Whew, Prince William’s racist comments at a Ukrainian center were a two-day story. It might even be a 72 hour story. Even Keenshot didn’t get this much ink!! People are still putting the pieces together of exactly what happened, but here’s what everyone knows now: Richard Palmer of the Daily Express was the pool reporter at Wednesday’s event at the Ukrainian center. Palmer reported William’s comments this way: “He said Britons were more used to seeing conflict in Africa and Asia. ‘It’s very alien to see this in Europe. We are all behind you,’ he said. But he added that he, like many, wanted to do more to help. ‘We feel so useless,’ he said.” William got absolutely roasted as a racist throughout the day and evening Wednesday, and throughout Thursday, #PrinceWilliamIsARacist was still trending on Twitter.
On Thursday, an ITV journalist posted her video from the event, in which William is overheard saying: “Everyone is horrified by what they are seeing. The news every day, it’s almost unfathomable. For our generation, it’s very alien to see this in Europe. We’re all right behind you.” Within that one statement, he did not reference Asia or Africa, but he absolutely said “For our generation, it’s very alien to see this in Europe,” which is ahistorical bullsh-t. Palmer then went to the Press Association and asked them to change his pool reporting, and Palmer offered this passive-voiced explanation on his Twitter: “He doesn’t appear to have compared it to conflicts in Africa and Asia. In the chaos, a remark he made was misheard, starting a social media storm. Apologies for reporting that online.” The “social media storm” is an understatement, as other royal reporters attacked other journalists for reporting Palmer’s words. It was all a huge mess.
All in all, it was clear that on Thursday, Kensington Palace’s crack team of clowns was doing damage control and trying to contain the story and blame everyone else for William saying – on the record – that “For our generation, it’s very alien to see this in Europe.” We got to see the visible contract, as the wheels were put in motion on social media and through media-analysis pieces. Suddenly, legitimate outlets were running stories about the snafu and about the social media backlash against William. The Washington Post’s article was downright hilarious, as WaPo brought up Prince Philip’s many racist “gaffes” and described William as “second in line to the throne of a country with a long colonial history.” LMAO. Not only that, WaPo spoke to someone in Kensington Palace AND they quoted Robert Jobson, who absolutely made it worse.
Robert Jobson, royal editor at the London Evening Standard, told The Washington Post on Thursday that he was confident William’s statement “has been taken out of context.” Jobson described William as “an educated man,” adding: “I am sure he didn’t mean it to be racist.”
Jobson noted that “to have a war in Europe to most Europeans is unfamiliar and deeply troubling,” he said.
“Perhaps he was simply trying to say, albeit clumsily, that this war in Ukraine feels very close to home, as he was only a small child when the Bosnia conflict started and this is perhaps his first experience of such terrible conflict happening in Europe during his adulthood.”
In response to an inquiry regarding the social media storm, Kensington Palace pointed to a correction run by the U.K wire service PA Media and a transcript shared by ITV. “We do not have anything on the record to add at this time,” the palace said.
They’re sh-tting bricks at KP. He Who Incandescents must be punching walls and throwing desk chairs. And I have to wonder, maybe this would be a moment for a clarification and apology from William? It could be as simple as a tweet and the royal reporters would lap it up. As for Jobson’s comments… William is just months away from his 40th birthday. For such an “educated” grown-ass man to be so uneducated about the RECENT history of Europe is pretty concerning, and infantilizing William doesn’t help matters. “I am sure he didn’t mean it to be racist”!!! Ah, yes, many racist people don’t intend to be racist, it just…happens. Sometimes, you have to blame “African overpopulation” for putting pressure on wildlife. Sometimes, you have to lie and say that you’re very much not a racist family even though there’s ample evidence to the contrary. It’s all about racist intentions, not racist words or racist behaviors or racist smear campaigns.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- The Duke of Cambridge arrives for the opening ceremony of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and to give a speech in his role as the Lord High Commissioner to to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.,Image: 612142308, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Jane Barlow / Avalon
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- The Duke of Cambridge arrives for the opening ceremony of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and to give a speech in his role as the Lord High Commissioner to to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.,Image: 612142349, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Jane Barlow / Avalon
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- The Duke of Cambridge arrives for the opening ceremony of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and to give a speech in his role as the Lord High Commissioner to to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.,Image: 612142355, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Jane Barlow / Avalon
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- The Duke of Cambridge arrives for the opening ceremony of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and to give a speech in his role as the Lord High Commissioner to to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.,Image: 612142355, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Jane Barlow / Avalon
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- The Duke of Cambridge arrives for the opening ceremony of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and to give a speech in his role as the Lord High Commissioner to to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.,Image: 612142360, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Jane Barlow / Avalon
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- The Duke of Cambridge chats to resident Betty Magee(96) and her granddaughter Kimberley Anderson during a visit to the QueenŐs Bay Lodge Care Home in Edinburgh, that is run by the Church of Scotland through Cross Reach, to meet with staff, residents and families to hear about the impact of COVID-19 on the home.,Image: 612298276, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Andrew Milligan / Avalon
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- The Duke of Cambridge chats to resident Betty Magee(96) and her granddaughter Kimberley Anderson during a visit to the QueenŐs Bay Lodge Care Home in Edinburgh, that is run by the Church of Scotland through Cross Reach, to meet with staff, residents and families to hear about the impact of COVID-19 on the home.,Image: 612298341, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Andrew Milligan / Avalon
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- London, UK, 09th March 2022. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will visit the Ukrainian Cultural Centre in London to learn about the extraordinary efforts being made to support Ukrainians in the UK and across Europe.,Image: 668411650, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: IMAGEPLOTTER / Avalon
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- Mayor Of London Sadiq Khan poses between the Menorah and the Trafalagar Square Christmas Tree in Trafalgar Square, London, England, UK on Wednesday 9 December, 2020 to celebrate the Jewish Hanukkah festival which starts tomorrow and ends on Friday 18th December and in lieu of the annual Chanukkah In The Square event that normally takes place each year.,Image: 574799072, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
Putting his vicious tabloid attitude to Meghan and Harry aside, Palmer is the one Royal reporter that pays any lip service to journalism and reporting tactics. Unlike Rebecca English, I don’t believe he merely picks up the phone and writes verbatim what he is told, simply because he doesn’t have those sources and I think even if he did he would feel uncomfortable doing it to the extent she does. He is heavily involved in his paper’s union and collective bargaining. I don’t believe this is a mistake he would have made. William said it elsewhere in that meeting and Palmer used it to give background to the otherwise out of the blue quote. Palmer’s response is the “recollections may vary.” of Royal reporting. We all know the truth.
I have my own little theory about this whole thing. Personally i think that william definitely said it.
But if he really didn’t then i think Palmer might have added the Asia and Africa part on purpose to get back at william.
Palmer himself has a lot of implicit bias (though he would protest being called racist). I think the Asia and Africa stuff was editorializing on Palmer’s part. But William absolutely said the “alien to Europe” comment which is still pretty bad on its own.
Editorializing would have been if Richard had written the statement without the “he said” part. By writing “he said”, he’s attributing the statement directly to William (and removing himself as the author from responsibility for the quote).
The story was out for a few hours before deranger trolls started to mention the Asia and Africa thing. Then you could see it Wednesday evening spread across as a talking point for all the other Cambridge bots and some of the larger royalist accounts picked it up. The one reason why it became obvious that this planted as an excuse was because none of the other royal reporters stepped in to say anything until the next morning. Clearly if the story was that incorrect a media person would have noticed it right away. Instead some bot which we can likely trace to KP started to suggest that William never used the words Africa or Asia and it went from there.
@Blujfly: I agree with everything you say except your comparison of Palmer and English. His sources may not as close to the situation as hers are but he’s not opposed to parroting what he’s been told by the Palace. He was the one who tweeted, prior to Meghan and Harry leaving, that the entire Royal Family had distanced themselves from the Sussexes. After the Oprah interview, in his attempt to malign Harry and Meghan, he said that the family had helped them. A lot of people called him out and reminded him that he was saying the opposite 12 months earlier. He’s as much as a Palace stooge as the rest of them.
