As we discussed recently, the fix is in regarding Prince Harry’s lawsuits over royal protection when he’s in the UK. Harry is suing the government over his right to have and pay for police protection, and he’s also suing the Mail over their really grotesque coverage of the protection issue. Harry is going to lose his battle against the Home Office – even if he scores some small victory (which is unlikely), they still won’t give him protection, nor would they ever let him pay for it. Meanwhile, Harry is also the plaintiff in what feels like a dozen other lawsuits against British media outlets. Today, a judge handed down a ruling on Harry’s lawsuit against the Mirror. So, obviously, Harry’s father had to make a big, splashy visit to the High Court on Thursday, just to make it clear that the fix is absolutely in.
As royal visits go, the High Court has become more used to the sight of the Duke of Sussex than his father, the King. But on Thursday, less than 24 hours before Mr Justice Fancourt was due to hand down his ruling on Prince Harry’s claim against Mirror Group Newspapers, it was His Majesty’s turn to pay a first visit to the Royal Courts of Justice.
Rather than suing newspapers, though, the King was at the court to celebrate the relationship between the judiciary and the Crown, observing that the British justice system was the envy of the world. He also hailed the work of voluntary magistrates, asking: “What would we do without you?”
As he unveiled a plaque marking his visit, he said: “Thank you all enormously for the amount of effort you put into maintaining the system of justice that so many others seem to be envious of, I’ve discovered going around the world. So I cannot thank you enough, particularly the magistrates, the extraordinary work they do, somehow putting in these onerous duties on top of everything else – it is truly remarkable, and a wonderful system. I hope you get a moment or two before you have to rush back and administer justice. And finally, can I just wish you a very happy and I hope relatively peaceful Christmas and I hope you get a moment or two before you have to rush back and administer justice on our behalf.”
Real question: IS the British legal system the envy of the world? I understand that the American legal system used British law as a template, and many other nations have done so as well. I get the historical significance of that, and maybe a more accurate statement would be: “British law has influenced countless countries, democracies and republics.” But in the year of our lord Beyonce 2023, does anyone really believe that Britain’s system of justice is “the envy of the world”? As I’ve tried to make sense of Britain’s libel and defamation laws, I’m left bewildered by how the powerful press barons have rigged the system to their favor, largely to avoid accountability. This visit was also Exhibit Q of “should the king be cozying up to judges when his son is suing everybody?” It’s not about criminality, it’s about the appearance of criminality. The law should be above reproach, certainly. Except when judges want to hang out with the king and do him special favors.
Watch:
King Charles arrives at the High Court in London. No, he’s not in trouble but there to celebrate the ‘exceptional work” of court staff. The visit coincidentally comes 24hrs before the same court will rule on Harry’s legal case against Mirror Group Newspapers.. pic.twitter.com/FM6CsMie7Q— Matt Wilkinson (@MattSunRoyal) December 14, 2023
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
-
- Britain’s King Charles arrives to visit the Royal Courts of Justice in London, Britain, December 14, 2023.,Image: 829485571, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: HANNAH MCKAY / Avalon
-
- Britain’s King Charles walks with Sue Carr, Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales, as he visits the Royal Courts of Justice in London, Britain, December 14, 2023.,Image: 829485610, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: HANNAH MCKAY / Avalon
-
- Britain’s King Charles visits the Royal Courts of Justice in London, Britain, December 14, 2023.,Image: 829485767, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: HANNAH MCKAY / Avalon
-
- Britain’s King Charles visits the Royal Courts of Justice in London, Britain, December 14, 2023.,Image: 829485984, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: HANNAH MCKAY / Avalon
-
- Britain’s King Charles unveils a plaque that commemorates his visit at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, Britain, December 14, 2023.,Image: 829486015, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: HANNAH MCKAY / Avalon
He really IS a dogshit father.
Yup, and a dog’sh!t King too.
#abolishthemonarchy
Haha, yes. That is the exact adjective that popped into mind as I read this.
Charles makes stupid faces. Charles is a bad king. Bad husband to his first wife. Bad father and grandfather. The queen never went in for this behavior no wonder she never stepped aside for Charles. Charles does his own damage
@Tessa 100% spot on!
See exhibit A: Queen’s church walk with Andrew. The late Queen may not make any High Court visits, but she will pull out all the PR stops for her favorite son
This is tacky at best; a conflict of many interests at worst.
I, for one, have never considered the British justice system “the envy of the world” and don’t know a soul who has. 😏
Exactly this.
