We can always go on a Tattle Trip to the Royal Palaces in 2023! That’s if Putin hasn’t declared WW3 by then…
(If anyone is interested in Russian Royalty the V&A have a exhibition on Fabergé which was closely connected to the Tsar and his family).
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(If anyone is interested in Russian Royalty the V&A have a exhibition on Fabergé which was closely connected to the Tsar and his family).
Oh I’m in.
I don’t know what it’s like now, but I have to cautiously recommend the night train from Moscow to St Petersburg.
The addition of a boys school and several bottles of vodka certainly made it a night to remember. ( Actually, there’s quite a bit of that I’m not sure I do remember! )
Maybe at some point in time, but the class system is so engrained in British culture and society, removing the monarchy would do nothing to change that now. A lot of the superiority comes from where you were educated, where you holidayed as a kid, your parents jobs etc. From my experience at school even minor things like I could only afford Primark and people who could afford Topshop were judgemental of that.
The UK has such a problem with the class system that you get what people call “inverted snobs”, who are usually the upper working class looking down on the lower working class. I have relatives who can’t afford a deposit on a house, but because they have a job they instantly think they’re better than people on benefits and really look down on them, that’s nothing to do with our monarchy but a culture thing in the UK.
Ooh, we never got a boys school. We were staying in a hotel in St Petersburg and there were taxi drivers in the car park selling bottles of knock-off champagne and vodka for a dollar each. Quite a few of the sixth form managed to sneak down and up without getting caught by any of the staff.
The boys school was pretty much the highlight of the trip. And they were staying in the same hotel in St Petersburg, where one evening we had a vodka and caviar tasting night. We were 14 and 15!
God our school trips were a lot more prosaic. One was a week youth hostelling and walking in the Peak District... def no vodka, champagne, caviar or boys! Very wholesome 
it is rare to see a photo of Catherine looking directly into the lenses, straight at us.
I quite like this ’version’ of her, it’s a great photo of a woman for her 40th birthday - it’s informal compared to how she is usually seen,
& we may acrept that this may be how her husband, children & those close to her know her.
These are not formal regal portraits, they are a lent intimacy of someone in the public eye, & very much how W&C offer pictures of their family.
C has chosen this photographer & his style is consistent.
There is a nostalgic & ethereal presentation in his work, & we are not yet accustomed to this style of portrait particularly when compared with the press photography & comparative high fashion glamour of Demarchielier.
I think C has played a blinder with something with a direct informal gaze, something modern, red with pockets & something so nostalgic that makes it quite forward - yes, it is a regal pose although I favour Boudicca than the Queen Mum, but the absence of stately bling is a statement that C is as a Queen-to-be but for now is modest & natural. Very potent imagery, very clever.
I quite like this ’version’ of her, it’s a great photo of a woman for her 40th birthday - it’s informal compared to how she is usually seen,
& we may acrept that this may be how her husband, children & those close to her know her.
These are not formal regal portraits, they are a lent intimacy of someone in the public eye, & very much how W&C offer pictures of their family.
C has chosen this photographer & his style is consistent.
There is a nostalgic & ethereal presentation in his work, & we are not yet accustomed to this style of portrait particularly when compared with the press photography & comparative high fashion glamour of Demarchielier.
I think C has played a blinder with something with a direct informal gaze, something modern, red with pockets & something so nostalgic that makes it quite forward - yes, it is a regal pose although I favour Boudicca than the Queen Mum, but the absence of stately bling is a statement that C is as a Queen-to-be but for now is modest & natural. Very potent imagery, very clever.
But they dont actually look like her...
His style isn’t consistent throughout the three images. You can see his style in the one where she’s looking away but the other two? Not really. It’s a bit frustrating that some people are saying things like ‘we are not yet accustomed to this style of portrait’ because quite a few people who are interested in art and fashion are. I’m very much accustomed with the work of Paolo Roversi but I still think that he let the ball drop on two of the portraits that were released.
Exactly. And removing the RF would especially change nothing if you don’t abolish all titles with it. There a quite some families and people that are peerage but not royal. Their privileges would stay just the same, their attitude wouldn’t change either.
Apart from that- every country has some sort of class system. Be it breeding, be it money, be it education, be it a religious background. The higher classes looking down on the lower ones, being exclusive and not exactly open to others has not been solved anywhere. Show me one country that has really solved this or is even really really good at it. Education based systems still favour rich children who’s parents can afford extra tutoring. Breeding is obviously something that you cannot change. Money can be made but it’s not exactly a fair chance for everyone either. Many strategies look great from the outside but there are hard discussion on the inside (my country loves to praise the Scandinavian education sector but that is not without fault or criticism in those countries themselves).
