@twoinanddone: I think we watched the same show! I’ve always liked Philip.
^^^ Watch the Crown. Churchhill saying ‘why aren’t his sisters here (at the wedding)? They are all Nazis. Nazis!’ was priceless
I am watching it. Thanks though.
We do know that the Crown is a tarted up soap opera, right? Fun and all, but not exactly citable.
Here it is. Meghan’s new nail polish, the Queen’s favorite http://www.perfumania.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10801&catalogId=10551&langId=-1&productId=58072&prodId=PRFM-195556&utm_keyword=&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Shopping%20-%20Desktop%20-%20Cost%20Tiers&utm_term=4582489587542464&utm_content=EE%20-%2010%20and%20Under
!
It’s kind of nice. I might get that.
"Britain does not have the notion of a King Consort; the person married to a Queen Regnant does not get called King. "
Didn’t William and Mary (William of Orange) rule England with equal status? My cloudy memory from high school history is that Mary was essentially a direct heir but the royalists would accept Mary only if William (not a Briton, was he?) was part of the deal.
More to the point, William threw a hissy fit that he was not initially offered the crown jointly with Mary, and Mary, who was next in line (if you disregard the Jacobite claims) backed her husband. Additionally, Phillip II of Spain was joint ruler, although in his case, it only applied while his wife, Mary Tudor was alive and he was rarely in England during her reign. However, in these cases, each was a sovereign (or heir in Philip’s case) of another realm. But these are the exceptions, and the husbands of all future British Queens Regnant were not Kings.
If anyone wants to delve further into the issue in another country, google Prince Henrik of Denmark, who has been whining for years about not being called “King” and as a result, has stated that he does not wish to be buried in Roskilde Cathedral, the traditional resting place for Danish monarchs and their spouses. Allegedly, Queen Margrethe got so tired of his petulant behavior that she forced his retirement and stripped him of his Prince Consort title. He has recently been diagnosed with dementia, which might explain some of his earlier outbursts.
Meghan’s character was written out of Suits because the writers noticed the progressing romance with Harry:
Is anyone else laughing at the irony of an American divorcee marrying a member of the royal family 80 years after a similar marriage caused the king to abdicate? I’ll bet Wallis Simpson is rolling in her grave! And I just love that H and M’s offspring will be in line for the throne, however distantly. As my daughter put it, “England totally wants us back!”
Yes, I thought the same thing about Edward and Wallis. But I guess Charles sort of was the first to break with the tradition by marrying a divorced person. Harry is just taking it further, bless him!
The objections weren’t just that Wallis was divorced. Wallis had considerable baggage. Some of the objections were actually to David himself, who was more than a bit of an ass. His cavorting with Wallis was only one thing that annoyed people and some used it to get rid of him. I recently read a bio of Clementine Churchill. Churchill himself thought David ought to be able to marry Wallis and continue as king. “Clemmie” talked him out of taking a strong stance in favor of the marriage as she felt the public would never accept Wallis as queen–and she was right.
I think the Brits really dodged a bullet when David abdicated.
@jonri I agree and it gave the world Elizabeth. She’s been a gem.
What are the monarchs purpose now? Are they just goodwill ambassadors and tradition?
They bring in tourism.
I don’t know much about Meghan, I’ve never watched Suits. But I really enjoyed their joint interview, they seemed very smitten with one another.
I think that the Queen used to help with trade and public relations when they still had the QE2. I don’t know if tourism is as big of a deal. People would still go to the UK without. Though when my family was walking to Hyde Park, the royal cavalry came in and did a full charge across the Park in honor of the Queen’s coronation anniversary. We just happened to be there and that was cool.
Also I think they can help with morale. They stayed in place during WW2. And Elizabeth worked on automobile repair, I believe.
I think all the headlines about the royal family, even the tabloid headlines are good for tourism to Britain. We know the foibles of Charles, Camilla, Andrew and Sarah and of course the immense outpouring of grief over the death of Diana. The world feels like they know these people. It’s the longest running soap opera in multiple formats. There’s the actual news, then there’s the fictionalized versions like the movie “The Queen” and now “The Crown”. The world comes to see the palace, the pageantry and visitors hope for a glimpse of the royals.
Contrast that to other countries with monarchs who don’t make headlines. Spain has a lovely couple as king and queen with two sweet looking daughters. She’s fashion forward with a model’s figure. He’s good looking, no scandals that I’m aware of. But there’s not the long history there, there’s the language difference (for English based TV and movies). They do not have the same impact. The same goes for Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, etc.
I wish them the best.
What was that PBS show? I can’t find it. @twoinanddone
From other current monarchies:
King Felipe VI of Spain, when heir apparent, wed a divorcee.
King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, when heir-apparent, wed an Argentine woman whose father was Minister of Agriculture during the Dirty War.
Crown Prince Haakon of Norway married a single mother.
Prince Joachim of Denmark, younger son of Queen Margrethe, married, and later divorced, a biracial Chinese-European woman.
In all cases, the world continued to rotate on its axis. The Brits will adapt. 