Brenda's Wealth Shock

[San Bernardhinault]

The only way my daughter could "become the Queen" would be a) setting her sights on marrying Prince George or b) staging a revolution complete with guillotines.

Option 2, please.

[Wouter D]

Why not both?

[San Bernardhinault]

Well, if you do it before the guillotining you're putting yourself at risk of decapitation, and if you do it after you're marrying a dead kid.

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

I wouldn't ever have wanted to change places with any member of the Royal Family, least of all the monarch, whatever wealth they enjoy. The loss of normal life and of freedom of action and expression would be too great a price.

[Duncan Gardner]

I wouldn't ever have wanted to change places with any member of the Royal Family, least of all the monarch, whatever wealth they enjoy. The loss of normal life and of freedom of action and expression would be too great a price.

How has the freedom of expression of (say) Peter Philips or Genie Brocklebank (2 of Brenda's grandchildren) been lost?

Their Granny could have resigned and spent the last 25/50 years pushbiking around her estates if it was that onerous. Like many of her Benelux or Scandi cousins

[Patrick Thistle]

b) staging a revolution complete with guillotines.

I imagine if she recruited her little brother to the cause that would be quite achievable.

[Balderdasha]

I imagine if she recruited her little brother to the cause that would be quite achievable.

Little brother's latest ambition is to become "Minister of War". He claims this is so he can tell everyone not to have wars because they're bad and they kill people, but I suspect this may just be a propaganda front.

[DCI Harry Batt]

Besides beheadings and such...

There's really no need to go re-inventing the wheel on this one.

[Nefertiti2]

I wouldn't ever have wanted to change places with any member of the Royal Family, least of all the monarch, whatever wealth they enjoy. The loss of normal life and of freedom of action and expression would be too great a price.

I think the Windsors have considerably more freedom of action and expression than I do

[San Bernardhinault]

They'll have less freedom of speech once they're decapitated.

[WOM]

I'm sensing some mild contempt for them. Is that contempt for the person or the role? And don't say both...it's very lazy.

[ad hoc]

Some of the persons are utterly contemptible (Andrew, Philip, and probably others). The concept of the system is also contemptible

[WOM]

I think the system / the monarchy is entirely contemptible and should be dismantled.

I have no time for Andrew or Phillip. Charles seems fairly 'ok', and I really don't have any issues with Brenda. The rest of them don't really rate.

[Antepli Ejderha]

Anne seems to be the only one who doesn't really seek publicity and works hard, the rest of them ...

Charles has consistently interfered in the democratic process as has Brenda.

Philip is a racist and a bigot along with many other things.

Andrew is an alleged paedophile and was friends with those of a similar nature.

The others are on a gravy train at best, at worst they have embezzled millions from the public purse.

This should lead to a revolution, but it'll be another meh.

[Duncan Gardner]

Chart update following birth of Dogger Bank junior (Genie's son)

1 Charles
2 Wills
3 George
4 Charlotte
5 Louis
6 Harry
7 Archie
8 Andrew
9 Beatrice
10 Genie
11 Dogger Bank
12 Steady Eddie

[San Bernardhinault]

I'm sensing some mild contempt for them. Is that contempt for the person or the role? And don't say both...it's very lazy.

It's for the role, contempt for the very existence of any hereditary power (however nominal) that entrenches the entire idea of the class structure through its existence, that it creates posts that are literally impossible for parts of the population to achieve.

The system has made many members of the royal family contemptible, too. I'm sure some of them would have been vile anyway, but I imagine most of them would have just been unimaginative, dull non-entities were they born into any other part of society.

[Southport Zeb]

Archie Andrew? - sounds like a puppet ruler to me

[Hot Pepsi]

I doubt the Queen or most of the family really cares about growing their fortune any more. They just resent any suggestion that they don’t deserve it.

[ursus arctos]

https://twitter.com/paullewis/status/1359159735589736452

[Vicarious Thrillseeker]

Anne seems to be the only one who doesn't really seek publicity and works hard

It's all relative with them though, isn't it? Top of the royal table, but 85 official engaements in 2019 doesn't sound exactly back-breaking.

[Antepli Ejderha]

It's all relative with them though, isn't it? Top of the royal table, but 85 official engaements in 2019 doesn't sound exactly back-breaking.

She was previously at about one a day. That's nothing now.

[Duncan Gardner]

To be fair she is 71. Give the girl a break

[Bizarre Löw Triangle]

Find monarchism utterly confusing like i've never really understood why anyone would be in favour of it (apart from if you're like a member of the aristocracy). At least until I learnt more about how reprehensible a lot of the Royal Family actually are, I never felt that strongly about it but I was always amazed whenever I met anyone who actually wanted to keep the leeches (as well as their insistence that they're "good for tourism" like really that's your best argument for hereditary aristrocracy?). Baffling.

[DCI Harry Batt]

I'm sensing some mild contempt for them. Is that contempt for the person or the role? And don't say both...it's very lazy.

From me, it's not mild at all, and it's absolutely both. Sorry to be so lazy. I'm not sure how extra effort would change my opinion.

Find monarchism utterly confusing like i've never really understood why anyone would be in favour of it (apart from if you're like a member of the aristocracy). At least until I learnt more about how reprehensible a lot of the Royal Family actually are, I never felt that strongly about it but I was always amazed whenever I met anyone who actually wanted to keep the leeches (as well as their insistence that they're "good for tourism" like really that's your best argument for hereditary aristrocracy?). Baffling.

Agreed. Entirely baffling. But there's all sorts of other horrific boot-licking that goes on that I find equally baffling.

[Antepli Ejderha]

We're in some kind of neo feudal kleptocracy in the UK