It is not unusual to hear of spats and splits and jealousies involving members of Britain’s royal family, but the row that has been going on in recent days is the royal rumpus to beat them all.
In, essence, Prince Harry, the second son of King Charles and the late Princess Diana, has written a book claiming other family members, in league with some newspapers, ganged up against him and his mixed-race American wife, Meghan Markle.
He says his elder brother, William, criticised Meghan as “difficult and abrasive” and on one occasion physically attacked him.
Going back to boyhood, he said his father failed to hug him when he told him his mother had died – he was 12 at the time.
In a television interview promoting his book, Prince Harry said, “After many, many years of lies being told about me, certain members of the family and the tabloid Press have decided to get into bed with the devil.”
Parade naked
He instanced an article by Jeremy Clarkson, a columnist in the Sun newspaper, which said Meghan should be made to parade naked while people threw excrement at her.
Harry’s book is entitled Spare, a word he says summed up his position in the royal household. The term was often used by family members, he said. “I was the shadow, the supporting actor, Plan B. I was brought into the world in case something happened to brother Willy (William),” heir to the throne.
In another interview, Harry spoke about coolness between himself and his stepmother, Camilla, the present Queen Consort, saying they had not spoken “for a long time”.
In 2020, Prince Harry and his wife bought a home in California and announced they would be stepping back from royal duties.
Last week, Harry reaffirmed their situation, saying a return to Royal life would be “unbelievable”.
What he wanted, he said, was to reconcile with his family, particularly his father and his brother, who he still loved.
But he said, “There are certain things that we need to go through to heal the relationship.”
No member of the royal family responded immediately to the autobiography, though Prince William was said to be “burning with anger” about the accusations.
In a wider sense, the dispute raised questions about the position of the royal family in this country.
Prof Pauline Maclaran, from the Centre for the Study of Modern Monarchy, suggested that better-defined roles should be found for “spare” royals such as Prince Harry.
Alternatively, they could be released from any royal expectation.
Historian Ed Owens said Sweden and Denmark were examples where such an approach had been taken, downsizing royal families to the benefit of both the families and the individuals.
The crooks were young, the victims were elderly and the crime involved the abuse of trust.
Are older people more vulnerable because they cannot cope in a changing world?
The question arose after four fraudsters contacted six pensioners by telephone, pretending to be police officers, and told them their bank accounts had been targeted.
They persuaded their victims to hand over cash, valuables and bank details worth more than £200,000, claiming it was vital evidence.
At Teesside Crown Court, Adriana Andrade, 19, Arris Qumar, 26, Awals Zaman, 21 and Mya Haskins, 19, were jailed for periods of between 16 and 44 months.
Detective Andy Thompson said the fraud, known as courier crime, was “particularly callous”.
It is a good guess that many elderly victims of this type of crime grew up in a home without a telephone or where the phone was seen as something quasi-official.
Any voice on the phone would be seen as entirely believable.
In church one Sunday morning, the preacher said, “Anyone with special needs who wants to be prayed over, please come forward.”
Whereupon, Peter approached and said, “I need you to pray for help with my hearing.”
The preacher placed his hands over Peter’s ears and prayed and prayed and the whole congregation joined in with much enthusiasm.
After a few minutes, the preacher removed his hands, stood back and said, “So, Peter, how is your hearing now?”
Said Peter, “I really don’t know. The hearing only takes place next Thursday in the magistrate’s court.”
I told the doctor I broke my arm in two places. He told me to stop going to those places.
The teacher says, “Anyone who thinks he is stupid may stand up.”
Teacher: “So there is nobody stupid in this entire class?”
“Oh, Johnny,” says the teacher, “so you think you are stupid?”
“No, sir,” says Johnny, “I just feel bad that you are standing alone.”
