Secondly, I can't quite work out what I think about Prince Harry's war efforts. On the one hand, he seems like a nice guy and it must have been annoying to do all that training and then not be able to go and fight. But then, on the other hand, they must have been able to tell him before he started at Sandhurst that the chances of him fighting on the front line were pretty anorexic - so I don't feel that sorry for him - it's not like it was unexpected. Plus he's a royal, so his life's not too tough. But then he did lose his mum. But then you can't just have special treatment because you lose your mum. But then, the only way he was able to go was through a massive and, to my knowledge, unprecedented media cover-up. I'm not too happy about this. I am happy he got the chance to fight, but he only had that chance at the expense of the 'trustworthy' reputation of our country's media. Our biggest news organisations all agreed to keep schtum so that he could go, in exchange for the juicy, attention-grabbing/money-making stories that Harry has been feeding them during his time in Afghanistan. And although there's a part of me that thinks that's all quite nice and British and sportsmanly, there's another, far more substantial part that thinks, 'Hang on, if they're all agreeing to lie about this, how many other stories are they all agreeing to lie about?' Have we got a free press or what? I mean, obviously they were free to print this but they chose not to - in exchange for profit-making coverage and exclusive access at an unspecified later date. I'm really not sure I'm particularly fine with all this. Don't get me wrong, I've never thought for a minute that the papers tell us everything there is to know, but this is the first time I've been aware of a deliberate cahoots-style agreement across the board and it's kind of freaked me out. The liberal in me is outraged but the Evelyn Waugh fan in me is glad that good old Harry got a chance to show his colours on the field - and let's not forget that for many people, Hazza's involvement on the front line would be a fantastic advertisement for our beleaguered armed forces. On yet another hand, royal involvement could equally rub a lot of potential recruits up the wrong way and surely the potential gain to the hiring strategy for the armed forces is offset by the increased danger experienced by those fighting alongside Harry. I think on balance it is very, very sinister that every single current affairs organisation in the UK agreed to keep us in the dark in exchange for juicy gossip, and much as I appreciate how frustrating it must be for Harry, who is clearly about as useful as a chocolate hairdryer in most ways and has finally found something at which he is obviously very talented only to be denied access to it by a US website who refused to play ball, I don't think that one young man's desires - third in line to the throne or not - should be accommodated if it means that our press agrees to pull the wool over the eyes of 58 million people. I dunno though.Back to me. I had a tricky evening yesterday - I went over to the flat and, having been relentlessly positive since minute one, suddenly I didn't like it. It felt dark and claustrophobic and wrong. Plus the tiles were annoying. Nothing a few cheap light fittings from Ikea can't solve though, I'm sure - and probably just a last-minute panic. This time next week, all being well, my bed will be in situ and I'll be unpacking for my first night in my own home. Between now and then, the ever-increasing list of tasks continues to be formidable - but I've come this far and brute determination, the incentive of solo living and the hotly-anticipated return of Monsieur L'Atelier on Tuesday will help me over the finishing line. Bring it on.
No comments:
Post a Comment