William on Graham Norton

[viques]

Poor Harry. As if his week hasn’t been bad enough he has now had to watch his brother appearing on the best talk show , holding his own, looking comfortable and relaxed, keeping up with the banter, making half decent jokes, telling stories against himself with humour.

Makes Harry’s attempt at tv chatting seem even more uncomfortable.

“Call me William” versus “I am a prince.”

There are clearly passionate royalists and passionate republicans, but there are also a good many people who would like to see some reform of the existing institution rather than its abolition. I don’t think the UK will go back to a republic (certainly not in my lifetime). Aside from anything else, it would be hugely destabilising and the markets (where power really resides!) wouldn’t like it. Young people are supportive of a switch to a republic, so it’s down to William to turn these opinions around.

I get that. I understand that it’s as much about the institution as its occupant, and that people would rather stick with the devil they know than venture into uncharted waters. I understand the fear of change, I really do.

But the inherent problem is that the institution is expected to endure regardless of the flaws of its occupant. And adherents of the royalist tradition would often rather beat their critics over the head with the pomp and circumstance of the monarchy than engage with legitimate criticism such as William’s treatment of his tenants.

That’s the fundamental issue: the institution becomes a shield against scrutiny, and the occupant benefits from the deference that comes with the crown. Rather than asking whether the individual deserves the privilege and respect afforded to them, we’re expected to accept both as part of the package

We republicans should be welcomed, not vilified. We’re the ones keeping the monarchy on its toes and reminding it that public acclaim is something to be earned, not simply assumed as a birthright.

Personally, I’m cheap and available to work for either side for a bit of small change, should there be any palace flunkies in need of assistance watching. I’m nothing if not pragmatic. 😂

I’m totally in agreement with this. Thank you.

Nice! Typical raging republican.

I wonder why they don’t garner much support?

I don’t know what age you are @CoffeeCantata but I’d guess you are in the 65+ group.

Frankly that group is of no consequence when it comes to the Windsor’s future .
Even the chat show boost - mainly older people watch chat shows. Traitors got many millions more .
The observer article is having a deeper impact as it requires proper engagement not the 2 sec scroll on the FYP which counts a ‘view’

The Windsors know they are in trouble long term . Hence dropping the ‘mystique’ and doing rehearsed ‘chat’ on the red sofa. It’s to be seen if that approach will work. So far it hasn’t . Yes royalists who watched it lap it up but as for long term impact the observer article will have that .

Are you doing some kind of manifesting program? If you say it enough it will come true?

I think some members of W's PR team are posting and watching here, you know - to get a feel for their next tactic against any negativity 😊

What was it that TLQ is reputed to have said -

"I have to be SEEN to be believed"

So well done W. At last we see you, not sure if everyone believes you though!

Both 'appearances' pre-recorded presumably in the hope of distracting the public from it being half term and questioning where this month's sunny jolly might be.

yawn

Based on the Observer article and other snippets over the years William is doing all the discrediting himself .

That’s the issue the Windsors have now . They haven’t changed . We just have more access to the truth . Well bits of it anyway .
God knows what is still hidden .

I don't agree with your analysis. I know the arguments but I just don't see it that way. Sorry, but the impotent rants don't make any impact.

I don't mind what assumptions you make about my age, gender, sexual orientation - go right ahead!

It's just ridiculous how angry it's made some people that William has made a good impression on the telly. Good for him.

Who knows what the future holds? You don't and I don't. But please don't try to claim that the general public see William as some sort of anti-Christ, bound up in capitalist conspiracies. 😈At least you haven't claimed he's a paedophile - I suppose we should be grateful for small mercies!

Oh God - do people really believe this stuff?

Tin hat territory.

Profound.

The funny thing is I see William as a small r Royalist. I can imagine him being quite happy to change the institution within reason.

There is a balance, some of the pomp is valuable, I can’t imagine there is much of a second hand market for ermine 😀 but a royal state dinner is far above a state dinner in most other countries and royal visits are great for soft power due to the RF so as my mum says don’t throw the baby out with the bath water, we might end up with a Nigel Farage or Boris Johnson in that role

Demographics are interesting.

