The In-laws are having a clear out, which means we have been the happy recipients of several boxes of suspect material from the bedroom my wife occuppied before she left home. Some of what emerged from the foostie smelling banana boxes was delightful. For instance we found loads of my wife's school work from when she was quite young, through to A-level physics and the like. Some of what we found was quite twee, happy debris left over from the array of trinketry that marked the course of one little girl's childhood. Hugely enjoyable to rake through all this, and try and imagine what my wife must have been like at various stages of her life - so many years before we met.Other things which emerged from the innards of the boxes however, was far more sinister - like the giant Charles and Di wedding album pictured. Before I get all smug and superior and say that when the 'dreadful duo' got married I was somewhat disinterested and went outside and played in a huge sandpit on the farm in Cornwall where we were on holiday at the time - it would be fair to point out that when it happened my future-wife was a very young girl, and that the princess fantasy seemes to be peculiarly de rigeour for small females! Also, she had the privilege of growing up in the loyalist half of Northern Ireland - which has the reputation for being the last bastion of Royalist paraphenalia left in the UK (although this too is fading fast and is technically known as the peace-dividend). On the other hand, I was young enough to think that the Royal wedding was tedious in the extreme - and that was before it got worse and he kissed her - YUK!
Nevertheless, whilst at the time such an album would have disinterested me - in retrospect to hold such a priceless example of kitsch is a remarkable thing! To read all the puke-rendering text about marriages made in heaven and the like, is very black comedy indeed. Who would have thought that only a few years later the re-run of the Trial of Queen Caroline would have been conducted in the courts of the tabloids! What is equally remarkable is that it is ten years since Diana's death, well as Mohammaed Al Fayed would presumably say, Tempus Fuggit!
We're only a little way into the boxes - I can't wait to see what horrors or delights this family time-capsule will reveal next!
11 comments:
oh, very good!! I can just imagine the laughter, etc :)
Unlike you I was old enough to decide how to spend the day of the Royal Wedding. As a lifelong republican the choice was easy - game of golf with a mob from work (all males) followed by a few beers! No loyal toasts in sight.
I subsequently married a girl from a royalist family - another of the factors that weighed against me in the eyes of my future in-laws. As you can imagine that was a long list!
Have fun with the remaining boxes
My Mum found my old holiday diaries and I had put in an entry on Charles and Diana getting married, saying that "They both made mistakes". Which I like to think was remarkably prescient. We dressed up in red, white and blue and watched it on a friend's colour telly. Shortly afterwards I became a republican.
Just think that half-witted numbskull gets to be crowned, simply on the basis that one of his parents was crowned before him.
King George Bush II - republicanism, eh?
ER - you must be older than you look, "at work!!" Yikes!
Steg - did this cause your republicanism?
ER & Steg, (or anyone else) what forms of republicanism do you prefer?
Anon - good to see a fellow appreciator of "The News Quiz" on here, your merry quip I believe a quote from Andy Hamilton?
I remember, when Chuck and Di were "just good friends", discussing with my two elder girl cousins that the elder of them could marry Charles, the younger could marry Andrew and I would have Edward. Clearly the brothers never availed themselves of the opportunity. (Thank you Lord!)
Well I'd like to be part of a federal republic with proportional representation. I don't have strong feelings about whether or not we have a president - I'm not entirely convinced of the need for a head of state at all, given that we currently exist without a meaningful one anyway. I don't remember what caused my republicanism. I do remember worrying about hypocrisy during my guide promise. I used to miss out the bit about serving the queen whenever we said the promise as a group. I was thinking about this on Sunday when child number 1 was enrolled as a Brownie and had to promise 'to love my god and serve the queen'. There's clearly still no place for atheist republicans in the guide movement though it's a great organisation in many other ways........ Oh well, enough rambling and ranting. Time to do some work.
Just seen this about the USA!
There is a tragic flaw in our precious Constitution, and I don't know what can be done to fix it. This is it: Only nut cases want to be president.
- Kurt Vonnegut
You Republicans have got it all wrong. We should adopt the former Japanese emperor system and grant our Royal family semi-divine status. We need a bit more awe and mystery in our lives.
I think there could be a case for moving the monarchy out of the state sector, go for full privatisation and float them on the stock exchange! :-)
Annedroid,
hahaha, that caused me to chuckle, not that I'm admitting to anything, mind you. ;)
My grands were royalists, and one of the first books they bought me were of the 'royal children at play' or something...had photies of Andrew with his Shetland pony...made me jealous, 'cause I wanted a pony! :)))
HM,
now whatever do ya mean, there, sir??!! ;) I like Teddy Roosevelt, eccentric, but got things done! :)
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