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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Campaign for Real News
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Alan Cresswell
Mad Scientist 先生
# 31
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Posted
So many important issues and events in the world.
100,000 people evacuated from near a volcano.
Terrorist attacks killing hundreds of people on a regular basis.
Refugees drowning in the Med.
The UK government destroying the country. President Trump looking like a rank amateur in comparison.
Regular mass murder in the US.
etc. etc. etc.
And what do we have? Extended news coverage because two young people decide to get married.
Come on newsrooms, get real.
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Don't cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it.
Posts: 32413 | From: East Kilbride (Scotland) or 福島 | Registered: May 2001
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Golden Key
Shipmate
# 1468
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Posted
I take it this is about Megan and Harry?
Have you read Terry Pratchett's novel "The Truth"? It's about the very first newspaper that starts up in Ankh-Morpork. (Partly inspired, I think, by William Randolph Hearst, head of an American newspaper-publishing family.)
Anyway, it takes some time to figure out what the A-M folks want to read. Someone says that people want to read "olds", not "news". Helps reinforce their view of reality, and makes them feel comfortable.
Good book, BTW.
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Blessed Gator, pray for us!
--"Oh bat bladders, do you have to bring common sense into this?" (Dragon, "Jane & the Dragon")
--"Oh, Peace Train, save this country!" (Yusuf/Cat Stevens, "Peace Train")
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Alan Cresswell
Mad Scientist 先生
# 31
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Curiosity killed ...:
And there was me thinking this was about the investigations into the way the news is being influenced by Russian controlled social media accounts.
Ah, but that's Real News. International political shenanigans that affects real lives ... hoodwinking people into voting Leave or Trump to the detriment of their own nation but the advantage of Russia. The BBC spending half an hour of their flagship news programme on revealing how we've been lied to would be very welcome.
[ 28. November 2017, 09:00: Message edited by: Alan Cresswell ]
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Don't cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it.
Posts: 32413 | From: East Kilbride (Scotland) or 福島 | Registered: May 2001
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Doc Tor
Deepest Red
# 9748
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Posted
Or that a mere 21 minutes after the engagement announcement, HM government took another £300 off of those on benefits.
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Forward the New Republic
Posts: 9131 | From: Ultima Thule | Registered: Jul 2005
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Diomedes
Shipmate
# 13482
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Posted
Bread and circuses
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Distrust simple answers to complicated questions
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Eutychus
From the edge
# 3081
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Posted
The royal engagement is a pretty minor offender in this league.
I read the BBC's page on the UK papers' front pages most days, and it's really depressing. Admittedly today's are plastered with royals, but most of the coverage is usually about the antics of reality TV contestants of one form or another. Bake offs, dancing, and islands I've never heard of.
When it's not about how x cups of y beverage a day will give you cancer / help you live longer / prevent dementia / hasten memory loss (that's the range of outcomes for the same beverage, rotated regularly).
This really is a UK-specific blight.
[ 28. November 2017, 09:31: Message edited by: Eutychus ]
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Let's remember that we are to build the Kingdom of God, not drive people away - pastor Frank Pomeroy
Posts: 17944 | From: 528491 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Curiosity killed ...
Ship's Mug
# 11770
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Posted
I saw Ink a couple of weeks ago. it's a thought-provoking play about the beginnings of the tabloid The Sun in 1969 and Larry Lamb's attitudes about providing news, partly forced by how few staff he had - versus Cudlipp talking about informing the public. There's a line in that play about how this is a turning point for the press in the UK.
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Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat
Posts: 13794 | From: outiside the outer ring road | Registered: Aug 2006
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mr cheesy
Shipmate
# 3330
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Posted
It seems to me that there is very little interest in another royal engagement outside of the media.
Good luck to them and all that, but really this is the least important piece of news around at the moment - on a par with a Council's broken photocopier and the resulting debate about whether or not it might be time to buy a new one.
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arse
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mr cheesy
Shipmate
# 3330
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Doc Tor:
That link, like the photocopier, is broken.
