent 9 weeks emersed in the lingo in Wales at a uni. Willy now hires a bod to brief him/do all the work/keep putting out letters for him on all things Welsh. He claims homelessness can be solved - he is going to build a few houses - which everyone knows is a complex issue not easily solved, if at all when you consider all the problems associated with the human condition. Before that he was going to make it his life’s mission to solve the Arab Israeli debacle - yup tweeting your support is uber helpful. Thanks for that Willy! He can’t even bring about rapprochement with his own brother nor understand the dynamics at play in his own family. No, he’ll just be a power and solve it all because he is the POW and believes all the smoke that is blown up his arse. Right, so that’s housing in his lifetime solved and the biggest cluster f*ck that is the Middle East also solved. Except Harry. Harry can do one.

Beggin’ your pardon guv but don’t all that charity goodness begin at ‘ome?

About 29% of the population of Wales speaks Welsh so you've just language-shamed most of Wales.

https://www.gov.wales/welsh-language-data-annual-population-survey-october-2022-september-2023#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20APS%2C%20there,year%20ending%2030%20September%202023.

It's not an easy language to learn. According to the Daily Mail, William does speak some languages and his kids speak Spanish with their nanny.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-12242879/FEMAIL-reveals-royals-speak-languages.html

My father's first language was not English. My grandparents spent nearly 60 years in the US, and never really learned English - it was hard to communicate with them. I never learned their language. My mother felt that Spanish was more useful in the NY Metro area. It's really hard to be fluent if you don't use the language every day.