Beach Hut
Brighton Bhuna Boy
It was a superb wedding in my view and there was something for everyone to admire and be proud off, the Duchess of Cambridge will be a welcome and very good addition to the Royal Family.
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Sorry Republicans.
- Thread starter public school boy
- Start date
upper class
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, entry to the upper class is still considered difficult, if not impossible, to attain unless one is born into it. Marriage into upper-class families rarely results in complete integration, since many factors raise a challenging barrier between the upper, upper middle, and middle classes.
Titles, while often considered central to the upper class, are not always strictly so. Both Captain Mark Phillips and Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence, the respective first and second husbands of HRH The Princess Anne lacked any rank of peerage, yet could scarcely be considered to be anything other than upper class.
That being said, those in possession of an hereditary peerage - for example a Dukedom, an Earldom, or a Barony will, almost invariably be members of the upper class.
Where one was educated is often considered to be more important than the level of education attained. Traditionally, upper class children will be brought up at home until old enough to attend a well-established prep school or pre-preparatory school. Moving into secondary education, it is still commonplace for upper-class children to attend one of Britain's prestigious public schools (such as those in the Eton Group or Rugby Group) although it is not unheard of for certain families to send their children to Grammar schools.
Insofar as continuing education goes, this can vary from family to family; it may, in part, be based on the educational history of the family. In the past, both the British Army and Clergy have been the institutions of choice, but the same can equally apply to the Royal Navy, or work in the Diplomatic Corps. HRH Prince Harry of Wales, for instance, has recently completed his training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in preparation for entry into the Army. Otherwise, Oxbridge and other 'traditional' universities (such as Durham University, the University of Edinburgh, and St Andrews University) are the most popular sources of higher education for the upper class, although a high academic standard is required and social class does not as readily secure entry as it once did.
Equestrian activities are also popular - with both sexes. There is a long-standing tradition of the upper class having close links to horses; indeed, one of the foremost example of three-day eventing prowess is Zara Philips, daughter of Princess Anne and recently-crowned Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year. Men who ride will more often participate in Polo, as is the case with both HRH Prince Charles and his sons, Their Royal Highnesses Prince William and Prince Harry.
Hunting and shooting, too, are favoured pastimes. Some upper class families with large estates will run their own shoots but many will know someone who keeps pheasants, or other game, and may instead shoot with them. Much as with horses, there is a particular affinity for dogs (especially Labradors and Spaniels) amongst the upper class - and, equally, sporting pursuits that involve them. It should, however, be noted that none of the aforementioned sports are, of course, exclusively upper-class.
Language, pronunciation and writing style have been, consistently, one of the most reliable indicators of class.
With specific regard to pronunciation, much is made of the lower-class tendency towards dropped consonants - for instance, ‘li’lle’ for ‘little’ or ‘’ow are you?’ for ‘how are you?’. The upper class are also distinguishable, though from the absence of vowels in their speech - thus, ‘handkerchief’ becomes ‘hnkrchf‘, ‘venison’ becomes ‘vnsn‘ and 'Shropshire' becomes 'Shrpshr'.
The inside of a house, however grand the façade, is equally indicative of class. Upper class homes (if privately owned, and not staffed) tend to be comparatively untidy composites of grand furniture - having been inherited - which may have become frayed and threadbare over time and vast piles of ancient books, papers and other old reading material for which there is now no home.
Many upper class families will be in possession of works of art by old masters, valuable sculpture or period furniture, having had pieces handed down through several generations. Indeed, inheriting the vast majority of one's possessions is the traditional form in upper class families. On that point, there is a well-known derisory quotation from Conservative politician Michael Jopling, who referred to cabinet colleague Michael Heseltine as the kind of person who 'bought his own furniture' . (The former was then put down himself by a Baron as "the kind of person who bought his own castle").
The main word being class, meaning the ability to achieve high positions based on your birth class rather than your ability. Thus holding back more able people born in a lower class.
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Beach Hut
Brighton Bhuna Boy
Perhaps we should become like the Russians were with everyone equal and no choices - much more fun
BadFish
Huge Member
- Oct 19, 2003
- 18,212
I think that both sides of this argument are missing a massive point here. Many many people just don't give a flying one about the royal family. Many are just happy they are given a day off and a good excuse to party for a 4 day weekend. Add this to the fact that there is a fantastic reason to be proud to be british and a big ceremony, which the royals are brilliant at (so they should be after 100's of years practice) and you'll find many people are suddenly supporting the royal family, for a day. ut soon those 'swinging voters' will fall back into their apathy.
