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Author Topic: Unelected sponges throw another taxpayer-funded party  (Read 5342 times)

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Rillion

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Unelected sponges throw another taxpayer-funded party
« on: June 20, 2010, 03:20:43 PM »

...but a lot of people refused to show up:

So the crown princess of Sweden, Princess Victoria, got married yesterday to Clark Kent.



Just kidding.  She married her fitness trainer, Daniel Westling, which apparently caused some controversy as her father didn't consider him blue-blooded enough to join the royal family.  When King Carl XVI Gustaf eventually relented, he hired a team of courtiers to correct Daniel's rural accent, school him in history and "several European languages," and instruct him in etiquette. 

Royals don't always marry other royals apart from that, though-- when Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark got married in 2004, it was to an Australian real estate agent whom he met in a bar in Sydney during the 2000 Olympics.  When he and Mary got engaged, she was taught Danish and converted from Presbyterian to Lutheran.  I wasn't there at the time, but don't think there was any controversy about that.   The Australians were over the moon about it.  In 2005 Mary gave birth to their first child, a boy who was named Christian because it is tradition for the king of Denmark to be named Christian or Frederik alternately. Christian was, incidentally, a page in Victoria and Daniel's wedding:



That kid's gonna be a king someday.   Two of those girls are future queens, of the Netherlands and Norway respectively. 

Apparently attendance at Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel's wedding was sparser than expected because there are a lot of Swedes who want to end the monarchy:
Quote
But all did not run smoothly as Swedes, many of whom oppose the retention of a monarchy, did not turn out in the numbers expected.

The city had hoped to counter the public's apathy by splashing out eight million kronor on a two week long festival - ''Love Stockholm 2010'' - to mark the marriage. Public transport was free for the days, stores boasted huge sales and Stockholm's airport was renamed Official Love Airport 2010'' for the occasion.

But it wasn't enough to dispel the city's somewhat lacklustre response.

Advance sales of royal memorabilia were disappointing, coming nowhere close to the 2.5 billion kronor forecast by the national retail organisation. Hotels and guest houses who had hoped for record bookings found themselves struggling to fill rooms.

I have to agree with them.  I'm sure Princess Victoria is a lovely person, but there is no particular reason why she should be the one in Napolean's wife's tiara getting married in front of a military honor guard and riding off in a coach. 

It seems odd in this day and age for the population of a country to pay with their taxes for an unelected family to live ostentatiously. 
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Sam Gunn (since nobody got Admiral Naismith)

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Re: Unelected sponges throw another taxpayer-funded party
« Reply #1 on: June 20, 2010, 03:29:16 PM »

Do these folks actually have political power or are they just the official welfare queens of the region?
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Harry Tuttle

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Re: Unelected sponges throw another taxpayer-funded party
« Reply #2 on: June 20, 2010, 03:49:20 PM »

I always wonder at the love of royal families. Of course, there are many people in America who are enthralled by Britain's. I imagine that these are the same people that love and adore celebrities and political families (such as the Kennedys), but this is purely conjecture.
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Sam Gunn (since nobody got Admiral Naismith)

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Re: Unelected sponges throw another taxpayer-funded party
« Reply #3 on: June 20, 2010, 03:53:48 PM »

I always wonder at the love of royal families. Of course, there are many people in America who are enthralled by Britain's. I imagine that these are the same people that love and adore celebrities and political families (such as the Kennedys), but this is purely conjecture.

I'm with ya, and I just don't get it either.  I don't understand why anyone would be interested in the lives of these people.  Just doesn't make any sense to me.
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Rillion

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Re: Unelected sponges throw another taxpayer-funded party
« Reply #4 on: June 20, 2010, 03:58:13 PM »

Do these folks actually have political power or are they just the official welfare queens of the region?

Welfare queens, for the most part.  European monarchies-- most remaining monarchies which aren't Islamic kingdoms-- are constitutional, with prime ministers and parliaments who do the governing.   That's what makes them even less useful, in my eyes.  If the kings and queens actually did something relevant it would be harder to argue against them.  But they don't, really, aside from living in fancy estates, wearing fancy clothes, and occasionally going fox hunting or something.

