Posted on 4 Comments

The Royal Victim: Whose fault? The Leveson Effect?

With all the news about the newish Mrs Windsor and her hyperemesis gravidarum, or rather extra ordinary green gilled morning sickness to everyone else,  it isn’t a surprise that someone, somewhere, was going to try and pull a stunt to get information about her, or the family.

I find it a little outrageous that the two Australian DJ’s are being pilloried as monsters in need of punishment for their royal prank, but I do find their behaviour sickening, in poor taste and reprehensible.  Did they do something illegal?  Probably.  Impersonating the Queen sounds like it should be illegal.

With all the fuss over the Leveson, I really don’t see the difference to be honest.  Someone impersonated someone else, to find out information they were not entitled to have.  End of story.

Just because they weren’t journalists working on some massive newspaper, or even in this country doesn’t give it any more credence to me than hacking someone’s phone.

The end result is the same – access to information that they have no right to have.  The Leveson might only affect British journalism, and it might not.  I wasn’t really interested enough to read it word for word, but I don’t see the principle as any different.

The humiliation of anyone on the end of a prank like that is incredible.  If you’ve never been pranked, you wouldn’t know how it feels.  I have.  It stinks.   It’s nothing more than legalised bullying for profit when it is done for TV programmes or radio broadcasts.  I’d like to see the end of them.

I’m not talking about the ones where peoples cars go missing and they turn up remodelled.

I’m talking about the ones that affect a person’s life.  Being humiliated should never be misjudged.  It can have a devastating effect.

It’s nothing but legalised bullying to me.  They didn’t prank Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, or the Royal Family – realistically, just how much information can you get about someone being sick?  It’s either she’s been sick, or she’s feeling a bit better.  Big woop.

They pranked the women who answered the phone.  Who knows, the suicide may have happened anyway, but being humiliated sure isn’t going to help someone feel better about themselves.

It’s just another Leveson type issue to me and it’s got nothing to do with being royalist or not.  All humiliating pranks should be made illegal.

If that makes me a stick in the mud, then I am proud to be one.

 

 

Posted on 15 Comments

The Duchess of Cambridge Topless Photos. Why I think it’s more serious than it seems.


© Morfeo86ts | Dreamstime.com

Lounging in a private home, in a secluded location, you’d think it was pretty safe to top up your tan in France, and make sure there are no unsightly bikini lines.  Looking around on our own holidays, we tend to worry if our bums look bigger than the people sitting in the next loungers, but as a rule, we never have to worry about much more than that.

It’s pretty poor that the media has decided to pick on the newish Duchess of Cambridge just as she goes on a tour to promote our country and represent the Queen.   Catherine and her husband, Prince William, must be fuming in private over the topless photos, but they’ve put on a brave face and managed to carry on, admirably.  Some say they get paid to do a job, and yes, they do, but come on, they’re people first and foremost.

If the papers would just shut up about the issue and not keep harping on about who is publishing them, the pictures would have away and dried up in the news without all this sensation.

The media have made a circus out of it, and not publishing the photos seems to have become as lucrative as publishing them by default.  Is it try to gain the support of people by getting them up in arms, or is it really bypassing the real issue that should be being dealt with?

Don’t think for one minute that I am a fan faring, flag bearing royalist, because I’m not.  I have no real like, nor dislike for the royal family – I don’t know them.  Saying that, I really can’t abide seeing someone being the subject of abuse, no matter how small the minority are who are perpetrating it.  Yes, I think our media are just big bullies, but there’s also more to it than that.

Why Catherine got her boobs out at all is a mystery to me, since once they are in the public eye, there really is no privacy.  I guess the couple felt safe, but there really are some things people need to give up if they are to stay in the public eye.  It’s not fair, but it is playing safe.

I have to say, even indoors, covering up your boobs might be a good idea if the curtains are open.  I remember back to when Prince Charles was photographed coming out of a shower if I remember rightly.  He had expectations of privacy there.

What about when Sarah Ferguson thought she was safe with the toe-sucking incident she got crucified for.  Considering she and Prince Andrew seemed to have already been split up in private, the outcry there was incredible, and I’ve no doubt left her scarred for life.

Rambling might be the order of the day here, but I do think the issue not being talked about is a bigger one.  Catherine’s boobs worry me not a jot, they give babies food for heaven’s sake, and there are plenty of boobs out on most beaches.   I do think “good on her” for keeping a happy face while she is on tour.

The thing that does come to mind with me, is one of the photographer.   He had a long-range camera.

What if it had been a long-range rifle?

On public tours and events, the areas are scoured, and staff are on standby to check the routes.

There’s no hiding for a sniper as they’ll be found in seconds (I am guessing).

In a private villa, in a remote place, they were vulnerable.  I find that more newsworthy than a young woman getting a tan.

My whole point is that the papers seem to be more engrossed in fighting each other over being the top dog of papers that “haven’t” printed the pics, than they are of discussing the potential danger the couple faced.