My personal opinion was I enjoyed the ceremony but looking round that church at all that wealth, privilege and power made be feel quite queasy. I managed to put aside my personal dislike of the royal circus er i mean family for a little while until it got too much and turned over.
If this is a measure of the royals moving on and modernising, then why do we still have an 85 year old very old fashioned monarch on the throne? If she is really keen to modernise then she should give the throne to Charlie boy, or better still William if he is the saviour, or even better Harry or would having a bit of spunk and personality on the throne be too modern?
My personal opinion was I enjoyed the ceremony but looking round that church at all that wealth, privilege and power made be feel quite queasy. I managed to put aside my personal dislike of the royal circus er i mean family for a little while until it got too much and turned over.
If this is a measure of the royals moving on and modernising, then why do we still have an 85 year old very old fashioned monarch on the throne? If she is really keen to modernise then she should give the throne to Charlie boy, or better still William if he is the saviour, or even better Harry or would having a bit of spunk and personality on the throne be too modern?
Albumen
Don't wait for me!
I don't know what Kate Middleton looks like and it fucks me off that I even know her name. They are so far removed from my existence (apart from me paying for their wedding) why would I give a shit?
Perhaps we should become like the Russians were with everyone equal and no choices - much more fun
Beach hut, i have edited that post as i found a better answer to PSBs question.
We dont know each other but you come across as a decent hard working guy that has grafted for everything he has gained for himself and his family. Do you really support a system that means some people can be appointed to fabulous jobs just because of who the parents were? And before you say it, i refer to public positions, not a job in the family business.
Beach Hut
Brighton Bhuna Boy
Yes I do and the Royals really are very good, perhaps you do not realise how much they do for this country for charity and also for business.
Fair enough, to me, all public offices should be elected by the people that pay for them, we agree to disagree
BadFish
Huge Member
- Oct 19, 2003
- 18,212
Please enlighten us.
Gully
Monkey in a seagull suit.
There is a bloke on the radio, who declared himself as a republican, he is comparing the UK to North Korea...WTF?
Gully
Monkey in a seagull suit.
Strewth...patronising post of the day award...you won it!
Oh, for what it is worth, I agree with what Beach Hut posted where he quoted the same!
Beach Hut
Brighton Bhuna Boy
Asking the majority of people today not to buy a wedding present but gave a list of charities to donate to. I know Airmiles Andy has had some stick recently but he lobbys very heavily for UK business contracts and William also was very hands on with our World Cup bid although obviously it went tits up.
Beach Hut
Brighton Bhuna Boy
That is just a throw back to communism - no thanks
Why? he does come across as a decent guy, why should i not think that?
How the f*** can asking for more democracy be going back to communism?
Dont know Gully but my guess is that we have the same method of appointing our heads of state.
Barrel of Fun
Abort, retry, fail
Prince Charles is busiest member of British Royal Family in 2010 - National British Royal Family | Examiner.com
I'd rather have some warm and genial hosts of our country than some elected spiv.
I'd rather have some warm and genial hosts of our country than some elected spiv.
Ha Ha unreserved apologies to Beach hut and gully, just reread it and it is rather patronising, no offence meant. too many republican ales, i may retire for the night.
Bwian
Kiss my (_!_)
- Jul 14, 2003
- 15,898
Well that's all worth a tug o' the forlock.
beorhthelm
A. Virgo, Football Genius
- Jul 21, 2003
- 36,022
just who are these people you think are getting appointed to public positions? even the immediate royal family arent living it up in some public office. yes, there's some grace and favor perks and they dont have to do hard physical work or anything, but i dont see Princes Andrew or Edward in "fabulous jobs" (surely they are in the family business: pomp and ceromony, opening a municiple buildings, charity work etc). so people from families in aristocracy might end up in Treasury, Foreign Office and other government positions but they still need the degrees from Oxbridge and the like to get there too. in fact does this even happen? theres more money in the private sector and there's little need to pursue a career in the civil service for a gong if you're already son of the Earl of Shire.
really, i do think many in the anti-royal brigade have a quite distorted view, some old fashioned idea of aristocracy and empire from 19th century.
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