But they're welfare queens with the public eye on them 24/7 and their entire lives dictated by tradition, which I think would suck even aside from the fact that you're living in a palace on the public dime.  Little girls who want to be princesses are delusional. 
« Last Edit: June 20, 2010, 04:17:51 PM by Rillion »
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alaric89

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Re: Unelected sponges throw another taxpayer-funded party
« Reply #5 on: June 20, 2010, 04:21:30 PM »

When a royalist is asked "Why do you need a king?" They tell me that a king is better than having a president and they need a figurehead to represent the country. And I say "Yes, that guy who is documented to be partially inbred, never been want for anything and has no real life experience is superior to you and you should listen to him."
Then they get mad at me. :(
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anarchir

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Re: Unelected sponges throw another taxpayer-funded party
« Reply #6 on: June 20, 2010, 04:22:50 PM »

I wonder how much longer before this sort of thing finally fades away, if ever?
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Diogenes The Cynic

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Re: Unelected sponges throw another taxpayer-funded party
« Reply #7 on: June 20, 2010, 04:31:19 PM »

What I think is funny is how they spent more in anticipation of how little people would care.
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Rillion

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Re: Unelected sponges throw another taxpayer-funded party
« Reply #8 on: June 20, 2010, 04:58:33 PM »

When a royalist is asked "Why do you need a king?" They tell me that a king is better than having a president and they need a figurehead to represent the country. And I say "Yes, that guy who is documented to be partially inbred, never been want for anything and has no real life experience is superior to you and you should listen to him."
Then they get mad at me. :(

You actually know people who not only want a king but want him to have political power?  Are they Saudi Arabian by any chance?  If not, maybe they should go live there and see how they like it. 
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alaric89

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Re: Unelected sponges throw another taxpayer-funded party
« Reply #9 on: June 20, 2010, 06:05:44 PM »

When a royalist is asked "Why do you need a king?" They tell me that a king is better than having a president and they need a figurehead to represent the country. And I say "Yes, that guy who is documented to be partially inbred, never been want for anything and has no real life experience is superior to you and you should listen to him."
Then they get mad at me. :(

You actually know people who not only want a king but want him to have political power?  Are they Saudi Arabian by any chance?  If not, maybe they should go live there and see how they like it. 

I live in Norway there, Sweetie. The people I am talking about don't have to move anywhere. The royals have no political power officially, but they can influence public opinion big time, they are loved by a lot of people.
But to answer your question, Yes, quite a few. No, but I have a friend who is Palestinian and he is very anti royal. Norwegians believe woman should be superior to men so I don't think they would like it much.
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Rillion

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Re: Unelected sponges throw another taxpayer-funded party
« Reply #10 on: June 20, 2010, 06:24:42 PM »

I live in Norway there, Sweetie. The people I am talking about don't have to move anywhere.

Fine, but I never met anyone in England or Denmark who thought that the queen of their respective countries should wield actual power.  I'm sure such people exist, but didn't get the "pleasure" of speaking to them about it.  If I had, I'd say pretty much what you did.  They don't want the monarchy to go away, but mainly for sentimental reasons-- and humor value, in the case of Prince Philip.  
« Last Edit: June 20, 2010, 06:32:33 PM by Rillion »
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Rillion

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Re: Unelected sponges throw another taxpayer-funded party
« Reply #11 on: June 20, 2010, 07:22:27 PM »

Have to admit, though, Queen Sonja and King Harald were looking pretty fly:



But not as good as Queen Margarethe and Prince Henrik:


« Last Edit: June 20, 2010, 08:56:39 PM by Rillion »
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anarchir

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Re: Unelected sponges throw another taxpayer-funded party
« Reply #12 on: June 21, 2010, 12:03:02 AM »

Look at all of those POS medals.
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davann

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Re: Unelected sponges throw another taxpayer-funded party
« Reply #13 on: June 21, 2010, 10:53:59 AM »

One would think that having royalty in this day and age would be a major embarrassment. Like being a barbarian. A president itself is so last century. But a king! That is really backwards. I wonder if people from these countries wear shoes. I suspect the officials hand out shoes and give a 30 minute demonstration to the yokels on proper usage before the international press starts taking pictures.
« Last Edit: June 21, 2010, 12:14:13 PM by davann »
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Sam Gunn (since nobody got Admiral Naismith)

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Re: Unelected sponges throw another taxpayer-funded party
« Reply #14 on: June 21, 2010, 12:38:20 PM »

Look at all of those POS medals.
Yeah, I wonder what in the hell they are all for.
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