the british royals' allergy to good optics

on the king's speech (2023)

Thank you for reading Hmm … That’s Interesting, a reader-supported publication! If you enjoy the newsletter, please consider becoming a subscribing member.

---

Before we get started on the royals and my continued disbelief at the ongoing sh*tshow that is their platform, I want to share a few things I've been reading regarding the disastrous situation in Palestine and Israel. Apologies if you follow me on Instagram or Twitter and have already seen these. I'll be honest, it's been difficult to focus on anything else the last few weeks.

• Is it too much to ask people to view Palestinians as humans? (The Guardian)

• This open letter from Jewish students at Brown University

• Overwhelming demands for a ceasefire catch Democrats off-guard (HuffPost)

• Netanyahu rejected ceasefire-for-hostages deal in Gaza, sources say (The Guardian)

• I wrote about it for the newsletter almost a month ago now, and my feelings remain the same — I'm just filled with more grief now. '

  to bear witness

Very much separately from the above, I’m also happy to share my interview with

Aja Frost

from

Platonic Love

that went live this week — we talked about pop culture, the choice of motherhood, and literature. Aja and

Aliza Sir

write lovely, thoughtful essays about topics I care about and I really enjoyed our conversation.

---

I hate to do this to you, but we are once again talking about the British royal family and their persistent allergy to good optics.

On Tuesday, King Charles (lol) delivered the annual King's Speech, his first since assuming the throne earlier this year. I wrote about the coronation (and its pesky little PR issues) back in May. 

This is what he and Queen Camilla (lol) looked like. 

Why do they look so shocked. Like, they’ve only been waiting 70+ years to sit there! (Photo: UK Parliament)

As a reminder, it is currently 2023. (Almost 2024, but we are not acknowledging the swift passage of time beyond the strictly necessary.)

Because I know someone will scream it at me if I don't mention this, it is not the monarch or his office who writes the speech, but the government, currently headed by the conservative Tories. As head of state of the UK (lol), the monarch delivers the speech but is not responsible for any of its content. 

(Apologies and no offense intended to any Brits in the audience most of whom I assume will agree with me, but what a silly island. I can say this, as a resident of a similarly Unwell Nation.)