Sunday 11 April: From royal outsider to pillar of the nation: the remarkable life of the Duke of Edinburgh

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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Today’s letters (visible only to DT subscribers) are here:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2021/04/10/letters-royal-outsider-pillar-nation-remarkable-life-duke-edinburgh/

678 thoughts on “Sunday 11 April: From royal outsider to pillar of the nation: the remarkable life of the Duke of Edinburgh”

  1. White guilt doesn’t make black people feel any better, says Shaun Bailey. 11 april 2021.

    “Well-meaning” white people should stop “flagellating” themselves over statues that are linked to Britain’s colonial past, the Tories’ London mayoral candidate has said.

    Shaun Bailey, who was brought up in a British Jamaican family by his mother in west London, said that more than eight out of 10 black Londoners wanted contentious statues to stay.

    Morning everyone. I’m pleased about that since I don’t actually feel any!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/04/11/white-guilt-doesnt-make-black-people-feel-better-says-shaun/

  2. Eight Thoughts To Ponder

    Number 8
    Life is sexually transmitted.

    Number 7
    Good health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.

    Number 6
    Men have two emotions: Hungry and Horny. If you see a gleam in his eyes, do some baking.

    Number 5
    Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day. Teach a person to use the Internet and they won’t bother you for weeks, months, maybe years

    Number 4
    Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in the hospitals, dying of nothing.

    Number 3
    All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.

    Number 2
    In the 60’s, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.

    And Finally the Number 1 thought
    Life is like a jar of Jalapeno peppers– what you do today, might burn your ass tomorrow.

    …and as someone recently said to me:
    “Don’t worry about old age–it doesn’t last that long.”

    1. Morning Nanners and Nottlers.

      Our daughter, many years ago and at secondary school, came home and said “life is a sexually transmitted terminal illness”. We thought that really funny 😁.

  4. Yo All

    Good morning.at 0558

    Bedding duly sent to the Salvation Army, to give to someone who can use it

    And the first shall be last

  6. ‘Morning All

    Lockdown has forced us into strange pastimes to stop the boredom,some have turned to crosswords,some to plane spotting.

    Personally I have been collecting badgers,it’s going quite well,just another couple and I’ll have a full sett……….

    https://i.imgur.com/lgSDkvC.mp4

      1. 331395+ up ticks,
        Morning AWK,how is the life,

        The wretches cameron / b liar two odious top players participating in the reset, they WILL receive backing via the polling booth and the “party first” voting pattern.

        Seeing as these political groups form a coalition there will be little difference in stopping the Country’s race to the bottom.

        Only the electorate could have done that.

        We will, IMO in a short space of time & the ongoing
        South East potential troop entrance campaign, be paying
        compulsory attention to what the imam has ordered, or else.

      2. I think he’d spent years looking at a blank page with ‘Chapter One” at the top and got bored.

    2. DC escaped “Scot Free” from the recent official investigation by claiming he wasn’t a Lobbyist, he was an employee of Greensill. The BBC reporting this morning that the whole episode is the biggest scandal in recent years. The matter is not closed.

    3. A case where both sides are equally distasteful
      It is possible that the campaign is being co-ordinated by Gove,
      We really are back to the C15 with Harry standing in for the mentally ‘frail’ Henry VI and our politicians are the cheap (in character, not financial expense) version of the warring grandees.

      1. 331395+ up ticks,
        Morning Anne,
        I wonder if there is a covert dept. in westminster where
        MP to millionaire via hard graft is taught to the chosen few ?

        Ps,
        I do not recognise sides in a distasteful coalition, & they have been an established coalition for at least three decades.

      1. 331395+ up ticks,
        Bob,
        “Who’s interference is the more dangerous? Cameron’s corruption or Blair’s Globalism?”

        What is more dangerous in my book is that atrocious pair &
        parties support since major has progressively got worse, until now we are running full tilt to the bottom of the sh!te pit.

        Their odious likes CANNOT operate without people’s consent
        via the polling booth.

        They get things wrong once, OK, to intentionally get things wrong multiple times is surely a campaign bordering on civil war.

      2. And Blair’s lies killed thousands of people.
        Cameron is just a case of good old C18 jobbery.

  8. #CovidClownWorld
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e51fb3866dba230a3de876611df1a9aaea704f14dc4d5994d32455400e2df906.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/68b90d9ebe170e8da318c695dfafbb23a4940e9cfe17c40fcdcd1a82652714a4.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6838fbc911e163b80949f2bc3dfc97195f43e17882086be3b462e73628174db3.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/92bfac47031d6665684abc8ede4a1b046f43efa5b5e1fdde666fea3bd817d7eb.png
    Finally……………….
    https://media.gab.com/system/media_attachments/files/071/186/607/original/02569d28e380eb76.jpeg

  10. Prince Harry flying back to UK to mourn with family. 11 April 2021.

    Prince Harry is hoping to arrive back in the UK as early as today after he scrambled to arrange a flight as soon as he was informed of the death of his grandfather.

    He was hoping to board a flight in Los Angeles as early as Saturday night, with the hope that he could be back in time to quarantine and mourn with his grandmother, the Queen, his father the Prince of Wales and his brother the Duke of Cambridge.

    This is the problem with funerals. All those people you hoped never to see again turn up for them!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2021/04/11/prince-philip-funeral-news-death-queen-latest-harry-live-updates/

    1. mng Araminta, probably not helped Harry insisted on having Tiger Woods as his chauffeur until he found out he had to read the euology

    2. The one advantage of Whinge attending would be if she fell into the hole and the coffin landed on top of her.
      There, that’s ensured a large finger will point down from the sky and zap me on the dog walk; just as long as it misses Spartacus.

  11. Sunday’s irreverent jottings from the online medal hunters with names compiled from alphabet spaghetti:

    SIR – The death of the Duke of Edinburgh has left a gap that will be felt enormously by the Queen, the Royal family, the country, the Commonwealth, and the many nations he visited and got to know.

    As a foreign-born prince and an outsider, he set a fine example with the way he embraced his new life in the Royal family. He gave up his career and with dignity accepted his role as a husband supporting the monarch.

    He had great intelligence, and his contribution to matters of the environment, wildlife conservation and the development and motivation of young people was driven by a desire to see change for the better.

    He may have been outspoken, but that was just one part of the man who was admired by so many. I hope that his legacy will continue with those who remain responsible for supporting the Queen.

    Gavin Howard
    Warminster, Wiltshire

    SIR – Ave atque vale.

    Paul McClory
    Oxford

    SIR – Although a republican, I shall miss the Duke of Edinburgh. He was an example to the rest of us and an impossible act to follow.

    The Queen deserves our sympathy for her loss, and gratitude for her unique double act with the Duke on the world stage for nearly 70 years.

    Dominic Shelmerdine
    London SW3

    SIR – How very sad that the Duke of Edinburgh should have died so close to his 100th birthday.

    Having twice been president of the MCC, it would have been so nice if he had managed just one more single to get to a very well-deserved ton.

    Kim Potter
    Lambourn, Berkshire

    SIR – One of the greatest assets of the Duke of Edinburgh was that “he suffered fools badly”.

    The world remains full of such fools. Who will challenge them now?

    Paul Strong
    Claxby, Lincolnshire

    SIR – Prince Philip’s humour, which could instantly put the most nervous person at ease, has been described by some mirthless journalists as resulting in “gaffes”. I know who I would rather have spent time with.

    Brian Christley
    Abergele, Conwy

    SIR – When Prince Philip met Thurgood Marshall, an American Supreme Court Justice, he mischievously inquired: “Would you like to know what I think about lawyers?” Marshall, flash-quick and twinkly eyed, retorted: “Only if you’d like to know what I think about princes.”

    Everyone, it seems, has something to say about princes these days (we might call it the “Oprah Effect”).

    To many of my fellow millennials, Prince Philip occupied the status of a fusty relic: the royal embodiment of bygone eras and fallen empires. But we do ourselves a disservice if righteous indignation over un-PC gaffes or ill-advised outbursts become the focus of our reflections.

    We may do better embracing the preferred spirit of Marshall’s predecessor, Learned Hand, of “that … which is not too sure it is right”. We might ask ourselves if we would so selflessly sacrifice a career, all semblance of normality, a whole life, in unwavering dedication to a country and its people: whether we could be too sure we would answer if called.

    In that spirit, Prince Philip is an example to us all.

    Greig Lamont
    London E2

    SIR – I was an early participant in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme, and received my Gold Award from him at Buckingham Palace in the 1960s.

    Of course this in itself was a great honour, but the skills I learnt through the scheme have endured throughout my life.

    I trust it will continue, so that my grandchildren and many others can enhance their lives by participation, and as a lasting tribute to the man.

    Alan Belk
    Leatherhead, Surrey

    SIR – As far as the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is concerned, I believe the only member of the Royal family capable of taking this on is Prince Harry.

    It would keep him in the working circles of the family; he is probably the member most connected to the youth of today; and his military background means he is ideally suited to the role.

    Stuart Moss
    London SW18

    SIR – I met Prince Philip 18 years ago. He was charming, and very interested in my stories of touring British Columbia playing sixth-form rugby as we wandered through the gardens of Buckingham Palace towards a tent I wasn’t allowed in.

    It was only a short encounter, but it felt like he had endless time for our conversation, and I got the impression he was a man who genuinely enjoyed this part of his job.

    Ed Couchman
    Sevenoaks, Kent

    SIR – In 1956, we took our family summer holiday on Anglesey.

    Approaching the Menai Straits bridge, we had a puncture. We children, aged six and four, stayed in the car with our mother while Dad changed the wheel.

    A Land Rover with two men inside stopped. One got out and asked Dad if he could help. Dad thanked him without looking up, saying that he’d almost finished. The man spoke briefly to my mother through the open window of the car before driving off.

    It was the Duke of Edinburgh. My parents never forgot this act of kindness.

    Martin Tooley
    Southampton

    SIR – I organised scores of events with the Duke of Edinburgh over the last 10 years. He was chairman and then patron of Outward Bound, all the way from 1953 to 2019. He was a fundraiser’s dream, and was delighted to help us in any way possible – including arranging dinners with Tom Cruise, Eric Clapton and Carole King.

    What people don’t know is that every single year he made time in his diary to visit an Outward Bound centre. No press was allowed: it was just the Duke, some staff and the young people at the centre.

    He spent hours talking to everyone and even participating in some of the activities – even in his 90s. He did this every year, from 1953 until his retirement.

    Alan Bolchover
    Director of Fundraising, Outward Bound Trust
    London SE18

    SIR – In 1996 I was fortunate enough to meet Prince Philip during the royal visit to the Chelsea flower show.

    When the Queen and the Prince arrived at the show garden we had sponsored, the Prince looked at me and asked why we had a shed at the back of the garden.

    I pointed out politely that it was not a shed but a 250-year-old log cabin from above the Arctic Circle in Finland that had been carefully dismantled, shipped over and reassembled to add authenticity to our garden.

    The Prince looked me straight in the eyes and said: “Well, it looks like a shed to me.”

    Richard Dalgleish
    Newbury, Berkshire

    SIR – My husband was a partner in the consulting engineering firm which constructed a bridge to carry the Metro railway over the River Tyne.

    As they were following the Queen, after the formal opening and presentation, the Duke of Edinburgh leaned forward and muttered to my husband: “Why didn’t you build a tunnel?”

    Dinah McIlroy
    Alnwick, Northumberland

    SIR – The Queen’s decision to obey the Covid rules and keep Prince Philip’s funeral a low-key affair is totally correct and praiseworthy.

    He did not want a fuss and he would be proud of her.

    Mick Ferrie
    Mawnan Smith, Cornwall

    SIR – How sensible of the Royal family to ask that people send a donation in memory of the Duke instead of wasting money by laying bouquets wrapped in plastic on the pavement just to wither and create litter.

    I cannot forget the huge ocean of plastic outside Kensington Palace after Princess Diana’s death. The Duke felt strongly for the environment.

    Wendy Breese
    Lingfield, Surrey

    SIR – Surely the best tribute and memorial to the Duke of Edinburgh would be for the UK to commission a new Royal Yacht, and to name it in his honour.

    This would reflect his lifelong devotion to the Queen and his country, as well as celebrating his love of the sea and all things naval.

    Bevan Smedley
    Winchester, Hampshire

    SIR – Joyce Twiston Davies’s proposal to create a forest in memory of the Duke of Edinburgh (Letters, April 10) is inspired.

    It would be a practical and fitting tribute to the man – and a lasting legacy.

    Bill Heelan
    Stanion, Northamptonshire

    SIR – I was very sorry to hear about the death of Prince Philip.

    Was it really necessary, though, for the BBC to close down BBC1 and BBC2 for the whole day so that they could provide exactly the same news coverage? I accept that the BBC is our national broadcaster, but it did seem a bit much.

