Posted on 06/09/2011 12:02:59 PM PDT by submarinerswife
STATE VISITS
‘Do you still throw spears at each other?’ To Aboriginal leader William Brin, 2002.
‘You managed not to get eaten then?’ To a British student who was trekking in Papua New Guinea
EUROPE
‘I would like to go to Russia very much — although the bastards murdered half my family.’ In 1967, when asked if he would like to visit the Soviet Union.
SCOTLAND
‘How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to pass the test?’ To a Scottish driving instructor in 1995.
CHINA
‘If you stay here much longer, you will go home with slitty eyes.’ To a British student on a visit to China in 1986.
WOMEN
‘Ah, so this is feminist corner then.’ To a group of female Labour MPs
‘You are a woman, aren’t you?’ To a Kenyan woman in 1984, after accepting a state gift.
‘When a man opens the car door for his wife, it’s either a new car or a new wife.’
CELEBRITY
‘What do you gargle with — pebbles?’ To Tom Jones, after the Royal Variety Performance, 1969. He later added: ‘It is very difficult at all to see how it is possible to become immensely valuable by singing what I think are the most hideous songs.’
ON FOOD & DRINK
‘Get me a beer. I don’t care what kind it is, just get me a beer!’ On being offered fine Italian wines by Prime Minister Giuliano Amato at a dinner in Rome in 2000.
ON CLASS & MONEY
‘People think there’s a rigid class system here, but dukes have been known to marry chorus girls. Some have even married Americans.’ In 2000.
‘Everybody was saying we must have more leisure. Now they are complaining they are unemployed.’ Said at the height of the recession in 1981.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
I actually had a close encounter with Prince Phillip many moons ago... okay, well, his bodyguards actually. But when I realized who these guys were protecting, I shot the good prince and his gracious host a quick little sheepish wave. They smiled and waved, nodded their consent and went back to their poolside meeting.
Okay, explanation here... I was 22 and dating a girl whose Dad (the host) was loaded and a pretty big wheel. They were having a meeting on the farm. But, in my defense, I called beforehand and told Miss Viola (the maid) that I knew the girlfriend was out of town but I was stopping by to drop off a bushel of fresh-caught live crabs I had promised Miss Viola (to bring home to her own family) and she just said, “Wail, c’mon then! I’m gittin’ hongry!” Did she bother to warn me about any guests on the farm? Nooooooo....
So, I came flying up the drive in my pickup with the Doobie Brothers blasting, and as I approached the pool, a couple of nice-looking rather large gentlemen with sunglasses and bulges under their jackets, stepped out in the middle of the road to greet me. Ahhh, fun times.
I saw that girlfriend just a few years ago and she said her dad still laughs about it.
I'm a 5+ generation American and I think that's funny!
Charles was - and this is fairly well-documented - a somewhat sensitive child - and Philip - who everyone agrees is not a sensitive man - forced him into his own beloved old school - the dour Gordonstoun. Charles hated it (I think he was bullied) but was not allowed to attend another school. Philip also berated and belittled him on a regular basis. His daughter Anne - a remarkable lookalike - was his darling. Prince Charles - as a very young man was not really a bad guy. He got truly bizarre and awful later on. He aged 30 years just being married to Diana, lol!
“Did I mention that Prince Philip is irrelevant?”
Perhaps - but I’ll have to ask my mom. Did they name me after him just because they liked the name, or something he did?
The one about the Soviet Union struck home. Was sitting at a science-conference dinner with my old boss and a bunch of guys from Russia. He asked them what towns they were from. Upon hearing them he replied “Oh yeah - I know all of them except ‘———’. I used to be in reconaisance in the military and would rotate the targeting coordinates of our nukes between the various cities.”
It didn’t occur to you to marry the girl whose dad hangs out with royalty?
You do understand you’d probably be freeping from a yacht today?
I had one of those moments in 2005 with Mikhail Gorbachev. I met him in Manhattan, Kansas, of all places, where he was there to attend some function.
A hotel that I stayed at during the week while I was doing a contract at Fort Riley had given he and his staff incorrect electronic room key coding and I was checking in at the same time on the same floor. I helped them get it all worked out but they were intially nervous to get to the floor with eight room keys to four rooms and none of them working. As I was a regular, I had the front desk manager on a speed dial on my cell phone and called her personally to come bring Mikhail (and I think his daughter) and their whole group new room keys and chatted with them while we waited for the replacements.
You’ve reminded me of another Prince Phillip story. A friend of mine - an English actor - performed at a royal gala. He was allowed to bring his mum for the bow and scrape ceremony after the play. His mum, a little Cockney woman who loved the royal family, was thrilled to meet the Queen and Prince. So thrilled, she ducked off the line and got on the end of it and went up to meet them again...and again...and again. Prince Phillip loved it and encouraged her to run around again. So he does have a fun side.
Suppressed laughter is always the easiest to get.
That’s the BEST story I’ve ever heard and softens my opinion of old “spike-up-his-butt”.
LOL Did he really say that?
He was a Greek God. All the pictures around that time show the Queen (and earlier princess) with a huge smile on her face. I would love to be able to read his mind. Imagine what was going through it during the Obamas’ visit. His play-by-play on that would have been delicious.
What a hoot!
That reminds me of a story told by St. Jerome of a rich lady who liked to show off her compassion for the poor by handing out coins. One day a woman who had already received her coin got back in line—when she got to the rich lady instead of getting another coin she got slapped.
Philip has always been VERY anti-Communist.
One reason I've respected him.
They used his mitochondrial DNA for the tests because both he and the Russian royal family (except for the Czar) were descended through the female line from one of Queen Victoria’s daughters, Princess Alice. Philip’s mother, born Princess Alice of Battenburg, was the daughter of Victoria of Hesse and by the Rhine, elder sister to Alix, who became the wife of the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II. Both sisters were daughters of Princess Alice. Prince Phillip is great nephew of Tsarina Alexandra, wife of Czar Nicholas II. And the bastards did kill half his family, including another great-aunt, Elizabeth (Ella). The Czar’s mother was the sister of Britain’s Queen Alexandra. All of it is sad and very tragic, although Philip has certainly enjoyed a happier, more secure life than his relatives.
I recently argued with somebody that Phlip had NO Greek blood but this person insisted he did. Can you straighten us out?
I only saw Philip once - coming down Broadway with the Queen on some long ago Royal visit. I did think he was one of the ugliest man I ever saw but we all have different tastes and he was pretty old then!
They all had a Grand Mother named Queen Victoria. So did the Kaiser.
The man is hilarious! I guess a dry sense of humor is the best way to cope with being Elizabeth II’s arm-candy....
I once heard him say, upon seeing a sign at an Australian airport - “Felons must report their status to the Immigration Official” (or something like that)
Phillip’s comment was: “I didn’t know it was still a requirement for entry to Australia.”
The Greek royal family are actually Danes. Their family name is Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. They were invited to take the throne of Greece in the 1860s. The first one was George I, a younger son of Christian IX of Denmark. The SHSGs intermarried with German and Russian royalty. So he has not a drop of actual Greek blood.
Those aren’t gaffes — the guy has a sense of humor, and doesn’t give a sh** about today’s PC cr*p. He has always spoken his mind.
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