GeoffM

I just think of the major Royals as unelected ambassadors to the UK, and for the most part they do a decent job. When you go to the supermarket here in the US and hear people talking about the pregnancy then you know it's worked. How often do people talk about events in France, Belgium, Germany etc? They don't, so it's not high on their agenda to go for vacation or whatever.

I do feel sorry for them always being in the public eye though. Like Prince Harry in Vegas - he just can't let his hair down for a bit without the world knowing about it. They can't just nip down the corner shop for a Mars bar - things we all take for granted.

However, as for the minor Royals...

kimilseung

Yes.

More of the Gambino, Genovese and Corallo of the day.

To me respect for royalty is like acknowledging the fielty to the grand-children of the families above.

kimilseung

On a related note. Did anyone hear the Aussie hoax phone call?
You can hear the nervousness in the nurses voice, and to me it is close to bullying and exploiting of (presumably) a hard working and conscientious nurse. Nothing really to do with the royals.

GeoffM

Didn't hear the actual call but heard about the event. Doesn't even matter who they tried to impersonate or who they tried to get information about: it's appalling that someone's personal information was basically stolen like that. The nurse could perhaps have handled it slightly better - giving the phone to a superior, for example - but it really isn't her fault.

kimilseung

You hear one voice then another, apparently the call was passed through from a switch board. I think the original receiver (receptionist) of the call was very much at fault.
The impersonations were terrible, almost like they were trying to see how far they could push it, but I think once you are told it is the Queen on the line, you just go with it.

sir_eccles

Have to agree. I'm not a huge royalist but I do give them credit for having modernized in recent years, cut back on overheads and they really do a great deal of day to day work that you don't always see.

As for Harry, I really do think he quite honestly wants to be on the front lines and is genuinely pissed off he isn't getting to do that.

Middlemore

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa5JQC8VNdw

Aussie hoax call



but as a nurse myself, I am appalled that anyone gave out info so freely over the phone. Standard practice in any NHS hospital is to politely decline to comment, and tell the 'relative' that they need to speak to the patient themselves, so that the patient is 100% in control of the info being given.

True some folks get nasty on the phone when you don't tell them what they want, but that is there problem.

Ethelred_the_Unready

Funny how Prince William as unelected as he is has probably done more for down and out people and has raised more awareness for them than most of the elected ***** over here who pander to corporate interests.

I used to be the biggest anti-royal republican on earth, pandering for an elected head of state and personality politics in the UK. While not a complete 360, living in the US for nearly a decade has caused me to question my beliefs in that regard. I do have a new found appreciation for the monarchy as 1) a rubber stamp for democracy, 2) a head of state that isn't some jackass partisan political twat and 3) it preserves a historically significant bloodline.

I am now 50/50 on the republic issue.

Leslie

Shittiest lowest kind of humor.

Nutmegger

Living in the US has had a similar effect on me. Observing what goes on here I now feel that a "figurehead," whether a hereditary royal or appointed in some way, is the preferable way to go. I like the president/prime minister set-up, where the president is a figurehead who goes out and cuts ribbons and shakes hands with winning sports teams, while the prime minister gets on with governing. I look upon the royal family as fulfilling the figurehead aspect and hope that after a few embarrassing years of stupid behavior from the younger end, they have got their act together these days. William and Kate seem like a very decent couple and I hope they are left in peace as her pregnancy progresses.

sir_eccles

Well the nurse involved has now been found dead.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20645838

I read other reports that say suspected suicide.

GeoffM

That is appalling . IF it is a direct result of the hoax call then I hope that radio station really are feeling guilty.

Bluegrass Lass

Just read about this on CNN. Hope those DJs are proud of themselves. It's all fun and games until you humiliate someone and they kill themselves for it.

GeoffM

At last the radio station have taken the video down - at least off the front page. Over a thousand comments, almost exclusively disgust for the prank - even before the death was known. Their Facebook page is littered all over with disgust too.

It just goes to show you should only play pranks on people you know, not complete strangers who might have other issues you know nothing about.

kimilseung

I feel very bad about my comment in #50 that she was at fault. She was not even a receptionist, but a nurse on night duty left without that first line of defence.