    Jeffrey W Cave
    Hatfield, Hertfordshire

    SIR – While I am very sad that the Duke of Edinburgh, whom I admired very much, has died, I do wonder why we have had wall-to-wall media coverage for hour after hour, with the same thing being repeated over and over again.

    One morning in 1952, when I was a young boy growing up in Nottingham, my mother switched on the radio, which was usually tuned to the Home Service, to find that there was no sound. We were having some electrical work done in the house at the time, and when the electrician arrived that day, my mother asked him if he would mind looking at the radio and trying to fix it. He turned it on, and said to my mother: “Nowt wrong wi’ radio. King’s dead”.

    For the rest of the day, there was complete radio silence. Oh, that we could go back to those days.

    Michael Lavelle
    Scaynes Hill, West Sussex

    SIR – I suspect that Prince Philip would be pleased to see reports of his “death” rather than his “passing”.

    He might not have been born English but he certainly spoke the language clearly.

    Bernard Kerrison
    London SW

        1. I think it would be worth the cost. A bonus being all those Leftie heads exploding.

          1. That was our school motto.
            I remembered it every time I lumped home a bulging satchel full of books for a dismal evening’s homework. Not that they were really used – a quick copying on the morning bus would suffice.

          2. Correction, Annie (good morning, btw): surely you mean “on the morning omnibus“, don’t you?

          3. The highest marks I ever got for a Latin translation was for a panic copying before assembly. I noticed that there was a mistake in the first line, so at least part of the translation was different.
            The irony was that my friend’s work had been done by her father who was Latin teacher at Earls Colne grammar school. And I beat her mark by a whole 10%.

    2. I assume Stuart Moss has been living in a cave on a very distant desert island for at least two years. And has been sound asleep throughout that period.

    1. Did some washing this morning, Bill (morning, Bill, btw) and it’s now hanging on the line. Hopefully it will be dry before the rain arrives later this afternoon. (I lead such an exciting life, don’t I?)

  14. When police start raiding our churches, you know the revolution has begun. 11 April 2021.

    The sight of police closing down a church service is one of the worst moments of this national panic.

    I am more and more sure that this country is suffering a revolution in which much that we used to know and believe is being quietly, insistently destroyed.

    That Hitchens of all people should have any doubts is astonishing. It is quite obvious that the UK is being destroyed from within. We are now a Crypto-Marxist Police State, the Control of the Media, the succeeding crises of Brexit, Covid, and the remnants of a Democratic Society, hiding this truth from the majority.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-9457207/PETER-HITCHENS-police-start-raiding-churches-know-revolution-begun.html

    1. Yo Minty

      The problem, in my humble view, is that the ‘Revolution’ is being controlled and operated by the ‘government’

      We the proles are just accepting it and if we do protest, we are punished, however, militant action by

      BLM
      LGBTQWERT
      XR
      IRA Funerals
      etc

      can go ahead unchecked

      So is it a revolution, or WEF Controlled Evolution?

  16. Sunshine didn’t last.

    Last night I made the grievous mistake of viewing a videoed “live” service in memory of the late Duke conducted (I expect he’d say “presided over”) by the Archprick Welmeaning.

    Dire. Insipid singing. Woke prayers and “inclusion”. He managed to find the one black female RN officer to read (badly) from the Janet and John bible.

    The only matter of interest was how ILL Welmeaning looked. Haggard, grey, teeth really bad (looked as though they might fall out).

      1. Unfortunately, the ghastly creep, Huw Edwards is still around! Good morning Belle!

        1. Good morning Sue

          His introduction of the ‘patriotic hymn’ was rather sickening .

          We also know now about the focus of the BBC camera men .. building on diversity!

          He is indeed a lip curling creep .

    2. I cannot bear to look upon that man. All I can see is evil radiating forth. I think he now knows that he is caught up in something that is a whole lot more than just finishing off the C of E.

      1. I don’t think he is evil; but the the powers to whom he bends the knee certainly are.
        As history teaches us time and again, weak people are the Trojan horses that gives evil an entrance into society.

      2. The evidence that Cameron was not just the ineffective wimp we took him for is beginning to emerge – he is clearly evil and we must not forget that he had very sinister motives in choosing that fellow Etonian as AofC.

        1. They must have instruction at Eton, and Oxbridge, in how to culturally destroy the United Kingdom and its history, should they ever find themselves in a position to do so.

  18. If it’s happening in the US then its happening here or soon will be….

    In the UK they are already being housed in hotels spread far and wide and old army barracks in more rural areas so it stands to reason they will spread into smaller towns and villages as the cities burst at the seams. Despite covid restrictions they are still making landfall on our beaches but are the rural dwellers prepared or will they just wake up one day and say, “Oh gosh”.

    Nat’l Guard Association Chair: Up to 50 Migrants a Day Being Released into Communities with Less Than 1,000 People in Them

    https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2021/04/10/natl-guard-association-chair-up-to-50-migrants-a-day-being-released-into-communities-with-less-than-1000-people-in-them/

    1. 331395+ up ticks,
      Morning H,
      “If it’s happening in the US then its happening here or soon will be”

      Once again we were the prototype, the odessa line
      was form for potential troop movements from
      countries of freedom status to countries that needed to toe the line regarding the existence of borders.

      This uncontrolled immigration was done and nourished through the support / votes of the lab/lib/con coalition candidates, the resident three monkeys, & the polling booth.

      We most certainly are reaping a bitter harvest of what has been sown over the decades.

  19. Can some clever person explain to me just what is so lethal about funerals and weddings? Hundreds can go to shops and supermarkets. Why the luicrous limit on funerals and weddings?

    Just asking.

    3. And why were the soldiers letting off guns in the open air wearing face-masks?

      2. Masks are not part of the uniform, Joseph, to wear one would render the wearer liable to a charge of being improperly dressed.

      1. 331395+ up ticks,
        Morning Bob,
        A large spanner can be introduced to the ratchet on the 6th May if the peoples are dissatisfied, we shall see.

        The vote is not just for local benefits, but is giving consent to the party, ongoing.

      2. I would like to think that his death and the pause for thought that it has given us, may be the Duke’s last service to this country.

    5. Messrs Hancock, Vallance, Whitty and Ferguson would like to warn you that the chances of at least one dead person leaving the venue are much higher than at a supermarket.

    6. Breaking up family and friendship bonds. And so we don’t all get together and plot.

      I am feeling very down about it all, everything, this morning.

    7. There is no reason Bill.

      As long as the public carry on wearing masks, jump into the road, with a couple of tons of metal hurtling towards them from behind, to avoid walking past you, take off a mask when they sit down because the virus is no longer dangerous, then the comedy script writers, who pass for ministers of the Crown, will continue to come up with absurd and contradictory rules/regulations.

      As Grizzly often comments idiocy is spreading faster than a virus could ever achieve.

      1. It is interesting that not one of the prosecutions brought for contravention of the rules has be proceeded with as they were all unlawful.

        It is in our own hands to put an end to it.

        1. Sadly, all the little businesses that we would like to support are the natural target for the bullying prodnoses from the town hall.
          Unless they comply with every crossed ‘t’ and dotted ‘i’ they will be made to suffer.

          1. When I was a Court Usher I learned a very useful phrase, used by legal advisers, ‘Please provide me with the statutory authority…..’. Used when the LA was unsure that a solicitor had quoted a legal authority. If it’s a law it can be enforced if it’s a guideline it’s well.. a guideline.

            Guidelines are for the guidance of the wise and observance by fools.

            I have used it on a few occasions to my benefit.

            Edit : by for of.

          3. When I was a Court Usher I learned a very useful phrase, used by legal advisers, ‘Please provide me with the statutory authority…..’. Used when the LA was unsure that a solicitor had quoted a legal authority. If it’s a law it can be enforced if it’s a guideline it’s well.. a guideline.

            Guidelines are for the guidance of the wise and observance by fools.

            I have used it on a few occasions to my benefit.

            Edit : by for of.

    8. They’re not dangerous at all if you’re a member of the IRA or the travelling community.

      and if you’re Prince Harry, clearly you can’t spread covid at all!

    9. They’re not dangerous at all if you’re a member of the IRA or the travelling community.

      and if you’re Prince Harry, clearly you can’t spread covid at all!

    11. Funerals and weddings are part of the glue that forms deep bonds within family groups.

      They must be discouraged as power pools in areas that Governments have no control over.

      The same goes for Worship.

  20. Fine morning here , cloudy, but more patches of blue than cloud , and no cutting breeze.

    In my opinion , the late Duke was a terrific looking athletic man , blessed with classical features , amazing body and a keen intelligent mind. A manly man .

    How strange that all four of his children look like their mother , and who all display qualities that one wouldn’t associate with their father .

    1. Good morning, Belle – a blue-skied, sunny one here for now.

      I would disagree there – I think Anne looks very much like Queen Mary, and has inherited the forthright no-nonsense qualities of her father and devotion to duty to the Crown. Andrew looks very much like Philip – I recall him in uniform a few years ago and my first thought it was an older photograph of Prince Philip. Unfortunately he has inherited qualities from elsewhere, further back down the ancestral line.

  21. Outcomes of #Metoo / BLM / Antifa / Cancel Culture By Walrus. 11 April 2021.

    The nature of families is going to change. We are going to see the return of stereotyped roles. Case in point? As a Grandfather I have decided I will have nothing more to do with the informal upbringing of grand-daughters – there is too much risk that if they go off the rails in puberty or get involved in drugs, mental illness, etc. they will conveniently blame sexual abuse by a relative as the cause. That means I will never allow myself to be alone with them or be responsible for them ever and the rest of the family know it. Period. The personal risk is just too great.

    That the poisonous strictures of Cultural Marxism and their implementation are destroying White Christian Society is undeniable but Walrus’s solution is simply aiding it. One hopes that he will eventually be unable to resist and accept the now undoubted risks of adult/child and male/female interaction and enjoy what used to be the one of the most basic and innocent of human activities!

    https://turcopolier.com/outcomes-of-metoo-blm-antifa-cancel-culture-by-walrus/

      1. Beautiful children. Six grandchildren, you are blessed indeed.

        The post above is a bit extreme, but in this era of “My Sacred Rights To Do Exactly What I Please”, grandchildren are a difficult area for many families, not least because they can be whipped away overnight by a vindictive parent.

    2. Good morning DB.

      Hope your East Dorset weather is as bright as ours.
      Since I last commented about 30mts ago , a light breeze has built up.

      1. Quite bright with sunny spells up her, Maggie, but the Blackthorn Winter continues.

        1. The hedgerows are so pretty , and the blossom is magnificent .

          I still cannot get back onto Twitter . I have friends on there . It is a good campaigning platform I don’t want to lose .

          2. If you have a spare e-mail address, you could try opening a new account. Works for me!

          3. Make a note of the blackthorn blossom, Mags, it’s usually the first to bloom and that’s where the sloes will be in September/October.

      2. Bright sunshine here, Maggie. Nevertheless, we are fed up with this scam. We haven’t seen our great granddaughter for over a year.

          2. I’ve been looking at the live stream from the osprey nest at Loch Arkaig! (My daughters say I’m sad!) They need a bit of snow clearing there! Good morning Spikey! How is your dear wife?

          3. Morning Sue – she’s as well as can be expected, thank you for asking. If the road is clear I’ll be visiting her this afternoon. I’ve been given some LFT kits so I can test and go inside the home. Looks like the snow is melting now and blue skies have arrived

          5. have to keep distance with mask on but allowed a quick hug, I’m hoping to be able to play the keyboard in there soon

          6. Well, that will help with the social distancing! Sorry Spikey! Couldn’t resist!

    2. …
      Oh, I’d have been the shadow of your shadow
      If it might have kept me by your side…

      (From and English translation of the Jacques Brel song: Ne me Quitte Pas)

  25. Good morning from a bright Derbyshire with a lot of blue sky visible! Still distinctly chilly at -½°C on the yard thermometer though with, looking at the Met page, not much chance of it warming up.

  26. Good Moaning.
    Sun!!!!
    Good news for Spartie as that means he can spend endless time sniffing around without the miserable bint on the other end of the lead huffing, sighing and making pointed remarks about the meaning of the word ‘walk’.
    On a less cheery note, article by Peter Hitchens on the moment when even this 4 Wheel Christian decided the she and the modern Conservative Party are no longer compatible.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-9457207/PETER-HITCHENS-police-start-raiding-churches-know-revolution-begun.html

    1. A bright blue sky here. Sun shining down on us. We woke up to a light covering of snow after another night of temperatures down to -6 C. The last few days have been similar, very cold with blue skies and sunshine interrupted by very light snow showers, and very clear and very cold nights.
      This has nothing to do with normal weather. It has even less to do with global warming.
      We caused it. I do not mean “we” in a general sense, such as the inhabitants of the planet, or of the UK, or even of Roxburghshire. No. I mean the Sultana and myself are the culprits. We bought some plants last week and potted them in our empty pots at the front of the house. Thus we tempted Fate. Fate, always on the lookout to hand the Pendletons chastening disappointment, did not hesitate. Wild winds, dark clouds, hail and snow followed by clear skies and plunging temperatures. Forget jet streams and meteorology. The Pendletons did it.

