Royals
Watching Prince Charles potter around Australia this week, it struck me that he’s got quite a bit in common with opposition leader Tony Abbott.
They both perform well in front of the cameras: charming, crooked smiles; friendly, if slightly goofy demeanours.
But when it comes time to open their mouths: Blah. Blah. Blah.
Continue reading "Wanted: A leader who’s actually up to the job" »
US Celebrity news website TMZ has a deliciously succinct three word poll today. It reads, quite simply: Harry. Awesome? Disgraceful?
After tens of thousands of reader responses, “Awesome” is winning by a ratio of around 70:30. This confirms something Australians have felt instinctively for some time, which is that the day of the stodgy royal is over. We don’t want beefeaters, we want beefy young blokes with lusty appetites.
The world has changed since the merest sighting of a begloved royal sent us into apoplexy. We still want them to reign over us, or some of us do, but we want them real. When Harry is done inspecting the royal guards and helping the victims of landmines, he’s perfectly entitled to have a nude romp in Las Vegas. In fact, many of us expect nothing less.
Continue reading "The dirtier he is, the wilder we are about Harry" »
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Servaas says:
This article should read: Australians lack class and are delighted when they recognise similar tendencies in others. Not that the statement is true but that’s what the article implies. Read more »
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Cobbler says:
Nice one Tropical, you may have noticed that last time he supposedly went on a tour he was there about a week when the nannies rushed in and declared him too important to be in danger. That whole thing was a pathetic PR campaign designed to suck saps like… Read more »
There has been a bit of a popular phrase going around for the last couple of days. It goes something like this: “Even Republicans must acknowledge the Queen is a remarkable woman.”
Well. No. We. Don’t.
If anything the vulgar pageantry we have seen in the last few days as Elizabeth celebrates 60 years as Queen of England (and Australia) hammers home the point about what an obscene spectacle it all is.
Continue reading "Counterpunch: No crowning glory in right Royal farce" »
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Plain Jane says:
I look forward to a Republic. We won’t get it this way. Which little snippett this unobservant potty-mouthed bile-spewer watched is neither here nor there. For 2 hours on a bitter windy, raining day, an 86 year old lady stood on her feet under a canopy, waving, smiling, and declining… Read more »
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lucyb says:
Absolutely agree Sean. ‘‘Lighten up’’ could serve as good advice to many. There is just so much anger and cynicism everywhere. Yes the royal family enjoys privileges, but the job would not be easy, with absolutely everything in the spotlight. I enjoyed the spectacle of the jubilee in such an… Read more »
Alexander Downer has a disturbing lack of faith in Australia and Australians. How else to explain his column in The Advertiser where he appeared to suggest without the good graces of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II Australia would slip into some sort of blood-soaked revolution.
Mr Downer invoked the situation in Libya, mentioned the horrors of the Russian Revolution and even the French Revolution then pondered why our nation is “quiet, placid, peaceful Australia”.
His conclusion? The Queen.
Continue reading "The Queen is not the glue holding Australia together" »
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glenm says:
@ acotrel, Maybe next time you should read the Article by Downer and not just the one sided analysis on the punch. Your comment is ignorant in that you call Downer absurd and then go on to espouse the same views. Get over the constant Liberal = BAD , Labor… Read more »
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David T says:
David Lister - just caught up with this…nothing wrong with those 145 words mate (I will assume you are right about the number - cannot be bothered to count) - what was said there actually makes perfect sense. Other people were commenting on the issue Chris talks about so the… Read more »
Tired of scrutinising slow-mo footage of suspicious ripples in Beyonce’s baby bump, I’m pleased to announce that we’re free to analyse another equally significant, universe-buckling event.
The Prime Minister didn’t curtsy to the Queen. No. I don’t think you understand. PRIME MINISTER. DIDN’T CURTSY. QUEEN. Surprisingly the police weren’t called, but the indignant tutting of monarchists could be heard from space, much like the Governor General’s outfit.
See, ‘curtsy’ is an abbreviation of the word ‘courtesy’. Well, it probably is – I leave that kind of research to proper journalists. They sound similar though, and that can’t be a coincidence, right? It’s similar to the way that ‘Negus’ is short for ‘Never Give Up Sixty Minutes’, in that I made it up just then.
Continue reading "Gillard should have bobbed. It’s just common curtsy" »
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On April 29 this year, Prince William will marry Kate Middleton. In October, the Queen will visit Perth for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting.
As the person responsible for media at the Australian Republican Movement (ARM), I predict that these will be my two busiest times of the year. Whenever anyone mentions royalty in an Australian context, the media then thinks “republic” and more often than not gives me a call.
