Styxx wrote:Frankly I feel pretty sorry for the royal family.

yeah my hearts bleeding for them!

i'd call the power to be able to silence the press pretty extraordinary. Also, the Queen has a ridiculous amount of power, it's just not used by convention.

Yeah, they silenced that guy who snuck into Buckinham Palace and then printed his exploits in the paper pretty good a few years back

There was a perfectly good reason for coming to an agreement of silence regarding journalism on this issue, and it was so neither the Prince nor his fellow soldiers would be put in greater danger. It's exactly the same reason why the specifics of Prime Ministers' foreign trips are not reported before they arrive.

And by the way, it wasn't even that the media didn't know about it, they just agreed to avoid reporting on it - that's why the BBC had plenty of footage of Harry on tour and in interviews to put up the day the news broke in foreign sources - they were aware of him being there and apparently had access to him, they just didn't release the footage at the time.

I have no time for bitter anti-royalism - I might well share the sentiments if we lived in an actual governmental monarchy, where the monarch has arbitrary control of the levers of power, but face it; the modern monarchy fulfills a largely ceremonial and apolitical diplomatic function. Is it really much to sob about that the royal family is costing you something like 60 pence a year?

Also, I want to make the distinction between the Royal Family and the British Crown. In my view I don't really care about the personal lives of any particular family member, beyond the fact that they're setting a reasonably good example and upholding various roles that come with the title. The media however is SO fixated on the people themselves.

Call me a sentimentalist, but for me it is about the Crown as an institution I don't want to get rid of, and one which does as much good as the 'oh so terrible' things some of you lot are blubbing about.

Ladies and gentlemen, UK Thrash presents: James hitting the nail on the head!

Seriously man, you should be a journalist. You know, without the shitness.

It's not about the power or money, its about the principles and ideology.

The Monarchy represents everything wrong with this country.

Explain yourself.

James I was referring to the scandal a few years ago involving the royal family which they successfully prevented from being published in Britain. Obviously freedom of the press doesn't apply to them.

I find it quite strange that people who are very much into Heavy Metal are pro an institution which props up the class system in this country and also prevents us from being a truly secular state by upholding the religious institution of the Anglican church.

I think your sentimentality is misguided at best.

MartinC wrote:

William Morton wrote:Does anyone else think that all that 'Prince Harry at war' propaganda is fucking lame? There's no way in hell he was in the real fighting. More like sipping tea with the officer class while sending over radio messages to bomb the fuck out of a faceless enemy. No different to a days shooting on the green. I'd love it if those mad taliban boys cut his plumbs off and fed them to him...

You'd love it? If you're going to suck the Taliban's dick you may as well fuck off now, you beardy cunt.

Damn right.

Holy Crap! Lions! wrote:It's not about the power or money, its about the principles and ideology.

The Monarchy represents everything wrong with this country.

Bollocks, James it appears we have the pretty same view. i would not mind having a monarch if they actually did something. At the moment they seem to be to be an extremely well paid diplomat/tabloid celebrity.

.... i have lost the urge to continue this. Erm fuck da police dawg.

God, I hate antimonarchic rants. They're invariably overly emotional and underdeveloped. I think we've had this discussion before here but I have to say I completely agree with what James said.

How anyone could claim 'I hope he dies and takes the privilege system with him' and that '[t]he Monarchy represents everything wrong with this country' is beyond me.

James wrote:There was a perfectly good reason for coming to an agreement of silence regarding journalism on this issue, and it was so neither the Prince nor his fellow soldiers would be put in greater danger. It's exactly the same reason why the specifics of Prime Ministers' foreign trips are not reported before they arrive.

And by the way, it wasn't even that the media didn't know about it, they just agreed to avoid reporting on it - that's why the BBC had plenty of footage of Harry on tour and in interviews to put up the day the news broke in foreign sources - they were aware of him being there and apparently had access to him, they just didn't release the footage at the time.

I have no time for bitter anti-royalism - I might well share the sentiments if we lived in an actual governmental monarchy, where the monarch has arbitrary control of the levers of power, but face it; the modern monarchy fulfills a largely ceremonial and apolitical diplomatic function. Is it really much to sob about that the royal family is costing you something like 60 pence a year?

Also, I want to make the distinction between the Royal Family and the British Crown. In my view I don't really care about the personal lives of any particular family member, beyond the fact that they're setting a reasonably good example and upholding various roles that come with the title. The media however is SO fixated on the people themselves.

Call me a sentimentalist, but for me it is about the Crown as an institution I don't want to get rid of, and one which does as much good as the 'oh so terrible' things some of you lot are blubbing about.

If you disagree with any of this, at least go to the same lengths of effort that James did in backing up your point of view.

Completely aggree with you James. People that just turn around and say "oooh, the monarchy should just fuck off, they are leeches etc" need to do thier British history homework and have a fact based opinion with backing rather than following a tired old punk rock cliche.

Yeah, this country has its faults but considering that half the worlds population doesn't have access to free running water on tap I'd say we're doing pretty fucking OK in comparison.

H.O.D. Feemo wrote: People that just turn around and say "oooh, the monarchy should just fuck off, they are leeches etc" need to do thier British history homework

I have. One of the reasons why i hate the monarchy.

No, you are just a hippie.

boovidge wrote:

H.O.D. Feemo wrote: People that just turn around and say "oooh, the monarchy should just fuck off, they are leeches etc" need to do thier British history homework

I have. One of the reasons why i hate the monarchy.

Peasants throughout time were all lazy though innit. Let's face it. If they wanted to live out of the gutter, they should've stopped drinking.

</Victorian Gent>