A Tale of Two Brothers

[justtaketheeffingpicture]

Such a contrast in these two today in their social postings. William looking hot, very much like his Mum and doing something positive whereas Harry the Twat is dancing in a hoody 🙄 doing what ? A court jester ? 🤡

Prince William may be the only person I know of who completed officer training at Sandhurst, then at Cranwell, and then at Dartmouth too! I think he may have more right being said to have been a member of the armed forces even than most people who are in one or other branch of them rather than having trained for and been in all three.

He doesn't seem to have been a Marine, though. I wonder how he came to miss that out....

I mean this genuinely and not in a snarky way but there are people in the world, like myself, who see photos of the RF dressed up in strange costumes with fake medals and on occasion crowns or huge ostrich plumes on their heads, and think they look utterly ridiculous and bizarre.

Just as strange as someone twerking for a joke in a maternity ward if not more so.

And as a Republican, I don’t recognise the fact that any royal, whoever they are, should be treated with more reverence or respect than anyone else.

I don’t think Harry looks like a prat in this video. I think he is larking about and it’s quite funny. And believe it or not, there will be a significant number of people globally to whom the royals walking around in alien finery are less relatable than someone doing a joke dance.

So you have no time for the traditions and celebrations of any country, culture or group who wear costumes as part of their identity?

The RF mostly just wear everyday clothes - I'm not sure the 'alien finery' makes up a large part of their wardrobe. Just for ceremonial events. Which most countries have in some form or another.

The latent arrogance and racism of republicanism is, as ever, present. There's barely a culture on the planet that doesn't use religiously and historically symbolic costume in their cultural and traditional practices.

Oh gadzooks! What a surprise! I think some posters have deliberately misunderstood my post for their own reasons.

And to accuse republicans of arrogance and racism is a bit of a stretch!

Please point to where I said that I had no time for traditional costumes of any sort? Absolutely nowhere!

The point I was making was that many people in the world find the costumes that the RF dress up in, just as alien to them, as a woman twerking in a maternity suite seems alien to many posters on this board. BTW, it’s not that outlandish in reality if you have ever watched a dance video by Beyonce.

I mean this genuinely and not in a snarky way but there are people in the world, like myself, who see photos of the RF dressed up in strange costumes with fake medals and on occasion crowns or huge ostrich plumes on their heads, and think they look utterly ridiculous and bizarre.

Then I assume you find every other culture that celebrates its traditions with costumes featuring medals and plumes "utterly ridiculous and bizarre".

Ah. So your particular brand of republicanism is the one that goes “William and Catherine bad, Harry and Meghan good” as evidenced by this post and your posts elsewhere 😊

How on Earth can you compare a social media fad with established culture of the UK and other countries 😂

Those strange ceremonies that Republicans mock are part of the fabric of British culture and they represent thousands of year of our history. Would you go to another country and laugh and sneer at their ceremonies and practices?

What is doubly annoying is that these are usually the same people who accus the U.K. of having no culture. These ceremonies are just as much a part of British culture as morris dancing and May festivals.

Why should we get rid of them just because they aren’t right in enough for a few joyless idiots?

Then you assume incorrectly!

I specifically find the costumes of the British royal family bizarre and anachronistic.

Most other European slimmed down monarchies have adapted and modernised.

For example, the current Kings of Belgium and Spain managed to be crowned wearing nicely cut business suits during a simple church ceremony, both of which did the job perfectly well at no extra cost to the tax payer.

Listening to morning news radio. They just played part of William's speech from Monaco about the oceans, then the announcer explained the Earthshot prize. It's nice he's being promoted in NYC.

You are avoiding the question by referring to countries that don't use similar practices to the UK. What about the regal garb of the rest of the world? Plenty of medals, feathers and crowns all around the world, from a tribal to a national level. What about them? And what about non royal cultural motifs? eg, Global military motifs? Why are you singling out the British royal family as particularly bizarre? And if you think they are bizarre, what do you think of those other global cultures that use similar motifs?

