I’m feeling sick

How (very) dare you Jennifer Eccles?
.??

Never mind maryeliza just milk it for all it is worth and go on nursing your outrage to keep it warm

The woman comes from Manchester - if he wanted to engage with her he could have asked what part of Manchester? BME people get fed up of that racist question because underpinning it is a belief that they don’t come from here, they are not British. You would think that in all the years he’s been carrying out royal duties he woukd be able to ask sensible questions. It is a racist question, it is not appropriate and she was not being facetious - she had every right to complain about it, or don’t you think she had because well......I was not trawling through the papers looking to be outraged - how dare you? I was reading my usual paper - you know the one that has been exposing the WG scandal for months.

Well I don't think Charles' comment was racist - I think he was trying to engage the woman in conversation.
I think she knew perfectly well what he was trying to establish, but she chose to reply in that facetious way.

I imagine he was expecting her to say that although she lives in Manchester where she was born, her family came from, say, a Caribbean island or an African country.

This would have been an opening for Charles to maybe say that it's a beautiful island or country which he had visited a number of times, and thereby get the conversation going.

Think about it - the Royals have all these people to meet and converse with day after day. It must be SO difficult to think of something different to say when faced with probably very nervous people.

Of course there will always be those who seem to enjoy trawling through the internet or newspapers looking for some 'racist' comment or other to be outraged at.

The Queen above politics? You were being sarcastic weren’t you mostly?

I thought the Queen was supposed to be above politics.

She might like Charles to be the next Head of the Commonwealth, but I think she should have let the Commonwealth decide without her opinion coming into it.

It would have at least looked more democratic if she hadn’t recommended her son!

I get quite sick of some things too ???

Paddyann, Corbyn thought Castro an excellent leader

So it’s not all right to criticise St Charles for making a racist joke then? FFS - and I’ll give it a rest when I decide to MB and not the GN thread police.

I am pleased to learn Charles has been chosen to be the next head of the commonwealth ,

There is no power as head of the commonwealth, I am surprised so many know so little about it.

That's excellent news. Even better, there is talk that Zimbabwe may be about to rejoin the Commonwealth?. I think that would be the icing on the cake at the end of the Queens long stewardship.

Give it a rest maryeliza, it wasn’t that funny the first time.

<faints> who’d think it. Lots of scope then for racist jokes.

It's just been announced on the News that Charles will succeed the Queen as head of the Commonwealth.

Good!

and I'm sure a lot of Cubans thought Castro was a great leader .... yet the rest of the world didn't like him handing the mantle of power to a relative ...whats the difference? Should be a meritocracy not aristocracy . ..not in the 21st century !Lets hope the "COMMONWEALTH" has more sense and looks to the future not the past .Empire by another name .

Chewbacca,seems there is nothing wrong with the commonwealth, just the man who has been closely involved with the commonwealth for most of his life , who has an excellent example on being head of the commonwealth for 65 years - his mother .

yes maryeliza, you gave yourself as an example !

What thread - oh sorry you’re not replying to me. Never mind

ab your post is missing the point again. I did NOT say he was a racist but that what he said was racist - there is an important distinction here. And it’s quite clear from my OO that I was referring to Charles as a useless 70 year old. You know very well that I don’t think 70year olds are useless as workers - I gave myself as an example. At 71 I am still working in an extremity useful and highly competitive field. And which poster supports JC becoming PM at any age? Do you mean me?

That's a very good point Annie. It seems that percieved racism trumps ageism with some people. Personaly, I find lumping any group of people into anomalous categories, whether by skin tone, age, religion or culture; morally wrong. And as many of the people who are on GN are in their 70s, I wonder how they feel about being labelled "useless".

Still haven't been told what's wrong with the Commonwealth either.

Claiming Charles is a racist by a poster who claims 70 year olds who work are useless . Can we assume the poster wouldn't go near B & Q, they employ useless 70 year olds

. The leader of the Labour Party is trying to get the job of PM when he is 70, the poster supports this

Please refer to Your post of Thurs 19thApril (19.49) then judge yourself not others, this Is the only time I will reply to you Maryeliza54

www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2018/apr/19/prince-charles-brown-skin-british-people-head-of-commonwealth

An example this week of Charles doing a sterling job.For those of you who think links are the work of the devil, the crux of the article is his meeting a British born young BME asking her where she’s from and when she says Manchester, he replies that she doesn’t look like it and laughs. Worthy of his father that one - what a quip, how clever, how funny - how RACIST

What a thoroughly nasty childish post Brid . I’m not bitter and twisted and you have no damn right to post such a personal attack.. There is nothing bitter or twisted about making a comment on the sheer hypocrisy of the Commonwealth being feted at a time of the WG fiasco or implicitly on the hereditary principle nor on questioning the usefulness or otherwise of Charles. Surprisingly enough I do realise that some people lives are hard compared to us but I’m completely bewildered what that fact has to do with my posting my opinion on here. Or the rest of your illogical post for that matter. Posters like you were very critical of certain other posters who have left and how horrid they were to those that disagreed with them - well clearly your posts demonstrate how well you have apparently learned from them. Quite what your post adds to the debate I’m at a loss to understand. You could try playing the ball.

True Bridgeit, seems some have little knowledge of the commonwealth, doubt they care, just a chance for republicans to sound off.