View original postThat being said, the show is the most First World Problems show of any show, like, ever. Last episode I saw ended with the Royal Family sadly moving out of their preferred palace into their official palace. The major theme of most of the conflicts seems to be the protagonist family having to deal with strangers interfering in their lives and private doings in the name of anachronistic bullshit and ossified traditions...but it's the family a fucking Queen, in the middle of the 20th century, in a relatively advanced western state. The anachronistic bullshit is her raison d'etre. I do kind of feel sorry for Philip, since he signed away a lot of stuff to marry Elizabeth, and appears to be getting cheated out of the few concessions implicitly promised, in the name of rules that seemingly shouldn't technically apply in their case. When you consider some of the douchebaggery that has gone down in the name of kings attempting to appease their wives, wanting his kids to take his name (not his REAL name, mind you, but the fake British name he took to keep his adopted country happy) and live in the house rennovated to his specifications, isn't all that big a deal, considering he's not allowed to walk next to her in public and has to ride in a seperate car from his wife and kids.

View original postDoes Kate Middleton (or the Duchess of Whatevershire) have to get off the plane behind William? Will she have to when grandma kicks off? Did George's wife have to walk behind him? I wonder if that stuff isn't more strictly applied to a prince consort than a queen consort out of some sort of sexist perception, whereby men automatically outrank women, so men have to stay behind their monarch spouses to compensate for their inherent supremacy. Hell, that seems to be the logic behind a male consort of a ruler being a prince, while the female consort can use the title of queen. If Elizabeth predeceases Philip, is he called the Prince Father (or Prince Pop? ) or the King Father, or is he going to be referred to by his Ducal rank (Edinburgh, IIRC)? Is that even a question that has been put into practice? The only ruling English Queens with which I am familar outlived their husbands or were unmarried. The only widower Prince Consort I can think of was Philip II, who had a bit more on his plate than the English court, unlike Philip Sperm Donor, who has spent most of his life with the Queen.

View original postAlso, I could have sworn Prince Charles had a brother, but he has a sister on this show.

View original postAlso, also, people really like being dicks to Edward VIII or David, or whatever his name was after he abdicated. Okay, yes, the abdication thing was kind of suspect, but if its such a tragedy that the Queen can't live in her own house, demanding a figurehead marry or not particular people is a bit absurd. It's not like Edward forfeited a critical alliance for his nation by not marrying some scion of a foreign dynasty, or failed to placate a domestic coalition by wedding one of their kin. And considering divorce is the raison d'etre of the Church of England, and remarriage of divorced people practiced by millions of his countrymen, the whole crisis was pretty ridiculous in the first place. If royalty is so important, the least they could do would be to keep him funded if he can't be around them anymore, or work for a living, rather than cutting him off out of spite once his brother isn't around to protect him anymore. His behavior and attitude toward the rest of his family is shown as petty and spiteful, but so is theirs to him, so who can say how far back that went or who started what? I really get the impression he was in a damned if he does, damned if he doesn't situation with the crones of the family anyway. If he keeps his distance, he's cold and remote and abandoning his loved ones and not paying attention to his family. If he stays close (and incidentally makes himself available for them to vent their spleens) then he's being presumptuous and interfering and casting a shadow on his uncle. Elizabeth makes him apologize to her because his abdication meant the crown came to her so young, and he never apologized to her in the interim...but she was a child when he abdicated, and probably too young to understand the ramifications, not to mention it being a presumptuous thing to say to your brother's children. He has lived in exile since, and the occasion on which she remonstrates with him is one of their first face to face conversations since her father and his brother died. Should, rather than the expected condolences and congratulations and/or obsequiences made to a new monarch, his first words have been an apology for making her current situation come to pass, for good AND bad (would she have ever married the husband whose name she wants so badly to pass on if she were not the heir to the throne? )? He might have been selfish and an asshole, but between this show and what I know of the historical figures who formed his family, he's just one of a batch, whom they all dump on because they can. Going solely by this show and tKS, plus the tabloids of my youth suggests George/Albert, Elizabeth Jr & Philip are the only likable people in the whole clan, who weren't constantly being petty jerks (and Philip seriously flirts with that line as well).

View original postIt is also amusing to see Patrick from "Coupling" playing the princess's illicit boyfriend. For people who don't bother with lesser Anglophonic TV shows, Patrick was Joey Tribbiani crossed with Barney Stinson in a British package. What is particularly jarring is the creepy resemblance to his appearance back in the early 90s. I am pretty sure I saw him in "V for Vendetta" and "Ninja Assassin", but with gray hair, and those were years ago.