Last month, the Telegraph published an unintentionally hilarious interview with historian David Starkey. Starkey ended up talking sh-t about Prince William (“hopeless… Nature intended him to be the manager of a second-division football team and he’s be rather stretched at that”) and the monarchy (“fading into irrelevance”). I was surprised that the Telegraph even published the interview. Well, they’re at it again. Piers Morgan’s wife Celia Walden interviewed A.C. Grayling, a British philosopher, professor and author. His new book is Discriminations: Making Peace in the Culture Wars. He spoke about how the right-wing uses “woke” as a pejorative, but woke is a good thing and societies should be anti-discrimination and more. He spent part of the interview discussing the Duchess of Sussex and how Meghan is the epicenter of the “woke wars” within the UK.
When it comes to “campaigns of cancellation”, there is no better current example than Meghan Markle, says A.C. Grayling. “The attempt to cancel Meghan Markle was and is huge. I mean, there are so many different media outlets and groups in society that are really dumping on her.”
There’s something very amusing about her name in his mouth. After all, this is Prof A.C. Grayling, philosopher and bestselling author of Philosophy and Life: Exploring the Great Questions of How to Live. For the past hour, we have been ricocheting from the origins of Christianity and the Roman emperor Theodosius to Holocaust denial. Then, out of nowhere, up pops the royal Kardashian, her name carefully enunciated.
“Now, I’m completely neutral on her score, since I really don’t know all the details,” the 75-year-old goes on when I ask what he thinks the reasons behind this cancellation campaign may be. Because as someone who has “dumped on her” more than once, I’m thinking some of them may be valid. “It’s not impossible to exclude the racial thing,” he says. “The idea that people don’t want a woman of colour in the Royal family, while others didn’t like the way she behaved.” Indeed. “People are very possessive over the Royal family. There’s a standard of purity which has to be met, because it preserves the heart of things. Then, if it’s penetrated by someone deemed to be a little bit too woke…”
…“Listen,” he resumes, “I don’t know what it is about her personally that seems so abrasive and barbative to people. I cited her as an example of a massive cancelling endeavour on the part of the anti-wokeists to make a point.” Which is? “That if that amount of attention were directed at something truly awful like white supremacists? Then there would at least be a bit of a balance, wouldn’t there?”
“People are very possessive over the Royal family. There’s a standard of purity which has to be met, because it preserves the heart of things. Then, if it’s penetrated by someone deemed to be a little bit too woke…” Standard of purity? Penetrated? A little bit too woke? Obviously, the right-wing still uses “woke” and “DEI” as not-subtle dog-whistles to mean Black. When people cry about Meghan being “too woke” for the Windsors, they mean Black, that she’s too Black for the Windsors. When someone says that the Windsors’ purity must not be penetrated by woke, they mean the Windsors must stay white, with no mixed-race princes or princesses in the line of succession. But what Grayling says about “the attempt to cancel Meghan Markle was and is huge” is absolutely correct.
