The BAFTAs are on Sunday, and Stephen Fry is hosting them for the millionth time. I kind of like Fry as host – he’s dapper and witty and he keeps things moving along at a steady clip. I like that the BAFTA people are like “Eh, if it ain’t broke…” when they keep giving Fry the gig. Prince William might be in attendance at the BAFTAs this year, like he was last year. He’s been president of BAFTA since 2010. I guess he’ll probably be back from Mustique in time? William and Kate claimed they would be in Mustique for two weeks, and today marks the 14th day. So, what will happen if William does show up after he and his staffers declined to take part in Fry’s recent activism? Fry, Benedict Cumberbatch and thousands of other celebrities have signed a petition asking for the pardon of 49,000 men who were criminalized for being gay in Britain. William and Kate wanted no part of it – I discussed it earlier this week.
Hollywood stars are descending on London before Sunday’s BAFTAs, the UK’s Oscar awards.
We hear one surprise behind-the-scenes of the show will involve host Stephen Fry presenting a petition to BAFTA president Prince William to pardon 49,000 men who were criminalized for being gay under British law like Alan Turing, who is the subject of the Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley film, “The Imitation Game.”
We hear the petition, which so far has 137,000 signatures — could rack up more than 150,000 by the time of the awards at the Royal Opera House. Among those supporting the plan so far are Matt Damon, Bryan Cranston, Lee Daniels, James Corden, Julian Fellowes and Alan Cumming.
If Stephen Fry presents the petition to William off-camera, with a few words about how William really should take this issue on, I don’t see a problem with that. People must personally lobby royal family members all the time, in all sorts of situations. But if Fry does it on-camera in the middle of the BAFTAs… well, that’s kind of rude. And it does put William in a bad position, especially since his staffers have already declined on William’s behalf, you know? That being said, if Fry does do it on camera, it will hilariously awkward and we might even see William have a tantrum! And that’s why William probably won’t even attend the BAFTAs this year.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Maybe they’re orchestrating it together? I can see the staffers declining without even consulting him (after all, personally instructing them would be “work”), and William realizing he has a chance to publicize it in a bigger way and prove he’s supportive.
Then again, I could be wrong and he could be completely apathetic.
I’m going with completely apathetic. That’s William’s modus operandi.
Jason probably hasn’t told them about the petition dust-up, as they’d have orders not to be disturbed on vacation unless it was a state emergency.
Sorry but this is ridiculous. Fry just wants to do his show.
The Royal Familly has no political power, he should rather present his petition to David Cameron or I don’t know the Archbishop of Canterbury.
I don’t know why they’re targeting these two twits for this campaign. The usual route for citizen petitions is to present them at 10 Downing Street. The big ones get national news coverage on all the networks, including footage of the presentation.
I wanted to sign this. But, in the end, as a British republican, the text of the letter was such that I felt I couldn’t.
I can get with this bit “We call upon Her Majesty’s Government to begin a discussion about the possibility of a pardoning all the men, alive or deceased, who like Alan Turing, were convicted.” HM Government is the government. The people who make these decisions. They should be thinking about it (Lucrezia, if you’re reading, even taking into account the expungement legislation).
I can’t get with this bit “It is up to young leaders of today including The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge…” No. It isn’t up to the BRF to influence HM Government on ANY issue, however worthy. It’s up to the BRF to do the exact opposite.
Gah. If we had a bloody republic, this wouldn’t be an issue.
My first thought when I read the headline was “what’s even the point of getting William’s signature?” Since when does he have any political influence at all, or any interest in the subject? Let alone the fact that ‘the royal family doesn’t he involved in political matters’ is a very valid reason to decline. Stephen Fry may be dapper and witty, but there’s definitely more than a bit of “showman” in him
I don’t know what Fry is doing but this is really starting to annoy me now and I’m an ally of the pardon cause, you know? But first principle has to be not to interfere with important constitutional arrangements, which are a cornerstone of our consent to a democracy headed by a constitutional monarchy. It’s much more important than any single issue.
Perhaps I’m just a terrible person for thinking this, but the whole thing feels like press for the movie. It’s a worthy cause, but it’s hard to take anything seriously that’s in conjunction with that ridiculous movie. Drop the publicity stunts.
Also, several of those boldface names that signed are American. What’s even the point of them signing if it’s to pressure the British government, aside from adding volume to the petition?
