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"I'll celebrate her birth when..."

(78 Posts)
thatbags Tue 05-May-15 06:44:56

"...she's as free as any daughter of mine would be".

A reminder, straight down the line, of what being born a princess in Britain in the twenty-first century actually means.

Good luck, Charlotte!

Soutra Tue 05-May-15 06:54:31

I would never open The Mirror, but really liked this article. Thanks, thatbags!

AlieOxon Tue 05-May-15 07:30:37

Wow, that's a strong article!

baubles Tue 05-May-15 08:01:38

All true though! Thanks for sharing that bags.

Maggiemaybe Tue 05-May-15 08:33:03

That's an excellent article, very thought-provoking.

thatbags Tue 05-May-15 08:38:14

soutra, one of the things I find useful about Twitter — links to good articles in papers I normally wouldn't think of opening. You have to choose who to follow to make the most of it (@fleetstreetfox).

Ariadne Tue 05-May-15 09:04:40

Excellent article - thank you, bags!

Teetime Tue 05-May-15 09:04:59

Well yes I see their point but how negative that all is if I culd be ar***d I'd write down all the positives but I cant.

vampirequeen Tue 05-May-15 09:06:41

Accurate apart from

She is no better off than the child of an uneducated subsistence farmer in the developing world, terrified of vaccines and equality and tractors.

Lets be honest that's not really a true comparison, is it?

whitewave Tue 05-May-15 09:20:07

Ask any child born into poverty and poor education etc if they would swap - I wonder what the answer would be. The article is ridiculous

thatbags Tue 05-May-15 09:31:47

Read it with a dose of the understanding poetic licence gives to such writing and then you'll get it. It's not meant to be taken literally! That would be silly.

petallus Tue 05-May-15 09:34:50

Sour, full of bile and ridiculous!

Thanks for posting it though smile

jinglbellsfrocks Tue 05-May-15 09:44:21

God! I wonder how long it took the writer to come up with all that misery! And how long he/she spent polishing her crystal ball! hmm

Is the article meant to comfort the rest of us, when we realise just how deprived we are as a nation? (yeah right)

Now Fleet (!!! - named him/herself after a street? confused), have another little think and list all the good things about being born a princess. And don't forget to include the two most important assets - a father and mother who really care about her.

Perhaps you'd better publish that article in the Telegraph, so it is read by possessors of brain cells.

Anya Tue 05-May-15 09:45:32

Totally negative article.

whitewave Tue 05-May-15 09:48:14

Perhaps we should read it as being ironical? Then it would make more sense.
jing my Mum has read the Mirror all her life she also reads the Guardian and does all the crosswords. She is left wing and supports the left wing press. She possesses a great many brain cells even at 97.

petallus Tue 05-May-15 10:21:33

jings were you being ironic when you made the comment about brain cells and the Telegraph? grin

petallus Tue 05-May-15 10:24:21

thatbags 'read with the understanding poetic licence gives to such writing'

Eh!

Actually I think the comments in the article were slightly exaggerated but still meant to be taken literally.

GrannyTwice Tue 05-May-15 10:30:30

If it's all so awful, funny how they don't seem to use the 'opt out' option.

henetha Tue 05-May-15 10:32:41

There is a lot of truth in that article, but if I was clever enough I would like to counter it with an article about all the positives which there will undoubtedly be in her life.
None of us can choose the circumstances into which we are born, but hopefully she will just get on with the cards she has been dealt and make the best of it, if she has any sense, just like all of us have to do.
I wish Princess Charlotte a long and happy life.

petallus Tue 05-May-15 10:39:05

Eugenie and thingie seem to have a pleasant life.

Gagagran Tue 05-May-15 11:01:15

I once read an article that said the Queen thinks all WCs and cloakrooms smell of new paint because everywhere she goes they have always been decorated in case she needs to use the facilities!.

She is always the last to arrive and the first to leave an event and the roads are cleared to ensure easy passage for her. Her life is completely unlike ours.

Will it be the same for Princess Charlotte? Probably not. Her parents seem anxious to loosen the gilded cage doors for themselves and their children. In another 20 years we shall have a different monarch - maybe even William by then. Things will be different.

vampirequeen Tue 05-May-15 11:07:23

Let me think would a newborn child of a poor, subsistence farmer choose a life of luxury, no money worries, exotic holidays, flunkies at my beck and call

or

hunger, thirst, poverty, dirt, sickness and back breaking work

thatbags Tue 05-May-15 11:15:36

"Things will be different". I hope so, gaga. Good luck to William and Kate as well as to Charlotte. I wouldn't want a child of mine to have to live in a "human zoo".

merlotgran Tue 05-May-15 11:16:18

The article is completely OTT.

I see no reason why she won't be able to dye her hair blue then chop it off if she wants to. Remember Zara's tongue stud??

Yes, I did get the irony but written so soon after her birth it smacks of bitterness.

The positives will outweigh the negatives and some!

thatbags Tue 05-May-15 11:16:47

I think it was on the BBC website I read that George's first public appearance in Britain was when his dad took him to the hospital to meet his wee sister. If that's true, well done those parents.