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

[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.