      1. Thank heavens you’ve taken responsibility, Horace! I was thinking it was me for dead heading the very messy hydrangeas! Uncle Bill warned me but I thought I knew better…

      2. Thank goodness you didn’t wash the car; we’d be visited with all the plagues of Egypt.

      3. You are not solely responsible; I put out the last of my garden furniture after its sojourn in winter storage. Cue the foul weather.

  27. I feel better already. The BBC is to provide grief counselling for any staff affected by Prince Philip’s death….

    I was, like, OMG, soooo worried for the poor lambs.

      1. When that happens, I’ll brave the midges and nip up with a plate of tasteful canapes complete with even more tasteful forklettes and we’ll have a knees up.

        2. Every time I see the word “canapes”, I always hear the Hairy Biker Si King saying ” Can earps”!

    3. I think they were already giving counselling to the woke members of their staff who were outraged and distressed by the fact that the grand old chap went on living for so long.

  28. Lay off private schools, Gavin. There’s bad behaviour in comprehensives too
    Rod Liddle
    Sunday April 11 2021, 12.01am, The Sunday Times

    A not hugely bright schoolmate of mine, aged 15, carved his girlfriend’s name — Julie — onto his arm with a razor blade and some Quink ink but was so distressed by her subsequent behaviour — she had been “slaggin’ around”, as he put it — that he decided to hang himself rather than have the tattoo removed. This act he attempted to achieve by fixing his school tie in a noose around his neck, holding it aloft with one hand and then jumping off a lavatory seat. He was deeply surprised and disappointed to find himself still possessed of the breath of life when he landed, tie still in hand. I don’t know what he’s doing now. Probably an aide to Gavin Williamson, the education secretary.

    That was at a large comprehensive school near Middlesbrough in the 1970s. From third year — year 9 now — onwards I think it fair to say that sex, even more than football, dominated almost every moment of our thoughts. Sex and its ramifications, its vilifications, its sulphurous complexities. As boys we were both beguiled by the girls considered “loose” — that is, up for it — and a little frightened. We knew boys and girls were different. The girls knew it too. We boys were all “loose”, if we could only find a partner.

    These sordid reminiscences were brought to mind when I read that the teaching unions are apparently aghast that “sexism” stalks the corridors of our schools. Further, Ofsted has announced that it intends to march into our private schools (from which it is usually absent) to ensure that the idiotic and indeed malevolent subject PSHE — personal, social, health and economic education — is being taught properly in the independent sector. This follows complaints — a few very serious, many pretty trivial — from privately educated girls that a culture of sexism and sexist bullying existed in their schools.

    It is a declaration of war by Ofsted and the Department for Education on private schools, which they both cordially loathe along with faith schools. I would say that it is insane to suggest that independent schools are hotbeds of a “rape culture” while at the local state hellhole the boys behave with enormous restraint and respect towards the opposite sex. It is an absurdity. They want the private schools brought into line, or closed down, because they hate them.

    Now, I can see a good case for ending private education, even though my daughter attends an independent school because the state grammar she previously attended was, you know, kind of awful. But they should make the programme clear, not do it by stealth.

    More to the point, though, is the DfE’s conviction that PSHE is the route to salvation. This subject, in various forms, took up two hours a week of my daughter’s schooling, despite it consisting of stuff that should be left to parents to inculcate. Two hours! Tendentious, progressive rot channelled into their heads, much of the material coming from the LGBT campaigning group Stonewall, an organisation that thinks women don’t really exist. The pro-trans propaganda, the promotion of the idea that everyone can be exactly what they want to be (at the age of 11) and hang the consequences for the individual or society. The facile and plainly wrong insistence that boys and girls are exactly the same in their sexual desires. PSHE was the main reason we moved away from the state sector: it is not compulsory in private schools.

    Regarding sexual culture, the old view was that girls and women were the “gatekeepers”, with boys and men forever, er, testing the latch on the gate. Concomitant with that was the belief that boys and men should behave with chivalry, respect and decency to the “fairer sex”. Terribly old-fashioned, isn’t it?

    But modern ideology, in the form of PSHE, has removed the archaic concept of chivalry and done away with the notion that the two sexes are essentially different. It promulgates a false notion that boys and girls want the same thing from their sexual relationships, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. It is once again a case of liberals wishing that reality were otherwise.

    The DfE and Ofsted can bully the private sector as much as they like, or even get rid of it, but those essential differences between girls and boys remain, no matter how much wishful thinking is expended by well-meaning idiots.

    Belfast loyalists riot over Brexit

    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/imageserver/image/%2Fmethode%2Fsundaytimes%2Fprod%2Fweb%2Fbin%2Fc435f21c-9a0b-11eb-95c0-62c72371ccf4.jpg?crop=1500%2C1000%2C0%2C0&resize=1022

    Philip, the equal opportunities offender
    I think my favourite Prince Philip moment came when he was talking to a group of deaf youngsters, while a loud steel band played nearby. “Deaf? No wonder,” he said, thus in about three words managing to enrage the more sensitive souls in both the deaf community and the Afro-Caribbean community. Perhaps, with his sad passing, we should elect someone whose job it is to be rude to anybody who feels they should never be offended. We will miss Phil the Greek for his sense of duty and loyalty too. Especially when you look at what we’re left with.

    Fair play: English is a strange language
    I read a story last week in a newspaper — the one perpetually obsessed by house prices and things that might give you, or cure you of, cancer — that English was the only language with a word for “fair”. Indeed, foreigners in general and the French in particular have no real understanding of the concept, which is why we are right to hate them.

    But isn’t the stranger thing about the word “fair” that it has so many meanings in English? There is fair as in just. Then there is fair meaning great — “a fair few” — or mediocre: “his performance was fair”. It can describe weather, or the colour of someone’s hair. All this before we get to an outdoor extravaganza in which members of the Traveller community offer one the chance to win an acrylic teddy bear by shooting plastic ducks with a bent rifle. English can be strange. Unparalleled in its beauty, obvs, but strange.

    Jump on a plane — that’ll teach them
    Air travel declined by 75.6 per cent last year. But climate change experts insist this had a negligible effect on global warming, which continued apace.

    This is excellent news. Previously we were told that hopping on a plane was an environmental crime comparable to hacking a polar bear to death with a tomahawk. Now it seems that, no matter how many flights we take, the impact will be minuscule. I think we should all book a long-haul immediately. I quite fancy a trip to the Marshall Islands.

    I don’t doubt the thesis of man-made climate change. But its most splenetic proponents rather like to have their cake and eat it, don’t they?

    1. I think it’s all right to hack a polar bear to death with a tomahawk; it’s, like, ethnic, so the bear dies happy; bloody, with its brains spilled out on a ice sheet and takes several hours to snuff it, but at least it met its hands at a native who understood its pain.
      Unlike instant death from a rifle bullet, built and designed by evil Whitey.

      1. I doubt that any polar bear would allow itself to be hacked to death with a tomahawk as it is much bigger and more deadly than a puny human with a piece of metal on a stick.

        1. All right; clubbed or harpooned to death.
          I’m sure the polar bears would appreciate the difference.

      3. They kick it in the icehole then stand around and sing “freeze a jolly good fellow”

    3. When I first starting teaching English at “A” level in a mixed boarding school I heard a knock on the door of my bachelor flat:

      “Come in,” I said, and seeing two very pretty girls on the threshold I said: “Have you come to borrow that book I was talking about in class?”

      “No Sir, where’s the gin?”

      I decided that I did not want my new job to end before it had even started so I looked for my copy of Lawrence Lerner’s anthology of Shakespearean criticism, thrust it into their hands and sadly sent them on their way!

      2. A bloke (who I never knew) wanted to meet girls in order to discuss Uganda, early 1970’s I suppose.
        He bought himself a bright red convertible and parked outside the local Female School gates. For several days nothing happened. At last, a perky female inquired “Who are you waiting for mate?”
        “You of course. Get in”.
        And she did.

        At one of the top music academies the small rehearsal rooms happen to have clear glass panels in the doors. Fairer for both pupils and teachers.

      1. ‘Snot a very good idea!

        (But I suppose Mr Bean and Black Adder could be described as bogeymen)

  30. A female has won the GrandNational to much excited celebration, “First Female Winner!” etc etc.
    It seems to me to be that it is rather illogically inconsistent of politically correct feminism to refer to this “31 year-old” lady as a “female jockey”.
    PC feminism is what has crammed all female thespians under the name “actor”. The word ‘actress” is now outdated.
    Why the distinction?

    1. To be utterly Woke, she is the 14th female to win the Grand national

      A total of 13 mares have won the Grand National so far.

      They are Charity (1841), Miss Mowbray (1852), Anatis (1860),
      Jealousy (1861), Emblem (1863), Emblematic (1864), Casse Tete (1872),
      Empress (1880), Zoedone (1883), Frigate (1889), Shannon Lass (1902),
      Sheila’s Cottage (1948) and Nickel Coin (1951).

      1. Great. I was about to suggest “all down the pub” and then thought of the hassle attached to such formerly simple actions.

        1. Masks, apps, tests…..booked, have you? Can’t use the lav; no cash accepted. Just FOAD.

      2. The euphoria of a win can lead to addiction. If you only ever bet on the Grand National you should be safe. Here endeth the lesson.
        *Signed a gambling addict.

        Well done Belle. Treat yourself to something frivolous.

        1. Thanks Phizzee.

          I actually hate racing or betting in any way .
          Really fed up with never winning on premium bonds that I bought thirty plus years ago .

          I will visit a garden centre and buy a few perennials, I have my eye on some attractive lupins !

          5. Weedon Grossmith’s illustration from The Diary of a Nobody.

            Of course old Pooter had a very strange son who called himself Lupin which made me think of the absurd Monty Python sketch where the philanthropic highwaymen demanded “Your Money or Your Lupins” and the poor were getting fed up with being bombarded with flowers rather than more conventional swag.

          8. Cash in your bonds and buy new ones. I use some Bond money to supplement the monthly budget and replace them out of other savings. I win 10 out of 12 months. I put it down to the ‘churn’.

            Lupins sound nice. I just bought a dozen asparagus crowns. I’m now told they won’t produce stems for at least 3 years. :@(

      3. I can honestly say I’ve never placed a bet or even been inside a betting shop in my life ……….. on the other hand …well done!

        1. Moh did it on line , so no need to visit a betting shop .

          All three of us had a flutter .

          As I said earlier , I hate the thought of horses and their riders hurting themselves . Betting isn’t my thing , and don’t even do the lottery .

          Though many people say you have to speculate to accumulate .

          1. But don’t bet more than you can afford to lose.
            Or was that in share trading…?
            Morning, Belle.

        2. I have a gambling problem. I place a bet on the GN every year.

          Edit – no others I hasten to add.

    5. I agree entirely with your point. The feminists can’t bear the idea of a woman being a chairman on one hand or an actress on the other!

      My principal objection to this nonsense is that feminists cannot accept that ‘man’ is a term to describe the human species of both sexes just as we can talk about dogs without having to include bitches – or ducks without drakes or cows without bulls when sex is not the issue.

      Grammatically we are led into verbosity or nonsense when, instead of saying “I want everybody to pick up his book” we end up saying “I want everybody to pick up his or her book” or “I want everybody to pick up their book.”

      Feminism should be condemned for its attacks on the language.

      1. But, come the Oscars, Richard, and the tarts are falling over themselves for nomination for, and certainly to win, the award for “Best ACTRESS“

      2. I disagree Rastus. You might too if you lived your life being referred to as a woman just we have had to accept being included in male terms (as in He, Him being used to include male and female references in legal documents for example) or a sub set of an originally male term with ‘ess’ added onto the end as if it is of lesser value.

        I n the Reserves, when addressing the Company, Batallion etc, Serjeants Major would invariably refer to wives and girlfriends when talking about bringing family to Mess dos, parades etc. I had enough of this and wrote to our RSM to ask that if there were female and male soldiers on parade then this should be recognised. Since then husbands and boyfriends were also invited.

        1. This reminds me of the naval toast:

          “To our wives and sweethearts. And may they never meet.”

          1. To our husbands and boyfriends – we’ll stay with the one that lasts the longest.

          3. Life, marathon running, performance in bed, drinking… whatever your priority

        2. Of course, some of the female soldiers will have wives or girlfriends. Like the new RSM at Sandhurst….

        3. Isn’t it simpler just to say ‘partners’?

          As at formal events that I’m forced to wear a tie for the invitation is uniformly for ‘ SWMBO and partner’.

          As the wife once said this is to allow the ‘wanky blokes’ to bring along ‘escorts’.

      3. Yet chairman is a neuter term with no gender reference.

        https://fee.org/articles/would-be-tyrants-capture-language-to-control-thought/

        It’s quite a long post but accurate.

