EXACTLY! The second Harry decided to go to the party, he was doomed no matter what he wore. There is just no good costume for a Royal (or anyone with a desire to avoid offending) to wear to a thing like that. Yes, he showed LOUSY judgment. But I can’t see any 20-year-old who was not related to Holocaust victims or survivors really “getting it” that the Holocaust is not ancient history.
BTW – when I was in college, I thought it was hysterically funny that one of the Frat houses had a Pearl Harbor Day party with the slogan “Get bombed with a J.A.P.!” Talk about an idea with something guaranteed to offend just about everyone. But then, I was 18 or 19 at the time, and I thought it was great even though I have always hated the expression **“J.A.P.” ** (In case the expression has faded from usage, J.A.P. stands for “Jewish American Princess.” It is NOT a compliment.)
Regarding Billy Carter: actually, the biggest stir I remember him causing during his checkered career was when he decided to whip it out and take a whiz right out in public on the tarmac at an airport.
The Holocaust is the only concern. His family were directly related to the war. London was bombed heavily. Civilians all over the UK died from Nazi bombs. The Island was at real risk of falling at some stages.
That said the only real issue for me is the stupidity of the decision considering who he is. Muppetry of the highest order.
I wonder how the jerk who sold the pics feels now?
Apparently he offered them to the Sun newspaper because he thought they might be interested in the pics that showed Prince William in costume (can’t remember what the costume was, but it was harmless).
The guy from the Sun feigned indifference at the pics of Harry and got all the pics for £10,000. The Sun admit they would have paid up to £200,000 if the guy realised the gold he had photographed!
No arguments there. As I am in the US rather than the UK, my referents tend to be Holocaust survivors rather than the assault on England. I didn’t mean to artificially narrow the field of people Harry pissed off, or to leave out the reason why his being a Royal made his behavior particularly offensive.
Everyone repeat after me; Never, ever take anything written in “The Sun” as having anything except a marginal and passing resemblance to the facts.
Likely translation of above quote; No-one knows what Charles said, so we made something up. No-one else had any information, so a nobody we won’t embarrass ourselves by naming made a guess.
Actually, Victoria was Albert’s first cousin ( :eek: ), so she had not only a German mum but all the Hanoverian ancestry from her father’s side. Also, as has already been mentioned, Edward VIII was quite chummy with Hitler - you can probably find photos of his post-abdication visit to Old Adolf, in which he is shaking AH’s hand and looking very happy. So you can imagine why Queen Liz might have a bit of a problem with all this; it cuts somewhat close to the bone in terms of their recent history.
Wills went as a lion or something. If only his nitwit brother had stuck with the khaki outfit and left the swastika off. You’ve really got to wonder about his judgement. But context is everything. It was a party and Hal is, well, shallow.
The Royals are decadent remnants of an archaic system that measures the worth of a person by which set of genitalia they were pulled out of.Yes, I know that sentence ended with a preposition, learn to cope.While I consider genitals to be important, I don’t think it’s the most important thing about someone. The offence is not how Harry was dressed, but that the way he dressed is considered important.
I suppose Harry can always claim it’s genetic. He does, after all, come from a long line of German princelings, and his great-great-uncle David spent a lot of time kissing Hitler’s ass back in the day.
I believe his costume was that of an Africa Korps officer. A member of a German army based in North Africa could, I suppose, be viewed as a coloniser.
Recently on these boards there was a discussion about how there should be no restrictions on the content of comedy. Most agreed comedy should be allowed a free rein. Is a fancy-dress party not carried out for comedic (if that’s a word) effect?
If Harry decided to do a bit of stand-up, would he, because of his position in life, have to employ restraint over and above that a comedian not of royal descent?
The German presence in North Africa was nothing to do with colonization. There were there to help out the Italians ( who’s colonies they were ) after they had lost several battles( and thousands of men ) fighting the Allies. So Harry got that wrong. Had he wanted to have been authentic he should have gone dressed as an Italian.
After 1918 Germany had no colonies , unless you count the countries that were occupied during WW2 .
is not only wrong (Victoria’s father was nowhere near 100% German), but actually an understatement (since by most standards Victoria was more than 50% German)!
The problem wasn’t that she had an affair with Gp Cpt Peter Townsend, but that she wanted to marry him. He was divorced (a big deal in those days). As a senior royal she had to get the Queen’s permission to marry - it wasn’t granted. This is rather unfair as he had divorced his wife for adultery. (as a footnote to history; his ex wife - Rosie - married my pal’s grandad - small world isn’t it? She died early last year).
This is where it all started to go wrong for her - Enter Bungalow Bill Wiggins and John Bindon (he of the pint glasses).