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- 113903, AC Grayling, a British philosopher, speaks at the Oxford Union. London, United Kingdom – Thursday February 27, 2014. UK, FRANCE, AUS, NZ, CHINA, HONG KONG, TAIWAN, SPAIN & ITALY OUT,Image: 529310849, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS, DIRECT SALES ONLY UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE IN CAPTION – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: i-Images, PacificCoastNews/Avalon
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- EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND, Sunday 14th, AUGUST 2016: British philosopher A C Grayling appears at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. The two weeks event is the world’s biggest literary festival of its kind celebrated annually in Edinburgh, which in 2004 became the World’s first UNESCO city of literature.,Image: 533053326, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot – sales@photoshot.com London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: B540/ Guillem Lopez/Avalon
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- EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND, Sunday 14th, AUGUST 2016: British philosopher A C Grayling appears at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. The two weeks event is the world’s biggest literary festival of its kind celebrated annually in Edinburgh, which in 2004 became the World’s first UNESCO city of literature.,Image: 533053441, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot – sales@photoshot.com London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: B540/ Guillem Lopez/Avalon
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- MANDATORY CREDIT: Chris Allerton – copyright SussexRoyal NEWS EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO COMMERCIAL USE. NO MERCHANDISING, ADVERTISING, SOUVENIRS, MEMORABILIA or COLOURABLY SIMILAR. NOT FOR USE AFTER FRIDAY JUNE 7, 2019, WITHOUT PRIOR WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM ROYAL COMMUNICATIONS AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE. This photograph is provided to you strictly on condition that these conditions and restrictions will apply (and that you will pass these on) to any organisation to whom you supply it. There shall be no commercial use whatsoever of the photographs (including by way of example only) any use in merchandising, advertising or any other non-news editorial use. The photograph must not be digitally enhanced, manipulated or modified in any manner or form and must include all of the individuals in the photograph when published. All other requests for use should be directed to the Buckingham Palace Press Office in writing. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are joined by her mother, Doria Ragland, as they show their new son, born Monday and named as Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, to the Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh at Windsor Castle.
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- Wimbledon London UK 13/07/2019 Photo credit: Peter van den Berg Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex, seen smiling and enjoying Serena Williams (USA) and Simona Halep (ROU) playing their womenÄôs singles final match against on Centre Court.
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- (190705) — LONDON, July 5, 2019 () — Meghan Markle (2nd R), the Duchess of Sussex, claps for Serena Williams after the women’s singles second round match between Serena Williams of the United States and Kaja Juvan of Slovenia at the 2019 Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Britain, on July 4, 2019. (/Han Yan)
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- The Queen and Meghan The Duchess Of Sussex open the Mersey Gateway Bridge today, the bridge goes between Runcorn and Widnes in Cheshire.
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- The Duchess of Cambridge stands with the Duchess of Sussex at Westminster Abbey for a Commonwealth day service. Commonwealth Day has a special significance this year, as 2019 marks the 70th anniversary of the modern Commonwealth, with old ties and new links enabling cooperation towards social, political and economic development which is both inclusive and sustainable. The Commonwealth represents a global network of 53 countries and almost 2.4 billion people, a third of the worlds population, of whom 60 percent are under 30 years old. Each year the Commonwealth adopts a theme upon which the Service is based. This years theme A Connected Commonwealth speaks of the practical value and global engagement made possible as a result of cooperation between the culturally diverse and widely dispersed family of nations, who work together in friendship and goodwill. The Commonwealths governments, institutions and people connect at many levels, including through parliaments and universities. They work together to protect the natural environment and the ocean which connects many Commonwealth nations, shore to shore. Cooperation on trade encourages inclusive economic empowerment for all people – particularly women, youth and marginalised communities. The Commonwealths friendly sporting rivalry encourages people to participate in sport for development and peace.
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- The Duke and Duchess of Sussex with their baby son, who was born on Monday morning, during a photocall in St George’s Hall at Windsor Castle in Berkshire.
There is no purity in the royal family it is littered with pedophiles and other unscrupulous people who take advantage of others for money ie: slumlord Peg and bags of cash and taking those who have died money Chuckles. This royal family is anything but pure they are more like a modern day mafia.
The purity he’s talking about is racial purity, not moral purity. Can’t let the Black lady foul that gene pool created by generation after generation of cousins marrying. I’m surprised they published the interview since he’s saying the quiet part out loud.
You’re right I should have included it with their other despicable issues!
Right, Dutch? I’m also surprised they even published this. Or didn’t edit it or twist it. The telegraph’s whole purpose the past few years has been about having a battle against the woke mob. And here he is calling that out.
In addition to the remark alluding to “what she’s done” to make the English go after her like demented vermin, I was also struct by the remark about the nonexistent “standard of purity” they’re trying to maintain, which apparently is alive in Andrew, Charles, Bill, and countless other rapists and child molesters in that coven they call a family.