        There’s another written by an Australian lady:

        https://www.languagetrainers.com/blog/2016/07/25/orwell-gets-it-right-how-language-manipulates-and-controls/

        However, she’s forgotten the very basis of her own writing. In the ‘treats caucasians leniently’ she ignores that they are immediately identified whereas the media Muslim is wheeled out to defend Islamic terrorism. Again with Abbott calls the ‘refugees’ (her words) as illegals – they *are* illegal immigrants. It is *she* who twists the language to suit her narrative.

        The Left do this a lot. It’s classic newspeak. This is why they are so aggressive when challenged. They build on sand and manipulation. When that unravels, they have to think.

        1. I was perfectly happy to be referred to as ‘Madam Chairman’. It had a certain je ne sais quoi.
          I would not be happy at being addressed as an item of furniture.

          1. In council meetings, the correct nomenclature is “chairman”, regardless of the sex of the person occupying the office.

    7. Actress is not used because the terms are female actor or male actor if you need to distinguish. Similarly, you have female jockeys and male jockeys.

      I have written to the DT and to the Beeb asking them why they continue to advertise their coverage as e.g. Football and Women’s Football, Sport and Women’s sport etc.

      Both should carry a qualifier as they do in Wimbledon, the Olympics etc. Women’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Women’s 100m, Men’s High Jump

      It’s not difficult.

      1. I wondered why there used to be actress and hostess, but not pilotess, Engineeress, jockeyess or driveress. I do find the prefix male- or female- at best clunky, and I’m not sure why the distinction needs to be made anyhow.
        Weird thing, language.

        1. There used to be “clerkess” and “conductoress” in yer Scotland years back.

        2. It doesn’t need to be made unless it’s relevant. The winner yesterday was rightly identified as female as she was the first but as she herself said, she wishes to be known just as a jockey, as I’m sure she is in the more routine races.

      3. What is wrong with the term “actress”? The English language has many examples of differentiation of the name for men and women doing much the same thing. Barman/barmaid, manageress/manager, host/hostess, waitress/waiter and so on.

        2. It is the female version that 99% of the time that has a qualifier I.e. ‘ess’ on the end. Why are separate terms needed for these when other professions mandate perfectly well without. vide pilot, diver, nurse, electrician.

      4. It’s tricker with football because you’ll never change it.

        Same with rugby, basket ball and, I suppose, rounders in america.

      5. Most “female jockeys” would prefer to be known simply as “jockeys”. They see their job as the same as their male counterparts’. They take the same risks and get paid the same riding fee (and percentage of the winnings).

    8. Actress is not used because the terms are female actor or male actor if you need to distinguish. Similarly, you have female jockeys and male jockeys.

      I have written to the DT and to the Beeb asking them why they continue to advertise their coverage as e.g. Football and Women’s Football, Sport and Women’s sport etc.

      Both should carry a qualifier as they do in Wimbledon, the Olympics etc. Women’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Women’s 100m, Men’s High Jump

      It’s not difficult.

    9. I see that a white woman, Shannon Courteney, has just won a world boxing title for women.

      Time to put her up against Tyson Fury.

      1. Dont be daft Rastus. You are belittling a serious argument with a comment like that.

    10. “A female has won the Grand National to much excite celebrations, “First Female Winner!” etc etc.”
      Who was riding her?

    11. It would be more correct to say instead of ‘A female has won the Grand National..’ either
      ‘A woman has won the Grand National…’ or
      ‘A female jockey has won the Grand National…’

      This would also have prevented the comments you received pointing out that several female horses have won in the past. 🙂

      1. Good for her as one of the few women winning against men in a physical activity at elite levels. I can’t think of anyone else that’s achieved that. Mind you, the trainer is male and she won on the back of a male’s effort.

        1. And the male jockeys riding female horses trained by female trainers? Any comment about them?

        2. I think you’ll find that training is a team effort and the work rider may well be female, as well as the “lad” who leads the horse up.

    12. Why didn’t they just say ‘Person Person has won the Grand National riding Horsie Name’?

    13. Equestrian events (show jumping, dressage, eventing, racing, etc) allow women to compete directly against men.

      1. Indeed, Sex does not come into it. (Of course, I’m referring only to performance in the events, probably.)

  31. Good morning, my friends

    Prince Harry never wanted to hurt his grandparents with the Oprah interview
    If there was a fissure within the Royal family, it certainly wasn’t between Harry and Philip, who shared an unshakeable bond

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/prince-harry-never-wanted-hurt-grandparents-oprah-interview/

    I suppose somebody needs to stick up for the odious Harry just as the Daily Telegraph feels it ought to employ completely useless journalists like William Hague and Bryony Gordon. But in my view Harry has placed himself beyond the pale – an appropriate term given the circumstances! – and should stay away away from the country for ever along with his wife and children.

    They still allow comments under William Hague’s drivel but for some time now they have not allowed their readers to vent their spleen on the absurd Ms Gordon. Is there a Nottler who would like to champion her and defend her output. We are a broad church here and I would like to hear a different opinion from my own.

    1. Perhaps there is a case for the wobbly waif’s wailing and wittering in that it is a useful case study into how tedious, detached and dysfunctional a human being can become and still manage to find somebody to commission articles from them, or does that say more about the commissioner?

      1. Says a lot about people who pay to read it, that they keep going back again an again to be offended by it.

    2. Prob because comments under WH say hes cr*p but under BG they say she’s cr*p because she’s a woman.

      I’m not a fan of either btw.

      1. I don’t think Bryony is that bad – if folk don’t like what she writes, then don’t read it. How difficult is that?
        The equivalent to tuning in to a TV programme to be offended – don’t like, don’t go there.

    3. Prob because comments under WH say hes cr*p but under BG they say she’s cr*p because she’s a woman.

      I’m not a fan of either btw.

    5. She stays because of sensitivity over her mental health challenges. As well-intended as the DT may be, her incompetence and stupidity are not related to her mental health, she is bringing mental health into disrepute and the DT is making matters worse.

      She should’ be ashamed of her support for Prince Pathetic and his attention-seeking that brings mental health into disrepute.

      I speak as someone with vast experience and knowledge of mental health through dealing with them for myself and others. Most bad sufferers just want to crawl away and die as the only way to stop the overwhelming misery; the last thing they want to do is shout “Me, me, look at me”

    6. Harry is supposed to be a grown-up; after all, he was an orifice, leading soldiers in the Stan. One would expect that he would have an inkling of the reaction to the thread of wat they were going to come out with, and he should have walked out if he was ambushed by Oprah. He lacks any iota of judgement. I’m damn glad he wasn’t commanding my children, let alone in a war zone. Good thing he was found out before he got someone killed.

      1. Thank goodness he was the spare and that his brother – and even better his sensible sis-in-law – have produced enough to keep him and the Tart well away from the throne.

    7. I like Bryony because she makes me feel thin and healthy; she likes me because I make her feel good-looking.
      And secretly I admire her for having the guts and patience to listen to the whinger-couple and get paid for so doing..
      (apologies, I don’t usually do ad hominem stuff)

  32. My first thoughts in future to anything the government tries to get me to comply with is how would Prince Philip have reacted and what would he have said in response?
    Although I don’t think the answer will be much different to my normal reaction

  33. Apart from a few deeply unpleasant far-left socialists and some ignorant wokes, brainwashed by some of the aforementioned socialists, the Queen has an extraordinary amount of sympathy and support following the loss of her husband who, in my view, was nothing short of a hero.

    It occurred to me that, never in the history of mankind, has a single person received so much sympathy as the Queen. The number of people sharing her sorrow must be several billion, a significant percentage of the world’s population.

    1. But, very few of them are UK or EUSSR ‘pollytishuns’

      They are not Soros at all

    2. 313395+ up ticks,
      Morning S,
      The Queen deserves ALL she gets in regards to her loss, that is the loss of a MAN for all Seasons

    1. I am instructed to register a complaint about the paucity of pussy pictures. 🙂

      1. They don’t stand still long enough. I’ll try in the coming days – if the effing sun shines.

  35. Regret to say the Springer is very unwell. Uncontrollable shaking and licking lips (a sign of pain). Mrs D has taken her to the Vets in Fordingbridge and I await news. I am so worried that I have hung all the washing out!

      1. Just heard from Mrs D on her way back. The Vet checked the dog all over to see if she had been bitten by an adder. Gave her an injection to counter her diarrhea and can’t find anything wrong. Thank goodness we have pet insurance. This is the second visit in a week at about £80.00 a go.

        2. Maybe the diarrhoea had upset her electrolyte balance.
          Do you have adders round your way?

          6. We are on the edge of Hurn Forest as is a holiday park. There are lots of children in the forest during the summer. Two years ago an eco bloke came and released 37 adders in the forest. I know of one dog that has been bitten.

          7. JHC. I am sick of these eco types. Remember the bleeding hearts who released mink? Very few water voles around now.

        1. Tell me about it. I spent twenty minutes this morning searching the grounds and nearby farmland for Pickles.

          He was in the spare room…..

    3. So sorry DB

      Did this happen after a walk ..

      My youngest, 8 year old working cocker sometimes has that , and the vet thought dehydration due to rushing around on a walk etc, I now give him a spoonful of honey and encourage him to drink.

      The older dog who is now 13 years old was bitten by an adder years ago , and suffered from the same symptoms, but collapsed .. and needed a 2 day stay attached to a drip with anti venom .

      I hope your poor woofle recovers quickly , please keep us up to date on her progress.

      1. She has been out of sorts for almost a week. Took her to the Vets last Thursday and they couldn’t find anything wrong She clearly has a major tummy upset – two nights ago she asked to go out three times all through the night. Last night she asked once at 1am.

        On a walk she behaves normally but at home she is a different dog and abandons all her normal routines. She has stopped shaking now. I will walk her later this afternoon and watch her carefully.

      2. We can buy adder antivenom here at the pharmacy for just those situations, Belle. If you are 2 days hike in the hills, there’s no just walking out & going to the vet.

          1. Billions of the slithery buggers. Go for a walk in spring sunshine in the hills, and they are everywhere, basking on the paths and exposed rocks. You think “Weird stick”, and it buggers off!
            I was amazed the first year.

    5. Our nearly 11 year old Lab has arthritis and when confronted with huge expense of X rays and medication i found ‘You Move’ it’s not expensive and certainly does the trick. I hope your gets better soon.

      1. Snap Eddy! Hector will be 11 in May and has had two ops on his elbow and a large cancerous mass removed. He is definitely slowing down but has Gabapentin, Previcox, coedine and paracetamol night and morning! We have to hide them in penne pasta/yoghurt, and he can still spit them out! He also has a horribly expensive injection once a month! We gave up on the insurance as it was getting beyond a joke and they wouldn’t cover pre-existing conditions. Yu move certainly helps and he doesn’t spit them out! KBO!

        1. Getting Big Cat, who has a mouth like a sabre-tootthe tiger, t take his antibiotic pills took a bit of skill. Got cat treats, the pill, and his favourite toothpaste, a blob of toothpaste per treat and one on the pill, all gulped down no fuss at all. Attempts to hide the pill on dinner weren’t successful, and bugger the idea of putting the pill in his mouth with my fingers…

          1. Wrap them up very tight in a towel and lever mouth open, pop in pill, massage throat to encourage swallowing then unwrap cat and watch as it hurtles off, spitting curses and pills at you!

          2. Yeah, right… nearly 10kg of cat, I’d like to see you try, ‘cos I is too scared!
            My way is much less stressful, you’d not get Big Cat close to a towel the second time, even if you did have any limbs left.

          3. Dolly wolfs down her food so fast she doesn’t even notice the pill hidden in a bit of meat.

            I have had cats in the past and i know the difficulty in administering medication.

          4. Here you go, Paul:

            How to Give a Cat a Pill

            1. Pick up cat and cradle it in the crook of your left arm as if holding a baby.

            Position right forefinger and thumb on either side of cat’s mouth and gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand. As the cat opens its mouth, pop pill in.

            Allow cat to close mouth and swallow.

            2. Retrieve pill from floor and cat from behind sofa.

            Cradle cat in left arm and repeat process.

            3. Retrieve cat from bedroom, and throw soggy pill away.

            4. Take new pill from foil wrap, cradle cat in left arm, holding rear paws tightly with left hand.

            Force jaws open and push pill to back of mouth with right forefinger. Hold mouth shut for a count of ten.

            5. Retrieve pill from goldfish bowl and cat from top of wardrobe.

            Call spouse in from the garden.

            6. Kneel on floor with cat wedged firmly between knees, hold front and rear paws.

            Ignore low growls emitted by cat. Get spouse to hold head firmly with one hand while forcing wooden ruler into mouth. Drop pill down ruler and rub cat’s throat vigorously.

            7. Retrieve cat from curtain rail.

            Get another pill from foil wrap. Make note to buy new ruler and repair curtains. Carefully sweep shattered figurines and vases from hearth and set to one side for gluing later.

