Brexit and the waning days of the United Kingdom

[OttoVonBismarck]

I think it is pretty reasonable to ask about someone's family origin as part of getting to know them, but like any interpersonal interaction there's a "right way" and a "wrong way." If the transcript of the octogenarian at Buckingham Palace is accurate it seems like pretty obviously the wrong way to go about it. She wasn't just asking in a sense of wanting to get to know her, but suggesting she wanted to "figure out what you really are, since you aren't actually British due to being black."

[Threviel]

It was an 83-year old woman, I think that she should have some allowance for senility and old age.

She shouldn't have been there at all I guess, if her faculties are going away. That's the mistake, not what the 83-year old was doing.

Just to put her age in perspective, she's as old as a regular US politician.

[The Brain]

SOMEONE CALL A DOCTOR CAUSE THIS BURN IS SICK

[Tamas]

 :lol:yeah but if the transcript is even vaguely correct her problem is being a condescending racist bitch, not old age.

[garbon]

It was an 83-year old woman, I think that she should have some allowance for senility and old age.

She shouldn't have been there at all I guess, if her faculties are going away. That's the mistake, not what the 83-year old was doing.

Just to put her age in perspective, she's as old as a regular US politician.

I don't see why racism should get a pass in old age. Put her out to pasture.

That said, I would say that we also don't need to spend too much time navel gazing about the actions of an 83 year old.

[Sheilbh]

I don't see why racism should get a pass in old age. Put her out to pasture.

That said, I would say that we also don't need to spend too much time navel gazing about the actions of an 83 year old.

Yeah I mean to me it just points to the general madness of the institution. She's an 83 year old who was a "lady of the bedchamber" for 62 years until the Queen's death. My understanding is that they are just elderly aristocratic ladies whose entire life is just hanging around the royals as company and following them around to pick up flowers etc - the actual staff who do stuff are all ex-diplomats and ex-military.

[Josquius]

I don't think anyone would say old age makes racism fine. But as I said she's made it this long in her position without doing this, so it is curious to think what the explanation is for it happening now.

[Threviel]

One wonders what could possibly explain an 83-year old behaving out of character.

[Tamas]

I don't think anyone would say old age makes racism fine. But as I said she's made it this long in her position without doing this, so it is curious to think what the explanation is for it happening now.

Uhm I am fairly sure this is far from the first case of she acting ubermensch in front of a non-White person. It must be extremely rare that the birth of somebody's of racist condescension is caught on social media in this fashion.

[Tamas]

One wonders what could possibly explain an 83-year old behaving out of character.

What is the indication that she was out of character? The fact that she was a layabout around the royal family for 60 years, or something else?

[Sheilbh]

Yeah - I'm with Tamas. My guess is this isn't out of character for her and probably it's just not been recorded or called out before. And I think it's a good thing it's happened.

And it's not complicated stuff with the "where are you from" question. It's not new - or some relatively recently discussed/prominent thing.

[Threviel]

One wonders what could possibly explain an 83-year old behaving out of character.

What is the indication that she was out of character? The fact that she was a layabout around the royal family for 60 years, or something else?

I am, just like you, drawing this from the department of stuff pulled straight from the ass. Since we have no more evidence.

She might be a racist old hag or she might be going into senility and behaving in the way she was brought up 70 years ago, where these kind of questions were, in the context of the times, acceptable.

The problem in the court is obviously that she was allowed to work there, no matter if she's a racist old hag or just senile. The court obviously needs modernising and reform.

[Josquius]

My suspicion is more that with age she is losing the voice in her head saying "wait. Don't say that". Pretty typical symptom of aging.

Or maybe it was being in the queen's shadow kept her in line whenever she started being racist? - I can well imagine the Queen butting in to move things on.

Not to say she hasn't always been racist. That doesn't emerge out of nowhere. But she is losing the ability to be careful about it.

[Sheilbh]

The problem in the court is obviously that she was allowed to work there, no matter if she's a racist old hag or just senile. The court obviously needs modernising and reform.

Yeah. From everything I've read Charles has been moaning about pushing for a more "modern" monarch that's streamlined and has fewer hangers-on for the last fifty years. I'd expect that to happen and this probably just makes it clearer why it needs to happen at pace.

I could be totally wrong on this - but, I suspect given the type of institution it is, the plan was to do that once Charles is crowned. Taking this woman as an example, she was a courtier for the Queen for 60+ years. Retiring her immediately after the Queen's death seems a bit rude and also a rebuke to the Queen, while retiring her six months later after Charles has been crowned looks like it's just about what type of monarchy Charles wants.

Basically from everything I've read he's always been keen on a reformed monarchy, but it might appear disrespectful to do that before he's actually been crowned so until then you just keep the old school structures the Queen had.

[Duque de Bragança]

FFS I wonder how many generations it will take for "visible minorities" to be accepted as British. I remember reading once how in Denmark even third-generation immigrants are just "immigrants"

The Roma and the Jews have been in Europe for so long nobody quite knows when they first arrived yet they were never accepted.

Nobody will ask a Roma where he's from, though. Unless they are interested in the neighborhood they come from, I guess.

Plus the new PC word Roma does a disservice to Gypsies who have been really there for centuries, some of them sedentary (nomadism to avoid taxes is the deep reason behind hostily to Gypsyà. Roma is mostly used for recent gypsy immigrants, mostly conflated with Romanians (sic) when they can be Bulgarian citizens for instance, worsening the situation at home.

Apples and oranges award Valmy.