It seems that there is a bit of a kerfuffle going on because some people think (or some people think that some people think) that The Crown is a kind of documentary about the royal family. Not a scripted story at all. There are suggestions that Netflix should put out some kind of announcement to let viewers know that this is a fictional series, based on real events but with the gaps in the story line, the bits that went on behind closed door, made up to keep things moving along nicely. Just as films involving animals have a disclaimer: “No animals were hurt in the making of this movie”, so films and series based on real life people and events should have a disclaimer: “No attempt has been made to show the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth”.
I’ve not seen any of it so I am going on hearsay but I understand that the Diana storyline is a little biased in her favour - innocent young girl exploited by older man - or at least that’s one of the things that some of the controversy is about. But, hey, not even the television and radio news or the printed media can be said to be truly unbiased nowadays!
As I said, I have not seen any of it. Not the earlier series, nor this latest one. I am told that the acting is very good, the sets and costumes lavish and full of verisimilitude, but I know the story, I lived through it, and I don’t need to relive it. I am surprised whenever I find out that someone of my age is watching it, but surely they know that it’s not a documentary! No, I think the worry is that younger people, who may not even have been born when the Charles and Diana story began, might be convinced that the royal family are a collection of selfish, manipulative, exploitative rich people who like to get their own way. Well, it is supposed to based on the truth!
No, I am sure the royal family has a sense of duty to the country and that they do good works, some of them anyway. The fact remains, however, that they are rich people who almost certainly are used to getting their own way. And until very recent times naive young girls from noble have been married off to older princes to cement political ties. That’s the way it worked when we had absolute monarchs. At “lower” levels of society it happened to cement business associations, or to ensure that stately homes were maintained. That’s just the way it was.
However, I don’t need to watch it on my television set. On the occasion of Charles and Diana getting hitched, we went to a stuff-the-wedding party. We got very annoyed when our daughter’s primary school class spent an afternoon watching the wedding of Andrew Windsor and Sarah Ferguson. We declined my mother’s invitation go to a party she organised in her garden for the queen’s jubilee -whichever colour it was! And while I am sure Kate Middleton, or Cambridge as I suppose I should call her, takes excellent photos of her children, I am not terribly interested in seeing them.
Okay, that’s a little rant almost over. One last point: of course, a fuss about this is another way to take our minds off Coronavirus tiers, what’s going to happen about Christmas, the whole Brexit debacle and the price of the weekly shop going up!
There we are!
So here’s something else. This article asks if Gavin Williamson is the worst education secretary ever. My first reaction is to shout out: Don’t forget Gove! And Stella Morris! And Margaret Thatcher! The opening paragraph, as far as I am concerned, sets out part of the education secretary problem:-
“Since 1900, 44 men and nine women have had charge of English education. They included one duke, two marquesses, two earls, two viscounts and three hereditary baronets. Eight were old Etonians; four were old Harrovians; 10 went to state schools but only two, including Gavin Williamson, the present incumbent, to comprehensives. Only four had ever been schoolteachers; about twice as many were barristers. One (you know who) went on to be prime minister.”
Too few of them had any experience of ordinary state schools! Mind you the same sort of criticism could be levelled at the appointments for health secretary - how many of them have been doctors or nurses? - and other such posts.
And Williamson has had a pretty poor deal, coping with schools in a time of pandemic restrictions. This does not stop us, I hasten to add, from throwing our hands up in horror whenever we hear him speak about education, or indeed just hear his name mentioned.
That’s another, shorter, rant out of the way.
Today is another dull day. Like yesterday, I think adventures will be limited to a brisk walk round the village.
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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