            8. Wrap cat in large towel and get spouse to lie on cat with head just visible from below armpit.

            Put pill in end of drinking straw, force mouth open with pencil and blow down drinking straw

            9. Check label to make sure pill not harmful to humans and drink one beer to take taste away. Apply Elastoplast to spouse’s forearm and remove blood from carpet with cold water and soap.

            10. Retrieve cat from neighbour’s shed.

            Get another pill. Open another beer. Place cat in cupboard, and close door onto neck, to leave head showing. Force mouth open with dessert spoon. Flick pill down throat with elastic band.

            11. Fetch screwdriver from garage and put cupboard door back on hinges. Drink beer. Fetch bottle of scotch. Pour shot, drink.

            Apply cold compress to cheek and check records for date of last tetanus shot. Apply whisky compress to cheek to disinfect. Toss back another shot. Throw tee-shirt away and fetch new one from bedroom.

            12. Call fire service to retrieve the damn cat from the top of the tree across the road. Apologise to neighbour who crashed into fence while swerving to avoid cat. Take the last pill from its foil wrap.

            13. Using heavy-duty pruning gloves from shed, tie the little *&#%^’s front paws to rear paws with garden twine and bind tightly to leg of dining table. Push pill into mouth followed by large piece of fillet steak. Be rough about it. Hold head vertically and pour two pints of water down throat to wash pill down.

            14. Consume remainder of scotch. Get spouse to drive you to A & E. Sit quietly while doctor stitches fingers and forearm and removes pill remnants from right eye. Call furniture shop on way home to order new table.

            15. Arrange for RSPCA to collect mutant cat from hell and call local pet shop to see if they have any hamsters.

            How To Give A Dog A Pill

            1. Wrap it in bacon.

            2. Toss it in the air.

            3. All done!

          6. I sent that to our local vet. In the midst of all the panicky nonsense I felt they needed a laugh.

        2. We don’;t use the veterinary if we can avoid it. It costs 60 quid to ‘cross the threshold’ of the surgery.

    6. Sorry to hear that, Delboy. My ancient hound has bouts of wobbly back legs. He hasn’t told me yet that it’s time for the one-way trip, but I expect it in the not too distant future.

  36. Morning all.
    I’ve not been too well recently, I spent most of yesterday in Lister A&E, only around 6 people in the waiting area i was seen with in 10 minutes of arrival. I had to give up hope and go there eventually, my GP is still in hiding, apparently he’s going to phone me next week ???!!! But i was very happy indeed with the outcome and had a joke and some nice chats with the nurses and doctor who for once didn’t seem to be over ridden with work. I have to admire their dedicated and attentive front line service. The doc knows my local pub i told him i’d buy him a pint. And no bruises from the blood tests as the lovely apologetic nurse was so worried about. xxx to all of them.
    Sad about old HRH Pip eh, it appears he wasn’t quite the monster a lot of people try to make out. And really i did love his so called ‘gaffs’ he was a funny guy.
    Justin Rose suffering from the wet greens syndrome in the masters,………. oh well, it’s all to do later today. 11 million plus i think, the prize money.

      1. Our practice uses something similar. One fills in a form on the practice website and up to six (or more) hours later someone will reply. Or not. Last time I was anxious, I did that on a Monday – and received an e-mail that day to say that Dr Nigeria would telephone me on Thursday morning. He did. By that time, of course, I felt much chirpier….

        1. Bill apart from the masks worn by all and of course the screens spacing and hand cleanser, it seemed quite normal in the hospital.
          I was lying on the day bed and three nurses were behind the curtain in the next cubical area, they were chatting, the louder one was telling them about her sister who has lived in Oz for 25 years and how she exaggerates her accent when she come back home and gave some convincing examples. When I popped to the loo i had to congratulate her on the stryne. We had a good laugh and i told them a few Ozzie anecdotes of my own.

          1. KBO. I hate pills, me. Often the quacks prescribe two different things which interact and make you worse.

          2. That’s what i thought was happening Bill, but it’s been confirmed it wasn’t the problem.

          3. I told them of the time we had arrived on a huge sheep station about a thousand miles north east of Adelaide and 500 miles inland from Sydney. MOH went to the Loo just outside the house, a corrugated iron dunny. On return she asked Ron if all the holes in the back of the dunny were for ventilation……he replied with a very strong local accent,…… Nah Luv that’s were i shoot the bloody snakes !

          4. Afternoon Bill – The pharmacists usually spot these problems and contact the doctor before providing the pills.

          8. Alcohol can make you feel very ill on some anti-biotics. A lot of other medicines are okay with it thank goodness.

            But it is good to know what you need to avoid. I only found out i should stop taking Iron tablets at the same time as my Meds through this site.

          9. Mine are dispensed by a pharmacist. The only time she intervened with the doctor was recently when she provided the tablet Lansoprazole, 15mg gastro-resistant capsules to be taken one a day when I needed to take Naproxen for joint pain.

          10. So do i Bill and with repeat prescriptions handing out the same product in different packets, at times it can get a bit confusing. But that’s not the problem. Around the same age i i am now, my father had several strokes, all caused by his high cholesterol. Because i have taken a statin every night for about 5 years mine cholesterol is zero.

          12. My OH has been having some treatments over the last few months both in hospital and at the surgery and has nothing but praise for them all.

          13. I’ve always praised the front line but found the management and other office staff can be a bit of a problem.

          14. At my last phlebotomy the other nurse asked me how the procedure went. I didn’t recognise the procedure she mentioned and i said i think you have confused me with someone else. I said not to worry. If they are as good looking as i am, the confusion is understandable.

            Guffaws all round.

          15. You can’t beat a bit of humour, i wouldn’t have been able to have carried out that type of work for the world.

          16. Humour applied in the right way can ease what might become an awkward/embarrassing situation.

            It is why the Lefties are always offended. Zero sense of humour.

            I learned it from the Duke… :@)

      2. I spent quite a long time on telephone calls to the GP practice and getting absolutely nowhere. We have two local practices linked a friend of mine was lowering his loft ladder and cut his head open he rang one of the surgeries and got nowhere, rang the second and managed to se a a nurse who fixed him up. Then he rang me knowing i was i unwell, i rang the same number and spoke to a doctor she advised me to go to A&E which i eventually did.

      1. Well nurse🤩, i have been having breathing problems for some time and i started to reuse my home BP gadget and found it was very high and my pulse rate was flying. It turned out that my previous Afib had come back with avengeance. But they have change my meds and it seems to be working.

        1. What a relief , and you must have had a real fright .

          Med checks have gone out of the window now that GP’s are invisible .

          I hope you are feeling happier and easier now .
          Take it easy.

          1. It was a worry TB i can tell you. But the left hand side butterflies have gone for the moment. Thanks for you concerns all XXX

        2. I just started a course of Amlopidine for my BP. My last reading 3 or 4 weeks ago was 195 over 125.

          Glad they sorted your Meds.

      1. I expect your mother use to do that as much as mine did.

        I thought of Popeye NTN, but more like Putt eye,…….. he kept leaving them short. He was four behind the new leader who nipped in front of him.

      2. I expect your mother use to do that as much as mine did.

        I thought of Popeye NTN, but more like Putt eye,…….. he kept leaving them short. He was four behind the new leader who nipped in front of him.

    5. Unfortunately GPs are having to come with increased demand while they have quite likely got a depleted staff available.

      1. I have a close friend and neighbour who is a GP receptionist and what i have described to her regarding our own practice she calls a bit of a sorry set up. And unfortunately I have to agree with her. They seem to have lost the plot as it were.

    6. Glad to see from you, Eddy.
      Hope the problems are receding.
      A&E on Christmas Day 1992 was like that. Calm, decorations, and my Dad with a broken hip. I’d just qualified as a radiographic interpreter (welds, not people), so had an interesting chat with the rediographer on duty.

      1. Thanks Obs, i’m getting there. As my mother elder brother at the age of 93 once said to me,……….”old age sucks”. He wasn’t wrong.

  37. BBC Radio 4 Westminster Hour this morning – some turd called Paddy O’Connell managed to find five people (mostly Scots/Irish) who thought Prince Philp was a scrounging ársehole, and a retired admiral who liked him. Can’t think where they would find such people in Broadcasting House…
    .
    … someone who likes British royalty – It’s a complete mystery.

    1. I commented on Breitbart yesterday that any company with British in its name should tell these kinds of people to get lost! Instead they glory in annoying their audience.

        1. Well, there weren’t many merkins about trying to defend the Beeb and its dedicated complaint website!
          Actually, just checked and no downvotes at all! I must be slipping!

  40. Some people may have the impression that I don’t like the Scots and Irish people. That’s not true…
    .
    .
    .
    .
    ………………………………………..I hate them!
    .
    .
    .
    . That’s not true either – I am half Irish myself and I have a tribe of nephews and nieces born and bred in Scotchland. I don’t like those who have been programmed from birth by religious or nationalistic bigots… and those with no sense of humour.

  41. Some people may have the impression that I don’t like the Scots and Irish people. That’s not true…
    .
    .
    .
    .
    ………………………………………..I hate them!
    .
    .
    .
    . That’s not true either – I am half Irish myself and I have a tribe of nephews and nieces born and bred in Scotchland. I don’t like those who have been programmed from birth by religious or nationalistic bigots… and those with no sense of humour.

  42. Well Nottlers I’ve had my Sunday lunch and would like to go for a walk but despite the occasional gleams of sunshine it’s absolutely perishing!

  43. The whetther cannot make its’; mind up

    Whether
    The Sun Shines
    The Snowflakes Fall
    The Sleet sleets
    The Rain Drops
    The Wind is constant, however

    1. In that case why do wind turbines require fossil fuel powered generators as back up?

      1. They build them in the wrong place

        Now, if the mounted around the HoC, they would run forever

  44. The whetther cannot make its’; mind up

    Whether
    The Sun Shines
    The Snowflakes Fall
    The Sleet sleets
    The Rain Drops
    The Wind is constant, however

  45. One more…

    Prince Philip embodied the values of a generation that made Britain great

    His service was never for self-advertisement or aggrandisement

    SIMON HEFFER

    Contrary to an impression some in the media liked to foster, the late Duke of Edinburgh’s main function was not to provide light entertainment. They absurdly depicted him as just a crusty retired naval officer, discharging volleys of off-colour remarks in the great saloon bar of life. This disregarded the scale of his public service, his patronages, his charitable work and his range of intellectual interests. Worst of all, the public was seldom encouraged to recognise his greatest contribution to his country, one universally applauded since his death on Friday: his unstinting support of Her Majesty the Queen and the institution of monarchy, and the sacrifices that required.

    Others, however, were not to blame for that chronic lack of esteem: the Duke himself was. His modesty, and his refusal to blow his own trumpet, were typical of him and of his generation. He did not expect or seek acclaim, thanks or approval; he just did, without complaint, the job he signed up for when he married the Heir Presumptive, over 73 years ago.

    It was the same attitude that millions like him took to the life-and-death struggle of the Second World War: victory could only ever be a collective effort, with every man and woman playing his or her part. The Duke played his, and went on playing it for another 75 years as a naval officer, the son-in-law of a king and the husband of the Queen. He chose a life of service, and performed it in exemplary fashion: and that meant playing down his crucial role in the continuation of the monarchy.

    His service was never for self-advertisement or aggrandisement. That, too, symbolised his generation. There was always a cause higher than the individual.

    For him, the war to preserve the liberties and way of life of his adopted country was the first. The second was to do everything to support his wife, the Head of State, in fulfilling her duties in a way that sustained her people’s confidence in her and, more to the point, their confidence in the institution of monarchy that she embodied.

    The Duke had no constitutional position; and after a difficult moment in the early years of Her Majesty’s reign, when he famously referred to himself as being treated by senior courtiers as though he were “just a bloody amoeba”, he accepted that reality, and effectively designed his own purpose. He stood in the shadows, literally or metaphorically, while the Queen occupied the limelight. Her success and the respect she attracted were the reward for the correctness with which he acted.

    He had his own programme of official engagements, more than 22,000 in his lifetime, but even then acted for what he christened “the firm” – the Royal family and the institution of monarchy – never for himself. He had his flagship causes, notably the awards scheme for young people named after him, and the World Wildlife Fund (now the World Wide Fund for Nature). But in those and his other interests to which he lent his name, stature and reputation he worked for the cause, and beyond that for the institution of monarchy, never for himself. That, too, was second nature to many in his generation.

    Whether they realise it consciously or have simply absorbed it subliminally, the British people’s affection and respect for the Duke were founded on this embodiment of the values of the now-vanished and often lamented world in which he grew up. The same is true of their feelings for the Queen. Both set an example of duty.

    It has perhaps been easier for Her Majesty. From the age of 10, it seemed certain that she would be Queen, and she was bred to it. When the Duke married the then Princess Elizabeth in 1947, his father-in-law, King George VI, was just 52. He must have banked on a decade or two more as a career naval officer before settling down as consort. However, the King died just over four years later, and the Duke’s chosen career had to end to support his wife and Sovereign.

