371–380 of 553 posts
I wonder if he will get to be reincarnated as a deadly virus that contributes to the "overpopulation problem" like he wished. (yes, for real) I find the many servile and naive responses here really quite pathetic. The man was evil both personally and as part of the structure of the monarchy. I understand that many simply don't know about his history, either as outsiders with a strange fascination with royalty but onl…
Sixty five years as the husband of the head of state of a G7, nuclear armed nation, that brought the world Thatcherite individualism and the first cracks in the EU. Philip, like it or not, wielded influence and power beyond his constitutional station. One doesn’t have to like him, but one should respect him.
Wow, why should I respect that this unelected aristocrat "wielded great influence beyond his station"?
But fret not, the hunting season will be back on in just a few days.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"sacred geometry", esoteric, Pythagorean and holistic? It certainly sounds freemasonry-like. Was he a Freemason?
Uh. What? Sacred Geometry is an ancient Greek concept that has nothing to do with Freemasons. Pythagoras was the most famous person to push it. It's that thing where they thought the world was made out of the Platonic solids, tried to explain the planetary orbits in terms of polygons, et cetera. It remained huge through Greece and Italy until the 1400s. The Leonardo piece "Vitruvian Man," where the guy has his arms a…
99 years of tax subsidies, he surely had a good life without many regrets. It's beyond my comprehension why humans still keep these hereditary regimes, constitutional or absolutist, alive
They are just figureheads these days. No role in politics aside from ceremonial. They draw in crowds of tourists to the UK, and they aren’t that expensive to maintain. Their £67m yearly grant[1] works out to about £1/year per person in the UK. That’s pretty cheap for a fantastic PR service. Yes there is probably added costs on top like police/security but overall/net they don’t feel like a massive burden on the finan…
> No role in politics aside from ceremonial.
Except when it comes to defending their interests. Remember that the 'spider memos' now can't be revealed under FOI requests, for one example?
(The Guardian have been covering Queen's Consent recently which should shatter any illusions that they aren't involved in politics)
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She's worked with 14 prime ministers, starting with Winston Churchill and going downhill from there. She might know a thing or two.
> going downhill from there While the office may have had consecutive local minima, one would be hard pushed to suggest Major, Blair or even Brown - were "downhill" from Callaghan.
It wasn't that long ago he recovered from an infection [1]. And I remember reading he is only a few more months from 100 years old!. Spending his life serving the country. Rest In Peace [1] https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-56172496
> Spending his life serving the country. More like spending his life having the country serve him.
Robert Lacey claims that Prince Philip’s immediate response to the outcome of the 1999 republic referendum was, “What’s the matter with these people? Can’t they see what’s good for them?”
If it’s not clear to non-Australians, in the 1999 referendum we voted to keep the monarchy (though probably more through the phrasing of the question in the opinion of some)
From https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/prince-philip-duke-of-ed...*
Of course more of the obituaries are leaving that out and bending words to avoid that... examples I've seen:
(Source: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Sg_lsY_Y-RoED3IjAjZR...)
- "with off-the-cuff remarks that were called oblivious, insensitive or worse."
- "The duke could be blunt and outspoken to the point of offensiveness"
- "his unfiltered remarks and attempts at humor became legendary for their bad taste"
- "known for off-the-cuff remarks that often displayed a quick wit"
- "was known for his seemingly tactless, off-the-cuff remarks."
- "...many times with cringe-worthy remarks that bent the bounds of humor."
- "... emitting intermittent and much-reported gaffes"
- "...published a list of 90 of his notorious gaffes"
- "he has been criticized for his gaffes and insensitive jokes"
Though Daily Beast, NBC News, and Huff Post said it properly:
- "Philip will also be remembered for his outrageous sexist and racist comments."
- "...a reputation for the occasional brusque comment and crass, if not racist jokes."
- "infamous for his sometimes controversial and racist remarks during royal visits."
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Narrowly missed getting a telegram from his wife
She looked at the message she'd crafted and penned - A letter to Philip that she'd never send. From reddit's resident poet, "poem_for_your_sprog": https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/mnerwn/prince_ph...
I thought The Sprog had emerged on HN
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An interesting perspective I've heard is that she should have been more political in a few extreme cases. She is the head of state and her actual job should be to bring left and right together in the very controversial, almost unsolvable issues, and get them sorted out. She should really be like a couples therapist for political leaders. She never did this. She always stayed out of politics.
Yeah. She dedicated her life to her own likability. A never-ending schedule of official state visits and wreath-layings. Venturing into politics would have pissed off a lot of her fanbase.
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Wow, why should I respect that this unelected aristocrat "wielded great influence beyond his station"?
Compare to other unelected autocrat around the world? The house of Windsor earn their respect by being modest.
Compared to the braggadocio of many tinpot dictators, I can't think of any particularly immodest European royals. Outside of the countries they rule, are any other royal families even particularly famous? Would the average American or European know who the King of Spain, or the Queen of Denmark is?