They don’t even try to hide the corruption and coercion used by the BRF on a day-to-day basis. He is such a bully and also, must be a little desperate to do something like this.
Well the Irish people have never felt that way.
Or the many colonies I’m sure, Cali.
Charles probably wanted to review the wording of the judge’s ruling and “suggested” some changes. Adding words like “modest” and eliminating any mention of the word “briefing.”
What is with the bizarre grimaces he makes? he looks demented.
He looks like Wallace from the Wallace and Gromit movies.
they all do it – charles and kate and william are the worse -0 then we will have the children doing it – gurning and wow wow eye expressions.
lh
This feels like such a villain move from Charles. Harry walked into the courts looking like a suave avenger of Justice. Charles walking in has nothing to do with justice and everything to do with the cozy secret alliances between powerful uk institutions. Not a good look. It evokes hypocrisy and dread as opposed to justice and light.
This sentence – “It’s not about criminality, it’s about the appearance of criminality” sums it up. It’s not about whether Charles actually influenced the judge’s ruling (his visit yesterday likely had zero impact), its about the appearance of that influence.
And celebrating the link between the judiciary and the Crown…..yeah, thats a great look.
this was a bad PR move but it was very very deliberate, so I guess BP is sending a message here.
Only the very rich can bring lawsuits against the press so, the King is off base when says the British legal system is the envy of the world. It’s clear the press told Charles to make an appearance yesterday, knowing that his son’s case was going to be adjugated the next day. Charles is getting terrible advice because his visit just looked like he was trying to influence the court. A decision in Harry’s case would have been made before Charles’ visit anyway.
It was paul dacre, cowmilla’s lapdog and chucky’s puppetmaster who demanded that he made an appearance in the courts on the eve of Prince Harry’s judgement.
Even tho, as monarch, chucky is above the law in britain and C’wealth countries, he is still the lapdog of the british scumedia and must do their bidding.
I hope @ kaiser will post paul dacre’s bonkers diatribe aimed at chucky which was published yesterday but which was curiously datelined “December 16.” Apparently it was meant to be published AFTER the verdict was made public and it was equal parts an angry, pained, threatening diatribe because dacre had already seen/heard the verdict before today and knew it went against the scumedia so he threatened chucky to “cauterize” Prince Harry.
CAUTERIZE: definition and meaning (Collins Dictionary)
“to burn with a hot needle, a laser, a caustic substance, or an electric current, so as to destroy dead or unwanted tissue……..”
NEVER. FORGET.
@Kinston is this the article where he calls Chunkles his “twin”?
Kingston, where was it published – do you have a link? Would love to read it.
I think it’s this one, And yes, it’s bonkers.
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/my-advice-for-king-charles-my-twin/
The King so visibly seeming to put his finger on the scales in a country where the press is already reviled as a force trying to bring the nation down is a veeeeeeery bad look.
Well this was in the FT a day or so back:
The Law Society of England and Wales says Britain faces the prospect of an irreversible collapse in publicly funded criminal defence without immediate, increased government funding.
So we’re definitely not in a great place in some aspects of the criminal justice system.
The judgement was handed down last week and both parties were made aware of the results. It was announced today. Charles went there the day before it was announced, not handed down. It had already been decided.
This is largely (indirectly) addressed in the article. Charles’s visit is characterized as a power play to signal things and muddy the press coverage (the reporters who cover the court would need gocover both), not to influence the ruling, specifically. The coziness shared by rhe Crown and the high court is evident and uncomfortable. Here the President nominates the high court but then almost never sees them again in any official capacity – some even refuse to attend the State of the Union to avoid the appearance of impropriety or influence. That appearance of influence, and the actual indirect influence baked into the cake, is troubling.
(It is worth noting thatand the King’s visit would have been scheduled and announced to the judges before the ruling was made and drafted, however.)
🎯
But has a ruling been decided in Harry’s security case? That’s the one where members of Charles’ staff are actually members of RAVEC and part of the case. It’s pretty clear that Charles wants to control Harry’s movements within the uk.
It was supposed to have wrapped up on Dec. 7th but no ruling has been announced yet. It was that evil slimeball Edward Young, who was/still is (?) a member of RAVEC who stone-walled Harry’s request to reimburse his costs for RPO protection. He was TQ’s Private Secretary and is now Permanent Lord in Waiting to Charles whose sticky fingers are all over this.
“IS the British legal system the envy of the world?”
It depends on where you live.
Envy of the WORLD!? British law forms the basis of legal systems around the world due to brutal suppression and supplantation of local systems as part of colonialism. These assholes will never learn.