Meghan is the cultural barometer of who truly is a liberal and who upholds liberal values…or not. She may not like this role but she has become, by default, through her feminism and work ethic what freedom of opportunity looks like gives a liberal modern woman.
So I agree with Grayling. She’s become the default Joan of Arc / Sophie Scholl against the rising tide of fascist values in the West.
So the rats are scrambling to cancel her because, as James Murdoch said of his father, Rupert is misogynistic.
She’s become part of the current ideological war, an unlikely standard bearer, and that’s why the bile directed at her is so brutal.
Spot on
I have found that mentioning her to others and seeing their reaction is a great way of determining if I want to know that person.
The royal family behaved badly not meghan
Woah, not so fast here. There WAS that time she baked banana bread for that family visit, while she was pregnant and on tour in Australia. I mean, I like Meghan too, but it had to be said. Shameful! Simply shameful.
Welp, Celia Walden tried it. She tried hard to get him to say something negative about Meghan but instead he basically said it’s about them setting up purity tests. Which yikes.
If Celia Walden cannot get him to talk sht about Meghan, no one can. Any person who can get into the same bed as Piers Morgan has to have a strong resolve as well as a strong stomach.
Yup. The part about the purity tests and wokeness penetrating the royal family being problematic – he’s not presenting those things as good things. He’s saying its a bad thing that there is a “standard of purity” (which means white at the very least, and probably means boring and rich as well) and that its a bad thing that the royal family couldn’t accept someone who was “woke” (I mean he’s saying being “woke” is a good thing.) He’s absolutely saying that the idea that someone must be white, rich, boring, and probably racist to join the royal family isn’t a good thing.
And she’s not so subtly mocking him for saying it. It’s the written version of making the “cray cray” and “blah, blah, blah” hand gestures.
and she’s so self-unaware that she missed his dig at her with this
“I don’t know what it is about her personally that seems so abrasive and barbative to people. I cited her as an example of a massive cancelling endeavour on the part of the anti-wokeists to make a point.” Which is? “That if that amount of attention were directed at something truly awful like white supremacists? Then there would at least be a bit of a balance, wouldn’t there?”
You’re right, pottymouth, Walden speeded right past that point. He is so right: These people are fine with white supremacists, because they are white supremacists. They pile on Meghan because she’s Black.
The truth hurts, but people like Walden purposely ignore it. They don’t allow anything like awareness — wokeness — to penetrate their white supremacist bubbles.
This is one of those moments where the indirect way of speaking from a philosopher achieves its purpose.
That was a zing Celia, which went over your head.
Yes, the Harry-obsessed Celia, like her Meghan-obsessed husband, really tried to bate their interviewees to bash Meghan.
“That if that amount of attention were directed at something truly awful like white supremacists? Then there would at least be a bit of a balance, wouldn’t there?” *signed* So true.
Not any one of the adult BRF members & most of their spouses can pass “The Purity Test”. All the RR & their employers are also a failure at said test. Hack, they are all fake Christians.
I’ve never had any delusions about the royals, especially after Diana was killed. I strongly suspected that her romances with non-white men enraged the Firm and a great number of the British public. I imagine the pearl-clutching and gnashing of teeth had Diana given her sons a mixed-race sibling.
My view of the Royal Family was that they are rabid white supremacists. So I was shocked and shook when QE2 gave her permission for H&M to be wed. But maybe she felt she had no other choice. Ever since their engagement, people have been trying to erase Meghan from that family.
As beloved as QE 2 was, I strongly suspect she quietly supported the effort to get Meghan to cancel the wedding because of Bad Dad ill health. Very passive aggressive; openly supportive but privately hoping it all goes away. She put the monarchy first, always. Family a distant second.
The late Queen refused to sign the race relations act unless she was exempted, the King is still exempt.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/jun/02/buckingham-palace-banned-ethnic-minorities-from-office-roles-papers-reveal.