@thegirlscout, I take your comment that many may be used to Paolo Roversi, & I agree that his style is not consistent across all three pictures. The point was that the ‘Boudicca’ was consistent. My dodgy slapdash grammar there!
The Boudicca reminds me of Julia Margaret Cameron, pioneer of Victorian portrait photographer. I think the photo belows dates C.1870, & given C’s interest in photography & study of History of Art, her pose may not be accidental.
By the by, should anyone care to delve deeper, the JMC study is called Alethea which comes from the Greek/Ancient Greek for truth - quite the smart poke for Ms Markell.
The Boudicca reminds me of Julia Margaret Cameron, pioneer of Victorian portrait photographer. I think the photo belows dates C.1870, & given C’s interest in photography & study of History of Art, her pose may not be accidental.
By the by, should anyone care to delve deeper, the JMC study is called Alethea which comes from the Greek/Ancient Greek for truth - quite the smart poke for Ms Markell.
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To be honest, I’m not sure anything that photoshopped, filtered and tinkered with merits being called ‘ethereal’. Parts are more heavy handed than delicate, to me.
Thank you for clarifying! I see what you mean about Boudicca, I also think there could be an argument that the portait of her sitting down is reminiscent to some depictions of Britannia. It’s quite interesting when you get into it!
I see what you mean. It’s a bit difficult because all photos of celebrities etc these days are photoshopped etc. When I call Paolo Roversi’s work ethereal I mean that it looks otherworldly and almost celestial?
Hmmm, I wonder if would start a change though? I don’t believe it would be straight away but maybe over a long term period the class system would shift?
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The problem for me is that we know what she looks like - we have plenty of evidence. It’s not like the days of Elizabeth I where all we have to go on is pictures and descriptions by people who just wanted to keep their head, so a tweak of a nose here, a smoothing out there - we don’t know. Now, we do so a picture that looks unlike we know they do causes comment (I know what I mean 
) especially if it’s going in an official collection.
Ah, Britannia - wasn’t that Frances Stuart? Lady with an interesting life who refused to be Charles II mistress?
) especially if it’s going in an official collection.Ah, Britannia - wasn’t that Frances Stuart? Lady with an interesting life who refused to be Charles II mistress?
I’m not sure - America and France have been de-monarched for about the same length of time and the class system and snobbery seems strong in them both still.
The style that first came to mind for me for the "Britannia" shot was the more gentler, ethereal work of Floria Sigismondi.
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In the UK there are titled people who consider themselves to be ‘above’ the RF in terms of their family place and how ‘old’ their family is. The whole thing is a nonsense. I think the UK is one of the snobbiest countries in the world.
The Windsors are Jonny-come-lately to some of these folk. There is of course, the story of Prince Philip warning Diana that they would take away her title. To which she responded ‘My family is older than yours, Philip’
America isn’t snobby in the same way from my perspective. Not at all. And people are genuinely happy for those who succeed instead of being bitter and jealous.The problem for me is that we know what she looks like - we have plenty of evidence. It’s not like the days of Elizabeth I where all we have to go on is pictures and descriptions by people who just wanted to keep their head, so a tweak of a nose here, a smoothing out there - we don’t know. Now, we do so a picture that looks unlike we know they do causes comment (I know what I mean
Ah, Britannia - wasn’t that Frances Stuart? Lady with an interesting life who refused to be Charles II mistress?
I’m not sure - America and France have been de-monarched for about the same length of time and the class system and snobbery seems strong in them both still.
America is snobby from the point of view of who has been there the longest, at least, friend of a friend from Boston who can trace family back to England of the 1640’s is alternating. very proud and dismissive of people who came later and annoyed her lot didn’t go 20 years earlier.
Sure, I don’t claim to be an authority certainly. I think snobbishness is one of the unpleasant knee jerk parasites of humanity. Much like prejudice, bigotry and selfishness. It’s natural to have those impulses but they should be stamped out.
In my opinion, this is why we all need to work hard to get rid of those things instead of nurturing them by having a family of people we’re supposed to worship just because… especially that pos Prince Andrew. I mean, none of them has any remarkable qualities. Catherine outstrips William in intellect - she’s the much brighter of the two.
Ludicrous, probably the most equal nations on earth are in Scandinavia, most of them have constitutional monarchs.
Most of the most unequal nations on earth, Brazil, India, the USA etc are republics
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