Exactly. Similarities are due to colonization and commonwealth countries. And a lot of other countries, like the US, use juries more than the UK does. There is more room for corruption with a judge deciding something unilaterally.
🎯
The appearance of criminality is key, but I think KC showing up there to glad hand the DAY BEFORE has to have an influence, whether he directly asks them to rule against Harry or not. And I wouldn’t put it past that family to be brazen enough ask the high court to do just that.
He’s such an awful father and a liar. In Spare he told Harry he didn’t have enough $$ to support both H&M and W&K, but when H&M decided to step down, his father told him he always wanted and planned to include H&M as senior working royals in his slimmed down monarchy. He talks out of both sides of his mouth.
All I got is… we DO have dentists in the UK … why do all the royals have such awful teeth? Even Kate’s mouthful of huge veneers seem all wrong, but better than these crooked dirty looking teeth.
Chuck may well be the most out of touch & delusional king in modern times. He lets Cam lead him around by the nose, and it shows. He’s made a mess of everything.
This man is a fking disgrace as a king and as a father and grandfather
Why didn’t he just say “, thank you for upholding the relationship between me, the courts and RAVEC. Now would you please do as much as you can, to make sure my youngest son never sets foot in this country again and make doubly sure that they never, ever, get protection. He is not necessary to the crown or my shitty family, just like his mother wasn’t
NO, there is nothing to envy about a justice system that allows rapist cops to get of without a prison sentence, let’s people steel millions and made to repay pennies. The richer you are, the more the system is in your favour, no matter what the crime.
And he gets a plaque for just visiting? I guess there has to be something to commemorate him showing up! It can go with his fake medals.
I hope that plaque says something like: “In this building, a British monarch betrayed his youngest son.”
Imagine having a father who is so obviously invested in undermining you publicly — robbing you and your family of safety, siding with those who are trying viciously to bring you to your knees.
I hope Harry saw this video of his treacherous father and I hope he chalks it up as one more reason not to return to the pit of vipers.
This was a deliberate move on Charles’ part to show his solidarity with the press barons and an obsequious nod to the high courts. I can’t believe he’d do something so glaringly obvious, it’s almost like a mafia boss showing up at a trial as a warning to show how far his reach and influence is.
charles needs to go to the family high court and see how they are operating – long delays – loosing paperwork – he also wants to read their reviews – absolutely chaos and children suffering because cases are taikng so long.
lh
lh
The Windsors truly believe they can do no wrong. What a shameless move on Charles’ part!
Was this appearance listed in the court circular. If the judgement was given to the litigants last week, there would be enough time to ink this in for the day before the judgement is officially handed down. So in the UK the judiciary is not independent? It’s there to do the king’s will? The whole performance was nauseating. Britain’s John Q Public should live in fear.
I wonder if this had anything to do with Harry’s case regarding security? Didn’t the trial for that review just happen, but a decision hasn’t been made?
Chuck should have stayed home. This doesn’t look good. I say that a lot about the actions that the brf make. Why don’t they have anyone competent working for them? I’m sure the credible media in other countries will take note of this. Man, I’ve called the people in the palace idiots, but I’m leaning toward fools.
I took it as he wants people to think he made the court give harry a win/settlement. Something is going on just don’t know what. Seems to me he wants credit. Which is his whole thing. He wants credit for the good and someone else to take the blame when it goes bad.
Macky, as I understand it, the draft decision was given to the parties early this month. I’m more worried that Chuck was there about the Harry’s security case, We know they don’t want the Sussexes in the UK.
British law used to be envied. They had rules about how long a person could be in jail-‘ that was to help with wrongful convictions. Once a person got out they had a right to start fresh and be a good person- something we “usa” don’t have. They let the defense speak last to give the defendant one last chance. There banking system is WAY better- at least it was until very recently.
Now the English justice system seems to be failing some. They are trying to bring American speech into it. So now you hear about people being jailed for speech and intentions. Before that was a ticket or a few hours at county jail.
“Rather than suing newspapers, though, the King was at the court to celebrate the relationship between the judiciary and the Crown,”
—Gross.
“…observing that the British justice system was the envy of the world.”
—LOL
“He also hailed the work of voluntary magistrates, asking: What would we do without you?”
—Do these folks earn a salary, or is the position only open to independently wealthy types? In which case, it explains a lot about Britain.
I’m wondering if somehow the judgement was leaked to Charles and so he would appear to be supporting the outcome?