And Palmer never denied that he said it. He said he MAY have misheard or it was said at another point in the engagement. He is clearly being told to clean this mess up. Either way, Williams comment was racist and ignorant and their rebuttal isn’t getting that much coverage at all.
I cannot BELIEVE that I’m going to go anywhere near defending Palmer, JFC, but I think he knew exactly what he was doing. He knows William did say it, just not in that one clip KP is trying to push as William’s only remarks. IMO he was *pissed* at being forced to change what he’d originally written (and what he knew to be the truth); he dragged his feet and took a long time before addressing it, then stood his ground the best he could while still technically following the orders from the palace. That was one weak, half-assed “correction” he finally issued.
Palmer was awful to the Sussexes and I’ll never defend his horrible treatment of them. And I don’t follow him on Twitter, so all I know is what I read here & there. But he’s older than a lot of the other RRs, and idk what the typical retirement age in the UK is (UK CBs, help?), but it seems as if he’s steadily running out of fcks to give. (I’m a lot younger than he is and I have fewer to give each year, lol.) He may know he’s not going to be doing this much longer, so he doesn’t need to be as concerned about this sort of thing than his younger colleagues might be. It feels like he’s throwing juuuust enough shade into his writing to let people know how he really feels about the Cambridges.
To be clear I absolutely think he’s a first-class POS. But he doesn’t seem to be as purely, cruelly unhinged and driven entirely by hatred as some of the others (Eden, Levin, etc.).
I’m on the same page. His opinions about the Sussexes have been garbage but he was reporting what William said and I bet his notes show there was reference to Africa and Asia. He was just thrown under the bus when ITV edited their video. Which is why he said he “may have misheard”.
The “correction” didn’t get half as much attention and even Jake Tapper doubled down on his criticism of Billy Basher so I’m content with non-royal watchers (particularly those in the US) leaving with the rightful impression that Basher is racist, incompetent and helplessly stupid.
I feel the exact same way. If it really was misreported i don’t have it in me to give him any of my sympathy. Mainly because this level of protection that we are seeing right now was never afforded to Meghan.
So let’s just call it karma.
More than karma— I’m glad people are holding him accountable. His entire existence, he’s been able to get away with reprehensible behaviour because those around him couldn’t handle his fits of rage and he was shielded by his status as royalty. It taught him that he can get away with practically anything and still come out with clean hands.
Now he’s finding that you can’t bully the whole world into silence and that his actions—his words— have consequences. He probably isn’t learning anything from this experience; he probably thinks the world is out to get him and smear him, and he likely truly believes he’s not racist.
I think he’ll dig his heels in and definitely go on his Tropical Tour. At this point—in his mind— not going would be seen as an admission of guilt and by going, he proves he’s not racist. And the trip itself provides more opportunities to show exactly how not-racist he is.
The Fail appears to be silent on this matter. Can you imagine how they would have gone after Harry if he had said something like that? I was so pleased that Channel 4 News called Billy out for his ‘alien’ comment and linked it to sentiments about ‘civilised’, ‘blue eyed blonde’ refugees, and Eurocentric racial bias. It even went as far to say that Billy was showing his unconscious bias. It went on to talk about a hierarchy of the kind of refugees who merit sympathy. I am not sure how many other news stations carried the story, but Channel 4 News is one of the best for straightforward honest concise reporting, even though they have a small team in comparison with other stations their coverage of Ukraine is brilliant.
In my opinion his comment fits in well with what I have heard about Billy’s political leanings.
What’s especially un-alien is to see Europeans IN Africa and Asia waging wars, causing catastrophe for local civilians.
I think that Channel 4 coverage is exactly right. Richard Palmer and William tripped over their own hypocrisy, and into line with the recent racist coverage from (white) Western media about how “Ukrainians look like us” and are more “civilized” so we should care more.
I have family saying similar things, and I wish they would just admit that “we” care more out of a) self-interest, not some moral upright-ness: a resurgent Russia and war in Europe threaten Western interests and may drag us into conflict, and b) ‘us’ vs ‘the other’ bigotry and racism: western Euro-centrism and racism, not because Ukrainians are more or less deserving than Syrians or anyone else brutalized by war.
@SaraTor…l totally agree.
@PrincessK, do you know if any of that Channel 4 coverage is online? I would love to watch it. It is SO REFRESHING to finally see some people just telling the truth about William for once. It shouldn’t be so rare that it happens, but here we are. Maybe (🤞) this incident and the immediate worldwide response will open the floodgates and give others the confidence to be truthful about William as well.
Yes, it can be found if you go on Channel 4 TV. You can get the app for it. It was on the news bulletin on either March 10th or 9th. They have a list of their daily news bulletins which you can click on.
SarahTor–great post.
The war in Bosnia ended 25 years ago, so it probably isn’t that relevant to the experience of Millennials, however; Ukraine has been at war with Russia since 2014 when Russia invaded Crimea. This isn’t a new war, it’s an escalated war.
William was in his teens and a genocide was going on and well covered by the global media. New countries were formed in the area as a result of it. This would have been covered when he was in school so it’s hard to pretend that a 40 year old man had no clue of this happening in his teens.
Plus he is colonel of the Irish Guards and they served there. At the very least he should be aware of where the regiments he represents served.
Aside from the fact that he isn’t your average Millennial in his position, his mother’s trip to Bosnia is one of the most highly-publicized things she ever did, so I’m at a loss here.
He was in his teens for the Yugoslav wars AND the conflict and war that waged on in NORTHERN IRELAND (part of his supposed future Kingdom)
He was caught being racist – he is also often the least bright or well informed person in any room
There are a few versions of this floating around on Twitter, but I liked the music that went with this one 😂
https://twitter.com/PeteOlusoga/status/1501808757004812289
@Lorelei, lol, love that you picked that one because of the music. I’m a little torn thinking that they should have used Scott Joplin’s The Entertainer or the music from Can You Get Me to Sesame Street.
Will shows, on a regular basis, that he isn’t knowledgeable (or cares) about anything that doesn’t effect him at the present moment. Unless it’s something “important” like England losing a major championship game. And, he walks out without congratulating the winning team. I remember the stories before the England/Italy match. Glorifying him and it could be his big moment. Like, if England won, it would be because of him. Epic fail on his behavior. Again.
Also remember Wootton referring to Will as ‘statesman like’. LOL That’s equal to calling Trump or Putin ‘statesman like’.
This would be exactly like Willnot saying he has no memory of 9/11, which wasn’t even in Europe, like all the other wars he has apparently forgotten. Same time frame.
Snafu – situation normal: all f*cked up. One of my favorite acronyms. Sums up every second of William’s life.
FUBAR also works quite well in this instance–effed up beyond all repair.
William also told the Ukrainians at the center they have nothing to give, only their best wishes.
This story would’ve blown over, but the BRF with their PR spin, just blew it up.
Now they are attacking a black woman reporter, Omid, Jack Tapper and Bernice King, because they’re not buying their BS.
Most of the outrage at Harry and Meghan is mostly manufactured and always from the same ppl, but William gets dragged by a wider audience everytime partly because those royalist trolls are not doing anything to endear their faves to anyone.
Every time something like this happens, the royalist trolls out themselves and the Cambridge fans look SO BAD. So bad! One of them was dragging Bernice King yesterday and said something like “I hope my daughter doesnt grow up to be like you” or something. W.T.F. (thanks to Lorelei for sending me that link!)
That appalled me too, Becks.
As Christopher Bouzy said, they attack Black women for sport so it’s no surprise they would attack Bernice King.
@EM
Someone on Twitter made a good point saying that Harry and Meghan get nearly 100% negative coverage in the UK yet it’s the positive stories (career success, family stuff, leaving the RF, dropping lawsuits on their haters, winning said lawsuits, going to the Super Bowl, etc) that always cause them to go viral with the general public. The opposite is true of the Cambridges. They get practically 100% sycophantic coverage in the UK and good/fair coverage everywhere else, yet the only time they ever go viral is when they eff up bigly (racism, mean girling Meghan in church, pigeon flinching, using black folks for photo-ops after racism, calling Princess Diana a paranoid liar, etc.) Kate’s gold dress would be the only recent exception and that BARELY reached the general public, mostly just fashion twitter. Most people wouldn’t recognize that dress the way they’d recognize Meghan’s green “bye, Shutter Island” dress with the cape.
