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Post by chriss on Apr 16, 2011 17:33:35 GMT -5
If Caroline doesn't end up as ruling princess, I don't think there's going to be another monarch. What's the alternative to her (unless she waives her rights in favour of her children)? A child of Albert and Charlene? Albert's going to be in his mid-70s by the time that child comes of age, it's almost bound to mean Regent Charlene. And that would kill Monaco faster than all of Albert's bumbling combined.
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Post by chriss on Apr 16, 2011 17:25:29 GMT -5
I hope he won´t be a Prince Henrik in future. I don't get that impression at all. He seems content to let Victoria have center stage, and she's always careful to include him when they're having a joint event. And other than Henrik, I don't think he can have had any illusions that he won't play second fiddle to her in public.
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Post by chriss on Apr 16, 2011 17:22:54 GMT -5
Thanks Emmeline! Again, Caroline kids can do a better job representing Monaco than any spawns of Trashbert and Conlene - actually they could do a better job than the non-dynamic duo themselves. The way they're setting it up, they could almost be plotting a takeover. Andrea for the political side (all those representative roles with charities and the internships at the embassies have to pay off eventually), Pierre for the business angle and Charlotte for the glamour that's so desperately missing from Albert and Charlene. Put those three into power and they'll run the country, especially with Caro around to add her experience until they've matured a little more.
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Post by chriss on Apr 16, 2011 17:18:23 GMT -5
I love the way Daniel keeps matching the colour of his ties to Victoria's clothes. That's a man who's internalised the idea that he's playing the support role, and who looks comfortable in it.
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Post by chriss on Apr 16, 2011 17:14:39 GMT -5
A French woman has filed a complaint with police in Nice, France, asserting she was sexually assaulted by Prince Albert II of Monaco. I'm going to treat this with a bit of caution until we know more tomorrow, but if this is true - never mind to which degree - then this is by far more serious than Albert's usual idiocies. It's one thing that he's an incompetent ruler and that he's very far from a moral role model. But once it gets into the area of not accepting a "no" in some way, it's crossing a line.
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Post by chriss on Apr 15, 2011 10:27:06 GMT -5
That cover is so incredibly icy. It doesn't make me want to go anywhere near that woman. All she's missing is a cigarette in her right hand and possibly a riding crop in the left. And that's supposed to look inviting?
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Post by chriss on Apr 15, 2011 4:53:46 GMT -5
I actually rather liked that wedding, it was such a nice change to see that not even the bride and groom took it seriously. ;D And I daresay it was more fun to have a party in a Greek tavern than a gala dinner in a palace - the royal guests get to do the latter far more often than the former, after all. Either you go the properly formal route and do it like Vicky and Daniel, or (I expect) Wills and Waity, or you do it like these two. If you try for a bit of fun while still making it a state occasion, you get what's going to happen in Monaco in July. Niko and Tatiana could have had street artists without problem and it would just have been another bit of insanity that fit with the overall theme.
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Post by chriss on Apr 14, 2011 1:38:02 GMT -5
With all the time he spends in airplanes, it makes perfect sense that they'd invite him as a guest speaker!
Environmentally concerned Prince. Yeah, sure. That's why he flew to Germany in his private airplane to talk about airplanes, then flew home again. That man's carbon footprint can be seen from outer space.
Why does he end up at all those odd foreign events anyway? Does he have a reputation as the last resort when they can't find anyone else whose name is remotely recognisable to the public?
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Post by chriss on Apr 13, 2011 11:59:11 GMT -5
The timing on this is just awesome. That sort of news, one day before a family-centric event like the christening? Someone's pissed off that paper, or they might have waited for the weekend when that sort of story pushes up the sales figures.
That man is an idiot, plain and simple. Is it that hard to remember that he's somewhat recognizable in Denmark?
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Post by chriss on Apr 13, 2011 1:58:24 GMT -5
many thanks for the photos caroline never looks happier than surrounded by her children, and they seem genuinely affectionate and loving to each other, it nice to see It's saying something when your twenty-something kids make sure to go on at least one winter and one summer holiday with you. Caro did a lot of weird/questionable/foolish things in her life, but with her kids she's been great.
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Post by chriss on Apr 12, 2011 3:36:49 GMT -5
Look! Andrea's shoes match Tatiana's dress! That's so sweet I got a tooth ache. Must be love
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Post by chriss on Apr 12, 2011 3:32:21 GMT -5
As far as Bunte and those magazines go, I think it's important to keep in mind that the online readers and commenters are not the biggest readers by a far chunk. I keep seeing all those "nobility"-themed zines show up on buses and in waiting rooms, always by older women. They religiously buy this stuff and they gobble it up. And they don't want criticism, they want fairytales and feel-good stories. So those stories about Charlene and Albert probably actually sell papers to that specific target group. Think of the majority of the royal boards out there and what people want to believe and how much they care or don't care about reality and the facts behind it.
