Brenda's Wealth Shock

[Greenlander]

I once held the door open for a member of .the Danish royal family. My Danish friends thought it was hilarious, I just thought I was being polite.

As you were.

[anton pulisov]

Mark Rutte, the acceptable face of racism.

He's going to get another four years, isn't he.

14 years of Mark Rutte, who got to be head of the VVD by standing up to a racist, and got to be PM by standing up to a racist. All while promoting racism.

It's all very Dutch. Like drugs being illegal but, you know, not illegal, wink wink.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Three of those are wholly or mainly for tribal representation purposes, and Canada's is limited to 105 members, meaning "ours" is the only one which serves as a paid retirement home for former MPs, and/or a vanity project for celebrities.

The Canadian Senate is a sinecure for political bagmen. Every once in awhile someone suggests senators should be elected, but having somewhere to stuff superannuated toadies to keep them quiet is too important.

[Vicarious Thrillseeker]

I've actually proposed something similar to Balders. If you need a nominal head of state, I don't see why this doesn't work. Maybe only have it open to those who opt in, unlike jury service.

Sort of like the fourth plinth was. Make those who apply and are successful Queen for sixty minutes, and pass the sceptre on to the next person on the hour.

[Duncan Gardner]

In any event, it seems to me that a radical downsizing to something more akin to the Nordic/Low Country model, with the excess wealth going to the state, is both an easier and better plan to implement

In one sense the monarchy is stronger than ever, simply through weight of numbers. Brenda has 11 adult descendants. Charles only 2, and one of them has abdicated. That's why Wills not remarrying to a Catholic or shitting himself in public might be important.

My brother mentioned above remains royalist but nowadays it's just part of a package with voting Tory and supporting Rangers. As I remind him, relying on a 95 year old that finishes second in a one horse race year after year may not be the wisest strategy?

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

The Canadian Senate is a sinecure for political bagmen. Every once in awhile someone suggests senators should be elected, but having somewhere to stuff superannuated toadies to keep them quiet is too important.

Sure, I was getting at the difference in numbers really - you've got 105, we've got nearly a thousand of them, we're definitely quantity over quality.

[Eggchaser]

Brenda is the 32nd (?) great grandchild of Billy Conqueror. And he could claim direct descent back to Eggchaser the Unhinged or whoever.

How dare you insult my long lost and previously unknown ancestor in such a fashion.

[Duncan Gardner]

Quick quiz. Which one of the following is NOT a direct ancestor of Brenda?

A Henry 7
B James 1
C Charles 2
D George 2
E Edward 7

[sw2borshch]

How dare you insult my long lost and previously unknown ancestor in such a fashion.

Is Eggbound the Unmoved also a relative?

[elguapo4]

Quick quiz. Which one of the following is NOT a direct ancestor of Brenda?

A Henry 7
B James 1
C Charles 2
D George 2
E Edward 7

All of them

[Eggchaser]

Is Eggbound the Unmoved also a relative?

The whole Wave of Egg Kings are.

[Duncan Gardner]

Charles 2 was the odd monarch out. He was succeeded by a brother as all his kids were illegitimate. None of their descendants are thought to be direct ancestors of Brenda, although one of them is an ex colleague of mine

Which leads neatly onto...which ONE of the following have I not swapped social bantz with,?

A King Abdullah of Jordan's granda Walter Gardner
B Sarah Chatto (niece of Brenda)
C Tom Parker Bowles (step grandson)
D Liz Bowes Lyon (mother)
E Richard Gloucester (cousin)
F Sultan of Brunei

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

C. Hanoverians trace descent back to James I through his daughter, who married a Rhineland price who lost pretty much everything in the opening third of the Thirty Years War.

[edit: to the prevous q obvs. ]

[Gawpus]

No-one ever takes my proposal for the monarchy seriously. I think that we should keep the institution, we can even keep the palaces and the beefeaters and all the pomp and ceremony if we want for tourism purposes, but who actually gets to be "the Queen/King" on any given week or month would follow a similar process to jury service. The same set of adults would be eligible for it; you'd be sent a notice in the post saying that for the second week of June 2022, you will officially be the monarch. You'd have a brief training session, be given some fancy clothes and then spend a week cutting ribbons and having an audience with the prime minister. If we can trust the average adult to judge an individual's guilt in court, I reckon we can trust them to be the ceremonial monarch for a week.

Strongly against this idea.

I was called up for jury duty for the 7th (or 8th? I've lost count) time this week.

These facts may or may not be related.

[pebblethefish]

C Tom Parker Bowles (step grandson)
i

He actually was an alright geezer when he was about 14/15. I used to call him Stan and accuse him of being a QPR fan, but he never told his Mum.

[Duncan Gardner]

Agreed- I met him at a well-supplied publisher party

[Fussbudget]

*James VI (though I suppose that makes James I a direct ancestor as well)

[Balderdasha]

Strongly against this idea.

I was called up for jury duty for the 7th (or 8th? I've lost count) time this week.

These facts may or may not be related.

Curious. I often wonder about the criteria for jury service. I'm 38 and have never been summoned. I think I fit the criteria but there is the strange clause that you must be "not mentally disordered" and I have no idea how they determine that (e.g. I have bipolar disorder but have not had a major episode for nearly five years). I know that I easily pass DBS checks, and even more extreme security checks like the ones that were needed for my current job.

Statistically, the BBC says that there is a 35% chance of being called for jury service in England and Wales during your lifetime if you're eligible. If it was entirely random, that would still allow for the possibility of me never being called and Gawpus being called 8 times. I wonder though if you've successfully completed jury service once whether you're then more likely to be called again.

[Balderdasha]

Apparently the chance of being selected for jury service in Scotland is much higher. Partly due to juries having 15 people rather than 12 in England and Wales.

More info here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-scotland-36140259

[elguapo4]

I have been called 5 times. 4 of them in the last 15 years, even though I have a medical exemption .

[Balderdasha]

On further investigation, I think up until 2013 I would have been disqualified from jury service (except that I didn't have a diagnosis then, so wouldn't have been), but the Mental Health Act 2013 amended the categories so currently I would be eligible:
https://www.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/Jury_service

[Eggchaser]

Historically, solicitors were ineligible for jury duty, but they changed that law in 2004.

[Sporting]

Historically, solicitors were ineligible for jury duty, but they changed that law in 2004.

Still ineligible here, even if you just studied a law degree but never practised.

[ursus arctos]

Was changed in New York about the same time as England and Wales, though some lawyers still dislike having attorneys on the jury and will do what they can to strike them from the pool

[Sporting]

I would have thought lawyers were ideal jury members, due to their knowledge and skills.