Sorry pardon. This is working for me.
But y'know. It's a story about a broken photocopier.
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arse
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Marvin the Martian
Interplanetary
# 4360
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Alan Cresswell:
So many important issues and events in the world.
100,000 people evacuated from near a volcano.
Terrorist attacks killing hundreds of people on a regular basis.
Refugees drowning in the Med.
The UK government destroying the country. President Trump looking like a rank amateur in comparison.
Regular mass murder in the US.
etc. etc. etc.
And what do we have? Extended news coverage because two young people decide to get married.
Come on newsrooms, get real.
With the possible exception of the volcano, none of those other things are new. In fact most of them are pretty much "business as usual" these days. At least the news of the royal engagement had the virtue of telling us something we didn't already know.
It seems to me that you don't want news, you want wall-to-wall opinion pieces and editorials that support your political stance.
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Hail Gallaxhar
Posts: 30100 | From: Adrift on a sea of surreality | Registered: Apr 2003
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mr cheesy
Shipmate
# 3330
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Marvin the Martian:
With the possible exception of the volcano, none of those other things are new. In fact most of them are pretty much "business as usual" these days. At least the news of the royal engagement had the virtue of telling us something we didn't already know.
The only people who didn't know that this was about to happen would be those who are already dead, I suspect.
quote:
It seems to me that you don't want news, you want wall-to-wall opinion pieces and editorials that support your political stance.
I'm sure there are some who are interested in celebrity weddings: that's what Hello is for. I'm fairly sure that the Radio 4 audience is not generally that interested in wall-to-wall celebrity engagement news.
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arse
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Alan Cresswell
Mad Scientist 先生
# 31
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Marvin the Martian:
It seems to me that you don't want news, you want wall-to-wall opinion pieces and editorials that support your political stance.
I wouldn't mind wall-to-wall opinion pieces that inform my political stance (which includes opposing opinions, of course). I don't even object too much about pieces of celebrity news, tedious though it is.
I guess it's the wall-to-wall opinion pieces and editorials about an engagement that's going too far. And that this is going to go on for months. Followed by months of retrospective on how beautiful the bride was on her wedding day and so on ad nauseum.
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Don't cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it.
Posts: 32413 | From: East Kilbride (Scotland) or 福島 | Registered: May 2001
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Lyda*Rose
Ship's broken porthole
# 4544
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Posted
I'd rather read about Harry and Meghan than the Donald's endless ridiculous tweets. ![[brick wall]](graemlins/brick_wall.gif)
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"Dear God, whose name I do not know - thank you for my life. I forgot how BIG... thank you. Thank you for my life." ~from Joe Vs the Volcano
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Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430
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Posted
I'm afraid Meghan's surname just reminds me of Mrs. Merdle, who, as enny fule kno, is a character in Charles Dickens' Little Dorrit, and who 'hated fuss'.
(Dorothy L. Sayers also used the name for Lord Peter Wimsey's car in various novels).
BTW, Ms. Markle seems to have had quite an illustrious career as a Slebritty and a Nactress. Is she highly thought of in USAnia?
IJ
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Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)
Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
She's not exactly Helen Mirren, but she is well regarded as an actress in a mild way.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
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Pigwidgeon
Ship's Owl
# 10192
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Lyda*Rose:
I'd rather read about Harry and Meghan than the Donald's endless ridiculous tweets.
Amen, sister.
![[Overused]](graemlins/notworthy.gif)
I think we're all longing for some happy news for a change... something that won't overwhelm us with the feeling that we're helpless in the face of so many ongoing disasters.
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"...that is generally a matter for Pigwidgeon, several other consenting adults, a bottle of cheap Gin and the odd giraffe."
~Tortuf
Posts: 9835 | From: Hogwarts | Registered: Aug 2005
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Alan Cresswell
Mad Scientist 先生
# 31
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Lyda*Rose:
I'd rather read about Harry and Meghan than the Donald's endless ridiculous tweets.