It speaks volumes about how people really feel about both couples.
@Nyro, They’re right and I think it shows that the press doesn’t really represent public opinion. They attempt to represent and influence it but people are mostly able to make up their own minds.
Honestly, I wish he hadn’t made these racist comments (not bc I think it gives the wrong impression that he’s a racist, because he is) but because now the comments about how their smiles are all they have to give are getting completely buried. He said that an odd smile here and there is all they can offer!!!!! This is after knowing that the Queen et al donated.
Maybe PC has seriously tightened the purse strings? I bet PW can’t wait to be over the duchy of Cornwall to have the money to himself.
The odd smile here or there quote was so weird. It’s like Will said out loud what the royals and the men in grey say behind the scenes about these photo calls. It’s probably what they tell Burger King when he protests having to work–don’t worry too much about connecting with the peasants. The odd smile here or there is enough to keep them satisfied. Then Burger King goes and actually says it out loud. Harry would never.
@Equality, speaking of Charles, today (and yesterday) is another one of those times where I would give almost anything to be a fly on the wall at CH or wherever he is. To be able to see his reaction when negative headlines started pouring in from all over the WORLD. I guess the best we can hope for is that eventually, some aide writes a tell-all after leaving the BRF, and we can at least find out years later how things went down. Charles must have absolutely hit the roof— especially given the extremely poor timing of this shitshow.
ETA: IMO, Charles would not be upset only at the racism William revealed and the bad publicity it brought, he’ll also be genuinely embarrassed at how stupid and ignorant William is and now everyone knows it. I don’t think much of Charles, but I do think he’s a smart man who values education and lifetime learning.
Unleasing their attack dogs onto POCs and journalists that dont kiss their arse is just going to make this much worse. This is a good time to call off the attack 🐕 🐕, stfu and let this story die from lack of oxygen. Knowing William/KP and their utter stupidity, they’ll just double down on the attacks and thus continue to douse gas and oxygen on this already too big a fire🔥. Oh well…
It’s shocking to watch RR and Cambridge fans go after certain non white reporters for literally repeating what the PA and Richard Palmer wrote. How much self awareness is lacking in these people?
Omg the comment about not having anything to give makes me mad all over again. HOW HARD IS IT TO PACK BLANKETS, WATER, AND FOOD IN A BOX? The royal succession is really screwed if this guy gets to the throne. Did Russia lend him some money or something ?
Personally i don’t think the correction is much better.
That’s because the RR does NOT UNDERSTAND that what he said is racist. They just see it as true, so they published it in the first place.
And it is true. For many in the royal family, this is a shock. They do think that this only happens in Asia and Africa. The fact that it’s not true does not mean they don’t believe it. And the royal reporters probably believe it too.
So how can you correct something you actually believe?
It’s a stretch to even call it a correction. The Africa and Asia comment wasn’t in quotes, but the general rule would be that Palmer heard it said, but he didn’t have it recorded so he wouldn’t put it in quotes. Then KP releases a lame video of the quoted portion of the article, which proves that Palmer pretty much quoted Burger King correctly lending credibility to Palmer’s reporting. So release a clip that demonstrates Palmer was reporting correctly in order to prove that his article was wrong? Burger King was there for longer than the 2 minutes of the KP clip and he said a lot of things that weren’t recorded and that is what KP cannot disprove.
It’s likely that the KP staffers had to pull this together while Burger King raged at them over the speaker phone so their logic was not the best.
The second video started mid-speech, so who knows what The Elegant Statesman said before that.
I wonder if any of the employees or volunteers at the center will leak more online, because I cannot imagine that Bill’s “smiles are important too!” comment, like he was fcking visiting Sesame Street, went over too well with people who are actually there working, who do not have untold wealth, and who support these nitwits with their taxes.
I can’t lie; I’m enjoying seeing him get his ass dragged so much. It is SO well-deserved and I hope it continues today.
Someone with video editing experience needs to check what they released because even to someone like me it seems massively altered.
I still believe that William said this and that the invisible contract is hard at work.
The invisible contract is definitely at work. I saw the original ITV video early yesterday morning and William did make the comment about Africa and Asia. When I looked at the same video a few hours later, it had been edited to remove the Africa and Asia comment. I heard what I heard. Palmer did not “mishear.” He correctly reported what William actually said.
I am just baffled by this invisible contract. Why do they keep protecting these people? It’s 2022 in the year of our lord Beyonce and they serve no purpose. Why are they being propped up? What is the benefit to the rota? With the notable exception of Harry and Meghan, that whole family is worse than the Kardashians.
The class system run really really deep in England. It is hard to comprehend as an an outsider – but it runs very deep and the royal family is the pinnacle of that system. There’s a real social and emotional investment in keep this system going. England has always been a very conservative country with a very weak leftist political culture. The royals have also been invested with the status of a national symbol as the living embodiment of a deep historical continuity.
There’s a vested interest in keeping them on within the social and political elite – and when you grow up in a monarchy you are unconsciously indoctrinated to accept (and in some cases revere) the existence the monarch.
If it was simply a matter of a straight-forward cost-benefit analysis, they would have been abolished a long time ago. In fact, they were abolished for about 20 years during the 17th century. And were only restored because Oliver Cromwell’s son wasn’t really up to the job as Head of State.
It’s fascinating to see the way all the royal rota joined to protect William, he’s having it easy for now but the queens greatest asset is the ability to keep silent but William and Kate to some extent lack that because they want to compete with the Sussexes and that will be their biggest downfall and it’s going to be so bad that no amount of spin will cover up for them. Also I find it fascinating that they’re letting their trolls attack and abuse prominent ppl on their behalf from Bernice king to jake tapper to literally anyone that says anything critical, this is how you make ppl hate you and they don’t seem to realize that.
I mean they would like to be like meghan and harry in the sense that people will view them as a young, pretty to look at, charismatic and dynamic couple. But they don’t want to do the work.
For the survival of the monarchy they are kind off forced to compete with meghan and harry. If been saying for a while that for their generation and the ones after, they simply can’t be the type of monarchs his grandmother was. It’s not going to cut it
I loled at the *pretty to look at comment*
The more the trolls attack prominent people like Bernice Kong and Jake Tapper, the more credibility is given to Chris Bouzy’s report. Let them keep telling on themselves.
^^ I wouldn’t say that C. Bouzy’s reports are given more ‘credibility’ because of the actions of Cambridge trolls. Maybe you mean, the trolls’ attacks give Bouzy’s reports more impact and resonance. IMO, Bouzy’s reports are detailed, reliable, well-researched, verifiable, and already exceedingly credible!
As a former employment lawyer, I used to represent managers in discrimination lawsuits and every.single.one told me that they are not sexist or racist….AS IF THEIR OWN BELIEF ABOUT THEMSELVES IS EVIDENCE. i used to have to counsel them repeatedly that it does not matter what you THINK you are. What matters is what you SAY AND DO. This is what the RF NEVER understands.
Here in CA, I have an East Coast salesperson calling one of my managers “badly raised”, “low character”, et al, because she’s sticking to the rules regarding political advertising.
My manager is Latina.
I flagged it for HR.
People who are arrogant are stupid as well.
Yup! And anytime someone says you “didn’t mean it to be racist,” well, the problem is your actions!
SO MUCH THIS!!! My former in-laws were commercial and residential owners and the racist ish they’d spew on the daily was unbelievable, when I’d object the follow up was infallibly
“ We’re NOT racists!”
The total lack of awareness made it 10 X worse to deal with…
So glad PW’s getting rightfully dragged but I doubt they’ll be anything close to a learning moment…
^^ Here, Here!!! ☑️ +1,000 @Sapphire.Topaz!
