I have pre-ordered Andrew Lownie's Book (out I think 14th August) A thread for those interested in "Entitled"

[BasiliskStare]

So for those interested in this book about the Yorks. I will read it and interested to hear from others who have or to give an opinion.

No spitting , no gouging 😂

The whole country was apparently taken in by Jimmy Savile so it would be surprising if Charles was not. He seems not to be a great judge of character. Andrew likewise. I’m sure there are sensible heads in the family who had their doubts but the thing about these types of criminals, because that’s what they are, is that they are immensely cunning and manipulative.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

I suspect that when it came to PA, her favourite, she chose not to know too much. She was the Queen, if she'd asked people to look into what PA was up to, she probably could've found out. And who knows what she knew and what she didn't, when she was so keen to cover up for him, pay his debts, give him honours he hadn't earned, and be seen out and about him any time the press printed unflattering stories about him? The Queen was his enabler her whole life, let's face it.

Anyway, it seems that PA went to some trouble to cover up what he was doing. He travelled to places on legitimate business, usually on the taxpayer's dime, then he tacked on a couple of extra days for 'business meetings' and I bet that's how his nefarious goings on were largely hidden. As far as anyone is concerned, PA was in e.g. Kazahkstan on Trade Envoy business and if he had a business meeting or two at the end or a round of golf I'm guessing no one was was really scrutinising his diary too carefully at that point.

People cut SO MUCH slack for the Royal Family! I wish I knew why.

I totally agree. I just don't get it in the slightest. It's so odd.

Jimmy Savile’s behaviour was known at the BBC and by virtually everyone who worked in the NHS in Leeds and Stoke Mandeville and at Broadmoor. He fooled fans of Jim’ll Fix It and Top of the Pops (I was amongst them) but let’s be honest, very few people who had actually met him several times were taken in. There were stories of nurses and mortuary workers refusing to leave him alone in the wards/mortuary because they knew that the patients/deceased might be violated. It’s likely that Charles was aware, therefore.

In fairness, influential people like Margaret Thatcher and Esther Rantzen were aware of the stories too. But this isn’t a thread about them, it’s about the royals and the “never explain” nonsense. And some of the royals aren’t coming out of this at all well.

I agree too. You see it on here, the sycophancy towards Kate, William and the old Queen. My mind boggles.

Agree.

It's utterly baffling.

My son following an accident in 2010 was a patient in our local spinal unit which was in our brand new hospital. He was 19 at the time and had no idea who Savile was. One day the ward was having an official opening and when I went to visit in the afternoon my ds told me that some effing pervert had been to open the ward and would not leave him alone. He kept grabbing his chair and pushing him about something DS hates. He said he kept lunging at him trying to grab him etc. DS told him to eff off and wheeled himself away from where he was.
Luckily for my DS he wasn't as vulnerable as so many other patients, or bodies, had been in the NHS over the years. Savile's fundraising facade gave him access and a free pass to his victims.
He really was an awful man so how Charles had this friendship with him beggars belief.
And apparently took marriage guidance advice from him? Him and unmarried devout Catholic I dread to think what the advice was.
And as a final Savile link to my family. He is buried a 100m from my Grandparents which sickens me.

Beatrice certainly seems to be a chip off the old block.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/royals/article-14982587/Princess-Beatrice-promo-UAE-bank-new-London-branch-Prince-Andrew.html

Wow.

And just days before launching her own venture:

https://www.skynews.com.au/lifestyle/celebrity-life/management-consultancy-activities-princess-beatrice-launches-business-venture-amid-family-fallout/news-story/9433953455f0fab600774e0a0ed42fe4

Clearly a woman of many business talents whose shining light has been buried under the holiday monster mask for decades.

Beatrice couldn't fail to be a grifter, just like her awful parents.

Both of the daughters do seem to have significant contacts in the Middle East. That gravy train is still rolling.

Mmmm. It makes you wonder what the concrete advantages are for the other side doesn’t it?

She definitely knew what he was up to cheezncrackers.

And as you say, QE2 enabled PA her entire life.

The Lownie book states that MPs, diplomats and “unofficial intelligence sources” brought proof to her of PA’s alleged illegal behaviour and she didn’t want to know.

As a direct result of the Lownie book, my views on the late QE2, which had previously been uncertain, have now hardened. We already knew she was notoriously secretive about her money and exploited another parliamentary “convention” called “Queen’s Consent” to change a draft law in order to conceal her “embarrassing” private wealth from the public.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/07/revealed-queen-lobbied-for-change-in-law-to-hide-her-private-wealth

And yet some people continue to be taken in by “leaked” stories of Prince Philip turning off the lights at BP and the late Queen eating cereal from Tupperware boxes! They must think we are so very stupid!

