I was unfortunate enough to end up watching an interview by Fiona Bruce for BBC1 (paid by licence fee payers) on Prince Phillip. The Prince is 90 tomorrow so lets get that out of the way and wish him a happy birthday.
Fiona Bruce took a gamble doing this interview as she ended up getting the same treatment as others get when conversing with the Duke. At one point he said to her that she would understand what he meant if she had a profession?? At which point FB said she believed she had one, she is a journalist?
That aside she was wrong to allow her self to be drawn into the time fantasy circle of whether Phillip is Greek or not as she was getting into some dangerous ground with that. She more or less started the discussion by saying that most people think that the Prince is Greek but of course he is not.. That can be interpreted in two ways. One that the 'establishment' is uncomfortable with the Greek connection, or two she meant that because he was naturalised at a young age he is British by naturalisation. If the second is the case she should have made that clear otherwise it looks like she too wants to have a go at the Greeks and I would find that offensive.
Does she also think that the Queen who has clear German ancestry is also not British and is therefore German? I know her great grandfather didn't even speak English? Would she dare to state that? Probably not but having a go at the Greeks (a current preoccupation it seems) is ok.
Phillip was made a Duke by a British Monarch but if people are to continue calling him a Prince the he has that title through his connection with the Hellenic royal family. He was born in Greece and so was his father. So if he is to be called Prince Phillip he has acquired that through him being Greek and he denies his Greek origin then he cannot be a Prince? Another dimension to this argument would be that those born in Britain cannot be British and they can only call themselves x or Y depending on where their parents come from? This is of course wrong. I know that the majority of Greeks don't want anything to do with the royals so they won't thank me for this intervention but I feel that it has become a trend lately to have a go at the country that invented the Olympics and many other positive things and I won't have it. I shall complain to the BBC for this bad piece of journalism.
Nick, do you think anyone cares? The Greek state voted them out and yea the rest of them here are Germans but why stress??
ReplyDeleteHola anon,
ReplyDeleteIts not about whether I or others care and of course I know that the referendum on the monarchy in Greece in 1975 removed the King (not sure I agree) so the people there won't be thanking me for appearing to care about royal stuff, but someone has to react to negative comments when these are made and Fiona Bruce made it look like there is something wrong with being Greek? She was wrong to do it that way and has shown a degree of unprofessionalism, I have written to the BBC after all I pay for them to produce this trash!
We understand you felt that Fiona Bruce inaccurately claimed that the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, isn’t Greek.
ReplyDeleteThe interview was conducted to mark the Duke of Edinburgh’s ninetieth birthday, and intended to explore the life of Prince Philip. The Duke of Edinburgh began life as a Prince of Greece, yet he is not actually Greek. After the Second World War, he renounced his Greek royal titles, and became a naturalised British subject. On his marriage to the Queen in 1947, he was granted the style of His Royal Highness and the title of Duke of Edinburgh by his father-in-law. The Queen made him a Prince of the United Kingdom in 1957
BBC
Hey thanks Ms BBC, so someone born in Greece from Greek parents can be changed? Interesting concept in the world of fantacy.
ReplyDeleteWell I haven't been thanked by any Greek I know for my intervention on this so will leave it. No one cares but I still think the way it was presented was offensive as it implied there was something wrong with being Greek? Anyway am going to declare myself Swedish from now on.. lol
Cheers