The palace put out a statement about Kate’s botox and extensions.
The fact that they’re not saying anything official for this means that they’re worried someone could come along afterwards with receipts to prove them wrong.
Which means he said the parts they’re trying to deny (interesting that Palmer didn’t actually retract his wording, not really). Maybe not at that exact moment, but he said them.
And I don’t know what they think they’re achieving when even the “alien” part on its own is awful.
I agree. Now, or rather 2 days ago, would’ve been a good time to put out an official statement on the record, either denying, or clarifying, what was said. That fact that William/KP is only relying on the rota and bots to clean it up for him kind of proves that he did say what was reported as you’ve said. That invisible contract is trash because, you can see from a mile away and it really doesn’t get the job done like an official statement would.
Also, the RRs are dumb as hell. Look at how much engagement they got from reporting the truth about William. They got global coverage. They really need to stop with the kiss ass stories because it is getting them no where. Even if the palace shuts off access for telling the truth, with all of the dirt they have on the RF, they would be printing their own money. And people are ready and willing to drag the royals as everyone can see. Tear up the contract and start spilling the real tea.
The invisible contract is no longer invisible – quite the contrary. Harry called it out and this particular clean up job has been so clumsy that everyone can see he was absolutely right.
Yeah and even that statement blew up in their faces after the actual hairdresser who did her extensions came out and admitted it.
Their PR team is shockingly inept.
That was funny. And then people did the math and found Kate canceled events with charities that only saw her annually for all day hair appointments.
Palmer 100% knows he said it, and his editor knows he said it, etc. No way would he have included that in his reporting if he didn’t hear William say it. He’s not that stupid. Frankly I think he knew exactly what he was doing – he knew William said it, he knew it would blow up, and he knew KP would freak out. so now it’s been removed and we’ve seen the cover-up play out in real time, we’ve seen the invisible contract be once again insanely visible, etc. If I was a RR who was getting annoyed at having to cover boring William and his boring wife and wasn’t ever allowed to write about the more interesting dirt I knew, this is what I might have done. We’ve seen other RRs do similar things before (print/write something that doesn’t make the royals look good and then it gets walked back very quickly but its still out there, like the Tatler article, or the article about William having dinners and long walks with Rose Hanbury etc.)
Posting a one minute video that was clearly edited where no one can see William’s face/lips…..is not the flex that KP thought it would be.
I wholeheartedly subscribe to your theory, Becks1. It took how many hours —15? — for the RR to come up with a badly edited video and a spin that even Palmolive couldn’t speak with his whole chest. And no one is buying it. Even with the visible contract at play, the usual suspects are just paying the spin lip service or deflecting. This cover up took way too long to launch and has been poorly executed. Social media brought all the receipts BEFORE the cover up even started and instantly pivoted to peel apart the clumsy attempt to paper over #PrinceWilliamIaARacist. The RR are sitting on a mountain of compromising stuff and you can sense them champing at the bit to dig into it.
@Becks: I honestly believe Palmer didn’t know that it would blow up. He didn’t see anything wrong with what William said and so included it in his piece.
I could definitely be giving him too much credit. It just seems like something planted to make William look bad, and that maybe Palmer didn’t realize how MUCH it would blow up, but these people do seem to reside in pretty racist bubbles so maybe Palmer just thought William had a good point here.
I think he knew, or he wouldn’t have let it hang out there for so long before the cover-up. The public at large pounced immediately, because it was just so fundamentally racist and shocking.
Agree. Definitely said it.
Maybe he said it “jokingly” to the reporters at the event given he’s so chummy with the media, and didn’t think through that saying things to reporters can be reported on even when it isn’t part of the official comment?
Maybe, kind of like his jokes about COVID in March 2020.
I said this yesterday but I’ll say it again – makes you wonder how many racist/insensitive/inappropriate comments of his have been buried/hidden/covered up by the RRs.
I am still seeing derangers try to defend that Covid stuff by trying to pretend that Covid wasn’t a big thing in Europe when he spoke in March 2020. Which wasn’t true because Italy was getting slammed at that point.
William is just an ignorant man. That’s why he says all this insensitive and racist stuff.
@Nic919
I agree that Willnot is ignorant/ unprepared but also, he knows he is protected. The Invisible Contract is there to cover up and make his gaffes disappear. Back when Harry was his scapegoat, the spin would lead HIM to take the blame for W’s stupidity. This whole episode clearly shows the extent to which Harry’s exit has affected Willnot’s position. Charles will be livid and will have to face the fact that the RF’s letting Willnot get away with coasting, not preparing and generally being a fuck-up now makes him an embarrassment but also a liability to that institution. What a shit show.
Thank you for mentioning the weird editing! Editors do this in reality TV all the time – take a sound clip out of context and drop it in an unrelated scene without showing the speaker onscreen. There are plenty of video clips showing different angles of Will & Kate at this event where you can see Will’s face while he’s talking, so Palmer’s retorts about this being the only video is a huge lie. They intentionally dropped an edited clip (with the “Asia and Africa” comment snipped out) into a video clip where you can’t see his mouth as he’s talking, and they were too racist to realize that the ‘alien’ clip they left in was just as awful.
If Harry had been at this event with them, the ‘clean-up’ would’ve just been to clarify that he had made the offensive remarks, not William, who was a perfectly behaved benevolent future future who was very disappointed in his dumb brother’s comments. As it stands, I’m kind of surprised they didn’t blame it on Kate, except nobody would’ve believed that people could hear or understand anything she said.
Sorry, Sunday. I didn’t see your comment below mine. Great minds and all that…
@Becks
I totally agree. That’s exactly what happend. Richard Palmer has been whining for years now, since H&M left, about how boring the royal beat is. The last time William went viral for his comments about there basically being too many Africans, I remember Richard saying half-heartedly defending William and then said something to the effect of “but at least something exciting is finally happening again in royal reporting”. He’s said things like that on numerous occasions post-Sussexit and he’s also expressed frustration around access and how they get away with lying to royal reporters. He’s a racist royalist who absolutely hates Harry and Meghan but it’s always been clear to me that he’s not exactly a real fan of the rest of the members of the BRF either. And the man absolutely HATES his job. Apparently be went from covering the war in Bosnia to covering the royals. So there’s clearly a story going on there.
So yeah, William totally said it. Richard totally heard it. And he seized his opportunity to get some excitement and clout while twisting the knife in William.
Seeing the royal rota spin into action yesterday reminded me of their attempts after the Sunday Times story about exiling Harry and Meghan to Africa came out. We tend to forget that story but it put KP and William’s racism on full display. Jobson is writing a palace approved book on William in time for his 40th birthday but his comments to the Washington Post showed his racism and did nothing to help William. If he was a small child at the time of the Bosnian War (he wasn’t, he was a teenager) he spent 18 months at Sandhurst Military Academy where he would have been taught about the UK’s role in the war. This is just embarrassing. As for Richard Palmer, he either heard William say Africa and Asia or he didn’t. If he wasn’t sure he said that, it should not have been included in his piece. That he included it means either William said it or he heard William’s dog whistles. This episode just confirmed that William is a racist, lazy and ignorant man.
The man has a Bachelor’s degree in Geography! He’s a prince of a “realm.” You’d think he’d have some basic knowledge of his own family’s history let alone Europe as a whole since they are almost one and the same.
But no. His awareness is limited to his own existence and MAYBE to that of his children so that their experiences can be repeated during his own events.
Why we’re supposed to be OK with William spouting off about how alien this war is when this discussions has ALREADY been had multiple times in the news is beyond me. It’s just so obvious that he is not curious about the world around him, is not educated, is not even aware of culture at this point and time. Not even to assist with his job. He’s right. He is useless.
Yes, people tend to forget about the plan to send the Sussexes to Africa, what more evidence is needed that the Palace was plotting to push them out.
Also, the Good Friday agreement was in 1998, but the St Andrew’s agreement wasn’t until 2006. Operation Banner didn’t end until *July 2007* when William was 25 years old — old enough to know perfectly well what had been going on.
