Air to the throne
Prince Charles has taken the Daily Mail to court over its publication of extracts from a journal he wrote on the handing back of Hong Kong in 1997. He claims the newspaper group has violated his privacy and infringed his copyright. As Eddie Izzard once said of the Corinthians' invitation to St. Paul to be their penpal: "well, that backfired in a major way!" The judge ordered for the entire journal to be distributed in the court and so all the media got their hands on it.
Perhaps even more damaging to the prince is the sworn statement on behalf of the defendants given by his former deputy private secretary, Mark Bollands. In it, Bolland alleges that the prince actively sought to influence public opinion and government policy by using "all the means of communication at his disposal, including meetings with Ministers and others, speeches and correspondence with leaders in all walks of life and politicians. He was never party-political, but to argue that he was not political was difficult." British monarchs are constitutionally forbidden to infract on the country's political life. With regard to the correspondce, Bolland says: "These letters were not merely routine and non-controversial letters, but letters written at times in extreme terms from the Prince to various people, including members of the Government, Members of Parliament and other people in positions of power and influence, containing his views of political matters and individual politicians at home and abroad and on international issues."
And just to leave no doubt as to the prince's intentions, Bolland states: "The Prince's very definite aim in all this activity, as he explained to me, was to influence opinion. He saw that as part of the job of the heir apparent. He carried out in a very considered, thoughtful and researched way. He often referred to himself as a "dissident" working against the prevailing political consensus."
I am conjuring up images of the Prince in a Che Guevara beret with a big Cuban cigar hanging off his royal Windsor lips. Expect t-shirts.
Surely, the most damaging of all the damaging revelations in Bolland's statement, though, is this:
"The Prince's office operated in a very old-fashioned way when I was there. Even young people, who you would expect to be computer literate, would dictate shorthand to their secretaries, and when I left the office it still did not have external email or the facility for people to print out their own documents."
Bollands left the prince's office in 2002!!!! Damn it, even remote African villages had "external email" in 2002! What's worse is the idea of young people (were some of the in their 20s???) dictating to short-hand typists!!!!
Out with it all! The prince must drag himself into the 21st century and I know how he can get computer literate and continue his dissidence at the same time: he should start a blog! Not a crappy one on the royal website written by some stiff plonking away on a BBC 64 (that's what they were called, isn't it?). No, the prince needs to get his own blog on Blogger. Maybe he isn't too late to grab http://dissident.blogspot.com - but even if he is, there are loads of possible cool names for an English prince's blog. And he could have his own Halo-scan comments box, as well. Just so he doesn't accidently get cut off from the public mood. Just think how much the tax payer would save! His office could be shut down. All those fancy vellum "from the prince's pen" stationary sheets would remain trees (very much one of the prince's interests). All that sealing wax could be burned away more practically as part of a candle. All those dictating stiffs and short-hand secretaries could find gainful employment, and the prince could blog away to his heart's content on all those matters he finds so vital to the nation's interest.
Perhaps even more damaging to the prince is the sworn statement on behalf of the defendants given by his former deputy private secretary, Mark Bollands. In it, Bolland alleges that the prince actively sought to influence public opinion and government policy by using "all the means of communication at his disposal, including meetings with Ministers and others, speeches and correspondence with leaders in all walks of life and politicians. He was never party-political, but to argue that he was not political was difficult." British monarchs are constitutionally forbidden to infract on the country's political life. With regard to the correspondce, Bolland says: "These letters were not merely routine and non-controversial letters, but letters written at times in extreme terms from the Prince to various people, including members of the Government, Members of Parliament and other people in positions of power and influence, containing his views of political matters and individual politicians at home and abroad and on international issues."
And just to leave no doubt as to the prince's intentions, Bolland states: "The Prince's very definite aim in all this activity, as he explained to me, was to influence opinion. He saw that as part of the job of the heir apparent. He carried out in a very considered, thoughtful and researched way. He often referred to himself as a "dissident" working against the prevailing political consensus."
I am conjuring up images of the Prince in a Che Guevara beret with a big Cuban cigar hanging off his royal Windsor lips. Expect t-shirts.
Surely, the most damaging of all the damaging revelations in Bolland's statement, though, is this:
"The Prince's office operated in a very old-fashioned way when I was there. Even young people, who you would expect to be computer literate, would dictate shorthand to their secretaries, and when I left the office it still did not have external email or the facility for people to print out their own documents."
Bollands left the prince's office in 2002!!!! Damn it, even remote African villages had "external email" in 2002! What's worse is the idea of young people (were some of the in their 20s???) dictating to short-hand typists!!!!
Out with it all! The prince must drag himself into the 21st century and I know how he can get computer literate and continue his dissidence at the same time: he should start a blog! Not a crappy one on the royal website written by some stiff plonking away on a BBC 64 (that's what they were called, isn't it?). No, the prince needs to get his own blog on Blogger. Maybe he isn't too late to grab http://dissident.blogspot.com - but even if he is, there are loads of possible cool names for an English prince's blog. And he could have his own Halo-scan comments box, as well. Just so he doesn't accidently get cut off from the public mood. Just think how much the tax payer would save! His office could be shut down. All those fancy vellum "from the prince's pen" stationary sheets would remain trees (very much one of the prince's interests). All that sealing wax could be burned away more practically as part of a candle. All those dictating stiffs and short-hand secretaries could find gainful employment, and the prince could blog away to his heart's content on all those matters he finds so vital to the nation's interest.
posted by purefunction at 11:24 PM
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