Andrew - continuing his effort to end the Monarchy, part 2

[AnnunciataM]

I am not the OP of the previous thread but we are nearly at 1000 posts and there's been some very good discussion on there.

Previous thread https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/the_royal_family/5473274-andrew-continuing-his-effort-to-end-the-monarchy

That should be fun.

I agree with all this.

But would add that I'd like to see our political representatives take the load off that polite gentleman, so that he doesn't have to worry about spending time at His Majesty's Pleasure for asking questions.

If there is rot in the RF, it is as much the fault of the overall Establishment as it is the individuals in the RF (very few of whom get a go at the top job).

When I talk about others, I'm thinking of the powerful business, finance and political people over those years.

I struggle to believe it will have been only Mandelson and AMW.

Maybe it’s starting. But I don’t trust the English courts anymore either..

Edit: tried to link the headline in the DM but failed

Oh yes. Successive governments have been pathetic and servile. It has done us no favours.

I just think of that MP being sworn in and not wanting to swear allegiance to the king and heirs.
He was told that if he didn't, he would not be able to vote in parliament, he wouldn't receive a salary and could face a by election. He was voted in by thousands of people yet had to swear allegiance to king and successors. What sort of tin pot country do we live in??!
He wanted to swear allegiance to the the constitution, the country, human rights and democracy instead.

After discussion he prefaced his swearing in with a sentence disputing it. But then had to do it.

https://mol.im/a/15566359

The Sentencing Guidelines need to be overhauled too.

My goodness yes.

@simpsonthecatwhich MP was that?

For citizenship ceremonies (I attended a friend’s), you also swear allegiance only to the sovereign. Not the state, not the country.

In large part we are suffering because we don’t have a constitution.

Waiting for BP to retract their statement of 3rd January 2015.

A Labour MP called Clive Lewis, Norwich.

I think it should be optional. We're not North Korea

Swearing allegiance to the crown is one of the reasons that Sinn Féin MPs don’t take their seats in Westminster.

He was voted in by thousands of people yet had to swear allegiance to king and successors. What sort of tin pot country do we live in??!
He wanted to swear allegiance to the the constitution, the country, human rights and democracy instead.

Not only should MP's swear allegiance to us., but so should The Monarch. Instead we had the embarrassing spectacle of being asked to swear public allegiance to him for his coronation, which thankfully was treated with the derision it deserved. And while we're at it, change the National Anthem to something that is related to the nation, not a song about The King! No wonder Scotland, Wales and Australia have 2 National Anthems. GSTK/Q is embarrassing in the extreme in this day and age.

I'm really pleased to see reports today that the govt will be looking into the ten years in which AMW was a so-called 'trade envoy' for the UK. It seems to me, from reading 'Entitled' by Andrew Lownie and also from info that's come out in the latest round of Epstein papers, that he used these trips, funded by the British taxpayer and supposedly to benefit the UK, as an opportunity to swan around the globe and hold personal business meetings from which he further enriched himself. Did he actually attract ANY business to the UK? Did he actually do any good whatsoever for this country in those ten years? How much did it cost this country to send him here, there and everywhere, first class? In AL's book he said that AMW often turned down the offer to stay with the relevant ambassador of the country he was visiting and instead insisted on staying in a 5* hotel, along with his entourage, at the taxpayer's expense. That is just one, small example of the grifting attached to these trips.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15566601/MPs-open-investigation-Andrew-Mountbatten-Windsors-work-trade-envoy-week-calls-grow-criminal-probe-claims-abused-position.html

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/royal-family/article/andrew-former-prince-jeffrey-epstein-files-mandelson-wslp7sr0b

Archive links:

DM https://archive.is/zNhfF

Times https://archive.is/IjdVz

So agree. Being a rugby nut, and hearing the six nations anthems lots, ours is just a dirge and swearing allegiance and asking god to save our gracious king. (My fave is Italy, so stirring and powerful!)

The idea floated to the nation about us all stood in front of our tellies holding royal tea towels as we washed up swearing allegiance to Charles on coronation day was soooooo funny!

Thanks

The Times article is interesting, it's by Lownie and covers some, not all, of what I have read in his book and also 'Royal Mint, National Debt' by Norman Baker. I'm about two thirds through and there's a big chapter on Andrew.

So agree with this...
Andrew could not have functioned without a vast network of enablers who, frightened for their jobs and pensions, went along with it. Plenty of people have long known of how the prince monetised his royal status to enrich himself. Few of them have spoken out. It is time for them to now do so in the public interest. There is a higher loyalty than blind subservience to the Crown.

I thought it was hilarious when Charles galloped to the four corners of the UK to sign and seal the fact that he was now our King. Just in case there might be a revolution in the interregnum!

And I know he was technically King the minute QE2 died, but still.... he looked desperate to make sure of it!

ours is just a dirge and swearing allegiance and asking god to save our gracious king

I totally agree! I was watching the medal ceremony for the skeleton bob pairs two nights ago and thought the same. Why isn't our national anthem a tribute to our country, it's people, it's principles, etc, like other nations' anthems?

There is a higher loyalty than blind subservience to the Crown.

This is sooo right! Why is it seen as 'unpatriotic' to want the RF held to account? Why is blind subservience, and defending and overpraising every single utterance and movement of a particular family seen as more patriotic than wanting to ensure the the proper functioning of our institutions, fairness and holding the powerful to established standards of behaviour?

Should have said - I iterated the template with my own words - it wasn’t a straight copy

Portraits of the late Queen and Prince Philip adorned the walls of any number of public buildings when I was at school; the monarchy was part and parcel of our lives.

No-one (I hope) was daft enough to believe the RF was perfect, but Harry's revelations and AMW's despicable acts have tarnished, if not destroyed, the illusion which was part of many people's identity and effectively exposed the RF in all its tatty underwear.

I suppose Republicans will be pleased, but I have a sense of loss - not for the individuals, but for what was part of me; Britishness, if you like.

These days, cynicism rools okay. For that alone, I'd like to see AMW seeing out his days in Belmarsh or similar.

I havent even had a reply to my letter! Although I think having Christopher Chope as your MP means you were probably on a hiding to nothing anyway!

Yes, I’ve emailed him before about the Royals and he supports them. However, I felt it was still important to email him again. It may be futile but along with voting, it’s the only realistic form of protest open to us. It’s better than doing nothing and just moaning!

Yes it should be 'for the people, by the people'

I've not sung or stood up for that anthem for well over twenty years, probably longer.

If I'm going to respect an anthem, and stand up to sing it, then it can at least be about my country and all of us as citizens.