Ireland is his *next-door neighbor,* as is Northern Ireland, and Northern Ireland is literally part of the United Kingdom, anddddd the whole point of the “Troubles” was because England invaded Ireland centuries ago and tried to take over and Irish people rebelled. I guess Ireland doesn’t count as part of Europe????
(I’m Irish and absolutely detest these royals and royalists trying to erase the brutal history of English oppression. Is 2007 even that long ago? Nothing really got reconciled either, tensions could flare up any time.)
Seeing as they still have press embargoes when they go to Northern Ireland or Ireland for security reasons, you would think he would wonder why those still take place and not when he visits Canada or the UAE.
I’m sure that was taught on one of the *many* days BB played hooky and went on a ski trip. Or maybe it was the day he swiped the heli to land in Keen’s yard? Or when he was nursing a hangover in his private home off base?
BB was *never* held to the same standards (academically or training wise) as his “classmates” (in *any* situation). How many times did we hear that he didn’t amass enough flying hours, or that (in Uni) he almost dropped out, copied papers (or had Keen write them), the agriculture course (for taking over the Duchy) that he never finished… and on and on.
Wasn’t the ‘exile the Sussexes to Africa’ story quickly spun into Kate was moving pieces to exile them? (As if the geography major William doesn’t know Africa is a continent and not a country, infact has a whole plethora of different countries with different cultures and history….)
I was shocked, since there’s no audio avaiable (yet) of William saying it that it wasn’t spun already to be Kate said it.
@Amy Bee said:
“Seeing the royal rota spin into action yesterday reminded me of their attempts after the Sunday Times story about exiling Harry and Meghan to Africa came out. We tend to forget that story…”
^^ I don’t know about other people, but I have never forgotten this indelible incident. It was famously Easter Sunday 2019, and also the Queen’s actual birthday! We might term it, Sunday, Bloody Sunday! Royal family members walked to church and it was quite obvious that something was seriously rotten, roiling, and decaying in the House of Windsor.
Harry studiously avoided being seen walking near his brother. Harry was likely trying to get on with it and putting a public face on it (as he told Oprah, was often necessary). We saw Harry walking and talking with Kate instead (maybe he was trying to be publicly supportive of her, due to the stench of roses 🌹 that was also in the air at that time). Will had spectacularly sent legal papers to the media claiming his civil rights would be violated if they wrote about his ‘I’m very much not an adulterer’ Rose affair. The Sykes article was a payback message to Will, in large part.
This was the incident that brought fully home to me the extent of Will’s betrayals and f@!kery against Harry & Meghan. 🤪 Churlish Will kept a dumb smile on his face, while everyone else avoided him like the plague. I spied Princess Anne glancing toward Will at one point with an angry glare. That bit, I believe, was later edited out.
Most telling of all: When the Queen arrived, everyone curtsied or bowed, except Will, which meant he’d already seen her earlier that same day — she had probably laid him out on the carpet and demanded he ‘fix’ the Tom Sykes Times debacle. So many spin stories came out afterward, it’s no wonder the incident has been relatively pushed to the side. As well, Kate was almost immediately afterward given that honorary medal as a consolation prize.
In part, @Amy Bee and @PrincessK, some people don’t recall this important incident because they weren’t following that closely at the time, or they were/ are royalists, reluctant to believe any ill of FFK!
Even watching the stupid royal rota as closely and as often as I do, I am still absolutely ASTONISHED that on twitter the blame for Palmolive’s quotes are being laid at the feet of Nadine White and Scobie. People are enraged that they DIRECTLY QUOTED what had already been published in UK newspapers. Not coincidentally, they are both POC.
The mind-blowing hypocrisy of the deranger’s outrage that a misquote/”mistake” has blown up around the world and made their boring princeling look bad is sort of entertaining to watch, but so frustrating. Some defending the bad press (lies in print) that H&M get as their “deserving it” – as opposed to billy who doesn’t. Racism is just f’ing crazy and it makes racists f’ing crazy.
The racist scapegoating of Omid and Nadine White and even Bernice King is astounding. They were quoting someone else’s story and so if the story was wrong, the normal thing to do would be to criticize the person who wrote the story incorrectly. (We know he was pressured to change the story but that’s another issue). To see Wootton and all the other racist jerks attack someone for relying on a story printed across several UK and global outlets is just disgusting.
This is all gearing up nicely for the Cambridges’ visit to the Caribbean. A shitstorm is coming.
I do love it when things work out well for a change. Hand me my popcorn please.
Ya, this is gonna be good. 🙂 Anyone with sense woulda cancelled this tour by now.
^^ Yup! They already cancelled showing up in public at the BAFTAs. I can’t wait to see who will make jokes during the awards show at Burger King’s expense! 😆
The palace got away for decades, downplaying Harry’s intelligence in order to exaggerate William’s. With Harry no longer shielding his brother, the propaganda the palace and media used to prop up William has fallen apart in a matter of months.
Constantly throwing Harry under the bus to protect William forced Harry to face consequences for his actions that have ultimately helped Harry to become a better well-rounded human being. The same cannot be said for William.
Not even Charles has been coddled this much. William being protected from even mild consequences has turned him into an immature human who will be a terrible king.
The moment both brothers speak reveals a lot. Harry is more intelligent than his brother.
I suspect William will end up being the downfall of the monarchy. He cannot control the world to spread his propaganda, not with social media today.
Well said, Lurker8. I wonder if it is finally dawning on them that Harry was their secret weapon. His being used as a scapegoat for Willnot (and the rest of the family really) merely papered over the rot and incompetence that is the BRF personified by the current shit show. I’m so glad H &M had the strength to leave and thrive on their own terms.
^^ @Lurker8 said:
“Constantly throwing Harry under the bus to protect William forced Harry to face consequences for his actions that have ultimately helped Harry to become a better well-rounded human being. The same cannot be said for William.”
I’ve recognized this since 2019, and mentioned it often. I had begun viewing revealing documentaries from the early 2000s, which casually demonstrated how as youths, Will was always protected at Harry’s expense.
Before 2019, I had found it hard to believe William would so easily betray his brother. It slowly dawned on me that Will does not have good character, and that he actually is lazy, snobby, petty, and jealous of Harry. The only thing Will learned, is that Harry was there to be used as his scapegoat and idea man.
Meanwhile, Harry suffered but he also grew from his suffering, because he has a bigger heart and sincere compassion for other people. Harry realizes the BM have no leverage over him because all his youthful mistakes are out there already. He owned up to those mistakes, and they can no longer be used against him, try as the BM might.
Will was impressionable and vulnerable too at the age of 15, when his mother died. Unfortunately, even if Charles has some caring for his sons, the bottom line is, he’s not been a good father. He’s been too selfish, especially in using his sons for p.r., and in telling them they would have to suffer as he did.
Although Will was taken over by the grey men at a vulnerable age, I don’t have much sympathy for him. He should have realized how much he’s being used, and at least tried to put his foot down on sacrificing his brother and allowing the firm to always throw Harry to the wolves. Will displays so much weakness of character and petty cruelty.
The way they’re going after Nadine White and Omid Scobie for covering what the PA, via Richard Palmer, reported is so vile. Whew, the RR is racist and one effed up little circle jerk. Add KP and the RF into that and it’s an absolute mess.
I wish I could be surprised but I’m not. I am angry and sad at the same time though. SMH at this family. I don’t know why KP or PW don’t issue a statement condemning the abuse like they did for the footballers. They’re exhausting.
^^ Why? Because KP, Will, the grey men, and the entire firm are hiding behind the vile petticoats of the trolls and the BM. They are all still adhering to the writ in stone philosophy that the direct heirs, especially FFK Willileaks must be protected at all costs, in order to preserve the monarchy as they know it, and as they feed off of.
Little do they seem to fully recognize or accept that both Charles and Willileaks are and will be the combined undoing of the monarchy when Betty finally passes the snuffed out torch (if the institution doesn’t implode from within beforehand).
Both Chuck & Will in their teens, decidedly chafed at having their lives conscripted and hidebound to being king at some distant future date. Both are most definitely ‘trapped’ by their fate, as Harry sadly told the world.