Observer readership, as you might expect, trends older and towards professional jobs
Observer demographics

Graham Norton's TV audience tends to be over 45, but the show launched its Tiktok account in 2021, aimed at both a younger audience and the overseas market. Within 3 years it became the largest UK talk show account on the platform, and achieved its goals of 30% audience under 35, and 50% audience from non-UK territories.
Graham Norton demographics

Edit to add link which failed

Us apparently “ranting” Republicans, feel very strongly that hereditary monarchy is holding the UK back.

When you say a “presidential system would not be as representative of the country's history and culture” my immediate thought is “whose history and culture” because we are all very diverse?

Having a royal family merely as a tourist attraction is one thing, but while the monarch automatically sits as our head of state, and royal influence is embedded in all of our major institutions, it allows us and politicians to remain complacent and rely on the status quo and abdicate responsibility for the way our group of countries is headed.

Kemi Badenoch, someone who you would think would be well versed in our constitution, referred to the King last month during a Newsnight interview as “her boss” , and a journalist from the Nationalist Statesman who was supposedly representing the left on the same programme said “Andy Burnham knows he has to keep the palace happy” or words similar to that.

This was all was said jokingly during a question about Charles Spencer’s book, but it was insightful in that the comments were off the cuff.

And then of course there is the argument that the RF benefit financially from their position and are exempt from too many laws to which the rest of us are subject.

Is it beneficial to the people of the UK that our Head of State should inherit between £370 million to £500 million in private personal wealth and assets when inheriting the crown?

Many of us believe that it is not, especially when the RF are not subject to enough scrutiny as it is. To have such huge wealth and privilege embedded at the heart of our establishment makes the monarchy increasingly unassailable, the very opposite of open, accountable and transparent.

And as the historian Peter Hennessy says, our unwritten constitution relies on the people inhabiting the top positions to be “jolly good chaps”, in other words, we have no effective mechanisms to root out the bad ones when they transgress or are corrupt.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is a living breathing example of why the hereditary system is flawed. If the avalanche that killed Major Hugh Lindsay in Klosters in 1988 had expanded several metres to the left or right, AMW as monarch could easily have been our fate.

And as the historian Peter Hennessy says, our unwritten constitution relies on the people inhabiting the top positions to be “jolly good chaps”, in other words, we have no effective mechanisms to root out the bad ones when they transgress or are corrupt.

Just like the impotence of America with Trump at the moment it would seem.

We don't have an absolute monarchy. We have a constitutional monarchy.

That means that Parliament is pre-eminent.

They may not always carry out their responsibilities as we would wish, but that is not the fault of the monarchy.

The monarch is appointed by the will of the people, via the Accession Council. A monarch can be deposed if the people (in the form of Parliament) believe that is the correct thing to do (most recently in 1938).

That's hilarious!

Because, let's face it, William and KC are JUST like Donald Trump! 😂

I've heard it all now. Utter desperation.

Regardless of what he sometimes claims, Trump is on a short fixed term and the American public will get to choose their next head of state in a couple of years. There are of course other presidents who, like the Windsors, are not democratically chosen. So you can be stuck with a bad president just as you can be stuck with a bad monarch.

I agree entirely with this post.

Yes, William doesn't want the life his grandmother or his father had/have.

He will change things out of self-interest, as well as for wider considerations. He's seen the sort of life his comfortable middle-class in-laws have and he knows that's what he wants for his children.

I think we'll see a move to Scandinavian-style low-key monarchy with him.

As long as he keeps Trooping the Colour and all the pretty horses, he can have my fiver and a tip too, because it's the best value in town!

I think you doth protest too much.

I don't give a damn really, I'm just commenting as I go along. However, my instinct in all things is to be questioning and cynical about things that often look too good to be true. 😊

So you feel William looks that well then?

I really, really hope you're right. That's the theory - but the world has changed and Trump has changed America in the way that a bad teacher ruins a class.

We've seen and heard things we never would have believed about the US in the last decade. I'll never forget the storming of the Capitol by his disgruntled, redneck thugs, or the crude insults hurled at Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Trump has given the green light to the worst instincts of the worst people, just as the fascist dictators did in the 30s.

I hope your faith in the US system is justifies, but I'm afraid that there's been a paradigm-shift in attitudes since the golden days of the Obamas.

Ah, well, I do give a damn.

Not about what you probably think I'm referring to...I mean I give a damn about lies, twisting of the truth, propaganda, opportunist arguments used for cheap point-scoring etc etc. Oh , and unfairness.

I care very much about those things. I don't care what pps think of William - but the preposterous stuff on here shouldn't go unchallenged.