Though Donald's endless tweets are not trivial. When the President of the United States tweets something thoughtless, ignorant, offensive or just stupid then that affects many people. Especially when they appear to be statements of policy. Careless Tweeting Costs Lives. He needs to be held accountable for his idiotic and infantile use of Twitter, and that can only happen if the US electorate are informed about what he has said.
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Don't cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it.
Posts: 32413 | From: East Kilbride (Scotland) or 福島 | Registered: May 2001
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Anglican_Brat
Shipmate
# 12349
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Posted
The press wouldn't cover the Royal Family if it didn't sell papers.
Blame the consumers who buy "Hello" Magazine and the entertainment tabloids.
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It's Reformation Day! Do your part to promote Christian unity and brotherly love and hug a schismatic.
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HCH
Shipmate
# 14313
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Posted
I'd rather hear about the royal engagement than hear anything at all about the Kardashians.
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Lyda*Rose
Ship's broken porthole
# 4544
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Alan Cresswell:
quote:
Originally posted by Lyda*Rose:
I'd rather read about Harry and Meghan than the Donald's endless ridiculous tweets.
Though Donald's endless tweets are not trivial. When the President of the United States tweets something thoughtless, ignorant, offensive or just stupid then that affects many people. Especially when they appear to be statements of policy. Careless Tweeting Costs Lives. He needs to be held accountable for his idiotic and infantile use of Twitter, and that can only happen if the US electorate are informed about what he has said.
No problem there. We get every jot and tittle, God help us.
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"Dear God, whose name I do not know - thank you for my life. I forgot how BIG... thank you. Thank you for my life." ~from Joe Vs the Volcano
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no prophet's flag is set so...
Proceed to see sea
# 15560
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Lyda*Rose:
No problem there. We get every jot and tittle, God help us.
Is he grabbing jots as well as tittles now?
Posts: 11498 | From: Treaty 6 territory in the nonexistant Province of Buffalo, Canada ↄ⃝' | Registered: Mar 2010
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Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430
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Posted
![[Killing me]](graemlins/killingme.gif)
Markle...hmmm....reminds me of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple, and also, of course, the German Chancellor, Frau Merkel.
I need to get out more. I'll fetch me coat.
IJ
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Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)
Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004
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Alan Cresswell
Mad Scientist 先生
# 31
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Bishops Finger:
Markle...hmmm....reminds me of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple, and also, of course, the German Chancellor, Frau Merkel.
I need to get out more. I'll fetch me coat.
IJ
Someone beat you to that one.
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Don't cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it.
Posts: 32413 | From: East Kilbride (Scotland) or 福島 | Registered: May 2001
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Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430
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Posted
Thanks for that!
IJ
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Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)
Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004
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Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430
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Posted
Just noticed that BBC News has interrupted its Royal Arselickfest to report on North Korea's latest missile test.
All is well, and the world is back to normal...
IJ
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Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)
Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004
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Stejjie
Shipmate
# 13941
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Posted
I know it's understandable that the BBC would go to town on the royal engagement - it's what they do, after all. But at one point today, the top story on their website was that Princess Catherine (Kate) was delighted at the news - like she was going to say anything else. This was then replaced as the top story by the world-stopping revelation that the wedding would be held at St George's Chapel in Windsor; which, as Bishop's Finger has pointed out, remained the top story until news of NK's latest test.
Really, BBC? Have these really been the two most important stories today?
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A not particularly-alt-worshippy, fairly mainstream, mildly evangelical, vaguely post-modern-ish Baptist
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Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430
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Posted
Quite so - I guess they think Kim Wrong-Trim's missiles are unlikely to disrupt the Royal Wedding, even though said missiles may destroy a fair portion of the world's un-royal population.
But that Won't Matter, as they're all Foreigners.
IJ
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Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)
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Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430
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Posted
LOL!
She does have a delightfully cheeky smile - young Harry W. is indeed a lucky man. He should be taking every opportunity to get a Proper Job, though.
