It is a good bet that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has not thought of this. His friends the Brit Royals also have trouble with the paparazzi. They do hound one so! No matter how much editors might pay for a picture of Harper without his hairpiece, the Royals have it worse.
It is getting so bad over in Old Blighty that Kensington Palace sent a polite note to the news media about it. In typical Brit terms, this letter was supposed to be strongly worded. It took umbrage with the bad habits of photographers in using many different ruses to acquire pictures of the various heirs to the Crown of Westminster. They are particularly concerned about the young and impressionable Prince George.
It is hard to believe that this cute little kid is really only third in line for the throne. His great grandmother Elizabeth is still going strong, thank you. Maybe she is trying to outlive her son with the big ears. Mind you, the old queen would be wise not to accept a cup of tea from the Duchess of Cornwall.
But you will note that Babel-on-the-Bay is the only commentary that bothers to mention the Royals during a Canadian election campaign. Since monarchists are a dying breed in Canada, Mr. Harper has already pandered to that vote. And did he not bring over Charlie and the Duchess recently? They stayed away from main population centres in case nobody noticed them.
But we were talking about the problems the Royals have with paparazzi. Along with the note from Kensington Palace, the Metropolitan Police (the quite inadequate guardians of the Royals whilst at home) also sent a less than friendly note. The Peelers informed the media that their men were armed. And if that did not frighten them off, they also informed the media that their boyos had to make sudden and “split-second” decisions about the use of force. We can of course appreciate their concern but we think that threatening to shoot members of the paparazzi is a bit excessive.
This would never be necessary for them if they bothered to visit Canada more often. The R.C.M. Police will brook no shenanigans with the paparazzi when the Royals are under their care. It is sometimes a puzzler when Royals come to Canada whether people show up at events to see the funny Brits or to see all the Mounties in their red tunics, riding boots and pointy Stetsons.
But when you see how badly Harper is handling his media relations lately, you have to admire the determination of the Royals. God Save the Whatever!
-30-
Copyright 2015 © Peter Lowry
Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to [email protected]