It’s not often that I comment on celebrity stuff, but this takes the cake:
The American people still hold a grudge against the Royal Family for how Princess Diana was treated, claims a senior journalist at ABC News.
The late Diana, who died in a car crash in Paris in August 1997, captivated the hearts of people worldwide with her charm, grace, and unwavering commitment to humanitarian causes.
And she had a particularly strong impact in America – with rumours she even planned to give up her life in the UK and move Stateside.
What a load of bullshit. I dunno where this “senior journalist at ABC News” conducted his poll — no doubt among his “senior” journo buddies, over several cocktails at some foul Manhattan bar.
I doubt whether the average American under age… I dunno, maybe 60 — even knows who the Virgin Princess was. And among the over 60s (like me), the reaction is most likely in the “who gives a rat’s ass?” class.
Indeed, the whole Royal Family concept is treated with barely-concealed contempt Over Here, with only a few royalty groupies even aware of the dramatis personae in Britishland’s little social soap opera. (I know who most of these parasites are, but that’s only because my university degree is in Modern Western Civilization — such as it was — and it’s necessary to know these goofs only because of the part they played in European history prior to WWI.)
And as it turns out, Prince Charles only married this upper-class twit because he couldn’t marry Camilla — yeah, that worked out well — and even better, she wasn’t the saintly Lady/Princess Di, but a shallow little Sloane Ranger (Britain’s Valley Girl equivalent, named for their fondness for the shops and clubs of Chelsea) who won the ultimate Sloan Prize: to marry royalty. And that worked out well, too. Not.
Anyway, there is no “grudge” Over Here towards the Royals. I bet this “senior journalist at ABC News” only made that statement to create some controversy prior to Charles’s coronation next week.
Sic semper iournalisti (or however they would have put it in 100 AD).
Kim you don’t know what you’re missing as an expat. Here in Sunny South Africa in the magazine rack at the checkout, every single week without fail the top-selling English magazine You has a Briddish royal on the cover. I am strongly starting to believe that Karl Marx was onto something.
Americans like bimbos better than ladies… Explains a lot about a lot of American “culture”.
I do have a grudge, but it’s not against the Royals themselves. It’s against the American news media that continually shove them in my face. I am perfectly content to let the Royals carry on their ridiculous and pathetic little lives, as long as I can ignore them and never give them another thought. But no, I am expected to be fascinated and obsessed by everything they say and do. Sorry, journalists, but I DO NOT CARE. Stop trying to make me care about those people. It’s never going to happen. LEAVE ME ALONE.
A woman I used to know was a big fan of Dianna and very upset when “the Princess” died. Same woman after a boyfriend dumped her, stole a different friends car and drove it into the river in a suicide attempt. I never understood quite what all the fuss was about.
I am in the over 60s, “who gives a rat’s ass?” group.
I don’t follow the Royals at all. Their philanthropy is to be commended just as their foibles are to be ridiculed. The majority of Americans haven’t cared about the Royal family since 19 April 1775 or so.
JQ
The only Brit I still hold a grudge against is George III.
My mother used to subscribe to the “Ladies Home Journal” and it was all Dianna, all the time.
I was definitely in the “Rats Ass” category as well. But purse dog ladies, and fairy men are still trying to keep the flame lit.
I was at my university setting some stuff up for my Senior year when I went to the Student Union for lunch.
The big screen TV (front projection, still a rare thing at the time) was tuned to Chuck & Di wedding show and the place was crammed with sorority types in rapt attention.
I got a table as far from the TV as possible when one of the girls looked over and asked me if this wasn’t the neatest thing ever?
My reply of “We fought two bloody wares to get rid of that inbred aristotrash nonsense, so no” wasn’t well received, but I was left alone to read my book for the rest of my lunch.
You weren’t in the “Say anything to try to get laid” College boy phase?
And every one of those Sorority types was watching the whole spectacle, thinking to herself, “That should be me.” The American fascination with royalty, whether of the Windsor variety or any other is a mystery.
I’ve always been baffled by anyone’s – let alone America’s – fascination with the inbred royals & the parasites they spawn. I remember being a little thunderstruck when Rush (Peace Be Upon Him) voiced his sympathies for Diana after she became a stain on the pavement – the fishbowl she was obliged to occupy, life under the microscope, blah blah blah.
You know your’re an asswipe when South Park puts you in their crosshairs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N8_5LDkZwY
Didn’t give a rat’s ass either, Kim. But I did wonder about the Brit press; first she was a media darling, a storybook princess, then she divorced the prince and became a pariah as far as the media were concerned, but then she died and was made Saint Diana. Make up yer bloody minds, you silly twits.
Suspect everyone polled was from Boston and Hollywood Hills.
Yes, Diana was the equivalent of a valley girl only with a bit more manners.