William 💯 without a doubt said it and 💯 thought there was nothing wrong with his statement. Richard Palmer felt zero qualms about reporting it, because he too thought there was nothing wrong with that statement. Why? Because the majority of UK press have been saying the EXACT 👏🏽 SAME 👏🏽 THING!!
The UK press, controlled by Tory overlords who works overtime to deny reality to further their own greedy, racist, xenophobic, selfish interests. To hide their lies, misdeeds, amoral, unethical and downright criminal behavior. They are so steeped in their own bullshit filled echo chamber that they believe no one will ever challenge the narratives they pump out. Then become perpetually shocked when the world outside their bubble calls them out.
This is where William resides. This is your future king, UK. He’s not even on the throne yet and he’s dragging the UKs reputation into the gutter.
@snuffles and @becks1- So I’m curious as to whether Palmer really reported this thinking that there was nothing wrong with it because he too is racist or bc, as Becks said upthread, he did it on purpose knowing it was racist and would blow up in William’s face. Honestly, I’m torn. It could be either.
I don’t think Palmer likes the Cambridges and I think he just reported what he heard. He was massively critical about their laziness and how they treated the press poorly up until Meghan came into the picture. Then he shifted his criticism to Meghan and Harry. But it’s not like he was praising the Cambridges either during that time.
I’m not sure the two are mutually exclusive. Palmer is pretty dismissive of Sussex fans and any allegations of racism re: the royal family. I can see him not thinking this was racist but also thinking that the Sussex Squad would be all over it. I don’t think he anticipated Jake Tapper, Bernice King et al weighing in. I think that’s why it took so long for a “retraction,” bc the international attention this attracted came as a surprise. Like I think he thought it would be a “thing” in royal circles, basically, even if he didn’t think it was racist.
That makes sense. He knew it would incite, but his own racism prevented him from seeing how bad it really was and how it would outrage people beyond the sussex squad.
Too many other media personalities and politicians have been getting a dragging for similar comments, so Palmer knew. And he also knows that this is journalism gold, so he’ll print it. He could have printed any other throwaway quote, but from the sound of it, he didn’t have much to choose from (William feeling “useless” is not much better.)
But like I said above, William is incurious, so he probably didn’t know about the blowback others are getting for saying similar “How could this happen in our Europe?! This only happens to brown people!” kind of things. But they all collectively have whitewashed their recent histories because war and conflict is not foreign to Europe and many European countries have no problem sending their troops to other countries to fight conflicts (often of their making).
Oh he said it! And the fact that it keeps going back and forth enflames me more. Just admit it. Just like he thinks the biracial was trouble he cannot comprehend “his” people can do no wrong.
Wasn’t Palmer the one who started the Rose Hanbury rural rose gossip online? He knew exactly what he was doing. He’s a sh*t stirrer. And I totally believe Bulliam made the Africa and Asia comments. KP is not making a statement because it’s true and someone somewhere has the original video they don’t want leaked.
For me, the absolute worst part is that these RR are themselves so racist that they see absolutely nothing wrong with taking out the Africa and Asia part and thinking the alien part in Europe is okay. William behaves like a toddler, he will always be protected and treated like a toddler. The RR are doing him and his mutton button wife no favors in constantly protecting their dumb asses because the rest of the world is seeing this play out in real time and when the keenbridges set foot outside of the uk the other countries media won’t play by the same protect these two dumb asses at all cost rules. My hope is that Jamaica, Bahamas and Belize media call him out on what he said and no one lets this drop . I hope in a years time his words are still being thrown back at him. We had to hear the constant lies that Meghan is a bully, she made Kate cry, she breaks protocol, she is narcissistic, she is that woman, she doesn’t understand the rules, she didn’t want to do the job over and over again. So let’s finally hear the truth about William and Kate racist ass repeated over and over again
This is exactly right. Will said it, Palmer reported b/c both believe it. QED
You mean, people can misremember? The shock! When Meghan l didn’t mention one little thing regarding her court case, everyone was climbing up her ass about it.
Also, once again, it doesn’t matter that he didn’t specifically mention Africa or Asia, he still said “it’s very alien to see this in EUROPE”. That means William (and Kate btw because THAT’s when she chose to give verbally agree) are aware that the same situations are currently taking place and have taken place in non-European countries. It shows the blatant ignorance. These two dunderheads both made visits related to Afghanistan in which survivors (I don’t like using the word refugees. These survivors (regardless of where they come from) are so resilient and strong. ‘Refugees’ diminishes that) went through the exact SAME THING. They made this big show about “oh, we’re so humble, look at us caring about the poor refugees” desperately trying to one up H&M.
This is Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette all over again.
So keen to be a “KInG” and “KweEN”, they need to f ing act like it. Idiots
The rota mob should be slamming Palmer as a liar and calling him Pinocchio, which is the penalty for misremembering in the UK, right? Oh, but wait. Sorry. I misremembered. That is only the penalty for the half-black American showstopper of a Duchess. Carry on.
It is GORGEOUS to see all of the Cambridge stans all of a sudden claiming the Fail always lies, you can’t believe everything you read there, and in any case, KP should have intervened immediately. O rly?
NOW this is their position? You have to laugh.
Racists gonna racist
If William and Kate weren’t so intent on competing with Harry and Meghan, this debacle would not have happened.
At this moment in time, Kate is grinning from ear to ear that her biggest crime in this entire William is a racist thing is that she flapped her jazz hands.
Exactly Kate is a disposable fool but Basher is the hairless and witless heir’s heir so the monarchy is in BIG trouble. I can now see why the ploy was to shout SQUIRRELS and blameshift to the innocent H and M but now Basher is front and centre speaking his truth. Doing it HIS way on the next tour will have his crisis manager bald by the end of the trip. And they they are bigged up as the great WHITE hopes (shouldnt that be dopes?) of the monarchy! Well totally NOT IN MY NAME!
Let’s be real here, William most definitely said what Richard Palmer said he did, the fact that the entire British media is now tying themselves into pretzels to protect his racist ass, tells me yes , a thousand times yes he said it
Exactly. And even Palmer doesn’t issue an outright denial. Just that he may have misheard. There are photos of Palmer standing right behind William as he’s speaking and taking notes. There is no way he misheard Africa and Asia. Of course William said it.
He had to say he may have misheard, because he can’t guarantee someone who was there will contradict him OR that the full or other video might come out. He’s cleaning up his mess and trying to protect his own rear at the same time.
In his position, one should have a better understanding of history. I’m some years older than him, but I do remember the civil war in former Yugoslavia very well. It was just about 30 years ago.
William can make amends by taking in Ukrainian refugees as everyone in UK has now been asked to. He DID say he felt useless well now is his chance to step up and take in people in need!
This spin has fixed nothing imo. It’s shady af that suddenly the reporter “ may have misheard” only after there was pushback against his comment. And then no one is willing to outright say he didn’t say it cause he did and they’re terrified of someone having proof he said it. The africa and asia bit aside, saying war is “alien” to Europe left a bad taste in people’s mouths as well. This comment was ignorant as well. Watching them all close ranks in real-time after 15 hours of silence was incredible and shows what COULD’VE been done for M.
Good lord at all the clenching in those photos. William’s butt cheeks must be permanently chaffed.
Racist, stupid, lazy, angry and ugly AF.
I love how they say George and Charlotte are asking questions about the invasion of Ukraine at ages 6 and 8 but apparently William who would have been around nine when the war in Bosnia started and closer to 13 or 14 when it was resolved apparently did not care that a mass genocide was taking place despite it being covered by the media extensively.
For real. This makes no sense. So 7 and 8 year old are more informed about international relations than a 13-14 year old William? Get real. That little George and Char quote was probably just the Keens once again relating any activity they do to their kids because they are uninformed and don’t know how to carry on a relevant conversation.
