The Royals

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  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,095
    I'm staggered that BBC1 viewing figures dipped by 6% compared to last Friday. Only 6%.
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,722
    So, Rick hates the Police because somebody stole his bike and now he hates the monarchy because the DoE stole his music by dying at an inconvenient time.

    The NHS better not steal his vaccination or I fear the Cake Stop may not be able to cope.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • rjsterry
    rjsterry Posts: 29,507
    DeVlaeminck said:

    Sad for the Queen.

    When she's gone it'd be a good opportunity to modernise the monarchy - by which I mean replace them with actors so we can still have people conducting functions of a head of state, riding in carriages, travelling abroad and meeting people in traditional dress etc - but we do away with the objectionable hereditary element of it.

    That seems to me a win win.

    It's not an ideal approach, but I'm not sure I could stand a four-yearly popularity contest.

    Also, funny how people rant on about how objectionable the hereditary principle is for the royals, but think that the government getting a slice of their inheritance and its outrageous
    1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
    Pinnacle Monzonite

    Part of the anti-growth coalition
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,461
    Dorset_Boy said:

    rjsterry said:

    rick_chasey said:

    rjsterry said:

    rick_chasey said:

    kingstongraham said:

    rick_chasey said:

    surrey_commuter said:

    rick_chasey said:

    Ok I had no idea how bad this stopping all the radio and tv is.

    Why are they still only playing ballards on the radio?

    Ffs this is mad

    Is this BBC or all channels?
    All bbc outlets
    I thought live radio and tv was for losers?
    Well quite - i thought it was just for an hour or so on live tv. I didn’t think it would ruin an entire day of programming (which you then can’t watch/ listen later).

    I thought they only did that stuff in dictatorships.
    Possibly you are mistaken. Seems pretty normal for the death of the spouse of a serving head of state.
    I was in Holland when Beatrix’s husband died. It was top of the news billing and they changed NOS 1 (bbc equivalent) scheduling for one hour long documentary.

    Another appeared on Sunday morning. That was it. And it was a state funeral which presumably went out live.

    A day of ‘mourning’ is nuts - this is the biggest impact the guy has ever had!
    To you, maybe.
    Clearly Rick has never heard of things like the DoE scheme.....

    or maybe it's just more hyerbolic trolling by him.

    Thought I'd misread his comment when he said he hadn't made any impact. Thousands of kids a year do D of E and they had several on news reports saying how it had changed their lives by boosting their confidence. He's also credited with significantly modernising the monarchy (yeah, I know but he took it from the 17th century into the 19th).
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    This is all fine it doesn’t warrant this response.

    Plenty of good people who do lots die all the time.

    I’m not saying he’s not a good bloke. I’m sure in his position of ridiculous privilege he did some good things. I’m sure DoE was just wonderful for everyone.

    I just don’t understand why the telly and radio needs to “mourn”.

    All those billboards, Piccadilly Circus. Feels totally excessive. Totally over the top.

    People are fully entitled to be upset / want to grieve if they want. That’s their business.





    _
  • verylonglegs
    verylonglegs Posts: 4,023
    Apparently the BBC had so many complaints they created a dedicated form for it. I managed about 20 mins of 6music this morning. It was a farce, the presenter trying to sound downbeat in between a never ending string of morose songs. I wonder who had to vet the list to make the lyrics were suitable and the tune struck the right note. Quite bizarre.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    edited April 2021
    blazing_saddles said:

    So, Rick hates the Police because somebody stole his bike and now he hates the monarchy because the DoE stole his music by dying at an inconvenient time.

    The NHS better not steal his vaccination or I fear the Cake Stop may not be able to cope.

    I don’t hate the guy. Until the bbc went weird about his death I barely knew anything about him. He wasn’t head of state, just married to them, so I figured he was just some one else irrelevant caught in the trappings of the royals who spends his day doing charitable stuff to justify the royal existence.

    It’s not a particularly extreme position I’m taking - the coverage and the “mourning” is totally out of proportion to what has happened.
    _
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    Anyway looks like radio 1 dance is back playing norm tunes.
    _
  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 9,094
    rjsterry said:

    DeVlaeminck said:

    Sad for the Queen.

    When she's gone it'd be a good opportunity to modernise the monarchy - by which I mean replace them with actors so we can still have people conducting functions of a head of state, riding in carriages, travelling abroad and meeting people in traditional dress etc - but we do away with the objectionable hereditary element of it.

    That seems to me a win win.

    It's not an ideal approach, but I'm not sure I could stand a four-yearly popularity contest.

    Also, funny how people rant on about how objectionable the hereditary principle is for the royals, but think that the government getting a slice of their inheritance and its outrageous
    Joking aside I actually think it'd work. We want to keep the tradition, the ceremony and so on. It's part of our culture.

