So what's the word? I keep on hearing blurbs about rumors, allegations and innuendo -- is it involving a gay trist / affair???

Love ya to death, DC Bucky, you of the wonderful college football pool that must take lots of time and energy. But is this thread in the right category? Is there anything about the British Monarchy that is in any way related to politics or religion?

And if it is a gay scandal, I was hoping that it was about Prince William instead of Prince Charles, or even Andrew. I always got a vibe from Andrew, even though he was protrayed in the British press as a real playboy.

Yes, he was allegedly found in bed with Michael Fawcett (a senior aide} by a footman who then repeated what he saw to Princess Diana who allegedly taped his story.

That much is common knowledge now and has been published in newspapers in Scotland, Italy, etc., (including the name) so I dont think Im causing any legal problems by repeating it here. However, moderators, delete it if you wish.

Princess Diana and the footman both hated Mr Fawcett for other reasons so the allegations are in my opinion probably untrue anyway. Just part of a vicious media war between different royal factions.

I'd looked on a number of Websites--including Corriere della Serra and a Portuguese site, to see if I could find the exact description of what Burrell's recent book had resurrected about Prince Charles, but couldn't find it ANYWHERE. Does anyone have a direct link to any foreign paper that actually mentions what the allegations are?

The gossip is that one of his valets Fawcett would "finish him off" when he gave him massages/rub downs. That's it. He was not having an affair with a man of any sort. He's not gay or bi. Fawcett is gay. Not sure if he's the same aide as the one who raped the male staff member, but Charles getting mixed up in all this is a bit sad for Charles because, well, because he's not gay and they're angling this as that. If there's anything he's "guilty" of, it's supporting staff members who misbehave.

The gossip came about because of the Diana butler Burrell. One of Charles' aides--is it Fawcett again?--allegedly raped a male staff member. That staff member told someone who told Diana. Diana recorded a confession from the victim...and somehow the valet/Charles/happy ending story was mixed up in it (may have been Fawcett who was the doer in both). I'm sure Diana would have cataloged this bit of gossip as one more thing to use against him.

The info is coming to light because of her butler Burrell's new book.

Charles f**ked this up. He should have made a joke about it instead of getting that guy to deny it. Now, some thinks there's a possibility that he's gay, and the papers, knowing better, will tease it out as a story to sell. He should have made a joke about it and left it at that. I mean, everyone's a little gay, especially in those circles.

Of course, it didn't help that Charles was traveling when the story broke, and there's an amusing pic of him last week about to enter a mosque (or some building where he had to take his shoes off), and an eager aide is taking his shoes off for him.

Edward was the one long rumored to have been gay; supposedly his stage name at college (Cambridge?) was "Mavis." He readily denied the rumors and is now married to Princess Sophie, who is preggers, so Queen Elizabeth gets another little princess to leave some cash to.

Charles could hardly do worse damage than when his comments about wanting to be a "tampon" between the thighs of Camilla Parker-Bowles were released years ago, shortly after his cutting Princess Diana loose. His mother doesn't seem willing to hand over the reigns to him; he's rather a pathetic character, and perhps the best thing the monarchy could do is to ensure that his son, who seems to have great sense and compassion, without a lot of the royalist baggage, follows Elizabeth. This is, unless the British decide to scrap the whole mess altogether.

Prince William seems more likely to follow in the vein of the populist and down-to-earth royalty of Scandinavia and the Benelux countries. Queen Beatrix's son wed an Argentinian commoner, I think; the crown prince of Luxembourg married a black French non-royal; the King of Belgium tools around on a bike; and the royalty of Scandinavia also are fairly laid back. Even Spain's future heir is marrying a divorced, educated non-aristocrat. Even tradition-bound, clannish Japan has taken a more laid-back approach. The British royals, however, don't operate this way, though Diana was about as close as you could get to it.

(Changed to reflect the fact that Prince Felipe de Borbon is not yet married to his betrothed.)

[ November 12, 2003, 06:41 PM: Message edited by: fantomas ]

Fantomas: Corriere della sera was the first to publish the details on 11/8. I think the gist of it was someone found Charles in bed with a male servant.

Some places report that Fawcett found him, others that Fawcett was in bed. But I think the Popbitch valet happy ending story is more on the mark. Anyway, it's pointless really because, as someone pointed out, it all boils down to infighting at the time between Diana's camp and his.

As somebody said, a lot of people in those circles will have had tried out some gay stuff at some point. Indeed, homosexuality among the upper-classes is taken as read by most of Her Majesty's loyal subjects.

In my view these rumours have been exacerbated by some of Charles' defenders. Journalists like Penny Junor who are always wheeled out to defend him have used words like "vile" and "disgusting" to describe the CONTENT of the allegations which means lots of us had been assuming they went beyond normal gay sex (and were a bit let down to find that they didnt).

Before the details finally leaked out a lady neighbour of mine said "Yes, yes, but they cant mean just THAT, can they?" and then proceeded to speculate about corgis and even horses in an endeavour to find something which would meet her criteria for "vile" and/or "disgusting"! (a threshold which seemed to me quite high for a 60 year-old blue-rinse lady!).

Gives credibility to the phrase: "Is he gay or is he just British?"