It’s funny how The Cambridge children are always somehow interested in whatever engagement the Cambridges attend. It’s going to be funny growing up and being asked about these interests and having to actually deny it
George and Charlotte seems to be very up on all things global. They don’t miss a thing these two 6 and 8 year olds
Anything to remind people of their “good parents” credibility, which is the only kind they have.
Sure, these are the genius children that are so keen on aviation and the environment and Faberge eggs and hunting in Scotland and the importance of early childhood education…
Don’t forget Mary Berry.
Sad as it turned out, watching Charlotte’s reaction to seeing Sir David Attenborough in her back yard was pretty cute.
The sad part was George being gifted a prehistoric shark tooth, while the other two just got to stand and watch.
Watching this all unfold on Twitter and the media was a very clear lesson in just how the invisible contract works these RR are mercenary pens for hire. Then you have PW who thinks everyone is beneath him so no response from KP is required. (And in British society almost every one is beneath him and he banks on that) What I want to know is how anyone no matter their social status or financial situation would walk into a Ukrainian center that is frantically trying to collect, sort, box and transport supplies for people in a war zone and not bring anything to help. No financial backing, no hands to help, no lunch to ease the day just their thoughts and smiles. If that is all they can do why do they cost so much? How much can two small pans of desert bars cost £10 max? I bet she has a spectacular new wardrobe for her Caribbean (holiday) tour wonder though.
But they brought their smiles!
A picture is worth a thousand words, but William’s assistant just checked the exchange rate and a royal smile is worth 90 million rubles.
*oops edit out “wonder” 🥴
@Cessily
But i thought I saw or read that Kate brought brownies???
@CC
I screeched so loud my cat jumped
@Cessily, I feel like at this point, we can drop the “invisible”
That’s a passive aggressive correction if I ever saw one – the Duke “doesn’t appear” to have said what several people heard him say. And if he did say it, well shucks, he’s just like his beloved grandfather with the adorable racist gaffes.
And notice Palmer’s apology is for “posting” the comments, not that he thinks he got it wrong. My guess is they threatened his credentials if he didn’t change his tune.
The funniest part is the palace saying that they have “nothing to add”. Well, I would HOPE not, that’s quite enough.
I think that Palmer’s “correction” tweet is written in such a way to shield himself so that if/when the real video emerges, he can’t be accused of lying.
In his first sentence, he said “He doesn’t appear” to have compared it to conflicts in Asia/Africa. Then the next sentence: “In the chaos, a remark he [Prince William] made was misheard, starting a social media storm.” — That “misheard” remark could and likely is the fact that he missed the ” in his generation” qualifier that TOBB included in the sentence about the alien-ness of war in Europe causing the media storm – which it definitely did as PWT was dragged for his ignorance of history as much as he was for the implicit racism.
It took 14-15 hours for this correction to come out, so doubtful that Palmer wanted to damage his reputation by retracting his report, but omitting the “my generation” in his reporting really was a miss that created a storm of its own and he likely was apologetic enough over that to issue his correction.
When blood and marriage are the only qualifications….
Also the Cambridges should be really careful, in their bid to come off as pound-land Harry and Meghan they keep making blunders and trying to insert themselves in political issues, the Sussexes will get no retaliation because they’re irrelevant to the continuation monarchy but William should hope and pray the Russians aren’t gathering intel on his gardening and other activities because they’re known to keep grudges for a very long time.
I’d be surprised if the Russians didn’t have several gigs of info on William and the RF in general. One tends to keep track of folks who are selling titles for cash. 😉
Robert Jobsen totally made it worse when he said he was sure William didn’t mean to be racist. I was dreading the coverage for his book about William but now I’m wondering how much of that book is going to inadvertently backfire for William.
All that nonsense about war in Europe not being in William’s generation only serves to confirm that William apparently was a sheltered teen who DGAF about mass genocide in the balkans and learned nothing while attending military school. And it showed the British bias in their treatment of Northern Ireland which to this day requires embargoed visits due to the conflict.
Aw, man, I wanted to see what they’d come up with as a cover.
‘No, no, he didn’t say “war in Africa and Asia.” He said, “foreign half…rickshaw is…stranger? “ Or maybe “boring…ass…maths with…ten razors?”’
The RR are the friends that keep covering up for the person crashing their car so they don’t get a DUI, but never addressing the real issue. It doesn’t matter that they are doing this clean up because William WILL say something racist or insensitive again, like all the other racist and insensitive things he’s said. Because the problem is him. He said something else incredibly boneheaded at this SAME event!
@Dee, I love this metaphor. And it works for a while, but eventually it crashes and burns.
Oh, my God; I live in Guatemala, and even I know that war and conflict is part of Europe’s history.
I absolutely William believe did refer to Africa & Asia. The discourse in uk generally is this war is ‘special’ because it’s close to home etc & people who have long been hostile to refugees & immigration which informed the Brexit debate, suddenly want doors thrown open.
So neither William or Richard when he filed the comments or Rebecca English who used Richards’s comments saw anything wrong with them until the backlash.
Even now Richard Palmer still indicates that he heard the reference possibly during a different part of the meeting.
https://twitter.com/jozzzaphen/status/1502261897688662016?s=21
Whether TOB named Asia and Africa explicitly or implicitly doesn’t matter in the long run, he made the same racist point either way. I think he did say it and hoping for more video.
St Andrews must be so proud to have PW with his geography degree represent them.
Also, the queen had more than smiles to give, didn’t she? She donated ‘generously’ and publicly.
I’m feeling like the Caribbean tour might be cancelled.
William is 2 years younger than I am and would have been 10-13 during the war in Bosnia. That should be old enough to remember SOMETHING, especially for a person whose job is supposed to include international relations.
And this is why Royals should stay out of politics: they are prone to foot in mouth disease. He should stick to cutting ribbons and talking about the weather.
Alright, I had to go and visit the St. Andrew’s website and look up what it says about studying Geography. This is what comes up:
Geography
Bridge the gap between human society and the physical environment, and find solutions to some of humanity’s most pressing problems, such as environmental change, population dynamics, biodiversity loss and global inequalities.
Geography modules at St Andrews will prepare you to research complex societal and environmental projects for the benefit of all.
Yeah, I’d be asking for my money back and for a review of the curriculum.
^^ LOL! Yeah sure, but likely the most St. Andrews can be blamed for is continuing the coddling of FFK William by giving him passing grades. The school can’t be blamed for Will’s lazy ineptitude, nor for his unwillingness to apply himself and to work hard.
St Andrews is an excellent university. Please don’t blame them for William’s ignorance.
This could have gone so much better if William had taken responsibility for what he said and apologized for the “alien” comment. Coupled with Palmer’s “misheard” and William might have salvaged this. But no…William can never misstep. Placing the blame on Dr Martin Luther King Jr’s daughter is one of the most egregious and racist responses out there. Like how in the world do you wrap your mouth to say she’s not someone you want your child to emulate. How?! These bots and the people who sicced them on Omid & Bernice King are out of their minds. Attack the POCs but not Palmer & the DF. That’s racist, you stupid racists! Way to prove you’re all in bed together.
It’s very startling to see how Bill is portrayed by the BM to how he actually is IRL.
He is ignorant. It can’t be hidden in this day and age.
What’s tragic is Bill and others in his circle don’t want to change for the better it seems.
I hope more people stand up to the royals and call them out for their racism because covering up said racism makes them complicit, IMO.
I get it now. The protocol is “Never explain, Never apologize. Deny, Deny.”
Ummm…there was a civil war in a country your Granny rules that didn’t end until the mid-90s…
I’m William’s age and I remember it just fine. And I’m not even European. Families in my town would host kids from Northern Ireland over the summers called the Summer Relief Program.
Someone on Twitter commented that they (William and all the reporters who have been reporting on how this war is foreign to Europe) may not consider for example Bosnia and Herzegovina European because those countries are predominantly Muslim. What is happening Ukrainian is happening to a predominantly Christian population. Food for thoughts.
Serbia is mostly orthodox and Croatia is mostly catholic so unless they are just ignorant of all people who aren’t Anglican, that is pretty dumb as an excuse.
New countries were created as a result of this war. Mr geography degree should have been aware if not at the time then at St Andrews.
