For good or bad, though, public figures are held to different standards than the general public. And, among public figures in the UK, the royal family is one of the most prominent.
So what? He's just a man and anyone that thinks otherwise is a fool. One of the very major things wrong with this world is all the extra crap we've decided to assign to people who are for whatever reason perceived as a station above us. That's wrongheaded. I'm not saying people
don't see him as someone who's supposed to be better for whatever dumbass reason they've decided was good enough, I'm saying it's
wrong to do so and, therefore, those silly notions shouldn't apply.
Does the uproar need to be justified in your opinion? In a free society it certainly does not. People get to make their own decisions of whether the complaints they make are justified.
And that still doesn't make them right. People feel the Earth is only six thousand years old - and I assure you they have their own justifications for that belief. Is that enough, in your eyes, to make them right?
Anyhoo, lucky for me, I also get to make
my own decision about whether or not someone's complaint is justified. In this case, 'he's royalty' just doesn't cut it. Cuz all I have to do to rebut is say 'so what'.
Ultimately, Prince Harry apologized and the whole incident has pretty much blown over - eight years ago - whereas Neville Chamberlain's foreign policy has pretty much never actually blown over (though most of the outrage over Munich came after the war started - support in Britain was relatively high when he signed the accord).
For the first part, he shouldn't have apologized and it's sickening people asked him to. Actually, the fact he apologized for it disgusts me far more than the outfit. For the second, ever hear of hyperbole? Hell, I even added a
emoticon.
I'm not giving him ANY grief- as I said, and you apparently didn't read:
Exaggeration for effect. C'mon, man. I know you know how we roll and I even gave you a
emoticon to help.
I'm just recognizing the political reality of what he did. The reaction he got was entirely predictable.
And I'm rejecting that reality as invalid. Predictable or not it doesn't make it right. It's predictable that a skinhead will shout racial slurs toward people of color. That don't make it ok. Two different discussions and while I realize I may have been the cause for the shift (I honestly don't know if that's the case - nor do I care), this line, IMO, is more interesting and more valid. I don't care what dumb people think. I do care, though, that what dumb people think seems to be justification enough in some peoples' eyes for their dumb behavior.
And as for that uniform meaning nothing more than snazzy clothes these days, you do realize, don't you, that that uniform and variations upon it are still worn in utmost seriousness by some pretty hate-filled people around the US and Europe?
*sigh*
And
you realize, I hope, that the prince isn't one of those people and wasn't acting like one. That he wore the
costume as a costume and not as a uniform and therefore did it for some other reason than hatred. Context, bro. It's kinda really f'in important.
When you're in the public eye, especially at the pinnacle of society, different rules apply, for good and ill. Prince Harry isn't just one of us, he's part of the new era of the British monarchy. As such, he has certain obligations and expectations to fulfill. One of those is to be a shining symbol of his country's glory. Arguably, that is his SOLE actual job.
And in that case, he fell short.
Wut? 'Pinnacle of society'? Who the hell says? He's
a man. Nothing more. Whatever BS you've decided to ascribe to him has nothing to do with that reality. You can expect all you want from him beyond what you'd expect from me - that's your business. Thing is, it's also totally unfair to him, to me and to you.