    I've even heard ardent monarchists argue that it's about the institution rather than the individuals. The Queen has a role - so why not take that to its logical conclusion and cast professional actors in that role.

    The remnants of actual power and influence the monarchy has would obviously have to go but I would guess that would find favour with most even if we kept the current family in post.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • orraloon
    orraloon Posts: 13,227

  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,461
    That's not the comment people were responding to though. You said it was the biggest impact he's ever had, I wouldn't say disrupting the TV and radio schedules for a couple of days is a greater impact than the DoE scheme. I don't think anyone has suggested the coverage / disruption to programming isn't excessive.
  • mrb123
    mrb123 Posts: 4,813


    Here's today's sports news...
  • Dorset_Boy
    Dorset_Boy Posts: 7,546
    edited April 2021
    rick_chasey said:

    blazing_saddles said:

    So, Rick hates the Police because somebody stole his bike and now he hates the monarchy because the DoE stole his music by dying at an inconvenient time.

    The NHS better not steal his vaccination or I fear the Cake Stop may not be able to cope.

    I don’t hate the guy. Until the bbc went weird about his death I barely knew anything about him. He wasn’t head of state, just married to them, so I figured he was just some one else irrelevant caught in the trappings of the royals who spends his day doing charitable stuff to justify the royal existence.

    It’s not a particularly extreme position I’m taking - the coverage and the “mourning” is totally out of proportion to what has happened.
    For someone supposedly as widely read and knowledgeable on all manner of subjects, I barely believe a word of your first paragraph. It's not like he's not been regularly in the headlines throughout your life or anything.

    I do however think that most sane people would agree that there is excessive mourning and the changing of radio schedules to play the stuff they've been playing is unnecessary.

    However the death of the husband of the longest serving monarch in history (of the UK and Commonwealth at least), after 73 years of marriage is a pretty big deal, even if you in your anti-royalist outlook think it might not be.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    I thought DoE was a way to have a jolly for hiking types subsidised?

    Certainly how it was sold to me. I think a mate once applied and got £50 for our trip to cycle around Cornwall for a week iirc
    _
  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 9,094
    Mixed views on this media coverage . For context I'm not a royalist - I'm not a rabid anti I just can't square the idea of a hereditary monarch as head of state with us being a democracy.

    Anyway part of me thinks it's reasonable and even important to mark his death this way. To have some shared cultural events - things which reinforce shared values - which bind us together. It's the 2012 Olympics, it's the FA Cup Final, Rememberance Sunday, Bradley Wiggins, Bank Holiday at the beach etc.

    Another part of me thinks the idea of a monarchy (without Equity cards) is too politically loaded to really be something that should be a core part of our shared culture and whilst his death is obviously need the blanket coverage felt like someone trying to impose what we should be feeling on us.

    I think on balance I wouldn't object to it. It's one day to mark 99 years and for many people this is more than just a familiar celebrity passing away. Shared culture is never going to be shared universally - there are probably many in the UK for whom Christmas is just another day but we accept the TV schedules are dominated by festive specials for weeks.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • david37
    david37 Posts: 1,313
    rick_chasey said:

    rjsterry said:

    rick_chasey said:

    kingstongraham said:

    rick_chasey said:

    surrey_commuter said:

    rick_chasey said:

    Ok I had no idea how bad this stopping all the radio and tv is.

    Why are they still only playing ballards on the radio?

    Ffs this is mad

    Is this BBC or all channels?
    All bbc outlets
    I thought live radio and tv was for losers?
    Well quite - i thought it was just for an hour or so on live tv. I didn’t think it would ruin an entire day of programming (which you then can’t watch/ listen later).

    I thought they only did that stuff in dictatorships.
    Possibly you are mistaken. Seems pretty normal for the death of the spouse of a serving head of state.
    I was in Holland when Beatrix’s husband died. It was top of the news billing and they changed NOS 1 (bbc equivalent) scheduling for one hour long documentary.

    Another appeared on Sunday morning. That was it. And it was a state funeral which presumably went out live.

    A day of ‘mourning’ is nuts - this is the biggest impact the guy has ever had!
    you have very little idea have you.
  • david37
    david37 Posts: 1,313
    rick_chasey said:

    I thought DoE was a way to have a jolly for hiking types subsidised?

    Certainly how it was sold to me. I think a mate once applied and got £50 for our trip to cycle around Cornwall for a week iirc

    grade A trolling
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,461
    rick_chasey said:

    I thought DoE was a way to have a jolly for hiking types subsidised?

    Certainly how it was sold to me. I think a mate once applied and got £50 for our trip to cycle around Cornwall for a week iirc

    No. The expedition is only part of it, there's charity / volunteering amongst the other sections.

    https://www.dofe.org/do/sections/

    I would have thought it would be right up your street as it gives inner city kids a chance to get out and experience the countryside doing the things the likes of me who grew up on the edge of the Brecon Beacons took for granted.
  • surrey_commuter
    surrey_commuter Posts: 18,867
    rick_chasey said:

    blazing_saddles said:

    So, Rick hates the Police because somebody stole his bike and now he hates the monarchy because the DoE stole his music by dying at an inconvenient time.

