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View Poll Results: Should Harry and Meghan abdicate? | ![]() |
Yes, stripped of titles including HRH and public funding/protection |
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9 | 25.71% |
Yes but keeping titles incl HRH, public funding, protection and Frogmore Cottage |
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2 | 5.71% |
No, Harry cannot give up his British citizenship and Archie belongs to the Queen |
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3 | 8.57% |
Who? |
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21 | 60.00% |
Voters: 35. You may not vote on this poll |
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#41 |
Suspended
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#42 |
puzzler
Join Date: May 2003
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So him and Meghan (who is also fairly rich) can pay for their own security and flights and houses.
Once they get divorced, he shouldn't expect to get his title and privileges back either. |
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#43 |
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#44 |
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#45 |
Philosophile
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"The thief and the murderer follow nature just as much as the philanthropist. Cosmic evolution may teach us how the good and the evil tendencies of man may have come about; but, in itself, it is incompetent to furnish any better reason why what we call good is preferable to what we call evil than we had before." "Evolution and Ethics" T.H. Huxley (1893) |
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#46 |
Nitpicking dilettante
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The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.Bertrand Russell Zooterkin is correct Darat Nerd! Hokulele Join the JREF Folders ! Team 13232 Ezekiel 23:20 |
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#47 |
Lackey
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Glad they aren't trying to lead the discussion !
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#48 |
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"I know my brain cannot tell me what to think." - Scorpion "Nebulous means Nebulous" - Adam Hills |
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#49 |
Lackey
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Obviously they shouldn't abdicate, they'd need to be reigning monarchs to do that.
What I really struggle to understand is what is there to discuss? Saying "not doing any more royal duties so I'll stop taking money for doing that, I'll turn up for the odd party, funeral, marriage" hardly seems to need much discussion. |
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#50 |
Penultimate Amazing
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Who is General Failure? And why is he reading my hard drive? ...love and buttercakes... |
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#51 |
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#52 |
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#53 |
Philosopher
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#54 |
Philosopher
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The French had the right idea on how to deal with obsolete royalty.
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Gobble gobble |
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#55 |
Penultimate Amazing
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What treatment? Sure, a large section of he British public was wary of Meghan due to her background (divorcée, actress, age and being American [not British of of European royalty] and the press traditionally likes to build people up, to only drag them down, as happened with Diana and numerous others (for example, George Best). However, Diana was killed by a speeding drrunken driver who no doubt thought he was being chased by the paps but even then it is your responsibility to drive safely. Diana wasn't wearing a seatbelt either. So whilst the paps may well have been in hot pursuit on their motorbikes - it's their livelihood after all to get a 'scoop' (pictures of Dodi Fayed and Diana together) - their 'treatment didn't lead to her death. Diana was a young aristocratic girl from a sheltered background who probably had a naive and romantic view of what married life to the heir apparent would involve. She wasn't to know Charles was still knocking around (and knocking off) his longtime secret (and married to someone else) girlfriend, Camilla, and her going off the rails - sleeping around with the butlers, chauffeurs, protection officers, doctors and broadcasters - was an understandable reaction to the ultimate betrayal by Charles.
Meghan, on the other hand, has had at least two long-term cohabitating relationships, including marriage, and is seen by many to be yet another gold digger, obsessed with clothes, money, fame, looking perfect, cleverly manipulating the nice-but-dim Harry with her doe-eyed fawning looks, no doubt learnt at drama classes. The press' instant fascination with her photogenic feaures set her up perfectly to be built up and knocked down in true tabloid tradition. Something in her narcissistic personality is enjoying and creating all of the drama that surrounds her. Prince Harry himself is desperately and intensely jealous of his older brother, William. How awful it is for one sibling to be seen as the favourite and another as 'the spare', the runt of the litter. Imagine Harry's brooding resentment at William being at the front and by the Queen's side, his kids all being prince and princesses, whilst he and his wife are relegated to sit behind Andrew in the third row and their kid refused a title. OTOH whilst Wills was restricted in what he could do as third in line to the throne, Harry had the freedom to party around like no tomorrow, arousing disapproval in William. Certainly, William didn't like Harry's choice of wife and thought it unwise to marry so quickly. Harry likely greatly enjoyed the press attention Meghan was getting, for once being centre of attention and in the spotlight, via his attractive photogenic wife. William's turn to be jealous. IMV the marriage is probably in trouble as a baby doesn't necessarily bring a couple closer together. I don't think you can really know someone in less than a year, so their haste to marry and have children has likely put pressure on the marriage. The conflicts caused by Meghan's disregard for royal protocol has caused even more pressure on the relationship. So, has their 'treatment' led to the desire to drastically abandon the royal family and England? I think the answer lies somewhere in between the massive cultural difference between the pair and the British press and public being resistant to having the status quo values challenged. |
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#56 |
Lackey
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By the way Vixen's account above has as much credibility as a rejected script for an episode of the Crown.
ETA: Note the use of England instead of UK, a nice touch. |
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#57 |
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You added nothing to that conversation, Barbara. |
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#58 |
puzzler
Join Date: May 2003
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The line being spun in the media, "If you don't give us what we want then we'll give no-holds barred interviews to Oprah and others, dishing the dirt on the royal family" is nothing short of blackmail. The Queen should cut them off cold and tell them to publish and be damned.
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#59 |
Lackey
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#60 |
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I think they should abdicate, just to confuse people.
