Royal protection is provided by Scotland Yard’s SO14. Simon Morgan was a personal protection officer for several royals, including Prince Harry, from 2007 to 2013. Harry would have come to know his police protection officers, Morgan said, as some had been with him for years and were integrated into his life. “It is a trusted role, you build up a rapport with your principle. You can understand how much anxiety having your protection detail taken away can cause,” he said.
For years I’ve whinged – gently it must be said – about the way that Americans so often get the distinction between principal and principle wrong. Apparently this is another foreign invasion into the language which we must up with put.
Time to found SPELCUMA. The Society for the Prevention of the English Language Collapsing Under Meaningless Americanisms.
You can understand how much anxiety having your protection detail taken away can cause
Horrors! That and losing Daddy’s millions too. Fucking spoiled little shit.
If he wasn’t too dim to make major, he could look forward to a decent pension.
Morgan said Harry’s former British protection officers would have been better trained: “In the US they are more likely to be ex-military or from private security.”
If I were Harry, I’d go for the Russian mafia types.
Ottokring
Every officer eventually makes Major (or Squadron-Leader, Lieutenant Commander), it’s the next step that requires a trip to Staff College and a few brain cells.
The pass is sold. Already you see ill-educated people using the adjective “moot” in the American sense. The final blow will be when people use “careen” in the American way, as in “the auto careened off the road …”.
I like useful American introductions when we have no word of our own. I like colourful old American slang. I loathe the vocabulary of modern American windbaggery, though.
By the by, nobody seems to have congratulated Meghan’s scriptwriter, whoever he was. In the short bit of the interview that I could manage to watch before fleeing the room, the only false steps were the use of “disparaging” – a most unHollywood word, surely? – and the silly yarn about having actually married three days before the big ceremony. Even Americans could surely guess that a marriage needs witnesses.
They’ve corrected it now.
““They are the target for kidnap for a political purpose or a hate-driven motive,” Quick said, adding: “You can’t change who they are or their history.””
Who honestly gives a crap about kidnapping the 6th in line to a throne that is ceremonial/celebrity nowadays?
“Who honestly gives a crap about kidnapping the 6th in line to a throne that is ceremonial/celebrity nowadays?”
Someone with not much ambition & a desire for tedious company?
I am not sure of Spud’s wisdom in presenting his opinion on this interview. It might prejudice his chances of taking over from Piers
It was a spelling mistake which has now been corrected. As far as I can tell, American English retains the distinction between principal (often used in an educational context) and principle
I know that it’s still there, the distinction. But a lot of people miss it.
I noticed that the Telegraph used “snuck” rather than “sneaked” yesterday. The horror!
@recusant
Hasn’t been true since they invented Short Career Commissions. Which predates my service (1980s start.)
In fact, Royal Air Force officers can be on a “specialist aircrew” commission and can do a full career and cap out @ Flight Lieutenant (but with pay and pension increases as if they were getting promoted.) Designed for people who just want to fly and don’t want to command / do staff roles / become an Air Marshal.
A right royal tangent – but piers morgan has some time on his hands – a cheeky guest spot on CT or Expunct?
– I have to say i was impressed with Alex Beresford whom PM had precipitated to storm off live on air in the past. Don’t support Alex’s view on Meghan’s sainthood but for a weatherman he bloody well held his own and won the day against an old school fleet street editor foghorn.
I’ve just realised Harry’s mistake. Instead of marrying a gold digger, he should have had the operation, taken the hormones, and gone through the rest of his life as Princess Diana.
They also don’t have the word “ensure” and seem to be unable to understand the concept. Which you see flowing through into the software they build. Where I would write code to *e*nsure correct functionality, they write code to *i*nsure correct functionality.
That’s singularly the *wrong* way to write software. If you’re putting in code to pick things up after everything has fallen over, that is completely the wrong way of going about it.
@ottokring – i’m led to believe that Harry is notoriously tight and whilst in the Uk hated paying for anything often leaving his friends to pick up the bills. Witness the 36 year old multimillionaire married to a millionairess complaining that his dad had cut off his pocket money and sponging free accomodation of all and sundry prior to buying his own gaff
@dearieme
Oh. My. God.
https://images.app.goo.gl/FaHdvPgbmSpNdzTF7
You bastard.
An English paper makes a mistake and it’s the Americans’ fault? By the way, the use of principle vs principal is well understood, though in this era of auto-spelling sometimes it seems it’s the computer that types what it wants and you might not catch it. The same thing can happen with there and their. Ya’ gotta’ be watching to “ensure” you get it right.
Actions have consequences, why he thought he could dodge all his responsibilities while keeping all the benefits is beyond belief.
When they were staying in Canada there was a poll on providing protection for them and the overwhelming majority was that they could pay for it themselves.
i’m led to believe that Harry is notoriously tight and whilst in the Uk hated paying for anything often leaving his friends to pick up the bills.
He just keeps a photo of the Queen in his pocket and says “Will you accept this ?” When the bill comes round.
Some Americanisms are spot on though and express volumes in a few syllables.
Picking a couple at random: “Butthurt” and “cum dumpster”
Not all linguistic feedback from the colonies is unworthy of inclusion in the mother tongue.
““Butthurt” and “cum dumpster””
The connection with “mother tongue” seems a little unfortunate. Even, too specialist as Rocco might say.
How odd, most of us use an engraving of his grannie….
I haven’t flashed Her Maj’s pic for at least a year now. I’ve forgotten what coin of the realm looks like!
What you do in the privacy of your own home is your business, but be careful not to do that in public or you might get arrested!