This is as it should be, since the media knows that the majority of Australians want Australia to be a republic now or at the end of the Queen’s reign - at least 60 per cent, according to most polls. On the other hand, it means that the ARM sometimes spends more time talking about royal personalities and personages rather than the things that really matter to us - why an Australian Republic is so important to Australia. The fact is, we have nothing against the personalities - it is the institution that is the problem.
Continue reading "The republic debate is about more than just the royals" »
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Hans Khun says:
The Queen looks like a ulgy and vicious person than Gaddafi. Bare this in mind, the House of Windsor was formerly known as Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The Queen and her children is German not British and this royal wedding is a marriage of the royal and the Rothschild. It its… Read more »
He’s finally done it. After nine years together, approximately 76 fascinators and most of Will’s head of hair, the second in line to the throne has managed to get down on bended knee and give his long-time girlfriend one hell of a sparkler (12 carats in fact).
It propels Kate Middleton, long the fodder of the voracious paparazzi pack and Hello! devotees, well and truly into the global spotlight.
And it is today that the work really begins for Catherine Middleton. She faces perhaps the most daunting and dramatic transformations, to somehow deftly emerge from the shadow of one the most iconic, albeit neurotic, personalities of the 20th century.
Continue reading "Can Kate save the English Royal family?" »
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Penster says:
I’m not clear what Diana, Fergie and now Kate are meant to be “saving the Royal Family” from. Why would you expect a pretty, patient but otherwise unremarkable individual to save anything? Read more »
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lola says:
she had 9 years to get out of this..she made her choice..she is a grown up..each decision has a price to pay hers well no1 knows how much is gonna cost her… plus y do ppl still care about the british monarchy ?their part is decorative.. Read more »
Fergie has done it again and this time there won’t be any more agains – ever.
The royal family and the British public have had a gutful of the red headed bombshell they never really came to terms with in the first place, which is surprising considering her family’s royal and aristocratic background.
Sarah, Duchess of York is a direct descendant of King Charles II and she has known the Queen and the royal family since she was small child. Her Father, Major Ronnie Ferguson, was Prince Philip’s polo manager and the two men were great mates.
Continue reading "Oh Fergie, you’ve really done it this time baby" »
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Julie Coker-Godson says:
@Wallaby: I understood the question perfectly and without having to insult anyone to say so. It never ceases to amaze me how republicans resort to name calling (“your the one thats thick”) when they don’t get the result they want and their views are not supported by others. You didn’t… Read more »
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Captain Col says:
The stupidity of Fergie is not a reason for dredging up an Australian republic, Barry Everingham. If it is such a good idea, why won’t any political party propose it? That’s right. It’s political poison and dead as a doornail. Read more »
Amid the continuing debate about our national identity and our constitutional arrangements, readers might be interested in this piece written this weekend for English newspaper The Mail on Sunday about our response to Prince William’s visit. It’s obviously written for an English audience, and it ended up being an embarrassingly positive piece where my republicanism almost abandoned me.
The last thing we need over here in Sydney is another cashed-up foreign interloper buying into the hyper-inflated property market to further jack up prices in the Harbour City.
But Prince Williams’ joking suggestion that he had so fallen in love with Sydney that he intends to buy a house here was not so much condemned as applauded.
Continue reading "How a likeable Prince undermined the republic" »
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Anjuli says:
Is it because he is royal or has become a celebrity like his mother before him , I am English who has been here for 37 years but even I think it is time that became a republic . The USA got rid of royalty and it hasn’t done them… Read more »
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Lyn says:
Danj-I agree with your comments. Williams visit was good because it brought the issue to the fore. There was plenty of debate and an increase in republican membership. Now if we could just get some politicians to grow a spine and start the debate in earnest with some public education… Read more »
Don’t think for a moment that last week’s visit by Prince William was anything other than a stunt by the House of Windsor or, at the least, those whose survival depend on its.
Prince William was said to have been “mobbed” as he moved through Victorian country towns. The Beatles were mobbed. The future king was watched. “King of the kids” was the headline. You’ll get that during school holidays, and how fortunate was he to chance upon those?
We aren’t the only nation still constitutionally tied to the old colonial master – there a more than a dozen - but we are the jewel in the crown.
Continue reading "Counterpunch: Wills’ visit was a stunt and a farce" »
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The Sman says:
I see Mr Howe was “born in Hampshire but is now proudly an Australian” and it all becomes clear. These types are ten a penny, believing their “success” is purely down to “fair go” Australia and that back in the old country they would surely have got nowhere, sent back… Read more »
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Christopher of Melbourne says:
Well said, Alan.These free-loaders should have been given the boot years ago. I can’t believe there are so many monarchists and so-called republicans too indolent to demand this family vacate the scene. Read more »
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