Heir Force One
Cunning Artificer
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: The spiritual home of DeHavilland
Age: 76
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I stand corrected.
I heard it from a member of the two winged master race at Bisley, but he was a Sqn Ldr so I just assumed he must be a VC10 pilot...
"I say, are you a REAL Squadron Leader or just a VC10 pilot?"
I heard it from a member of the two winged master race at Bisley, but he was a Sqn Ldr so I just assumed he must be a VC10 pilot...
"I say, are you a REAL Squadron Leader or just a VC10 pilot?"
Join Date: Jun 1999
Location: Suffolk
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£7million compared to the £9999999000000000000000000000000000000 that G Brown is promising to save his sorry arse....thats the equivalent of about 4 pence I think. Or a trillionth of a painting in Windsor Castle. She's good for it.
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: London
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spheroid - which other European royal family pulls in the tourist coin the Windsors do, pray tell?
1. France - 81.9 Million tourist per year - No Royal Family
2. Spain - 59.2 Million tourist per year - Got a Royal Family even if he is Italian
3. USA 56 Million Tourist per year - Got the Beckhams and the Osbornes
4. China - 54 Million - They have Cao Fang and so don't need royalty
5. Italy - 43 Million - Mara La Bella....who else
6. UK...30 Million Hurray, we made it to the No 6 spot with our very expensive Royal Family....all 43 of them !!!!!
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Royal Jet
Those who blame the media for unsympathetic coverage of this subject should consider one important PR factor...namely the systematic abuse of public goodwill practised by royal spin doctors to distract attention from the royal family's recent singularly un-royal behaviour. It's counter-productive to invoke service personnels' oaths of loyalty if the people enjoying such devotion consider it a license to pursue their personal agendas at the expense of the national good. By all means let patriotic people express their devotion to the United Kingdom - but please don't ask us to do so as an act of subservience to the Windsors.
Join Date: May 2005
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Un-royal behavior??
Such as the future King commiting to a career that will actually see him personally saving the lives of future subjects??
Or his brother leading troops in combat??
Personally I have high hopes for the future of this Monarchy and think that Gran deserves whatever shiny jet she wants.
Such as the future King commiting to a career that will actually see him personally saving the lives of future subjects??
Or his brother leading troops in combat??
Personally I have high hopes for the future of this Monarchy and think that Gran deserves whatever shiny jet she wants.
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Very fair point, BBD. I’m sorry – the lateness of the hour (and a tinge of Glenfiddich) added an unnecessary grumpiness to my post.
Don’t get me wrong. If I had my way, the Queen would waft around the world in either HMY Britannia or in the stately Filton product of the same name – both immaculately polished by teams of stout craftsmen and commanded by square-jawed demigods of the sea and of the air.
Equally, I suppose, if HM must realistically opt for something small and nippy from Wichita then I have no complaint.
My beef is this: the general public may well see such a purchase – especially in these financially anxious times – as an insensitive indulgence. Us loyal chaps might then berate The Sun that “it’s her train set,” that we’re lucky to have a Queen at all and furthermore she and her fine upstanding relations deserve all the jets they want. But not everybody will agree.
That’s largely because The Sun – and much of the rest of the media – have been trading royal exclusives with royal spin doctors for the best part of twenty years. That’s not least, with all due respect to Sir C Mouse, because some royal employers have thought it ok to borrow political-style methods of news management to suppress or spin stories which might otherwise reflect badly on them.
A sad business indeed. This is no longer the happy era of Queen’s Flight Andovers and a deferential press that goes easy on the royal family because “they can’t answer back.” The modern reality is that today’s royal media managers now get their answering back in first, and the public knows it.
So I suggest we learn to reserve our loyalty (and our royal jets) for the office of the Head of State – not the temporary occupant of that office, however personally ireproachable he or she may be. Our American friends don’t always get everything right but they do at least understand that Air Force One is not Dubya’s personal property but legitimate and necessary official transport for the President...and needs to be funded as such.
The alternative, I fear, is an endless, damaging and demeaning squabble about who pays for royal transport…and security…and leaking palace roofs…and 60th birthday parties….and how guilty/outraged/bored we should all feel about it….now where’s that Glenfiddich?
Don’t get me wrong. If I had my way, the Queen would waft around the world in either HMY Britannia or in the stately Filton product of the same name – both immaculately polished by teams of stout craftsmen and commanded by square-jawed demigods of the sea and of the air.
Equally, I suppose, if HM must realistically opt for something small and nippy from Wichita then I have no complaint.
My beef is this: the general public may well see such a purchase – especially in these financially anxious times – as an insensitive indulgence. Us loyal chaps might then berate The Sun that “it’s her train set,” that we’re lucky to have a Queen at all and furthermore she and her fine upstanding relations deserve all the jets they want. But not everybody will agree.
That’s largely because The Sun – and much of the rest of the media – have been trading royal exclusives with royal spin doctors for the best part of twenty years. That’s not least, with all due respect to Sir C Mouse, because some royal employers have thought it ok to borrow political-style methods of news management to suppress or spin stories which might otherwise reflect badly on them.
A sad business indeed. This is no longer the happy era of Queen’s Flight Andovers and a deferential press that goes easy on the royal family because “they can’t answer back.” The modern reality is that today’s royal media managers now get their answering back in first, and the public knows it.
So I suggest we learn to reserve our loyalty (and our royal jets) for the office of the Head of State – not the temporary occupant of that office, however personally ireproachable he or she may be. Our American friends don’t always get everything right but they do at least understand that Air Force One is not Dubya’s personal property but legitimate and necessary official transport for the President...and needs to be funded as such.
The alternative, I fear, is an endless, damaging and demeaning squabble about who pays for royal transport…and security…and leaking palace roofs…and 60th birthday parties….and how guilty/outraged/bored we should all feel about it….now where’s that Glenfiddich?