    That had always been the deal: but he was barely 30, and would play second fiddle for the rest of his life. Any difficulties were aired in private. He would not have dreamt of seeking attention, or risking damage to the institution, by doing it in public.

    The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme was highly appropriate to him: not just because he was a man of action, but because of its psychological effect on those who took part in it. It bred character, and character had been central to his own success and the respect in which he was held. Character – a moral strength, absence of self-pity, values founded in decency, a wish to serve others and the country – was, again, central to his generation.

    It was about setting an example, and not searching continually for what could benefit oneself. And, with the Queen, he was the great exemplar of strength of character to generations still unborn when she and the Duke were tested, and their service called upon.

    The Duke set that example as much to his own family as to others. Sadly, an adjective often applied to the Royal family is “dysfunctional”. Like every other family in the land, the Mountbatten-Windsors have had their troubles; and, regrettably, the Duke’s and the Queen’s children have all except one, the Earl of Wessex, suffered broken marriages, also all too common among the Queen’s subjects. Yet the Duke’s children have said explicitly that their father recognised how difficult life would inevitably be for them as they grew up, forced into a career from which there was no opt-out – until the advent of his rather tragic grandson, Prince Harry, and his wife.

    The Duke did all he could to impart character and the importance and rewards of service and duty to his children. He largely succeeded, and his success will become more apparent when the time comes that his son, the Prince of Wales, and his grandson, the Duke of Cambridge sit on the Throne.

    Walter Bagehot, in The English Constitution over 150 years ago, wrote about the importance of “a family on the Throne”. A family, even a Royal one, was easily comprehensible to the humblest of the Sovereign’s subjects; everyone could identify with it and it provided a model for the social units that comprised the nation.

    Behind the scenes over nearly 70 years, the Duke, influenced by his own unstable upbringing, made it his job to see that the wheels of his particular family kept turning, while the Queen concentrated on the matters of state that her constitutional role demanded and that the Duke’s lack of one denied him the right to share.

    His wisdom was always considerable and practical. But it was his lack of side, his attachment to reality and above all his own difficult childhood and adolescence that made him such a steadying influence within “the firm”. If anyone doubts this, consider how much harder the Queen, for all her immense qualities, would have found the business of monarchy had she had a lesser husband, and what that would have meant for the happiness and international reputation of the United Kingdom.

    History will treat the Duke well, almost certainly better than even we, in our sadness at his death, can bring ourselves to realise. He will be credited with modernising “the firm”, not least at times against the instincts of his innately conservative wife and Sovereign, with her high regard for precedent within the strictures of the constitution.

    He brought the Queen, and more to the point their children, closer to the people, while taking care not to commit the sin identified by Bagehot to “let in daylight upon the magic”. When crises came – as they do in all families and indeed all systems of government – his own level-headedness was central to their being weathered. This was not least true in the mood of public hysteria after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, a mood that threatened to undermine the consent by which the monarchy continues.

    In the intervening quarter-century the popularity of the Royal family has risen as that of politicians has consistently sunk. That is in great part down to the steady, discreet and pervasive influence of the late Duke. His values and approach could not be further from those of some contemporary politicians.

    The monarchy he helped shape will endure for decades yet. He understood that evolutionary change and hard work were the keys to “the firm’s” success; radical change and the idle pursuit of cheap celebrity end up offending a public intelligent enough to know what it likes in a monarchy, and that likes what it currently gets.

    The best tribute his family can pay to the Duke of Edinburgh is to stick to those values – his values. They may date from a different age, but so far as the relationship between the monarchy and the people is concerned, they have yet to go out of fashion.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2021/04/10/prince-philip-embodied-values-generation-made-britain-great/

  46. Dominic Raab urges Russia to ‘immediately de-escalate situation’ amid fears Vladimir Putin massing troops on Ukraine border could trigger all-out war. 11 April 2021.

    Dominic Raab has urged Russia to ‘immediately de-escalate’ the situation at the Ukrainian border where Russia has been amassing troops.

    The British Foreign Secretary shared a tweet on Sunday, saying the UK and US ‘firmly opposed’ Russia’s ‘campaign to destabilize Ukraine’.

    Dear Vlad. Cease and Desist or we will come and hit you with our laptops! Yours Dom.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9458689/Dominic-Raab-urges-Russia-immediately-escalate-situation-Ukrainian-border.html

    1. Trains, boats and planes are being sent by the score to the Border, just in case the French Forces have to run away quickly

    2. I’m not sure what has happened in the last year but something has.
      Zelensky was elected on a pro Russian ticket promising to improve relations between the two countries.
      He seems to have gone full 180 and his approval rating is at 21%.

      1. Afternoon Harry. They’ve made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. Death or a truckload of cash that would choke an elephant. Just start a war and all will be well!

  47. “Was it really necessary, though, for the BBC to close down BBC1 and BBC2 for the whole day so that they could provide exactly the same news coverage? I accept that the BBC is our national broadcaster, but it did seem a bit much.”

    Of course it was necessary. Any less and you wouldn’t have got sick and tired of hearing the name, ‘Philip’, and you might even have had some residual regard for the man.

    Repetition, repetition, repetition… until you’re on message. ‘Nineteen eighty-four‘ isn’t just a casual read at the BBC.

    1. Yes, it was appropriate in the sense that if they had broadcast something lighthearted on BBC 2 then the Beeb would have been accused of disrespect. Plenty of other channels were available.

      1. ‘Afternoon, Tim, “Plenty of other channels were available.”

        Which just highlights that there is absolutely NO need for the Bumbling Bias Clowns.

        1. I confess, I watch ITV3, Sky Arts, Sony Channel and Talking Pictures only. I despise all those ads for fake charities and whites only funeral plans but the programmes are much, much better.

  48. Exclusive: More than half of people in England living in areas with almost no new Covid cases

    Infections in areas with total population of 34.5 million so low that Public Health England has redacted latest weekly case tallies

    By Alex Clark • 10 April 2021 • 4:00pm

    Over half of people in England now live in an area in which new cases of Covid have all but vanished, with some places not reporting a case in public data for more than a month.

    Infections have been so low in areas with a total population of 34.5 million that Public Health England has redacted their latest weekly case tallies in order to protect the privacy of those – if any – who test positive.

    These 4,307 areas could have had at most two new cases but potentially zero in the seven days to April 4 – and 1,091, home to 8.2 million people, have had their data suppressed every week since the end of February.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/04/10/exclusive-half-people-england-living-areas-almost-no-new-covid

    Here in Wellingborough (pop. ~ 52K) just 56 positive tests were recorded in the last week.

      1. If you have just one case, then a second

        Headline 100% increase in COVID cases in,,,,,,

    2. Exclusive: More than half of people in England living in areas with almost no new Covid cases.

      This would apply for most of the last twelve months here!

    3. Exclusive: More than half of people in England living in areas with almost no new Covid cases.

      This would apply for most of the last twelve months here!

  49. Wine prices set to increase after French producers hit by devastating frost. 11 April 2021.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7be7dbe4591822c9b760693890346f5cad635ae1eeb8dbb3de1c98b857e29d3d.jpg

    Wine prices are set to increase in the wake of devastating frosts across France.

    A severe frost has ruined as much as 80 per cent of vineyards across France, posing one of the greatest threats to the country’s wine industry in years.

    This is the wine that is not yet become fruit! That would not become yer plonk until 2022>>?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/04/11/wine-prices-set-increase-french-wine-producers-hit-devastating/

    3. What a shame, what a pity, lovely boys.

      Get over it, shit happens and you’ve reaped some well-deserved shit.

      1. There is loads more on the way from Australia at a lower import rate as we speak.i

  50. Finally, managed to do something even a tiny bit creative, other than creating a mess… :-((
    A few months ago, I bought some animation software called “Doodly” (www.doodly.com) – you set some images on a series of scenes, add sound and voice-over, and a hand draws them out on the screen for you. The kind of thing seen in YouTube.
    Finally got started testing it out, and within an hour of watching their instruction videos and playing, I have the bare bones of the start of my first “movie”! Together with porno-movie style soundtrack, but even so, I’m dead chuffed!
    Now I have an inkling what it can do, I have to make my storyboard and work out a voice-over.

    1. If you open a YouTube account you can upload it there and then to here. Provided it’s not XXX rated of course. :@)

      1. Just snippets and tryouts. Beginning to get it together, though. Story is in my head, storyboard is ready, have the narrator character ready (a carpenter in a safety helmet), and a couple of support characters, an idea where to get a couple of specialist pictures… now needs scripted & storyboarded, then made.

  51. IRA Recruiter, Peter Hain, former Labour minister for NI, has just been on the radio plugging the benefits of the EU and the stupidity of Brexit.

    “Hain has written in support of libertarian socialist arguments ,identifying an axis involving a “bottom-up vision of socialism, with anarchists at the revolutionary end and democratic socialists [such as himself] at its reformist end” Wiki

    For a supporter of ‘omosexuality and a closet gay himself, his phrasing is a little revealing. He could, of course, have written it in verse and come clean as a fully qualified doggerel-ist.

  52. 331395+ up ticks,

    Patel Pretending Migrant Crisis Doesn’t Exist, Says Farage as 49 Illegals Land Since Friday,

    Keep in mind this farage chap rhetorically stabbed 30000 REAL UKIP
    patriotic members in a self interest move taking out the only credible party that called for years for controlled immigration, then stood down
    brexit candidates in a pro johnson move.

    Little wonder the Country is in such an odious state when the electorate cannot distinguish treacherous politico’s from broken biscuits.

  53. I note that Cameron is coming in for some flak and scrutiny, which is unusual these days, is he getting payback from the globalists for losing the EU election and is it a warning to others?

    2. He has probably failed to supply the requisite number of brown envelopes to the political privileges controllers at the BBC. Must try harder.

  54. I am beginning to wonder whether I am the only person who hadn’t had a lifelong close friendship with the Duke of Edinburgh…

    4. Are you familiar with the concept of Six Degrees of Separation? You almost certainly know people who met him.
      As for friendship, that’s a tricky one; the Duke was hyperactive and (as far as I know) he never owned a house. Always on the move, always working; a friend is someone who has time for you.

    5. I’ll bet JY met him. There you are, there’s a connection.

      A friend of mine used to be events organiser at the Ozzy Embassy and the DoE was closely involved with the Britain Australia Society so my pal Dale did meet him on a number of occasions. Yesterday Dale posted a pic on FB that he’d taken of the Duke with Kylie Minogue. The prince and the showgirl?

      1. …and then, Sue, there’s the other Prince and the showgirl and the daft bugger actually married her and has now reproduced.

        Silly boy lemon – she really has her hooks into him and – when he discovers that ’nuff’s enuff – what’s he going to do then?

        Pot the black and swallow the cue.

    6. I didn’t ‘meet’ him exactly………but I did sweep up a broken glass from around his feet at the Badminton Horse Trials pre-event cocktail party……. I was surprised he was not a very tall man.

    7. The royal family always meet the same kind of people, and they meet them over and over again, so they probably think that everyone in Britain is like that.
      There is a whole other group that they never meet, and are probably unaware that we even exist.

      People they meet: Members of the armed forces, charity workers, broadcasters, entertainers. Their aristocratic friends. Underprivileged members of minority groups being helped by charities. Workers for Our NHS. Farmers. Business and arts leaders.

      People they never meet: Ordinary people who work in the private sector.

      2. I disagree with you, BB2.
        I don’t think ‘they never meet: Ordinary people who work in the private sector.’
        They are not stupid, when visiting or opening projects they full well know that
        the bosses will be at the front of the queue for a hand shake or introduction;
        I know this to be true. I would add that they, perhaps ,don’t know how
        ‘Ordinary people’ live but how can they?

        1. Her Majesty took afternoon tea with some people that lived in a council house/flat.

          Good afternoon, Flower. How’s the foot?

          1. Yes I remember that, Dear One.
            The back of my left foot, just above the ankle,
            is still extremely painful when I walk on it,
            when my foot is at right angles to my leg then
            no probs! The Doctor will ‘phone me when she
            receives the x-ray results.
            Thank you for asking; how are you today?

          2. Okay but the pills make me nauseous. I eat ginger biscuits to counter the effect. Lot’s of them. Pain is now at manageable levels so that’s a relief.

            Don’t take my advice but i was wondering if a pressure bandage would help you. Get well soon to both of us.

          3. Lush!! Ginger biscuits with an iced coffee
            milkshake [+ lactose free milk….]

            I have been told to rest it as much ,
            as possible, in an elevated position, I have got
            an ankle support but I have to ‘ice compress’
            it for ten minutes, every two hours; it hurts like he**
            when I try to get the bandage off so I don’t wear it .
            I am pleased you are a little better.

