Letters to the Editor
maureenodonnell
Published Letters: 577 Editor's Choice: 5
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Ann H. What's all this about Queen Elizabeth's "descent"?
[Read the article: Obama should be proud to be named Hussein]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]She is not going down but is the most popular of the royals with the British public. Prince William is also popular because he's young and good-looking, havin been lucky enough to inherit Diana's looks and not those of his father, Prince Charles. The royal show provides light entertainment for people on this side of the world and it's all the better because we, in the Republic of Ireland, don't have to pay taxes for it. Sylvain, you really are determined to support Juan Cole but, of course, I don't suspect your motives. I was just wondering if I could be a descendant of Henry V111 because he was Lord of the United Kingdom and Ireland. There's no historical record of him crossing the Irish Sea but who cares? I've been staring at that portrait of him done by Hans Holbein, and with due respect to the dead, I don't like his eyes. They seem a bit piggy and my own eyes are far from that. Anne Boleyn had relatives in Kilkenny and he ditched Catherine of Aragon (too holy and prissy) for Anne. Now I wonder.....
It's getting late, I have things to do but if anything interesting crops up I might not be able to resist.
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Stackey-dackey, you are right but just before I go I must tell you something
[Read the article: Obama should be proud to be named Hussein]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"The Tudors" is strictly for an American audience, Jonathan Rhys-Myers is Irish (real name O'Keefe) and I think "men in tights" was a great idea because women could see if this or that stud had knock-knees, bulginh varicose veins or was spavined like a very lame horse. The idea of the cod-piece was also brilliant because then stupid media people wouldn't have to be asking impertinent questions about a male candidates'underwear - boxers, cotton or lycra etc. I'm sorry for intruding on the debate about Barack Obama's middle name as people seem to be getting exercised about it. Cheers.
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Juan Cole and slb
[Read the article: Obama should be proud to be named Hussein]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm the only one awake in this house right now, and I should know better, but when Juan Cole now brings a reference to Edward IV to the fore I had to consult a biographical dictionary. If ( and it's a very large "if) Edward 1V is a descendant of the Prophet I'd keep quiet about it. "He died suddenly on 9 April l483 worn out by his debaucheries" He was born in Rouen (Northern France) to Richard, Duke of York, and Cicely Neville (Norman French, I presume, just like Geoffrey Chaucer "father of the English language"). This posting is upsetting my circadian rhyrhm as I'm in a completely different time zone and need to sleep. I'll definitely go to the library and look for a book on Edward 1V, not the least to find out about his debaucheries! I can't see what point Juan Cole is making. Barack Obama's father was from Kenya, which is in sub-Saharan Africa, not from the Arab lands bordering the Mediterranean. Yes, it is all far-fetched, particularly if you have to reach back to the l5th century and to the thousands of miles separating the different points in this story. Why on earth is he trying to associate Barack Obama with the British royal family? I'd be going in the opposite direction trying to dissociate myself from them, if there was the remotest (there isn't!) possibility that I had any connection whatever with them. If the English want them, that's fine by me but Diana Spencer was a pawn in their power game - very young, your "typical English rose" and tested for virginity plus fecundity. She played her own game too but she lost.
slb, I compliment you on your knowledge. Just after I last posted, I was reading "The Times" (London) when I saw an article about a film on "The Other Boleyn Girl", starring Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman - film to be released on 7 March. You're absolutely right about the reaction to Dodi al-Fayed's romance with Diana. At the inquest this week (l0 years later) Mohammed al-Fayed accused the royal family of being behind the car crash, along with British Intelligence. He also called the queen's husband, Prince Philip, "a Nazi". I've no idea where Juan Cole got the notion of Br. royal family being "forthright" about any connections to Andalusia. If that statement were to appear in any British newspaper it would be greeted with total disbelief. Maybe they dance the flamenco on the quiet!