@ Sixer – I agree 100%. I don’t think the expungement legislation is “enough”, just that it’s good-enough as a temporary fix so that we can have a real discussion. As worded, the petition is very inclusive of all us pedants who think a pardon isn’t quite right.
(I keep saying “we” when I’m not British, but Oz tends to eventually follow suit, so I’m hoping you guys can get it right so Oz can easily copy.)
I don’t think I commented on the “why is this even addressed to the royals?” issue last thread. You, and so many others, had already said it so well. They’re not supposed to touch political issues, it’s diametrically opposed to their role in a constitutional monarchy.
Last thread, I wasn’t if sure Fry et al., were being stupid, or manipulative (invoking the Cambridges for extra media attention). The idea that Fry would present the petition to William at the BAFTAs makes me lean towards the latter, but I’m not convinced the story is true … it’s the kind of thing that I can easily imagine being made up. Either way, I’m side-eyeing Fry et al. I can respect a bit of media manipulation but it seems unfair to drag the Cambridges into it when they can’t respond. Pick on someone whose hands aren’t tied.
(For the record, I voted pro-monarchy in our referendum, but that’s because here we get to have a Governor General who does the job but stays almost completely under the radar. It’s cheaper and quieter than having a president. If we had to deal directly with the royal family, and all the associated hoopla, I’d probably be republican.)
I agree. Why once again present your cause to a cardboard figure? This is really baffling to me. This petition needs one more well-known name? What can William actually do for Fry’s cause? Fry may mean well, but… too much of a publicity stunt here.
@Freebunny
Exactly.
Fry knows the proper channels. He is also as well as the Royal Family’s limitations especially now – with the Prince Charles’ controversy.
But lets not let that get in the way of a few headlines and #blameitonthemiddletons game
Who is blaming the Middletons?
Why bring them into this?
It’s a double-edged sword. On the one hand, sure, it’s silly to try to embarrass the notoriously apathetic prince into action. Especially when he has no real power. However, we’ve woven ourselves a fine-right mess of a media culture, so much so that “stunts,” unfortunately, are what stir folks into action. No right answer, here, IMO. But, I do hope it happens — right or not — because I would LOVE to see ole’ wills squirm, or implode….not a fan.
I don’t take pleasure in other people’s humiliation. I hope Steven Fry doesn’t either. There would be something deeply hypocritical in that.
Egh, there isn’t a person a live who isn’t a hypocrite in some manner. Political activism has never been a polite affair.
Meghan is right. Should we be comfortable using our worst traits for the pursuit of activism? If the ends justifies the means are we honestly creating a better society or just postponing its further inevitable decay?
Well, I don’t agree that Megan is right. If we always acted as you suggest, we’d still be living in Jim Crow south. No thanks. And who gets to define “worst traits”? I’d argue that it is the worst trait in the world to always sit back and not agitate for change in the face of inequity. But, I guess if your in a position of privilege, then speaking truth to power is considered “a bad trait.”
If Steven Fry is trying to right past wrongs, one of which was the deep public humiliation of being criminalized for being gay, then he should not inflict public humiliation in the pursuit of that. It undermines his larger argument.
BBG
We’re not talking about speaking truth to power here. This is a stunt meant to corner someone who is high profile William has no authority to right this wrong. Better to open the conversation with those who can affect change.
“William really should take this issue on, I don’t see a problem with that.”
I don’t know if this is written by Americans or not but actually if he were to sign it – it would be a HUGE problem.
How free is he to express opinions as opposed to formally sign petitions? Could he say “I wish you luck with your cause but I am unable to get officially involved”?
He’s supposed to be politically neutral. But that’s tradition/convention not a specific law. Which actually makes it harder to find a loophole. The headlines would basically be the same whether he expressed an opinion or signed the petition. It would become all about the RF and political neutrality, and the specific topic would get lost.
Hi, american here
im just curious why figures like matt damon and bryan cranston are signing this petition. Can American citizens sign a British petition and still have their signature count? As we can see from the comment discussion, this petitions wording has a lot to do with the government of Britain, which is something most US citizens dont fully understand. So to sum up, do their signatures count? does it matter? IDK Im just confused
It depends whether or not it’s an official gov.uk petition or a petition on one of the campaigning websites not affiliated to the UK government. If it is gov.uk, then US signatories would not count. A certain number of gov.uk petitions get debated in Parliament if they get more than a certain number of signatories (not all, but I can’t remember precisely how they choose them).