Prince of hypocrisy

[alan refail]

Perhaps he could demonstrate his true commitment by winding up his high-maintenance, unsustainable family

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10982323

[Johnboy]

Do you know Alan I am not a socialist but if there was ever a case for absolving the Monarchy that person is it! When I see him on Television I want to throw my boot at the screen! I cannot stand him at any cost just so long as it is not a new television
JB.

[Primrose]

I support the concept of Monarchy, and I think the PoW has done a lot of good in some areas to raise awareness in architecture and agriculture generally, but I do wonder how much this tour is going to cost. The hidden costs of such events can be absoutely eye watering to the uninitiated.
.
The company I once worked for had arranged for PoW to come and visit to open a building. The committees of staff, security checkers, aides walking round with stop watches to time each part of the visit to fit into the schedule, cleaners, re-painters,etc who worked on the visit for about six months beforehand cost the company half its annual profit. I suppose one can never really cost the value of such events in terms of the legacy they leave.

[alan refail]

After my original post I went to read the article in this morning's Telegraph

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... arted.html

I read most of it with increasingly irritated laughter, until I got to this sentence: He does practise much of what he preaches, from turning Highgrove organic to wearing a pair of shoes made from leather salvaged from an 18th-century shipwreck.
That's the point at which I vomited

And don't get me started on the Pope's visit

[oldherbaceous]

Well, i have never had a pint with him, and i never judge anyone until i have sat down with them for half an hour over a pint.

[Nature's Babe]

I'm with you OH, and would say like the American indians, I won't judge a man till i have walked in his moccasins for several moons. For all their wealth I would not have wanted to grow up in a royal nursery, over protected and relating to nannies instead of a hands on Mum and Dad.
To add to Primrose's list a lot of good work with the Princes Trust too.
We can't change others lives, but we can do a lot for sustainablility and to help ecologically in our own lives, thats where I choose to look first, still work to do too.

[pongeroon]

'And don't get me started on the Pope's visit '

I'm with you there, Alan. If theres one person I would NOT want to go for a pint with....

[Mike Vogel]

Until I read JB's and Promrose's contributions, I thought Alan was referring to Tony Blair! I never felt that one could be trusted even when he was a junior MP. And he's quite unrepentant about Iraq, despite the - shall we say - "creative" use of intelligence and the utter ignorance in which he committed our troops to war there.

As for the PoW, well, I personally agree with his views on architecture, though I dare say I am in a minority, and I like his commitment to organics, though perhaps not his evangelism over them. I am sure we could do just as well with a president as with a monarch, but I also agree that the monarchy boosts tourism. I wouldn't change what basically works, but I would reduce public expenditure on an institution which is wealthy enough as it is. A couple of palaces less wouldn't be a great loss.

[Johnboy]

Hi Mike,
The saying 'don't try to mend something which is not broken' is very true but I look upon The PoW as a busted flush and full of crap and his own importance. I am no revolutionary and wish nobody any harm but to me Royalty and all the crap that follow them are sadly out of date and should be shoved well over the hill!
JB.

[alan refail]

Never mind about pints of beer and native American sayings, my main point was the "hypocrisy" of the whole venture.

'Wear Old Clothes', Prince Tells Vogue is about as ludicrous a concept as, say, "Go to church" says Richard Dawkins.

[Cider Boys]

Well if wearing old clothes is helping save the planet, I must be in line for my Knighthood soon.

Regarding the Prince's views, I must confess to sharing many of them and prefer him to our politicians that have succeeded in destroying our once great country.

God save the Queen

Sir Barney

[alan refail]

Quote from a relevant article:

“Someone has been imaginative enough to make cuff links out of the previous engine from my 40-year-old Aston Martin and to sell them in aid of my trust for young people.
“I even have shoes made from leather salvaged from an 18th century wreck. They are totally indestructible and will see me out.”
The shoes were made in 1987 from leather recovered from a Danish brigantine, which sank off Plymouth in 1786. Its cargo of hides was discovered by divers in 1973. Charles, who as Duke of Cornwall was the owner of the wreck and its contents, allowed the divers to sell the hides to finance the salvage operation.
In return, he was given the first pair of shoes made from the leather.

Vomiting time again

[Cider Boys]

Surely encouraging the recycling of resources is to be praised not rediculed.

Barney

[alan refail]

Surely encouraging the recycling of resources is to be praised not rediculed.

Barney

Hi Barney

All depends!

Mr A N Other and family recycle all their metal, plastic, glass, compost all their kitchen and garden waste etc and encourage their neighbours to follow their example. Invites admiration.

Prince Charles has his Aston Martin engine recycled into cufflinks (how much did that cost?), wears shoes "recycled" from leather found in an 18th century wreck, which by some strange law he claims ownership of, and then encourages others to "be sustainable". Invites ridicule.

[Primrose]

Dear Alan, I can't help feeling you are a little unkind to PoW. Yes, he may have some extravagant tastes in certain areas, but I also think credit is due for all the good work he has done in trying to use his voice in way that gets people to listen. He was born into the environment in which he finds himself; there was no blueprint for him to follow and who's to say that any of us would have done a better job if we'd found ourselves occupying his shoes?