Royal Gossip

[poliphilo]

Ailz tells me the Queen has rewritten the rules on royal precedence so that Princess Anne isn't required to curtsey to her older brother's wife- something she refuses to do.  She refused to curtsey to her older brother's first wife too. It's not that she finds curtseying offensive in itself, only curtseying to a "commoner". Apparently the Windsors are at it all the time, bobbing up and down to one another. You'd think, in private, they might drop the charade, but they don't. 

There was a sale of the Duchess of Windsors jewels at Sotheby's yesterday. They realised nearly £8 million. The duchess liked her bling. And she liked it blingy. If you saw these items in a pawn shop window you'd go, "My God, who on earth would want to wear that?" But they're good fun- especially the diamond and onyx panther. 

My cultural inheritance includes a propensity to bristle at the word "Prussian" but last night's TV biography of Frederick the Great suggested I might want to adjust my programming. Frederick was a great general, an enlightened and liberal statesman, a philosopher and patron of philosophers, a composer of some stature and a musician of genuine accomplishment. Ruling houses are often founded by persons of genius but its enormously rare for a genius to spring from an established bloodline.  In fact I can think of only two examples in the history of Western Europe. The other is Alexander the Great.

Comments

[airstrip.livejournal.com]

Also, is it legal to burn a British flag?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I believe so.

[airstrip.livejournal.com]

See, people have told me that the monarchs are comparable to the flag.

Flag burning is legal, ergo....

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

It's interesting about the flag. I'm not sure we even have one these days. The Scots fly the Saltire and the English fly the Cross of St.George and the good old Union Jack is being seen less and less.

[airstrip.livejournal.com]

Pity, it was always one of my favorite flags. The Cross of St. George just seems misplaced in England, like it should top a flagpole somewhere more tropical.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Until very recently the Cross of St. George was only used by the far right- and the Church of England- but the loosening of the ties of union (with the Scots and Welsh getting their own parliaments) has changed all that. The Scots got there first, abandoning the Union Jack for the Saltire and the English have followed suit.

It's getting so none of the peoples of the UK identify with the Union Jack any longer.

[airstrip.livejournal.com]

What's driving that anyhow?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Nationalism.

In the beginning it was all about the Scots- and to a lesser extent the Welsh- wanting their independence- but now the English (who were lazily and offensively in the habit of thinking of the whole of the UK as England) have got the bug as well.

[airstrip.livejournal.com]

So that's it, then? The US will outlast Britain.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

That remains to be seen. It's likely the UK will survive as a loose federation. There doesn't seem to be the will to cut all the ties of union.

[ooxc.livejournal.com]

And the Welsh fly the St David's cross - white or yellow on black

[ooxc.livejournal.com]

On the whole ,we tend to despatch our sovereigns by the sword rather than by fire - Queen Jane, King Charles - not sure if that's preferable

[veronica-milvus.livejournal.com]

If an American flag touches the floor, you re obliged to burn it and get a new one, right? That seems strange. Also, the pledge of allegiance in school every day, there is nothing quite like that here.

[airstrip.livejournal.com]

I'm obliged to do nothing with it.

[airstrip.livejournal.com]

Also, the pledge is a school-by-school or district-by-district decision and you cannot be compelled to say it, stand for it or show any deference for the practice. Should someone try to compel you, the ACLU will give them a free colon exam.

[michaleen.livejournal.com]

Yes, you can be compelled, at least in practice. My wife teaches high school. She is not even a citizen of the US, yet is required to stand and do obeisance to the flag each morning. She refuses to cant, but has been told that she must stand, as a token of respect to the national cultus, and that she must demand that the students do likewise.

[airstrip.livejournal.com]

She should sit at her desk. If anyone does anything as a result, the tort is immense. You cannot be compelled to say the Pledge or anything else, ever.

This is a very well litigated area.

[michaleen.livejournal.com]

De jure, you are quite correct, but de facto, here in rural Virginia, we basically live among ignorant savages. Especially in the current political climate, while one might have a Constitutionally guaranteed right to thumb one's nose at the tribal deity, there is no guarantee whatsoever that the cavalry will come riding over the hill in time to save one's financial hide.

It's exactly the same when the school district brings in preachers, on high holy days, and forces the students and faculty to sit there and listen to them drone. You and I know it is illegal, but the savages here have a very differnet opinion on the matter.

I used to be infuriated, but it was lonely and tiring and, eventually, I just gave up.

[daisytells.livejournal.com]

No, that's not right. However we are supposed to try to keep it from trailing on the ground. Burning is not necessary. It's not a religious object. And the pledge has been set aside in many schools.