"Lizzie. There are no princes in my ancestry. Plenty of paupers certainly. In fact according to a relative of mine who has researched our family history, we come from farm labourers, narrow boat people, barge people, iron ore miners, servants, flax mill operatives, carters, dockers, shoemakers, shipwrights and, wait for it, the mangle keeper for the village of Barnton in mid-Cheshire."

No, I didn't mean 'personal' ancestry, Fred, I meant 'country' ancestry...as in 'collective memory'...


Mine are pretty poor too, still are to the present day, got gypsies in there somewhere as well, but my Dad loved the Queen, wouldn't hear a word against her. He was of a generation born in 1914, so things were different back then. He remembered The Queen Mum and King George VI doing as much as they could for ordinary folks during the War..They had a sense of duty towards us back then, and we (as in the public of that time) had a sense of duty towards them. It was a shared thing.

Times have moved on though.....

The Royals lost a great deal of respect over how Diana was treated, people who'd supported them all their lives were terribly angry. I went up to London at that time and saw many of my Dad's generation seething with rage at how the Queen wouldn't fly the flag at half-mast. She's never got that respect back I don't feel. Add to that her 'annus horriblis' remarks when Joe Public was losing his home and all that he possessed and well........................

William's remarks to your friend? I've no idea, I wasn't there..He's supposed to be very shy, finding public functions very hard to get through and the most illuminated I've ever seen him was when he and Harry were talking about their Mum, saying how much they loved her, how greatly they miss her.

He didn't ask to be born a Prince. His Mum tried as hard as she could, in the short time she had, to make them see the hard and harsh lives of others. They've asked for wedding presents to be money given to charity, not more 'stuff' for them. William's really well liked by his fellow RAF comrades, as is Harry by his Army chums, so come on, Fred, give them a break...Let them come to full blossom first, before we judge their whole lives...let them live a little...


And tell me, WHY didn't you focus on the charity work they both do? There are plenty of videos out there showing Harry working hard in Africa...Why didn't you tell folks about that? Did you ever do anything daft in your younger days, Fred, that makes you squirm now?

"Yes, but *I* am not a Prince!"


Well, Fred..even Princes sometimes long to be Paupers, as well as the other way round.

They long to be ordinary folks I'm sure, at times...not followed incessantly, every single thing they do being reported on...every friend they have possibly selling their story to a newspaper...They just long to be ordinary people, living ordinary lives...

And if they were Paupers, not Princes, their beloved Mum would be taking her rightful place inside Westminster Abbey tomorrow, proud to see her son wed, tears probably falling down her cheeks...


Oh, and by the way..that film of Prince Harry saying 'Paki' was a PRIVATE film he made for all his mates, to remind them of their time together, including Capt. Khan It was stolen though and sold for thousands of pounds..

The Perils of Princes, eh?