        2. So then how do they meet the ordinary people? In my experience, it is only the pushers and sucker uppers who thrust their way to the front.

          1. They meet the ordinary people because, on occassion,
            the Palace requests:
            HM The Queen wishes for an informal meeting with
            the workers at this opening ceremony.

          2. Hmm. Not sure I buy this. I think this results in HM meeting some sterling, salt-of-the-earth working class people like dustmen. When does she ever meet for example, bank tellers, filing clerks or sysadmins in private companies?

          3. You don’t have to buy it, BB2.
            I know of one occasion where it
            happened; I don’t think that would
            have been the only time.

          4. I mean, that I think they meet the people who they think represent workers. But there is still a whole swathe of society that they never meet.
            I can’t prove it conclusively, but Britain being fairly small, everyone has either met a royal, or knows people who have. I have spent most of my career in the private sector, more or less in the boring middle level. I have worked in a lot of companies, as I did temporary clerical work early in my career. I’ve come across a fair few people who have met the royals, but they are all the usual suspects that I mentioned above. Arts, charity, public sector, education, agriculture, horses etc. I’ve never come across any private sector, industrial estate, middle level person who has ever had anything to do with the royals via their job. Ever, despite working in more companies than I can remember.
            I don’t think the royals understand stuff like software. If Philip the outsider had been younger, he might have been interested in it.

  56. Whew. Spartie was in ‘Kevin the Teenager’ mode on his walk. I knew by his face that we were in for the doggie equivalent of ‘S’not Fair’ ….
    Followed up by outdoor housework – what other people mysteriously describe as the pleasurable pursuit of gardening.
    Time to crack open a bottle or pour a stiff gin. At the moment, I’m drinking on my own as MB doesn’t fancy alcohol. On the plus side, it’s cut down my consumption.
    Can life get any more exciting?

    2. Off to B&Q (other shops maybe used) buy a tin of paint, and use it to mark a line in th drive up tp your Stately ‘Ome

      Sit and watch the paint dry

  57. The BBC is really taking the píss now. A three part play about a young man with a respiratory illness who falls in love with a married woman patient. How silly can they get? A man and a woman – not even BAME – well not yet!

      1. I think he is going to have competition from a lez-bee. Only got half an ear cocked – can you say cock on here?

    3. What ‘appens is

      They both die, But, the Beeboids do not care, as only Black Live Matter

      Later, your tame bame arrives having checked that there were are no valuables left in their houses

  59. If your Jack Russel mated with a Great Dane and you remarked that you wondered if the progeny would turn out looking more like the Jack Russell or more like the Great Dane then would you be vilified as a breedist?

        1. 331395+ up ticks,
          Afternoon FA,
          Unless four holes were supplied along with teaching the dane a new trick.

    3. We had a JR who actually tried to do that. The Danish hussy actually crouched to make the job easier.
      But they were spotted and the course of truth love was rudely interrupted.

  60. Sitting down with mug of tea to catch up with nearly 300 comments!
    So far it’s been a bloody cold walk to Cromford & back for the paper, then I took the battery saw across the dam to carve a few lumps off the fallen sycamore over the other side of the pond.
    Used two batteries on the first session and then, after swapping the third battery for one of the flat ones on the charger, touching the teeth up with the file and having a mug of tea, went back for a 2nd session.
    Gathered half a dozen decent sized logs which will be left unchopped to season through the summer and then stacked for what I hope will be winter next year, i.e. 2022!

  61. 331395+ up ticks,
    If only this chap had the same feelings for a lab/lib/con/greens support & vote pattern he would be doing the Nation a power of good.

    Professional atheist Richard Dawkins went after Catholics on Sunday, insisting belief in the Eucharist as Christ’s body and blood is “madness.”

    1. Next week, he will be at a mosque, telling the muslims that they are crazy to believe in an outdated old cult for idiots, and should stop getting wound up about cartoons as well.

      1. 331395 + up ticks,
        Afternoon BB2,
        There is no way he will repeat it unless via a talking head on platter.

      2. If he does he won’t be coming back. (This is a “spot the difference” puzzle. Catholics/muslims.)

    2. “Hoc est corpus meum quod pro vobis datur; hoc facite in meam commemorationem.”
      — Lucas 22:19

    2. It’s difficult to hear, but the end result won’t change.

      I’m reading this fellow’s book, Shake Hands with the Devil. : https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/05/31/romeo-dallaire-says-genocide-in-rwanda-is-being-repeated-in-syria.html

      He outlines a UN thoroughly incompetent, self serving, corrupt and ineffectual. Yes, there may be a lack of political will to intervene as Syria has a lot we want and the usual tired four stage strategy persists, but still. He knows his stuff and should be listened to.

  64. Bugger! Half way through the comment backlog and went to make a reply and got white screened! Bloody Disqusting!

    Well, after the cold start this morning and the light snow shower as I was cutting the sycamore, it’s a lovely sunny afternoon and still bloody freezing!
    Just about to take the petrol Efco over the dam to finish off the bit of the tree I’m working on.

    1. DoE: “Do you still throw knives at each other?”
      Hackney resident: “Don’t be so racist, we shoot each other now”

  69. In response to the official Palace announcement that the Duke had ‘passed away peacefully’, Guardian writer ,Karen Geier, who proudly boasts of her work for the Left-wing newspaper on her Twitter biography, sneered: ‘Deeply saddened to hear it was peaceful. He deserved so much more (pain).’

    The tweet went viral, and last night had attracted almost 17,000 ‘likes’ and 2,300 retweets.

    17,000 Likes and 2,300 retweets? The BBC staff must have been on overtime.

    1. What a deeply mean, unpleasant apology for a woman. I hope her wishes come back to bite her.
      Edit: Now I read the tweet, enhanced my disgust over her attitude

    2. I hope that everyone who liked it is hounded in the same way that any anti-George-Floyd/BLM poster is.

    4. The Guardian distanced themselves from it. They said she wrote one article several years ago. She is not on the payroll.

      2. None of them are on the payroll. They are all self-employed with company headquarters in the Bahamas.

        1. The person probably has “She/Her” in their profile, as passes for normal on Twit.

          1. I’m beginning to wonder what’s going on.
            She/Her?
            Aren’t they indicative, or should I say in dick at it ive, the same any more?

  71. Wow everybody, BREAKING NEWS:

    Government advisers admit COVID THIRD WAVE NO LONGER EXPECTED IN THE SUMMER! . Whaddya think of that!

    1. Don’t you believe it.
      The Blackdeath Broadcasting Corporation is already showing pictures of the third wave being prepared on the sub-continent.

    2. Best have another lockdown – just in case…. Mask up, everyone. Don’t go to the pub; don’t plan a holiday; plan ahead – remember undertakers are overworked…

      2. For the sake of the undertakers, perhaps we could kill two birds with one stone.

        Get pro lockdown advocates to set fire to themselves as a protest.

    4. Frightening. They never get anything right so we are probably all gonna die within months. Get the bars open!

      1. They’ve probably got the financial crash lined up for the summer months, can’t have two events at the same time.

        1. They’ll have to admit the unemployment figures in September/October when furlough finishes. Unless of course they extend it yet again.

      1. As you will have guessed, the ‘vaccine’ is not designed to save you but to disable you or kill you depending upon your susceptibilities.

        Thousands are already dead following ‘vaccination’ often within a few hours of taking the jabs.

        There is no evidence as yet that any of these novel ‘vaccines’ prevent the ‘vaccinated’ from carrying and spreading the virus(es). The likelihood is that the ‘vaccinated’ who survive the jab will be asymptomatic carriers and thinking themselves inoculated will become effective super spreaders.

        1. Congratulations, you have been vaccinated.

          You are now the human equivalent of an anopheles mosquito.

          You can spread the disease without succumbing to it…

          {;-((

        2. cori, as I’ve said before I see no need to have the jab while it is still experimental. Do you have any proof for your second sentence? I am wasting more time than I like engaging with government propagandists on the internet, and don’t want to make any assertions that can’t be backed up.

          1. I was not being critical bb2. As regards my second sentence I have received many notifications from several channels to which I subscribe, mostly in America and follow various scientific virology and immunology sites.

            I also keep in touch with scientific advisors from my work on laboratories at Babraham Institute in Cambridge (BBSRC) and John Innes and the Farm Institute in Norwich.

            It is almost impossible for those working in both clinical and scientific research to publish their opinions for fear of losing their jobs. This is part of the coercion demanded by those funding our research institutes. Imperial College London is funded by China and accepts thousands of Chinese students. Many are then assigned to my knowledge to Glaxo Smith Kline laboratories with research funding.

            There are strong historic links between Glaxo Smith Kline and University College London especially the School of Tropical Medicine and Diseases. A former Dean was previously a director of GSK to my direct knowledge back in the seventies.

          2. No worries, I didn’t think you were. But you have made similar assertions several times, so I wondered what the basis was.
            I looked at the vaers website, but the data is incomplete, so not much help. It’s clear that the government would sooner chew their right arms off than admit that anything about the vaccine is less than perfect.
            So I’m still in “wait and see” mode, and will follow the advice of Mike Yeadon and Gert vanden Bossche. I note your cuttings off the grapevine though.

        3. Government has admitted the experimental injections do not prevent transmission and do not provide immunity, merely lessen symptoms. PCR tests were completely misused, lateral flow tests are even less reliable, this has been one giant human experiment. The injections given to animals were a failure, all the animals died.

    7. Your early Christmas present from Boris, lockdown from 01 November til 12 March 2022

      1. Wouldn’tthat be wonderful! I still think we’ll need an uprising of some sort, civil disobedience.

    9. Viruses do not move around in ‘waves’ so these pseudo scientific advisors have been bullshitting us all along. They have been pocketing large sums from their financial interests in pharmaceutical companies.

      Even a cursory examination of the backgrounds of Vallance, Whitty, Van Tam and Ferguson will illustrate their links to Glaxo Smith Kline and Astra Zeneca and their links with Drosten in Germany (author of the PCR testing fraud) and the corrupt Gates funded World Health Organisation.

      I would not believe a single word issuing from the mouths of these criminals. The same applies to
      Politicians like Johnson and Hancock who are clearly in the pay of this criminal cartel.

      1. I have never believed in this scamdemic. “They” have taken advantage of a virus, whichnmaybwell have been released deliberately, to exert the most amazing control over us all, restrict our freedoms, seize powers under an entirely inappropriate piece of legislation, and use the most awful propaganda to cow most of the public into obedience. Psychological warfare by any other name. As I have emailed my MP on several occasions in these past months.

        Not to mention impoverishing the middle classes and turning the U.K. into a communist state.

        1. The idea appears to be to eliminate the middle class workers and allow corporates to buy up their businesses and real estate cheaply.

          In the USA the areas targeted by BLM and Antifa activists, in places like Minneapolis, led to the destruction of large areas of profitable real estate. This was a deliberate Democrat policy in order that they and their backers could acquire otherwise valuable property cheaply. Meanwhile thousands of otherwise thriving businesses, pre ‘pandemic’, were put out of business.

          Believe it or not, much the same is occurring in the UK. Major city centre and retail sites are being vacated and companies going bust for lack of trade as a result of constructed lockdown policies.

          Admittedly the BLM and Antifa mobsters have not provoked the same violence we witnessed in the USA but the machinations of central government are actually in process of delivering a similar result.

          We are witnessing a land and property grab of epic proportions and all under the guise of a fake pandemic.

        2. The idea appears to be to eliminate the middle class workers and allow corporates to buy up their businesses and real estate cheaply.

          In the USA the areas targeted by BLM and Antifa activists, in places like Minneapolis, led to the destruction of large areas of profitable real estate. This was a deliberate Democrat policy in order that they and their backers could acquire otherwise valuable property cheaply. Meanwhile thousands of otherwise thriving businesses, pre ‘pandemic’, were put out of business.

          Believe it or not, much the same is occurring in the UK. Major city centre and retail sites are being vacated and companies going bust for lack of trade as a result of constructed lockdown policies.

          Admittedly the BLM and Antifa mobsters have not provoked the same violence we witnessed in the USA but the machinations of central government are actually in process of delivering a similar result.

          We are witnessing a land and property grab of epic proportions and all under the guise of a fake pandemic.

      2. mng, this may also be of interest:

        John Ward’s blog, The Slog: Massive doubts raised about ethics & efficacy behind Oxford-Astrazenica “vaccine” https://therealslog.com/2021/04/11/world-covid-exclusive/

        SP-I-MO stands for Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling. It reports into the SAGE/Secretary of State Number Ten Group. Almost
        nobody in the UK has ever heard of it, and its pronouncements online are stored in an unexpected place under the “assets publishing service”.

        What follows aren’t leaks; they’re representative extracts from the latest SPIMO report, issued on March 31st last, and discussed in Downing

        Street some ten days ago.

        ”assuming two doses of AstraZeneca provide only 31% effectiveness against transmission”.

        “Immunisation failures account for more serious illnesses than unvaccinated individuals”.