One of my friends used to be a society journalist (regional level, but same atmosphere) and according to her, it's spinning fairy tales more than anything because people don't want facts, they want entertainment. The Grimaldis must have been a godsent for those journalists for decades now!
The problem only comes when a younger, more glamorous couple (read, Wills and Waity) comes along and pushes them back. Then you get all those comparisons because articles are more fun when there's a good and a bad side, and since Wills has to be on the good side, tha tonly leaves one spot for Albert.
What I think Monaco hasn't taken into account, though, is that the target reader group of Bunte et al isn't the sort of tourist who comes to Monaco. If they go on holidays, they're more likely to do the all-inclusive club tour. I assume part of the reasoning was to get the cruise tourists and hope they'll pick ships which stop in Monaco, but whether that pays off...
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Post by chriss on Apr 12, 2011 3:14:37 GMT -5
I just looked it up - I'd be fighting for that tournament too if I'd been the winner for the last six years. I'm actually a little surprised, I thought for sure he'd be living in Monaco to be this interested in the tournament.
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Post by chriss on Apr 12, 2011 2:59:44 GMT -5
Thank you for the pictures!
Motrice is an impressive project. Sure, Andrea is mostly lending his name to it all and it's part of presenting him as a viable heir to Albert, but he's been sticking to it for years now and he really seems to care about his charity. Enough to attend board meetings and administrative stuff and not just the galas, which is more than can be said for a lot of others.
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Post by chriss on Apr 11, 2011 13:42:49 GMT -5
Monaco is small enough that he probably can attend all openings. So only going to a few of them is bound to cause bad blood and lots of mutters about favourites and cronies. Albert needs to realise that these are his people. Not the Irish or the South Africans or the Lebanese or wherever else he's been in the past months. Yes, state visits are important, but he spends far too little time being seen in Monaco as it is. He's a Prince, and even as frog-like as this prince may be, there's a draw to it. People would take note, and I bet there'd be tourists who'd be interested in that sort of event. A lot more interested than in a country which seems to be abandoned by its monarch most of the time!
(And even if it's too much work for him to handle alone, there still are his sisters. There's the Casiraghi trio who can be recruited. Heck, come July, there's Charlene.)
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Post by chriss on Apr 11, 2011 10:42:23 GMT -5
Vacation, or she's "freshening up" after noticing all those wrinkles on the pictures from Ireland. She wasn't at the IOC dinner either when others obviously brought their spouses/SOs, so I agree with MyaDia and rearden - who knows where she is right now.
I'm curious: this sort of photo op with Nadal... does he do that for free or does Albert have to "sponsor" him in some way? I guess they've got to pay the top players to participate in the tournament, but can you put it into their contract that they need to be available for an additional photo op to make Albert look good? Because given what they earn, I can't imagine that sort of thing would come cheaply if it is done for money.
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Post by chriss on Apr 11, 2011 6:13:15 GMT -5
Joining the choir - thanks for giving us a new forum Myadia, and good luck with it all!
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Post by chriss on Apr 11, 2011 6:08:12 GMT -5
Perhaps she simply knows nothing about sports other than swimming and, what was it, rugby? She looks bored out of her mind whenever she's made to attend a football (soccer) match. Although with Nadal she should at least have had enough eyecandy to keep her attention focused! God knows I'm not interested in tennis, but for that sight I'd be happy to pretend for a few hours.
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Post by chriss on Apr 11, 2011 4:38:34 GMT -5
Albert invited fine ass Rafael Nadal to the palace on Sunday. Elisabeth anne and Melanie were also at the reception. any guesses why the flagship of Monaco (Charlene) wasn't there (or at least photographed with them)? Elisabeth and Melanie are both patrons of Monaco Tennis Association. I'm still trying to figure out the logic behind Charlene's apperances or lack thereof. They trot her out whenever there's something international to do (the bigger the faux pax of bringing her along, the better), but for something sports-related in Monaco she's nowhere to be seen. And when there are other Grimaldi women around, she's generally scarce, possibly because they'd eat her alive without Albert around to protect her (which he doesn't seem to be all that interested in). Have their marketing geniuses spent any time at all considering which sort of role they want her to develop? Because right now it's not "patron of sports" or "patron of fashion" or whatever, but "plastic-looking woman following Albert around on occasion and making him look irritated".
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Hello!
Apr 11, 2011 4:03:05 GMT -5
Post by chriss on Apr 11, 2011 4:03:05 GMT -5
Usually I'm Chris, but since I ended up adding that second 's' on RoyalDish, I figured I'd stick to that user name and stay Chriss in the royal discussion scene. I'm not an active poster on many royal boards, and got into it all mostly because the royal world kept intruding in a completely different project in my life, so I figured I'd go and put some research into it. Research uncovered all the insanity, intricacies and fun, past and present, and I'm always curious what madness they'll come up next. I'm looking forward to having fun with all of you here!
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