Would you go to another country and laugh and sneer at their ceremonies and practices?

Yes, this is why I would like to know. Avoiding the question by citing countries that have pared down ceremonies doesn't account for the attitude that being (quoting that poster) dressed up in strange costumes with fake medals and on occasion crowns or huge ostrich plumes on their heads [is] utterly ridiculous and bizarre.

Would you go to another country and laugh and sneer at their ceremonies and practices?

No , I don’t do that, but apparently Charles and Camilla do!

https://globalnews.ca/news/3573437/prince-charles-camilla-inuit-throat-singing-iqaluit/amp/

@Plasticcheeeandgherkins I’m going to explain this to you because you are completely ignorant of the significance of any of these coronation ceremonies.

Belgium- the Belgian crown is a relatively modern invention. Belgium was created after the end of the Napoleonic Wars to create a buffer between France and the Low Countries. They had a lottery of minor European royalty to choose a head of state, landing on the widowed husband of Princess Charlotte of Great Britain, who had died in child birth. The Belgian crown is only about two hundred years old and does not have a complex coronation service because it is relatively new.

Spain- the current Spanish monarchy was restored after living in exile in Portugal during the reign of the dictator Franco. Their ceremony is very pared down because it is a restoration ceremony designed within the last sixty years.

Britain- the British coronation ceremony is possibly the oldest in the world, incorporating elements from Anglo-Saxon kings, the Norman French and the Scottish crown. Parts of the ceremony are over two thousand years old and link the current monarch to Edward the Confessor, the real Macbeth, William the Conqueror and the Welsh princes. It is supposed to represent the uniting of three nations. Which bits would you cut to save money in a short sighted attempt to rob one nation of its place in the service? Dump the Scottish bits, we don’t need them, right. Or let’s just drop the lot and become joyless Republicans, like the Americans.

@Plasticcheeeandgherkins Nice deflection. But she is obviously laughing because her scarf is blowing around.

Less about them. What about you?

More deflection. Do I need to quote you again. If you think medals, plumes crowns etc visible in UK royal ceremonies are "ridiculous and bizarre", do you (not anyone else, you) think they are ridiculous and bizarre where they are present (not absent, present) in other cultures and their ceremonies?

I do love the republican argument when used in favour of a Prince and Duchess, who have decided that their children will be Prince and Princess, purely because the argument is it's their birthright. The birthright of being and wanting to be a member of the monarchy and definitely ranked not linked. It's nearly as barmy as any racist argument that has Harry in the conversation.

I really enjoyed the coronation in London and the ceremony in Scotland when I watched them online. It must be nice not having to worry about people rioting and killing after a regime change. I also watched our January 6th rioting online and I was afraid of a repeat.

Spaniard here
Sorry to say that in Spain there has never been a coronation as such. Notting to do with Franco.
if you go back to medieval times you will find a few kings who designed their own ceremonies and these included parts that are actually a coronation in the sense that they had the crown actually on their heads but basically there’s no coronation as such. It is a proclamation called “entronización” in Spanish and has been like this for centuries.
Which I personally don’t like, with the crown on a cushion while the King accepts the task.

@Mencia Fair enough. I knew there would be a reason why the ceremony was different. Perhaps because the Spanish crown was united later than the English crown?

No, it was never a “thing” in any of the kingdoms.

Minor derail but on the subject of coronations, The Rest Is History did a 3-parter around the time of KCIII’s which I recommend to anyone who’s interested - it covers the long history of the ceremony in England and then the UK plus very funny descriptions of various coronation mishaps and eccentricities. It’s what first got me into the podcast.

Other nations kings and emperors like feathers and robes and headgear too.

Do you think they are ridiculous? I think they are rather splendid

Interesting! Thanks for the explanation.

Coronation ceremonies seem to be a very English obsession! I do love The Rest is History. They have great breakdowns of key historical events. Tom Holland (not Spider-Man) is one of my favourite writers.