        “This shows that most deaths and admissions in a post-Roadmap resurgence are in people who have received two vaccine doses… This is not the result of vaccines being ineffective, merely uptake being so high.”

        This fraudulent company is the one that plans to launch on the stock market, making Sarah Gilbert and Adrian Hill worth about 20 million each.

        As Ward notes, “Vaccitech’s main investors include former top Deutsche Bank executives, Google and the UK government.” Gilbert and

        Hill are linked to Wellcome Trust and the Galton Eugenics Society.

        “This is mind-blowing, horrific stuff. It suggests fakery, hidden intentions, manslaughter, genocidal agendas, and serial political lying on a scale beyond industrial. It also vindicates all those of us who have said throughout most of this saga that the “pandemic” presentation of SarsCov2 makes no fiscal, medical, social, cost-benefit, statistical or indeed scientific sense whatsoever.

        “The Astrazeneca drug has all the hallmarks of being a fake vaccine. The original Watergate questions must be asked again: “Who knew, what did they know, and when did they know it?”

  72. Well that’s me finished for the night. A dozen decent sycamore logs, 10 to 12″, stacked to season and the County Council gritter has just gone up the hill towards the village.
    It’s going to be a chuffing cold night I think, the temperature has already dropped in the short time since the sun dipped below the top of the valley, 3°C in the yard at the moment.

        1. That’s what I thought and she gets double the cleaning power! What’s not to like?

  76. That’s me for this sunny and snowy day. Bloody cold it was – all day.

    One hopes for better – but, as you know, it rarely happens. Have a jolly evening.

    A demain.

  77. MB is watching a programme about the Challenger disaster.
    Some 35 years later and several viewings, it is still a shocking thing to see.

    1. A lass I worked with had applied to train to fly on that mission. Fortunately, she didn’t make the grade.

  78. I am now back on Twitter …. Praise be !

    I must promise not to criticise Priti Patel
    I must promise not to criticise Priti Patel
    I must promise not to criticise Priti Patel
    I must promise not to criticise Priti Patel
    I must promise not to criticise Priti Patel
    I must promise not to criticise Priti Patel
    I must promise not to criticise Priti Patel
    I must promise not to criticise Priti Patel
    I must promise not to criticise Priti Patel
    I must promise not to criticise Priti Patel
    I must promise not to criticise Priti Patel

      1. I needed a mobile number so that they could reinstate my account .

        I have a phone which I rarely use , and it needs topping up .. only used in emergencies or for shopping . I am not a phone hugger .

        Moh said I could use his mobile number so that Twitter could send me a code to reactivate it .. Bingo .. with in minutes my eldest dog’s face popped up ( my avatar) not me , because my lock down hair is a mess, and so am I !!

    2. I must promise not to criticise Priti Patel
      I must promise not to criticise Priti Patel
      I must promise not to criticise Priti Patel
      I must promise not to criticise Priti Patel
      I must promise not to criticise Priti Patel
      Oi, Patel you anally retentive bitch foad
      I must promise not to criticise Priti Patel
      I must promise not to criticise Priti Patel
      I must promise not to criticise Priti Patel
      I must promise not to criticise Priti Patel
      I must promise not to criticise Priti Patel
      I must promise not to criticise Priti Patel

      1. I responded to Priti Patel re her spending £millions on allowing thousands of Hong Kong fueys into Britain

        @True_Belle
        @pritipatel More protection gangs , more knife crimes , drugs etc etc.. and more of our pet dogs and cats eaten !
        4:02 AM – 8 Apr 2021

        My little sarccy remark was the result of me retweeting this and commenting .. and now banned .

        🇬🇧 We promised to uphold freedom for the people of Hong Kong, which is why I am proud that we’ve been able to support so many in need of our help.

        We’re working hard to successfully resettle people here through this unprecedented and generous scheme.
        Hong Kong families moving to UK to benefit from £43m support package | ITV News
        The new immigration route was announced in the wake of Beijing’s national security law being imposed on Hong Kong last year.
        itv.com

        I was consigned into the wilderness , yet there are much worse abuses , some one dobbed me in I think .

        1. Oh well, you know the rules on Twit.
          “X is an evil, murdering, disgusting subhuman who eats babies”

          X is Donald Trump = 1800000 likes and 24500 retweets
          X is any person belonging to a minority favoured by liberals = reported, banned, shunned.

        2. Banned for pointing out the truth. No surprise there.
          This Honk Kong lot were presumably happy there until they realised the current dictator was going to crack down and end their economic free-for-all. Blighty, courtesy of the good old UK taxpayer’s largesse, will offer them everything they want at no cost to themselves. Does Patel even have the first idea about where they will all live, how many more NHS facilities will be needed, where their kids will go to school and so on. No doubt, when they start arriving they will all be able to access our GP services too. With all the billions being splurged on the Covid money tree, hundreds of thousands more people simply aren’t affordable. They had their chance to come here when our lease on HK ended but probably decided staying offered more riches.

        3. Did Patel & the tories not lie when promising to stop cross-channel people smuggling?

          1. Tories did not lie when promising to stop cross-channel people smuggling

            noun: smuggling

            The illegal movement of goods(or people) into or out of a country.

            They have lived up to their promise; It is no longer illegal.

            Now going to a (Christian) church service in UK, that IS illegal

          2. This point is what so many people don’t understand. They keep on saying things like “the Tories are incompetent.”
            No they aren’t. They know exactly what they are doing.

  79. The Duchess of Wessex has a way with words.

    Sophie, Countess of Wessex, today led royal tributes to Prince Philip as she movingly described his death on Friday as ‘so gentle’ and said how his passing was ‘just like someone took him by the hand and off he went’.

      1. We used to say ‘failed in London, succeeded in Hong Kong’.

        So true and I know a few who match this description. Whether the Hong Kong luminaries arriving here will be useful remains open to serious question.

      1. The often ignored Prince Edward is the only one of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh’s children to have made a successful marriage first time.

        I find it repulsive that Major, the hypocritical adulterer, advises the royal family to use the time of the funeral to heal the rifts caused by Harry’s disgraceful treachery.

        1. Major, repulsive as he is, gained some Royal confidence when advising the Queen concerning the divorce of Princess Diana and Prince Charles. A fat lot that did except in allowing Blair to take his egotistical trip on the back of the ‘People’s Princess’ after the sorry woman died.

          Whether an adulterer and politically incompetent prat was worthy of praise and acceptance remains a serious question. Major, in my view, brought my country to economic disaster. He represents a near perfect example of an arsehole pretending to knowledge of economics and banking.

        2. Major, repulsive as he is, gained some Royal confidence when advising the Queen concerning the divorce of Princess Diana and Prince Charles. A fat lot that did except in allowing Blair to take his egotistical trip on the back of the ‘People’s Princess’ after the sorry woman died.

          Whether an adulterer and politically incompetent prat was worthy of praise and acceptance remains a serious question. Major, in my view, brought my country to economic disaster. He represents a near perfect example of an arsehole pretending to knowledge of economics and banking.

  80. The Duchess of Wessex has a way with words.

    Sophie, Countess of Wessex, today led royal tributes to Prince Philip as she movingly described his death on Friday as ‘so gentle’ and said how his passing was ‘just like someone took him by the hand and off he went’.

        1. A bit OT Obers, but I’ve just given our naked cat a lovely bath! No scars or blood! Because he’s hairless he can’t get rid of the sweat and the muck just sticks to him! So it’s either baby wipes or a bath! At least the bath is warm! Perhaps you could try it with Big Cat…?

          1. Little Cat is originally orange & white, but now orange & grey. He REALLY needs a wash, and the both of them need a hairclip. Big is OK, if a bit tangly… Do you use warm or cold water? The previous cat hated warm water, it made him frantic, but cold was OK.

          2. Warm with bubbles! He likes it really except when I rinse his face! He was quite clarty today as I’ve been away at the farm helping with the children while the lambing is going on.

    2. That might actually be a reflection of the world they live in.

      Unfortunately (or fortunately) it’s not a world that the vast majority of us live in.

      And it’s that vast majority that pay the TV licence. Tectonic plates…

    3. Perhaps all whites should stop paying the BBC Licence Fee and leave it to BAMES to pick up the tab. The BBC seems only to represent blacks and those of ‘Caramac’ hue anyway.

      1. 331395+ up ticks,
        Evening C,
        extend that across ALL welfare payments and i’m with you.

  82. Thought for the night.

    We were living in a parallel universe.

    Clinton really won and Trump wasn’t President.

    We came out of the parallel universe and Biden has taken over and all the Covid mess is Clinton’s doing…

  83. Entirely fatuous article in the DT confirming that they don’t know what they are talking about.

    Delicious BTL comment

    Who are the 30 guests likely to attend Prince Philip’s funeral?

    Buckingham Palace has confirmed that the funeral is to adhere to current Covid-19 guidelines that stipulate limited mourners are allowed

    **************************************************************

    Alternative Thinker
    11 Apr 2021 5:36PM
    Some of the comments made about Meghan Markle maybe are a bit unfair.

    She is 7 months pregnant and we still have a pandemic going on and so being on plane with lots of other people is not a good idea and then trying to get through airport security.

    I am not sure if they could arrange a private plane which would be safer. They certainly can afford it I would imagine.

    Flag4Like
    Reply
    Samuel Blitz
    11 Apr 2021 5:40PM
    Codswallop, she will be attending the actual funeral on Wednesday 3 days before the official one on Saturday which will be conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury

    Flag62Unlike

    1. OT but…..I am fed up to the back teeth with

      “we still have a pandemic going on”
      “we’re in the middle of a pandemic”
      “during the pandemic”

      and all other variations on that theme. Fküc the pandemic, you have one all summer just for yourself if you like it that much!

      1. You have no idea how much I have come to detest the word ‘pandemic’. There are other words that have risen to the surface during the coronavirus event that I loathe, but ‘pandemic’ is at the top of the list.

        3. We call it the scamdemic! And the so-called vaccinations we call them experimental injections. It’s all one whopping great big hoax.

        4. It was never a pandemic. Even the corrupt WHO dismissed this definition a year ago as well as giving the lie to the implementation of lockdowns.

  84. Evening, all. Thank goodness for a bit (only a bit, though) of sunshine today. I even managed a quick bike ride after church.

  85. 331395+ up ticks,
    Adhering to the lab/lib/con mass uncontrolled immigration /paedophile umbrella coalition ( ongoing) party has evil consequences showing up aplenty again & again, it is an undeniably fact that a
    lab/lib/con vote = Two Rochdale Child Grooming Gang Rapists Launch Another Appeal to Avoid Deportation to Pakistan: Report, and that is ONLY two out of a multitude.

    It comes across as children are being sacrificed on the altar of racial appeasement of a very strong nasty nature by ALL concerned politico’s / party members, fact, face it.

    1. Wow! What a brilliant letter.
      I wonder how much Charles’s eco-fanaticism is the result of rebelling against his father?

          1. I had a nice chat with the Princess a long time ago (whilst the bigwigs got restless!)

    2. Wind turbines. We know they don’t work but give one at Christmas anyway – it’s the thought that counts.

    3. Prince Philip nailed the wind turbine nonsense years ago and on most matters environmental was way ahead of his time. He described his eldest son Charles as a Romantic and himself as a Pragmatist.

      I am quite sure they they will have argued about all manner of things, I did with my own father, but I remain equally sure that they loved and respected each other.

    1. Good night Maggiebelle

      His sister was one of the most attractive-looking actresses on television.

  91. Off topic, but I discovered earlier that my set top box had recorded the Women’s 6 Nations match between England and Italy.

    Having watched a couple of minutes I was completely hooked. The England team put their male counterparts to shame with a spirited and physical defence in the face of some brilliant Italian handling followed by a counter attacking try out of nowhere. The Italians overthrew a pass and Emily Scarratt, the Queen of Centers, picked up on the run and did what no male English player does by instinctively playing what was in front of her. In a flash she was through the gap, afterburners on and sprinted 75 meters to score under the posts.

    I realised I was enjoying the game because it was played the way rugby should and used to be, pre-professional era. Possession to be treasured and not kicked away on a whim ( not a single “box kick” in the entire game – Ben Youngs take note) with top class handling skills and an England back five with pace to burn and always looking to exploit it. When you realise the England Womens team are professional but paid £25K per annum, as opposed to their male counterparts on £25K per game, I can tell you in no uncertain terms which game is more value for money and the better spectacle.

    Check it out on BBC IPlayer – I highly recommend it to all us older Rugby Union fans, as its more like the game we fell in love with rather than the muscle bound gym monkey rugby league mash up we are served up with these days.

      2. I guess this won’t get much airing Oberstleutnant

        ” ‘It is a complete misconception to imagine that the monarchy exists in the interests of the monarch. It doesn’t. It exists in the interests of
        the people. If at any time any nation decides that the system is unacceptable, then it is up to them to change it.’
        Prince Philip

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