Julie Birchill and Harry
I see Julie Birchill is is having a go at the Royal Family. She joins the “Prince Harry in the Nazi uniform” debate discussed at some length over at Red Baron’s Blog last week. In a curious way, Julie Birchill is disagreeing with the Baron in that she was not upset by the event, while agreeing vigorously with him over the implications of it.
She makes some interesting points. Not least when she draws comparisons between the monarchy and the BNP (British National Party) as she lambasts those entertainers who claim on the one hand to be anti-establishment rebels yet trip over themselves to grovel and debase themselves at the feet of the House of Windsor:
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - any entertainer who is not prepared to offer their support and/or services to the BNP shouldn’t offer it to a monarchy, for the simple reason that most monarchies believe that an EVEN SMALLER GENE POOL OF WHITE PEOPLE are fit to be above all others than the BNP does. You can work your way up in the BNP; under Nick Griffin, even being less than 100 per cent Wasp doesn’t rule you out any more. Neither of these is true of the House of Windsor.
Now I hadn’t thought of it like that before, but it’s a fair point - they are exclusive and that exclusion is based on birthright. I’ve never been impressed by our monarchy - they have always come across as ignorant and buffoonish, stumbling fluidly from one gaffe to the next with embarrassing regularity. Okay, so other countries have their embarrassing heads of state - step forward George - but at least the electorate get to choose. If they choose badly, well, they can only blame themselves. We in Britain have no such choice. Oh, we are told that the monarchy provides stability and that it is a good thing (tourism usually get trotted out with tiresome predictability at this point) and that they are the counterpoint to the excesses of the prime minister. Yeah, right. So why did we still engage in an illegal war?
However (and back to the point), as Julie Birchill points out, Harry’s forebears and the Nazis rubbed along pretty well. Indeed, these are the same people that in different circumstances would have been the head of a puppet government had the Nazis succeeded where Napoleon failed:
Because looking at his family history, we should be thanking our lucky stars that Harry wore only a toy Nazi uniform, not a real one. And that he wore it in public, for open japes, because then the chances are that he won’t be wearing it in private, for secret thrills. For the sad, surreal fact is that during the Second World War his grandfather had four sisters who were all married to Germans, at least one of them a rabid Nazi. Before the war, his great-grandfather considered Churchill a “warmonger” for standing up to the Nazis, and wanted to write a cosy, conciliatory letter to that nice Mr Hitler, “from one soldier to another”. His great-uncle, the kinky abdicator, was a fan of Adolf. And his father, Prince Charles, wrote That Letter about that clever young black lady, her utterly reasonable ambitions, and her refusal to know her place — picking cotton on the Highgrove estate, no doubt. With family like this, who needs bigots?
Long live the Republic.
Footnote: I am frequently told that Americans like our Royal Family. Well, anytime you want to collect, feel free.
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Comment by –W–
# January 22, 2005,
Interesting post. Though I’m well aware of the royal family’s past coziness with the Nazis, I’m thinking that young Harry merely did this out of sheer ignorance.Visit me @ http://confessionsofalibertine.blog-city.com/
[Longrider replies] Undoubtedly. However, there are wider implications - if nothing else even at this tender age he demonstates a complete lack of suitability for high office as he clearly does not learn from his mistakes.
Comment by Pimme
# January 23, 2005,
Would you like to trade young Harry for Bush? I’ll start the paperwork… ;^)Visit me @ http://pimme.blog-city.com
[Longrider replies] Er… can I get back to you on that one?
Comment by A visitor
# January 23, 2005,
‘House of Windsor’ ? I much prefer ‘Saxe-Coburg-Gotha’. How I wish the whole bloody lot would go back there !John
[Longrider replies] I agree. The name change was a convenient political manoeuvre during the first world war to make them sound “less German.” Seems the great British public were sufficiently duped to go along with it. Ah, a nation of forelock tuggers.
Comment by Red Baron
# February 2, 2005,
Yeah funny really about that name change thing. My Grandfather and his brothers joined up to avoid my Great Grandfather, who was German, from being interned. He had been here since before WWI. Was there talk of interning the S-C-G’s? With the benefit of hindsight one looks at Edward VIII and wonders why not.Visit me @ http://redbaron.blog-city.com