I think the Queen gave permission to Harry to marry Meghan because she knew if she didn’t he would have left the Royal Family. Her allowing Harry to marry Meghan only delayed the inevitable.
I think the attitude of the BRF was “oh just let Harry marry this unsuitable woman, it probably won’t last and we’ll make sure she knows her place”.
I hate how white people have taken woke and twisted it’s meaning, thereby ruining it. They have colonized that word which is in fact the exact kind of reason that Black people would warn one another to stay “woke.”
And yes there was and is a huge attempt to cancel Megan and it is mostly because she is a mixed race woman who married a white prince. Finally, when people call her “abrasive” they are telling on themselves. Most of the words that are used to critique her are rooted in the language of anti-blackness.
Listen, not everyone has to like her. That is fine but i find it so telling that the language people use to attack her is pretty much the same language used to attack and undermine ALL Black women.
@Sunny – Finally, someone who understands the origins of WOKE. Thank you for saying this. I am so tired of these people and their cultural appropriation of concepts they obviously don’t understand, followed by bastardizing the meaning, before throwing out the concept as red meat to their disgusting followers/audience. Don’t know why I’m surprised that the BRF and BM never tire of stealing to benefit themselves. No amount of whining about your self-professed superiority is going to make us take you seriously. Last I checked, Meghan has a 39% approval rating among Americans, which equates to 129 million people – twice the size of the UK’s entire population; Great Britain’s approval rating is only 25%. We get it. You don’t like Americans, but here’s the surprising thing: It’s a sword – it cuts both ways.
@kaiser “Obviously, the right-wing still uses “woke” and “DEI” as not-subtle dog-whistles to mean Black. When people cry about Meghan being “too woke” for the Windsors, they mean Black, that she’s too Black for the Windsors.” 1000% this!! Am so tired of hearing woke and DEI as their unsubtle code for Black. Their KKK White Supremacist robes show every single time they sneer, snarl and foam at the mouth about woke and DEI. We see you, racists.
Is it that Celia Walden and her editor didn’t understand what Grayling was saying because he got them to say that the British establishment has been attempting to cancel Meghan which is true and that they didn’t want Meghan in the Royal Family because she’s black, which is also true.
I tell you one thing. No pieces of shit family or hangers-on are going to tell me my babies aren’t good enough. What utter pieces of trash!
for cruelty and dumb-fudgery then good luck saying anything.
I remember from several years ago one of those puss pockets was saying something about the English language and the gist of it was that who should be the boss of their language but the English people from England. Somehow this uppity attitude runs deeper. They’ve lost land. They’ve lost entire swaths of peoples. They’ve lost respect. They’re slimy and their morals have only been adjusted downward (after having started out pretty low already).
If they want to control their language then fine. I can smile and nod with the best of them. But when you get to the point in life that someone would be justified to cut out your tongue
Not making much sense… sorry… but this is evil. So glad H&M escaped with their precious children!
Kind of ironic thing to say about the English language considering how it has stolen so many words from other languages.
White Europeans have been exploiting black people for centuries and using eugenics as justification. It’s gross to see this happening to Duchess Meghan in real-time.
I think racism and greed go hand in hand. The billionaires are manipulating the system to get richer at our expense.
And no one is holding them in check.
I think H already said this during his interview with Anderson Cooper a few years ago. They didn’t like M because 1) she’s American 2) she’s bi-racial and 3) she’s an actress. And he knows these people more than anyone.
I think they use ‘woke’ to also mean an American woman who speaks her mind. They like their women to be quiet, submissive, without purpose or motivation.
It will always come back to the fact that Meghan was not white and they didn’t want her in their pure white cult because she is black.. However the egg on their faces because Queen Meghan was always too good for them.
Yes, agree. Also, she makes them all look bad leaving in the dust with her work ethic, relatability and popularity. She makes those in the lazy and entitled RF look bad look like slackers.
so, Black people need not apply but we’re fine with adultery, pedophilia and incest, amirite?
Piers Morgan has a wife