Yes Sue, totally over the top and I still do not know who has won Masterchef.
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IIRC John Major was appointed guardian to the two Princes after their mother died so has close associations with the Royal family. His Knighthood was the personal gift of The Queen. Quite unusual for a PM and very well deserved imo.
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Is this the same person who said back in 1986 When I die I hope I will be reincarnated as a virus to solve the human population problem, seems like he got his wish whilst he was still alive!
Rather a mean comment I think.
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I’m no fan of the Royal family, but I think your comment is somewhat crass, disrespectful and unnecessary.
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It’s awkward that the quote bit is true, well “ish” (though I agree that everything after the last “,” should be removed).
Philip had a habit of outspoken, often frankly insulting, comments. Lists of them are everywhere but I’ve not noticed (they probably exist) any discussion as to why.
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Oh there’s lots of discussion and I think much of it makes good sense. Interestingly, watching the films about him the day he died I was struck by how often he was laughing with a whole bunch of people laughing around him - and not with embarrassment - and very often young people because of the DoE awards.
The past is another country and he grew up and lived in a world that was very “unwoke” (dreadful expression) not least very much a man’s world of the navy and male dining clubs. He believed his job was to put people at ease when he met them and his choice of humour was often risqué and not subtle (he swore like a trooper apparently). He hated that the press latched onto this idea of his “gaffes” so they all hung around waiting for him to make the next one.
I just go back to all those photos of people laughing when they are in his company, not least the Queen.
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Thanks for that bit of info Graham. I didn’t know. In that case, I take back what I said. Although, I do feel that it was an unnecessary observation at such a tough time. I’m sure they are only too aware of what moments like this offer in terms of reconciliation and it really is between them. Though of course the media will no doubt be full of images of William and Harry with whatever “angle” the particular medium wishes to push - “oh look they are smiling, they are reconciling” “oh look they are grumpy they haven’t made up” etc etc ad nauseum.
Just spotted a nice comment on the BBC site which I think sums up well how I feel now having seen those films:
"There was clearly a lot of laughter. There was clearly a lot of fun. Once more the gruff caricature we were left with of the Duke is re-drawn, and filled out."
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I envy people who have been fortunate enough to have known their grandparents in adulthood. I was about 10 when my paternal grandparents died and I never knew my mother’s parents who had died many years before. My father’s mother especially was an interesting person. She and my grandfather were among the founders of their local socialist “chapter” (not sure that’s the right word) in south London. She became a magistrate and stood for local government at a time when women were supposed to be just housewives. I knew none of this while she was alive, but would have loved to have talked to her about her life, adult to adult.
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When our daughter was born, for a short while all 8 of her great-grandparents were alive , I imagine that this is pretty rare. She still had three of them when she was an adult.
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I love that photo, she was in fits of giggles because there was a swarm of bees descended on a regimental parade at Windsor, the soldiers and Philip in full uniform has to leg it because they settled under one of the seats, they had to wait on one of the bee keepers taking the swarm away.
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One poster put a caption ‘Good morning Ma’am’ a lovely candid snap.
That is the one big thing I would emphasise to all younger people. My family were not people to discuss history, they were all very positive people about moving forward, not back. Which is great, except that lots of things were never talked about and I didn’t push it as an adult. And now its really too late.
One of our family activities during lockdown has been digging into the past that was not discussed, and it is fascinating. My grandmother, that I remember as a slightly dour figure although she smuggled a chocolate biscuit to me every Friday, turns out to have had a remarkable life - but why did I never ask her!! I played with a shotgun she had behind her chair (unloaded) but it never occurred to me to wonder why it was there in a fairly refined area of London.
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Difficult to make this one up!
National Rail turned website grey in mourning for Prince Philip but customers couldn’t read the train times
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Well, at least last night, I managed to catch up on both Eastenders and Corrie, a true soap fest!
Banter and putting people at their ease is one thing however there are many recorded instances of a put-down directed at someone he had just met.
I do, totally, agree that his upbringing (famously he is said to have responded “I just got on with it, one does” when asked about his childhood of being passed from pillar to post with no stable family home) and subsequent naval career, as well as his elevated (yet oddly subservient) position, probably left him with a wonky thermostat where social discourse was concerned.
Doubtless inspiring, great to know in the right circumstances but he must have left a fair few devastated by his comments on some occasions.
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Bizarrely, if Corrie was pulled, HRH hadn’t missed an episode in years… (it is alleged) 
My concern is that we are learning very belatedly just how well he served. He was cast in a role by the media as a grumpy git. And so they sought occasions that reinforced that and completely ignored the rest. I think it is a great tragedy that it is only now, after his death, we are seeing film of him steering small children through the crowd clutching their flowers, so that they could give them personally to the Queen. And not just as a “one off, oh isn’t it amazing look what Philip is doing” - you can see in the films how the security guards are helping, clearing the way. This is what he did and there is no “devastation” - just delight. Where was this balanced view of him when he was alive?
This is where the media is so dangerous. They need their “enemies” their “scapegoats” so they build up a fabricated story and that becomes it. Real life is never that black or white. We are all nuanced shades of grey and I personally deeply regret the power of the media to impose their world view on us.
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Well said Sue I completely agree
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