Princess Kate (aka the Duchess of Cambridge) is Pregnant!

[iguana_tonante]

The whole monarchy thing just seems so archaic.

It is really great for tourism, which makes a lot of money for the country.

I'm not sure it's true. Italy and France don't have royals anymore, but the tourism industry is hardly suffering for that. The trappings of royalty make money for tourism (Buckingham Palace, Crown Jewels, etc), but you don't need an actual royal family for that (and in fact, lots of people visit Versailles and the Reggia of Caserta even tho Italy and France are now republics).

Personally, I have nothing against the monarchy myself, and I wouldn't mind if Italy had retained the monarchy after WWII (except that the royals were kinda dumb, but that's a common occurrence with any kind of state representatives, I guess). I think monarchy is silly in this time and age, but I understand the appeal of royals as a connection to a country's past, so if the majority of people like to have it, so be it. Monarchy as a democratic feature, I guess.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

The Royal lands, palaces and castles bring a lot of money. If they weren't Royal then they would be private land and the treasury would lose all the money. Unless we nicked it all from them.

 

[Starkers]

I'm a Royalist and they genuinely seem like decent folks so I'm more than happy for them, just hope Kate is ok, it sounds especially nasty (I've heard for a small per centage of mothers this extreme morning sickness can last all the way!)

Glad the Commonwealth has agreed to the change in law...shame it isn't retroactive, be funny to see Anne shouting "In your face Charlie Boy!" Of course then Wills and Kate would be shoved aside in favour of Peter and, er, whoever Peter's married too!

 

[Skywalker]

For some reason a lot of Americans are just fascinated by the concept of a royal family. I think we miss having one.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Glad the Commonwealth has agreed to the change in law...shame it isn't retroactive, be funny to see Anne shouting "In your face Charlie Boy!" Of course then Wills and Kate would be shoved aside in favour of Peter and, er, whoever Peter's married too!

Wouldn't apply -- Anne was born in 1950 and Charles in 1948.

ETA:

The Royal lands, palaces and castles bring a lot of money. If they weren't Royal then they would be private land and the treasury would lose all the money. Unless we nicked it all from them.

That's what the Inland Revenue is for. We'd also save on the Civil List handouts.

 

[lurok]

"In this UK nothing can be said to be certain, except death, taxes and The Royal Family"

 

[Starkers]

Glad the Commonwealth has agreed to the change in law...shame it isn't retroactive, be funny to see Anne shouting "In your face Charlie Boy!" Of course then Wills and Kate would be shoved aside in favour of Peter and, er, whoever Peter's married too!

Wouldn't apply -- Anne was born in 1950 and Charles in 1948.

Gah of course! For some reason I just got an image of a toddler Anne with a baby in my head, either that or the timeline altered on me...

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Glad the Commonwealth has agreed to the change in law...shame it isn't retroactive, be funny to see Anne shouting "In your face Charlie Boy!" Of course then Wills and Kate would be shoved aside in favour of Peter and, er, whoever Peter's married too!

Wouldn't apply -- Anne was born in 1950 and Charles in 1948.

Gah of course! For some reason I just got an image of a toddler Anne with a baby in my head, either that or the timeline altered on me...

Perhaps the timeline - I swear that I heard about the Flixborough disaster on the radio the day before it happened, and I'm sure I've heard news reports about various people dying, only to find out that they're still alive several years later.
Most likely, it's just my addled memory playing tricks.

 

[Starkers]

Your mind and mine I think!

 

[iguana_tonante]

The Royal lands, palaces and castles bring a lot of money. If they weren't Royal then they would be private land and the treasury would lose all the money. Unless we nicked it all from them.

Of course you nick it all. That's what we did, that's what the French did, and by God that's what you should do, too!

 

[thestrangequark]

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dkv0KCR3Yiw[/yt]

 

[Shazam!]

so first borns get the crown, regardless of their parts. This is called "Absolute primogeniture"

I call it arbitrary. If I didn't know any better I'd have thought it was a satirical idea dreamt up by the Onion.

 

[stoneroses]

The whole monarchy thing just seems so archaic.

It is really great for tourism, which makes a lot of money for the country.

People still visit France and they got rid of their lot years ago. We so don't need a royal family. People would still visit London whether they were there or not.
... And the 200million they cost to keep could be better spent.
Oh what about the xx million they bring in that far out weighs what we pay for them.
First of all that money would still come in as part of the UKs income secondly if they do bring so much extra in, here is a thought just knock off the 200 million and hand over the difference to the rest of us.

It is wrong to hold anybody above anybody else. I hope one day they are gone. It will happen but very very slowly over decades may be even centeries but they are going.

 

[JarodRussell]

Kate and Willie are expecting. If it's a boy, he'll be named Brian, if it's a girl, she'll be named Lynn.

 

[Darth Duck]

Some of them are. Charles is hideous and his mother is the original Iron Lady. Forget Maggie Thatcher - she was a pusillanimous imitation.

I am very much looking forward to having King Charles ugly mug on my coins in the distant future.

 

[Count Zero]

I didn't expect Feynman to sound kind of British. How odd. I didn't expect to learn that factoid in a thread about the Royals, either. I kind of agree with him to a point. I think arbitrary honours on the merit of what family you've been born into are quite ridiculous. Honours because of deeds are okay (and that includes the Nopel prize for physics).
Anyway, I really should have gotten the audio version of the Feynman lectures on physics.

The Royal lands, palaces and castles bring a lot of money. If they weren't Royal then they would be private land and the treasury would lose all the money. Unless we nicked it all from them.

Of course you nick it all. That's what we did, that's what the French did, and by God that's what you should do, too!

Yep, indeed, that's how it's done.

As for Kate, I hope she'll be better soon. I didn't know morning sickness could be that severe.

 

[thestrangequark]

^I have the audio version of his lecture on planetary movement!

But...you think he sounded British? No offense, but . He had a super strong New York accent!

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Kate and Willie are expecting. If it's a boy, he'll be named Brian, if it's a girl, she'll be named Lynn.

I don't get it.

 

[Count Zero]

^I have the audio version of his lecture on planetary movement!

But...you think he sounded British? No offense, but . He had a super strong New York accent!

Well, slightly British in places. I somehow expected him to sound more rural, I suppose.

 

[thestrangequark]

Rural? The man was from Queens!

There are some similarities between some Brit accents and the New York accent, I guess -- I wouldn't go so far as to say the NY accent is completely nonrhotic, but it leans in that direction.