Letterman's Top 10 Other Rumours about the British Royal Family
10. Two-thirds of Royal family have been sired by Mick Jagger.
9. Hors d'oeuvres at state dinners: Velveeta and mini-pizza bagels.
8. All that's left of the crown jewels is an old Timex.
7. Since polo accident, Prince Philip thinks he's a waiter at T.G.I. Friday's.
6. They're not really in charge -- Dick Cheney's secretly calling the shots.
5. The Queen will knight anyone who buys her smokes.
4. They ripped off family crest from old Grateful Dead album cover.
3. Trading in grand palaces for bitchin' condo near Boca.
2. I don't know about mash, but Princess Anne loves her bangers, if you know what I mean.
1. Prince William often caught "polishing his scepter" (CBS Late Night)

LOL - though really they dont leave much scope for satire. The reality is strange enough. Like Prince Charles not putting his toothpaste on his toothbrush. A servant has to do it for him. With a special gadget to push out just the right amount. Silver, three-feather design, emblazoned with his motto "Ich dien".

There's also the allegations that one of the other royal servants was homosexually raped; but his credibility is rather low, being an alcoholic Falklands War-traumitized liar and all.

I'm getting a good giggle at how this is playing out in the English press. Due to libel laws, they can't print what the allegations entail, so they resort to euphemism, allowing that smutty little blue-hair that James W alludes to free range to speculate. Then, The Palace has to issue statements denying the allegations, of which no one "officially" knows anything about.

Darn it all! That's what I was gonna get the Bonnie Prince Charlie for Christmas!

Oh well, I guess he'll just have to make do with the "I'm Not Gay, But My Manservant Is" t-shirt. wink

Maybe everybody wants some sort of scandal about Charles, so that it would put William (i.e. Diana with pants) next in line for the throne. What would it take in this day and age to disqualify Charles anyhow?

It would certainly be more interesting to read about a future scandal involving William, and the photos would be a lot easier on the eyes.

tell me if I'm wrong. But this is the British Royal Family we're talking about. right?

I mean..... in the brit upper-class, homosexuality is considered a cottage industry. You can't graduate from Eton without passing "Buggery 101".

a totally refreshing change from all this antiquated nonsense in the U.K. is the Spanish Royal family. Prince Felipe (who is absolutely gorgeous) getting engaged to an ansolutely beautiful news reporter who is a divorcee. what a contrast!

Well, William has admitted to "fancying" Beyoncé Knowles, so if they hooked up...but in this day and age, certainly in Britain, that would hardly be a scandal . He'd probably end up pretty happy. I guess he'd have to deal with Jay-Z first, though, who probably is tiring of the juicy-thighed chanteuse anyway.

Harry (aka Prince Pothead) appears to be the one headed for a scandalous future.

Well Bouncy Knowles has already made it clear that she could never kiss a woman in a video as several other female superstars already have. And her comments sort of oozed with the yuck factor when talking about lesbian acts. So I don't think she would go for anyone who doesn't share her views about homosexuality. I suspect William would find some unpleasant fundamentalist views there that might put him off her if he got to know her.

HI All
We must be getting to slow here, no one has made the obvious Aide de Camp joke for Charley boy.

Oh where is Kenneth Williams and the Carry On Team when you needs them

BTW as Mentioned the Prince of Wales motto is
Ich dien == I Serve in German.
I thought it amusing on two counts:

1. It's in German for god sakes, even after 2 wars against the dreaded Hun...
2. Just how the Prince serves his people is not a pretty thought...

Smoothboy

[URL=Kenneth Williams ]http://www.carryonline.com/carry/article.html[/URL]

Actually, shouldn't it be either "Ich diene" (I serve) or "Ich dein" (I [am] thine=I belong to you?)

Two wars, yes, but don't forget that the Windsors are essentially Germans!...their real name is von Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. That actually was King Edward VII's (1901-10) family name, taken from his father, Prince Albert, the consort-husband of Queen Victoria (1830-1901), who was of the Hanoverian line (also German, kings George, 1776, and all that).

It was George V, Elizabeth II's grandfather, who assumed the throne in 1910 (1910-1936), and changed the name to Windsor. (A related name change was Battenberg to Mountbatten.)

Semper Germanica....

As a side note, Beyonce has denied the statements about not wanting to do the Brittny/Madonna thing, and insists the whole thing was taken out of context - she knows her bread is buttered by more people than the men who want her booty.

As for the German lineage of the current monarchy, not only was Prince Albert (and yes he was the first to have the piercing we all know and love) German, I believe at least George V's wife (Queen Mary) or his mother was also German, so that by the time of WWI there wasn't a lot of British left in the family.

George VI (Elizabeth's father) changed that when he married the Queen Mum (who was a Scottish noblewoman), but then Elizabeth turned around and married a Greek!

Charles was nearly honor-bound to marry an actual British woman, and did so famously. Many in Britain considered Diana's family to have a better case for the throne than Charles' (yes, they are still fighting the War of the Roses), so that was one small reason why the match was so celebrated (God I love PBS!).

As for this scandal - um, who cares?

Editorial cartoon in the Phila. Daily News showing Charles wearing a royal crown, robe and carrying a purse, with the following question:

What do you call a grown man who wants to wear his mother's clothing and jewelry?

• Queen
• King
• Both

[ November 13, 2003, 11:20 AM: Message edited by: Joe in Philly ]