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Prince Philip has died

royal.uk

521–530 of 553 posts

Re: Prince Philip has died

#521

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Yeah, I'm pretty confused by the disconnect here. Harry and Megan was who I had in mind as a great example of how easy it is to leave. You just say "bye" and you get on Oprah, get exec positions at startups, get media deals... where is the downside?

This comment may not age well. The truth is, we may never know the psychological pressures they've endured, or will.

> we may never know the psychological pressures they've endured

That could be said about literally everyone ever. So instead we look at the things that can actually be quantified, where I see nothing but net.

Re: Prince Philip has died

#522

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A lot of things your grandpa did in 1930s was probably deeply sexist. Are you going to also look at your granpa with vengeful attitude? Society evolves. Forgive the wrong doings of the past, and move forward. Look ahead.

Wow, multiple personal attacks in this thread, all for disagreeing, for saying "...I see him as a wealthy old man from a very influential family who should have done better", speaking about the colonial past in his lifetime". Ugh! Some things never change.

It’s not for disagreeing or holding a different opinion. It’s for being rude. Whatever your opinion, sometimes it’s good manners to moderate how you express it.

Re: Prince Philip has died

#523
post #488

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> Anne, Princess Royal, visited Tanna Island in October 2014. She is the only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. She sounds like a good candidate to me.

Agreed, if they had chosen her I would not count their motives as much.

*doubt, not count. Damn phone.

Re: Prince Philip has died

#524
post #481

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For people in the states, you can get appropriate cards from the White House for important occasions. I sent Bill Clinton an invitation to my high school graduation party, and got a letter back from the White House telling me to work hard in college. But mailing a birth announcement to the White House is a much better idea. They send a card back to the child welcoming them to the world. You can file it away and then…

In Germany, the first letter a child gets is one that gets sent automatically, assigning them a tax number. A letter from the President is much nicer. However, German parents can apply for the President to be the honorary godfather of their seventh child.

The funniest thing with this tax letter is that on the envelope it says “Karriere mit Zukunft” meaning “careers with a future” like they completely seriously expect your newborn baby to start working for them 18+ years down the line.

Re: Prince Philip has died

#525

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British Naval History is fascinating - in a lot of ways the reform of the navy into a modern (for it's day) naval force has interesting lessons about people management and harnessing technological developments as a force multiplier. Things like this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_sheathing gave the navy a marked advantage against it's peers.

> British Naval History is fascinating Tell me more. I'm four volumes in to the Aubrey-Maturin series, and will read the remaining 16, but I'm curious about, say, the top two or three non-fiction books for the interested layman.

So many and over such a wide span to narrow it down to 2-3 definitively so I'll cover ground instead.

1) The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649­-1815[1] (actually book 2 but the first covers an earlier period this covers the period across the Act of Union - when England/Scotland became with Wales the United Kingdom and when the British navy went from "decent" to not just first but first by a hilarious margin - the only modern analogue that sorta fits is the US navy compared to everyone else post-WW2 up to well right now)

2) Dreadnought[2] which covers the late 19th early 20th (Birth of Queen Victoria to the start of WW1) - when the Dreadnought type-class battleship was considered the premier strategic weapon of it's day.

For the rest it's a vast field (that I've barely scratched - history is a hobby for me part of the perpetual "why is the world the way it is" fascination with everything) as always wikipedia is your friend :-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibliography_of_18th%E2%80%931...

For more modern naval stuff (where modern equals ~a century ago) I can heartily recommend the https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4mftUX7apmV1vsVXZh7RTw Drachinifel - he has a way of providing information dense content in an entertaining way - his video on the technological arms race in metallurgy for ships armour for example is superb.

[1] https://www.amazon.co.uk/Command-Ocean-History-Britain-1649-...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreadnought_(book)

Re: Prince Philip has died

#526
post #471

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British Naval History is fascinating - in a lot of ways the reform of the navy into a modern (for it's day) naval force has interesting lessons about people management and harnessing technological developments as a force multiplier. Things like this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_sheathing gave the navy a marked advantage against it's peers.

Indeed. For the 18th and much of the 19th centuries, the Royal Navy was the organisation to join if you wanted to be at the bleeding edge of adventure and exploration. A bit like NASA today, but with a military mission.

Agreed.

From taxi-ing Darwin all over the planet in HMS Beagle to encouraging truly accurate marine chronometers (the Harrison Watch), steam propulsion (and the maximisation of power from volume) through to research in health - 19th century equivalent of NASA is a good way to think look at it.

Re: Prince Philip has died

#527
post #500

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I'm not going to debate the pros and cons of a dead royal. It is indisputable that he led an incredibly privileged existence, try to think what the life of your average commoner also born in 1921 was like if you are not sure.

You brought it up and keep replying, so you've clearly got an axe to grind. Not a single person is denying he was privileged. Your implication is that a privileged life is a life of "little to no worries", which is frequently asserted by people who seek to attack the wealthy simply for being wealthy, but it is a deep misconception in most cases, and particularly so for a sovereign leader. I understand you feel it's i…

I mentioned it and got attacked, so of course I'm going to reply. Both you and "gadders" have gotten your knickers in a twist over absolutely nothing. I've already spent more time in this thread thinking or talking about Prince Philip than I have in the last 3 decades, I think that is quite enough for me - I'm out.

Re: Prince Philip has died

#528

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So what you are saying is without the monarchy more or less people would visit the UK? London hosts more visitors than Paris[1], although France overall hosts more visitors than the UK. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_by_internatio...

I'm saying the implication the royals are important to tourism should be quantified and supported. The city statistics include business travel. And I don't know what point you're trying to make with them.

The royals appear to be net contributors to the economy.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-fea...

Re: Prince Philip has died

#529

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They've been ready for years. None.

So it's just symbolic? Seems odd to not have a click-through then. Edit: Just checked some subpages and they forward to the announcement. I guess they really mean unavailable.

It is both: the process will have been planned in every detail for decades, but part of that process is to show a "mourning" website.

Re: Prince Philip has died

#530

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> Spending his life serving the country. Rest in Peace. The man was almost 100 years old, almost 30 when India and many other countries got independence from British after a long multi-decade struggle, with many many innocent dead. Frankly I see him as a wealthy old man from a very influential family who should have done better. Am I wrong that this was my first though after seeing this comment? Am I supposed to feel…

I think you can feel sorry for them as people, while also being unhappy with their actions over the years and their position of power. To me the reaction in the UK (for example all BBC radio stations are broadcasting the same crap news about him all day) has been way more over the top than I expected, but I can see the impact he has had on UK diplomacy over the years but it still seems highly out of proportion.

There is a dedicated complaints form, if you wish to write to the BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/contact/death-duke-of-edinburgh-tv-cov...
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