IJ
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Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)
Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004
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Rossweisse
High Church Valkyrie
# 2349
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Alan Cresswell:
Though Donald's endless tweets are not trivial. When the President of the United States tweets something thoughtless, ignorant, offensive or just stupid then that affects many people. Especially when they appear to be statements of policy. Careless Tweeting Costs Lives. He needs to be held accountable for his idiotic and infantile use of Twitter, and that can only happen if the US electorate are informed about what he has said.
Ahh-men.
I also agree that Mr. Windsor should find gainful employment.
Otherwise, while I agree with the OP, the fact is that news organizations are desperate for revenue, which means attracting online eyeballs for clicks on content.
Not being a sportswriter, I normally don't get a ton of clicks - but I got over 20,000 for a story about a contest to sing the national anthem for a sports team. Write what sells, I suppose.
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I'm not dead yet.
Posts: 15117 | From: Valhalla | Registered: Feb 2002
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Pigwidgeon
Ship's Owl
# 10192
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
This is an especially fine wedding-announcement story. I particularly like the description of the groom, as "a former soldier but now unemployed."
Unemployed former soldier marrying successful actress -- he's obviously marrying her for her money.
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"...that is generally a matter for Pigwidgeon, several other consenting adults, a bottle of cheap Gin and the odd giraffe."
~Tortuf
Posts: 9835 | From: Hogwarts | Registered: Aug 2005
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Lyda*Rose
Ship's broken porthole
# 4544
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Posted
Unemployed veteran. ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
There are support organizations for that sort of problem.
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"Dear God, whose name I do not know - thank you for my life. I forgot how BIG... thank you. Thank you for my life." ~from Joe Vs the Volcano
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simontoad
Ship's Amphibian
# 18096
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Posted
to the OP:
"In the war of circulation it sells newspapers..."
B.Bragg, singing about page 3 girls.
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Human
Posts: 1571 | From: Romsey, Vic, AU | Registered: May 2014
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Pigwidgeon
Ship's Owl
# 10192
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Posted
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
Oh, and this will make the fur fly. Some American presidents will be invited, but not all! [/QUOTE
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
Trump wouldn't want to go if he can't ride in the gold carriage.
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"...that is generally a matter for Pigwidgeon, several other consenting adults, a bottle of cheap Gin and the odd giraffe."
~Tortuf
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MaryLouise
Shipmate
# 18697
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Posted
And who'd want POTUS at the wedding making offensive Pocohontas jokes and telling his tedious bragging lies while his wife's stony-faced body double creeps out the guests?
When you could get the Obamas looking good, enjoying themselves and charming everyone?
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“As regards plots I find real life no help at all. Real life seems to have no plots.”
-- Ivy Compton-Burnett
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Curiosity killed ...
Ship's Mug
# 11770
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Posted
Just because it has been unavoidable knowing this, should I want to hear any news, the aforementioned marriage ceremony will be held at St George's Chapel, Windsor, next May, which limits the guest list to 500.
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Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat
Posts: 13794 | From: outiside the outer ring road | Registered: Aug 2006
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mr cheesy
Shipmate
# 3330
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Posted
Presumably Windsor Castle chapel is a Royal Peculiar.
Damn, I wish I didn't know that.
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arse
Posts: 10697 | Registered: Sep 2002
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Curiosity killed ...:
Just because it has been unavoidable knowing this, should I want to hear any news, the aforementioned marriage ceremony will be held at St George's Chapel, Windsor, next May, which limits the guest list to 500.
If recent weddings in my family are anything to go by there will be an awful lot of #disappointed non-invitees.
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430
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Posted
The Chapel is indeed a Royal Peculiar, and offers traditional services of a high standard of music and liturgy, which are all open to the peasantry...sorry... public.
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
I do hope the Obamas accept the invitation (they've met HM the Q already). The crowds lining the streets will be cheering for them, as much as for Harry and Sparkle.
IJ
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Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)
Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
Yes, they very kindly declined to go to the last one (William?) because of security concerns. Can we imagine the current incumbent declining to go to a splashy event because he might upstage the bride or groom? Naah.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
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