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#61 |
The Clarity Is Devastating
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#62 |
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#63 |
puzzler
Join Date: May 2003
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Here's one newspaper. Do an internet search to find many others reporting the same thing.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/107238...erview-threat/ |
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#64 |
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I get that nothing short of afternoon tea and extra vowels is more key to the British psyche then their Royalty so nothing will ever change the fact that I'm an outsider looking in on this, but it's still so hard for me to find a vein to hit here.
Everything is just wrapped up in this idea that Prince Harry, who was born into a position he had no say in, is somehow obligated to maintain a specific lifestyle and persona for ever, forced to live a lifestyle he doesn't want and can't do to the satisfaction of the same people demanding he maintain it. |
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Yahtzee: "You're doing that thing again where when asked a question you just discuss the philosophy of the question instead of answering the bloody question." Gabriel: "Well yeah, you see..." Yahtzee: "No. When you are asked a Yes or No question the first word out of your mouth needs to be Yes or No. Only after that have you earned the right to elaborate." |
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#65 |
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Didn't either Sweden or Norway recently do something like this, redefining which royals were the main bunch and the rest should be considered only as "and friends"? Seems logical to me that you'd have to pare down occasionally, otherwise you dilute the brand and have too many to keep up with. Harry's not exactly necessary. There's an heir with an heir with an heir plus two spares now.
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#66 |
Lackey
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#67 |
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#68 |
puzzler
Join Date: May 2003
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He's not obligated to do anything. If he wants to quit that's fine, but he shouldn't expect to retain his privileges if he's not prepared to do the tiny token amount of "work" that's required. And it's offensive really to call it "work" as it amounts to perhaps ten hours a week traveling around in great luxury, attending banquets and meeting a few people. Most of the people he meets have had to fork out their own hard earned cash to prepare for and attend the same events.
Meghan has already given up on her friends, father, family, previous husband, and now seems to want to give up on the royals after only marrying into the firm eighteen months ago. She knew what she was getting into (or should have done). She comes across as a self obsessed brat who wants to tell others what to do (cut carbon emissions for one thing) while continuing to keep her own extravagant carbon footprint. Being a royal is not just living the life of luxury, traveling on private jets between palaces and exotic holidays and attending the odd marriage or film premiere: they're also expected to do the slightly less glamorous jobs of opening hospitals, visiting towns, and such. Meghan would also be very stupid not to realize that she would be the focus of media attention - all the royals are, and with her previous acting job and photogenic looks, it should have been obvious to her that she would be especially targeted. I think she likes the media attention anyway, but wants to be free to do it on her own terms - that's not acceptable if it harms the Queen and other, more senior, royals. |
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#69 |
Lackey
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Nah. Lots of people forget that we were within a heartbeat of storming the palace after Diane's death. If there had been a referendum for keeping the monarchy or abolishing it that week we'd have ousted them. (Caveat it may then have taken us quite a few years as we ain't good with referendums!)
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#70 |
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#71 |
Lackey
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#72 |
a flimsy character...perfidious and despised
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If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set. "...just as a magnet attracts iron filings, "[shemp is] a most notable coward, an infinite and endless liar, an hourly promise breaker, the owner of no one good quality." - Shakespeare |
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#73 |
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I'm lost. Explain "OMG HE'S GONNA TALK TO OPRAH!" to me someone.
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Yahtzee: "You're doing that thing again where when asked a question you just discuss the philosophy of the question instead of answering the bloody question." Gabriel: "Well yeah, you see..." Yahtzee: "No. When you are asked a Yes or No question the first word out of your mouth needs to be Yes or No. Only after that have you earned the right to elaborate." |
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#74 |
Muse
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#75 |
Lackey
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#76 |
Penultimate Amazing
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As best I understand it, the thing is like this:
Half of "being a Royal" is just a big PR job. Appearances, events, tacit endorsements. The right smile, wave, and word for every occasion. And all the occasions. Your calendar is not your own. Your social life is not your own. Everything you do is subordinated to the PR job of being a Royal. So. You step back from the job. You're still royalty. You'll still show up for royal family events, because they're your family. But the PR job of being a Royal? Boop to that. In that context, setting up Oprah appearances seems like exactly the kind PR work you said you wanted to step back from. It comes across as not only hypocritical, but also disrespectful and dishonest. You can't have it both ways. If you tell the British people you don't want to do the PR job, and then you turn right around and start a PR job, I think there's a legitimate grievance. |
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#77 |
Lackey
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#78 |
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Oh noes somebody stop him. He might break the British public's illusion that that the Royal Family is totally normal and well adjusted.
Please. Unless he's got GoPro Footage of the Queen bathing in the blood of her Corgis to stay young, I don't think any Oprah interview is going to shock anyone. |
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Yahtzee: "You're doing that thing again where when asked a question you just discuss the philosophy of the question instead of answering the bloody question." Gabriel: "Well yeah, you see..." Yahtzee: "No. When you are asked a Yes or No question the first word out of your mouth needs to be Yes or No. Only after that have you earned the right to elaborate." |
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#79 |
puzzler
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#80 |
Lackey
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Not seeing the grievance you are saying exists.
He has job A which involves "PR" He resigns from job A He takes up job B which involves "PR" but different "PR" to job A. Where's the point of contention? He is in effect changing job. If we aren't "paying" him why should we have any grievance about what he decides to do with the rest of his life? We don't own him. |
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