As he sat there amidst the pageantry, I wonder if Harry was contemplating another lucrative tell-all account - about how he was blanked at the coronation....
"Papa did not even look my way when the crown was plonked on his head and he didn't embrace me as he marched up the aisle. Once again, I felt rejected like the 'spare' that I am.
My aunt, Princess Anne, had been deliberately placed in front of me with a huge red feather upon her hat in order to make me a laughing stock around the world. And nobody bothered to ask about my wife and my children - Archie and Lilibet. I could feel my mental health being badly impacted and I wished that I hadn't chosen to attend the coronation
As usual, my brother William tried to take centre stage as I looked on. I asked myself - Why isn't everybody looking at me? For I am also a prince of the realm. Instead, the cameras focused on bully boy William's brats. And I asked myself - why wasn't Archie invited to be a pageboy? But of course I knew the answer. Once again 'The Firm' were closing ranks on me - excluding me just as they excluded my blameless mother and ultimately assassinated her."
What a shame that the sun did not shine upon London to bring out the colours of the pageantry and the military uniforms. However, I was relieved to see the ceremonies run smoothly from beginning to end. No nutcases interrupted and no outrages were committed by wicked terrorists.
⦿
Meanwhile, up here in Sheffield we have got scaffolding around our house because we are having a new roof fitted in the week ahead. The current roof is almost a hundred years old so we decided it was time to bite the bullet like many of our neighbours.
Linked with this, I went up into our attic this afternoon for the first time in five or six years. I looked at some of the stuff we put up there and I thought: Why? What were we thinking about? It would have been more sensible to just get rid of that junk in the first place. Now I have set myself the task of reducing much of that detritus in the next forty eight hours.
By the way, the reason I haven't been up there in so long is because I try hard to look after my knees, avoiding long term knee pain. A bit of contortion is required to get through the hatch. I may share with you a couple of items I found in the attic. I will be up there again tomorrow using thick foam rubber cushions in an effort to protect my old knees.
I watched highlights of the ceremony on YouTube and there were lots of sweet moments. I wondered if Prince William and his oldest son were thinking - "that will be me some day" during that ceremony.
ReplyDeleteSome things are bigger than us and yes, I am sure that William is well aware of the weight of history.
DeletePrince Harry seemed pleased to see his cousins anyway. Take care of your knees, old fellow.
ReplyDeleteThe cousins were just being polite.
DeleteI completely forgot that it was today. Good thing I wasn't in charge:)
ReplyDeleteThat's like forgetting that you exist!
DeleteYou hit that particular nail on the head!!
ReplyDeleteI am finding boxes of stuff that have not been touched since we moved here 6 years ago. I swear I will not repeat this but I am sure I will. Watch those knees. They can be tricky.
We have been here 34 years and I laid the boards in the attic and installed the loft ladder 30 years ago... so you can imagine!
DeleteI'd had enough of the royals and the coronation before they even began.
ReplyDeleteGood thing I'm not British, eh?
Yes indeed because you'd be sitting in a dank cell in The Tower of London jangling your shackles - which is not a euphemism!
DeleteWhile you are up in the attic, check carefully for any signs of water leakage from that hundreds if years old roof, it only takes a few drips each rain to gradually accumulate lower down in the structure which may be the cause of your damp spot.
ReplyDeleteIf Harry was having such dark thoughts then perhaps he should have stayed home and played with his children instead. I also think Anne's bicorn hat was a silly choice, couldn't she find something a little more feminine?
I think you would look pretty cool strolling around the suburbs of Adelaide in an identical hat River!
DeleteWe were out on a 17 km hike on what was (sorry!) a perfect spring day, meadows in bloom, tender green woodland, blue skies, red kites circling above, and snow- covered mountains in the distance. I was aware of the coronation going on, though, and more than once thought of the huge mass of people in London, hoping that nothing bad would happen.
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame that you couldn't swap your day with London's drizzly grey day.
DeleteI am not going to be mean, it was a family do, with all the problems that family go through and they all did it magnificently. At five foot I shall never be able to wear one of those sombrero hat perched precariously on the side of the head but who cares!
ReplyDeleteWearing a bearskin hat would make you look taller Thelma but folk might think it was a new hair-do.
DeleteI hope the new roof puts an end to your damp patch problem.
ReplyDeleteI guess that is possible but don't hold your breath.
DeleteTell tale tit, your tongue shall be slit, and all the little puppy dogs shall have a little bit!
ReplyDeleteDo you remember that ? Apparently it was a " skipping" rhyme .
I also heaved a sigh of relief as The King and Queen finally disappeared from view that no one had taken a pot shot, or worse!
I recall a very similar skipping rhyme... "Tell tale tit, your mother can't knit/ Your father can't walk with a walking stick!" However, I was playing marbles when the girls were skipping. Honest!
DeleteI wondered why there was no football on television.
ReplyDeleteOn the subjects of lofts I have been clearing mine for about 5 years. Good luck.
Sorry you missed your lunchtime football Graham. I know you like to sit there with your scarf on shaking your rattle and swigging cans of lager.
DeleteMy garage is a bit like your loft. I start a clear out every so often but somehow other things have the habit of creeping in to take their place.
ReplyDeleteI had a good chuckle at the feather in Anne's hat blocking the ginger whinger's face most of the time. That arrangement of seating can't have been an accident. No doubt it will give him something else to moan about and a basis for a whole chapter of lies and exaggerations in his next book.
Good on Princess Anne! Defending The King's honour with The Red Feather of Destiny.
DeleteI skipped Harry's book, I was surprised that he was pushed back to row 3
ReplyDeleteI don't know, Mr. P. Hearing about the huge financial problems the British mail service and the NHS are suffering, watching that huge, pompous ceremony that must have cost untold fortunes, seems pretty weird. But you know- not my country.
ReplyDeleteWhy can't humans learn that if, when you move into a new house, you have things that are so unnecessary that you store them away in a dark, hard to reach place, you probably don't need them at all?
We are all guilty of this.
Sad, really. Looks to me like an abusive relationship.
ReplyDeleteI heard about the supposed "snub" of Princess Anne's hat. But I think if anyone wanted to snub Harry there would have been a more effective way to do it. (Like tell him not to come.) I am very curious to see what you have in your attic! We don't have an attic but we have several high-level cupboards that we almost never open, and we could probably get rid of everything in them.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with that "forty-eight hours" clearout! Let us know how it went, eh?
ReplyDeleteI think your prediction about Harry's next book is, unfortunately, pretty accurate.
A new roof isn't as exciting as, say, a new bathroom but it's a lot more important!
ReplyDeletePoor, poor, hard done by Harry. I hear he has been permanently scarred by frostbite. The indignities he's been through.......
A 100 year old roof! Quite well indeed. Slate? Tile? I didn't watch any of the coronation other than the 10 second clip package on our evening news. That was enough to tide me over until the next one in a decade or so.
ReplyDelete