Well, this is new!
(Image taken from HarpersBazaar.com)
I was in the kitchen for half an hour earlier, preparing the sauce for a lamb curry I’m making tomorrow, and I put BBC 6Music on the radio for some random Indie tunes and all it played was some rather funereal instrumentals. Not bad stuff, kind of on the Philip Glass level, but still. At first I thought it was some album being showcased but then the DJ piped up and said it was because Prince Philip has died.
What?!
I know it’s a bit of a shame that he didn’t quite make it to the full century and have his wife give him a telegram, but he’s had a very good innings. It’s not like he’d been in a car crash in Paris or anything. And even though every picture I’ve seen of him recently made me wonder if he was actually already dead, in reality I have absolutely no interest in the Royal Family’s life. I’m not exactly a republican and I wish them all happiness, but, they just don’t figure in my thoughts.
I guess the BBC are probably obliged to lead the nation in mourning or something along those lines, but does that include 6Music? You can tell by the number that it’s not there as one of the mainstream radio channels.
So I’ve huffed and puffed my way into the living room to write this and I’m calming down now.
It must be a strange way to live a life, acting as a figurehead. Historically that position has held enormous, dictatorial power, but now I’m not sure what the purpose of the Royal Family is. To be representative? Of whom? An entire nation? We aren’t such a homogenous group any more, if ever we were.
According to The Crown, in Philip’s Matt Smith years, he was a little bit of a rebel and wasn’t so keen to always toe the family line, for example, taking off on a solo royal tour, or as they called it in the show, a ‘five-month stag do’, around the Indian Ocean.
I stopped watching The Crown when Philip changed into the next bloke because, as I’ve already said, I’m not that interested in them. Plus, I think, he follows the rule book a bit more, apart from coming out with the occasional racist gaffs. So I’ll have to keep the radio and TV turned off tonight and carry on reading my current book, set in 1920s India, ironically during the British Raj!
theleadlesspencil 
After all, the likes of Mandela and Gandhi pale into insignificance compared with this man’s achievements. Got married, stayed married, had kids, was given shed loads of money for doing very little, died. So rare and extraordinary.
And died after a very long time! I’m slightly pleased as my grandma has outlived him. Her birthday’s in May, and although she was recently in hospital, ironically at the same time as Phil, she is still on track for her telegram. Now she could tell a story or two. And she actually spoke to Gandhi!
The royals were a soap opera long before The Crown, but I’ll watch just about anything that has Matt Smith and/or Tobias Menzies in it.
Ha ha! Young Matt’s done well for himself since his stint on Doctor Who.
I’m with Mo!