    The NHS better not steal his vaccination or I fear the Cake Stop may not be able to cope.

    I don’t hate the guy. Until the bbc went weird about his death I barely knew anything about him. He wasn’t head of state, just married to them, so I figured he was just some one else irrelevant caught in the trappings of the royals who spends his day doing charitable stuff to justify the royal existence.

    It’s not a particularly extreme position I’m taking - the coverage and the “mourning” is totally out of proportion to what has happened.
    I hate the idea of royalty and have no interest in them so learned more about him reading The Economist obituary than I had garnered before.

    I remember being incandescent when Diana died as they took the World Waterski Championships off the TV. To this day I don’t get why you need the same program on both channels. You learn to impose your own media blackout and it does not bother you so much.
  • david37
    david37 Posts: 1,313
    edited April 2021
    rick your right on factually incorrect view of the world, feeble understanding of employment law, despite your admin role in recruitment and poo pooing of positive contributions to society that Dof E makes makes me wonder.

    This history degree you have, was it from an ex poli?

  • rjsterry
    rjsterry Posts: 29,507
    surrey_commuter said:

    rick_chasey said:

    blazing_saddles said:

    So, Rick hates the Police because somebody stole his bike and now he hates the monarchy because the DoE stole his music by dying at an inconvenient time.

    The NHS better not steal his vaccination or I fear the Cake Stop may not be able to cope.

    I don’t hate the guy. Until the bbc went weird about his death I barely knew anything about him. He wasn’t head of state, just married to them, so I figured he was just some one else irrelevant caught in the trappings of the royals who spends his day doing charitable stuff to justify the royal existence.

    It’s not a particularly extreme position I’m taking - the coverage and the “mourning” is totally out of proportion to what has happened.
    I hate the idea of royalty and have no interest in them so learned more about him reading The Economist obituary than I had garnered before.

    I remember being incandescent when Diana died as they took the World Waterski Championships off the TV. To this day I don’t get why you need the same program on both channels. You learn to impose your own media blackout and it does not bother you so much.
    I thought you might have taken an interest given his pretty remarkable naval career, all in his early twenties.
    1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
    Pinnacle Monzonite

    Part of the anti-growth coalition
  • orraloon
    orraloon Posts: 13,227
    This is an honest question, I'm not on a wind up or trollboting.

    How much involvement did Phil the Greek have in the DofE award scheme? Did he initiate, promote, have a role (in earlier days obvs), be active? Or is it a bit like the QE2 bridge, there's the name crack on?
  • Dorset_Boy
    Dorset_Boy Posts: 7,546
    orraloon said:

    This is an honest question, I'm not on a wind up or trollboting.

    How much involvement did Phil the Greek have in the DofE award scheme? Did he initiate, promote, have a role (in earlier days obvs), be active? Or is it a bit like the QE2 bridge, there's the name crack on?

    I believe he came up with the idea and he certainly personally gave out the vast majority of the gold awards at Buck House up to c15 years ago. Clearly the programme has been updated and modified over the years.
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,461
    It was his idea.
  • briantrumpet
    briantrumpet Posts: 20,271
    Blimey, the things people get worked up about. As I don't watch TV or listen to the Beeb, I'm blissfully unaware. Might go off piste and listen to some Le Jazz tonight.
    https://www.facebook.com/unanglaisendiois
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,722
    edited April 2021
    orraloon said:

    This is an honest question, I'm not on a wind up or trollboting.

    How much involvement did Phil the Greek have in the DofE award scheme? Did he initiate, promote, have a role (in earlier days obvs), be active? Or is it a bit like the QE2 bridge, there's the name crack on?

    Last night I was told a story about a friend of my sisters, who I also did youth work with, many years ago.
    I didn't know this was possible, but apparently she took the DoE alongside her young charges and got a gold award.
    She went to Windsor and received her award from the Duke. After the ceremony, the two of them spent quite some time in conversation.

    Knowing this lady as I do, I can only say that's worth a gold gong for commitment!



    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • shirley_basso
    shirley_basso Posts: 6,195
    "I got my first BJ on my DoE gold" - unknown
  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 19,430
    Duke of Ed is one of those things only half the population of NI do.

    I was at Uni before I knew what it was.

    Interesting for the week that's in it.
    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • mrb123
    mrb123 Posts: 4,813
    Spent several months doing various activities for my DofE gold award including volunteering with a local cub scout pack.

    Failed to complete the final activity I needed which was the residential stay - my teenage self didn't fancy a few nights away with a load of "losers".

    Hence the entire process was a total waste of time.

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