Yep, exactly.
If they really want to improve their reputation in the US and if they have any PR people worth paying, PW would apologize and reference Bernice King’s statement in his apology. Having his stans and bots attack her is NOT the way to re-spin this. PH managed to apologize and learn from his racist actions and statements.
Agree. Instead another paid for yougov poll may come out saying Will is now the most popular royal ever by record breaking percentages!
Karma is coming for him – I’ll bet the upcoming tour gets ‘postponed’ due to this. Buttons McMutton will be furious if her free holiday gets canned.
They’re not canceling anything. They’ll show up, talk about the kids loving everything in Jamaica, wear something local, touch each other’s back or hold hands to try and distract from this.
Aka they are gonna try and cosplay Harry and Meghan’s South Africa tour guarantee it!!!
Jesus, this guy is such a fkn tool.
I had to laugh at KP’s “we have nothing to add..” I should hope not. They’ve probably been told to “shut up, shut up, shut up.”
@Eurydice, somehow I just saw this comment now, and I’m laughing so hard
This was simple, it should’ve been another performative visit in which Kate does one of her cosplays, in this instance Meghan.
A perfect spectacle, in lieu of the actual circumstances in Ukraine. Instead it became about William’s lack of current European history.
The cover up blamed the Other, two specifically journalists for using the Press Association’s feed using an edited version of the video.
Since then, said blame shifting has just now include the new leak – Harry not attending his grandfather’s memorial service.
In other words, same old, same old. This couple will continue on the same path as long as the reliance of BTM to sell leaks end and distractions as news.
Unwilling scapegoats will be used to hide their obvious flaws, until they become the scapegoats to grow the BTM’s profit margin.
There will be no acknowledged mistakes so no learning curve, they will continue on the same path, no need to want to grow nor willingness to be challenged about their ideas and belief.
If only I could remember the name of the owner of The London Evening Standard. Something with an L… Probably saw the name of the father on a very recent sanctions list.
Re: everyone bringing up Bosnia and Northern Ireland as a factual correction to his statement about “it’s all very alien to see this in Europe”…. I wonder. Is he even more racist than we thought and saying he doesn’t consider the Balkans to be a part of Europe and the Bosnians to be European? Is he saying that the Troubles and Northern Ireland isn’t a European conflict? I remember that it was reported that William was a huge Brexit supporter. Some of the rhetoric coming from Brexit supporters regarding Eastern Europeans was honestly reminiscent of the worst of the Nazi propaganda re: Slavic ppl. And I am sure what was said in private as much worse. I wonder if he was attempting to assure the Ukrainians that he saw their war as happening in Europe- and them as Europeans? I do not think that he is unaware the Bosnian conflict occurred. What exactly is William’s definition of Europe and European, I wonder? Maybe I’m wrong here and he has entirely forgotten about the existence of two major European conflicts during his lifetime, but I don’t think so. It is very obvious from everything that he is anti-black but I honestly think his racism/ xenophobia is even worse than a lot of people are imagining. It is astonishing that this is what he thinks is acceptable to say in public.
I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case.
I have seen clips of his 21st birthday party recently and it is astonishing how awful it is to see white idiots dressed in African tribal gear head to a fancy palace. This was in 2003 and this kind of racist party would not have been considered okay. It screamed colonialism, racism, really everything awful and the UK media sent cameras instead of critiquing the shit out of it.
And let’s not forget the painting he has in KP called the Negro Page. For someone born in 1982, there is no way he doesn’t know that’s racist. And kate must be as well because they are saying she picked it.
Plus they were both cool with being carried in thrones by persons of colour. A non racist person would have felt uncomfortable by the offer knowing their relative positions in society. But these two were just fine with it. Only racist people would not have seen the issue in the 2010s. Hell even Charles knew not to do it and he’s a generation older.
So in short yes William is that racist.
“I am sure he didn’t mean it to be racist.” LMFAO, I can’t believe he really said this, it’s so tragically hilarious.
It is not necessary to prove intent to prove the fact of racism. If you want to prove fraud, yes you need to show scienter. Racism? Nope.
Edit to previous post of Well Wisher ***
Line 7 should read * William’s lack of knowledge of current European History.
Line 9 should read * two specific journalists…
Line 19 should read * the reliance of the BTM to sell leaks and distractions as news.
Final line should read * about their ideas and beliefs.
This incident is not on the Sussexes’ doorstep-future kings should know historical facts before speaking-these shitstains complaining and whining about what Bernice King said can go and stick their heads in the toilet-they can never ever tell people of color how feel, what to say, and present a view about something-until they walk in our shoes they can vomit until their intestines fall out-they drool out the side of their mouths with no world knowledge about poc experiences.Just don’t go to the King Center with your stupidity and ignorance.
The man can’t EVEN think of something basic to say, without putting his foot into his mouth, and being racist. How hard is it to make a blasé statement like, “Praying for Ukraine’s people. Let’s hope the war ends soon.” Is it THAT hard? Shaking my head. I would have loved to attend the privileged schools that he went to. What a sad waste of money!!
“And I have to wonder, maybe this would be a moment for a clarification and apology from William?”
It certainly would be but William would never admit he was wrong. Ever. He will expect people to fall on their swords for him just like every other self respecting dictator king.
Please why do so many of you all give these racist bastards so much credit?Valentine Low verified the press was aware of Meghan struggling in 2019 and they knew she went to HR. Once the story got wings it was edited out of the interview. Then we have the worse dad in the world interview. Tom Sr admitted publicly that he has Jason phone number among others. The old fart went off script and confessed “he was working with KP to mess up HM wedding. The Australian tv show the next day came up with some BULL💩 about Tom the clown statement. The Bird looking reporter apologized to those mentioned. That interview was edited just like Lows and Eggplant. It’s Bull💩. Their motto “ignore and it will go away.” Low and Fitzwilliam racially criticized Archie can’t find that info anymore.
I don’t believe these assholes are royalty. Their stupidity, ignorance, conceit and lies are on full display. Their royals by default. Their warmongers and overthrew every country worldwide. Created a monopoly and been giving the world a goddamn “GOLDEN SHOWERS” everyday! Granny taught those boys everything. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
They created the poverty to create charity work. They do nothing to uplift anyone but themselves. People like the press are their trained “SEALS!” It’s all bull💩. I trust none of them. I’m having doubt about the Sussex. Hollyweird and England are well connected! These parasites control everything!
I think Kate’s passive-aggressive stance of, “Let HIM do all the talking since he hates when I say or do anything at these events” really worked in her favor. We usually focus on his sneers, hostile looks and faces of disgust at Kate. This time, she was no distraction for him so he did it all himself. And made an absolute SHIT SHOW of it. He thinks he’s superior to Kate? Bullshit. Because he’s so arrogant, he has no idea how stupid and racist he is and he never will know, with all these sycophants racing to his defense.
William is the gift that keeps on giving. Let him bury them all, the sooner the better.
I watched a documentary on the royals or staff working for royals (a few months back but will try to remember name of it) and they were talking of a chef making a fairy tale chocolate mice around a chocolate clock for the young royals. Apparently, Bulliam bit all the heads of the mice and made Harry and Eugenie and Beatrice all scream and cry. The nanny had to send the chocolate back to the chef and tell him not to send anything like this (chef was blamed not Willy) and the story went on saying that Willy was always proving to be a naughty boy who constantly upset every one by his behavior. I don’t think this idiot has changed. Clearly he cheated his way through life, bullying anybody in his way. His karma is his face, his hair (sorry lack of it) and his wife. And no photo ops of him being a sweet dad to one of his kids OR him hanging out in a group of POC laughing and smiling? I’m shocked. He must have his head resting on Carole’s lap while James messages his feet. “The pleebs made me say it ….”
The original journalist who reported William’s quote has retracted it. He did not mention Asia or Africa in his statement.
So basically PW is just clueless about Ireland and Bosnia. K.
So William who is supposed to be a ‘statesman’ and represent uk on a world stage is unaware of recent wars/conflicts in Europe. Not great.