Reading about all of this in its entirety, I think it’s a pretty fair conclusion to draw that she didn’t clip Andrew’s wings because what he was doing within the RF, although at the extreme end, wasn’t particularly unusual! He just got caught!

And isn’t that what entitled public school boys have been taught for generations? It’s fine as long as you get away with it! And these types grow up without any sense of personal morality or responsibility. It certainly explains why they are all so tight-lipped!

Think about it, QE2 was allegedly prepared to pay the alleged £12 million to try and make the Virginia Giuffre story go away. If true, that was both morally wrong and the abuse of power through wealth!

What is important now however is whether King Charles is going to continue to be cowardly and stick his head in the sand? Is he as bad as the rest of them and more concerned about profits than duty? Or will he stand up and effect some serious change in terms of the RF’s transparency and accountability? Why should our Head of State, who represents the ordinary people of Britain, be allowed to hide behind such a thick blanket of secrecy? Doesn’t anyone find it fundamentally worrying that they should have to?

@Ploachedplorridgei really don’t think KC will do anything drastic during what is likely to be a short reign .
I do think William will shake things up A LOT!

The Lownie book states that MPs, diplomats and “unofficial intelligence sources” brought proof to her of PA’s alleged illegal behaviour and she didn’t want to know.

I must've missed that bit @Ploachedplorridge among all the eye-popping details of how PA enriched himself and abused his position to plunder the British taxpayer. My views on QEII have also changed from fairly neutral to fairly disgusted in light of what I read in this book. TBH, if our govt wasn't so bloody awful I'd probably be a republican by now.

I'm afraid I don't have any faith that William will do things differently. I hope he does, I hope his reign ushers in a new era of accountability, transparency and zero tolerance for the kind of corruption and sleaze that his uncle and aunt have revelled in, but it's going to be an uphill struggle, because the entire 'firm' - family, courtiers, lawyers, etc - are all in on it. Nothing less than a complete root and branch overhaul is going to be sufficient to weed out all the corruption and nest feathering that is part and parcel of being in the RF. The details about Beatrice and Eugenie and their connections to the ME show that the poison has already dripped down to the next generation, two little piggies with their noses in the same deep, cash-filled trough as their vile parents.

One other thing that this book made me think is that when Harry wanted to step back as a working royal and make money from his royal connections on the side, he said that others were already doing it and it hadn't ever been a problem. Clearly, he was talking about PA, who has blatantly traded on his title and royal connections to enrich himself and his family. No wonder Harry was so furious that he wasn't allowed to do the same.

I think they’re probably all at it, to some extent. The book touches on this too a bit. There must be limitless opportunities to feather your own nest if you’re in the Royal Family with all its connections. I did wonder about the Wales’ recent holiday on that super yacht, and Camilla’s holiday on a different yacht. Both lent / gifted by their Middle Eastern owners. In return for what though? I don’t believe there is such a thing as a no-strings gift when it comes to the Royal Family.

I quite agree about Harry. I don’t think he went about things in the right way but you can imagination his frustration seeing everyone else profit from their position and him being told he can’t! The half in half out ban is extremely hypocritical in the light of all of this!

Yeah I’m finding myself more sympathetic to Harry, whom I used to regard as a rather spoilt and bitter crybaby.

I think that more and more financial muck is going to come out over the next few years but the royals can probably rely on the majority of the public being neutral towards them tbh. The obsessive royalists and Kate-mad types are maybe from the older demographic but I don’t think there’s a massive appetite for a republic amongst middle-aged and young people tbh. Just a few of us on here!

Peter Phillips advertised milk on Chinese tv.
Mike Tindall endorsed Guiness 00 on his podcast. Zara Tindall has several lucrative deals.
Would these have happened without the RF connection?

None of these are senior working Royals, though. It's like seeing the CEO of your company doing Deliveroo on a weekend. It looks crap and the wage should be enough. H thought he was worth more on the open market but has found that he is not.

Exactly - I thought Harry was talking about Peter and Zara too - but they're not working royals, so it's not the same. PA though, he was a working royal until he was forced to step down due to the Epstein scandal. The whole time he was working as a trade envoy and using it as a platform from which to enrich himself and his family he was a working royal.

I think quite the opposite.

I think he and Kate will be more remote, I think he will not feel answerable to anyone for anything. They are already setting out their stall, with a very private residence, more like Fort Knox with security around the perimeter (yes, I know they need security) but barriers, guards and a surveillance system. The neighbours are wondering, don't blame them!

I just don't think William will be making any changes to speak of.

What do you think William will shake up?

I imagine the status quo suits William just fine. All that wealth, a choice of residences, a compliant British press, and only the barest minimum required from him in terms of work. If he was some great reformer, I’d have expected to get a hint of this by now.