February 11, 2005
AND YOU THOUGHT KARL ROVE WAS A SUPERGENIUS?:
The third-way monarchy (Melanie Phillips, 11 February 2005, Daily Mail)
Anyone tempted to write off Tony Blair as a lame duck politician should think again. The announcement that the Prince of Wales is finally to marry Camilla Parker Bowles has the canny fingerprints of the Prime Minister — that consummate political operator — all over it.Consider first of all the timing. The wedding is to be held on April 8. The general election is expected to be called for May 5. Mr Blair has reportedly decided to fire the election gun in the week of the wedding and dissolve Parliament the day before, thus milking it to his advantage.
But an event of this significance would have been planned for some time, and the Prime Minister was certainly aware of it.
The timing of this marriage, so close to the election, is highly suspicious because it is so much in Mr Blair’s interests. It means that for him, much of the heat will be off because a firecracker — a major event of extraordinary constitutional significance and controversy — is being tossed (notwithstanding the leak) slap bang into the middle of the campaign.
Posted by Orrin Judd at February 11, 2005 1:48 PM
No doubt the next avenue of British press speculation will be: "How all this is good for the (damned) Jews."
Posted by: Luciferous at February 11, 2005 1:56 PMSo now karl Rove is arranging marriages for the royal family? Dang, he's good!
Posted by: Mike Morley at February 11, 2005 2:14 PMOf course Rove set this up to help Blair. That's why Rove had Princess Diana murdered, if I remember correctly.
Posted by: capt mike at February 11, 2005 2:28 PMThe British royal family appears to be going away with a whimper and not a bang. It cannot happen too soon.
Ms. Philips however gets two things wrong here. First, there is a concept called 'morganatic marriage' where the royal spouse does not get the title of 'King' or 'Queen' and any children he/she has with the monarch are ineligible for the line of succession. Louis XIV, after the death of the queen of France, married his concubine, Mme. de Maintenon, in this way. So, Price Nitwit could marry his paramour, not give her a crown and all would be perfectly legal and traditional.
Second, any yowling over this decision must have good King Henry twirling in his grave. He had 6 wives, some he divorced, others he beheaded, and others died. Prince Nitwit could wait until Mrs. Windsor is deep in the ground and then marry his woman with full honors. Henry VIII never took a poll or asked a focus group.
Posted by: Bart at February 11, 2005 2:56 PMI imagine Edward VIII is boiling w/anger in his grave over this. Sixty-nine years later and Wallis Warfield Simpson could have been accepted as Princess Consort. It was determined in 1936 that E8 could not enter into a morganatic marriage w/her. He could have done an "Al Gore", and possibly pulled it off, but he chose to abdicate instead. Had Elizabeth II died B4 now, I think the possibility of Charles III and Mrs. Parker-Bowles getting married, even in a civil ceremony, would have been remote.
Posted by: Dave W. at February 11, 2005 10:16 PM