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- Prince Charles Belongs on a Bicycle
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- Dick Meister
The recent visit of Prince Charles and his consort got me thinjking about how much better Great Britain would be without princes, princesses and other royal spongers. I mean, it's well past time that the Brits followed their American cousins' lead and established a republic to replace the monarchy -- that "silly, contemptible thing," as American revolutionary Tom Paine called it in one of his frequent fits of revolutionary pique.
The least they could do would be to downgrade the British monarchy to the modest level of those in Scandinavia, where princes and even kings make do with bicycles rather than the chauffeured Rolls Royces ane gilded carriages favored by Charles, his mother Elizabeth and the other British royals.
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Piece Description
The recent visit of Prince Charles and his consort got me thinjking about how much better Great Britain would be without princes, princesses and other royal spongers. I mean, it's well past time that the Brits followed their American cousins' lead and established a republic to replace the monarchy -- that "silly, contemptible thing," as American revolutionary Tom Paine called it in one of his frequent fits of revolutionary pique. The least they could do would be to downgrade the British monarchy to the modest level of those in Scandinavia, where princes and even kings make do with bicycles rather than the chauffeured Rolls Royces ane gilded carriages favored by Charles, his mother Elizabeth and the other British royals.
Broadcast History
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Transcript
I don?t mean to be rude, but the recent visit to the U.S. by Britain?s Prince Charles and his consort Camilla got me ? a frequent visitor to Britain ? got me thinking about how the country might be if it finally had the sense to do what we did in breaking away from the mother country.
The Republic of Great Britain. How?s that sound? No billionaire queen. No indiscreet princes and princesses. No royal lackeys. No Lady of the Bedchamber or other ladies- in- waiting. Not even a Keeper of the Privy Purse.
In short, no monarchy -- that ?silly, contemptible thing,? as American revolutionary Tom Paine called it in one of his frequent fits of revolutionary pique.
It?s been more than two centuries since Paine and his fellow colonists forcibly pointed out the shortcomings of that king and queen business to their red-coated cousins. But better the British understand late than never. Be...
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Timing and Cues
Intro: Commentator Dick Meister says it's time for our trans-Atlantic cousins in Britan to take a revolutionary step.
Outro: Dick Meister is a San Francisco-based writer.
Tripp Sommer
Posted on December 04, 2005 at 05:18 PM | Permalink
Review of Prince Charles Belongs on a Bicycle
Commentator Dick Meister imagines Prince Charles trading his kingdom for a bicyle. While his premise may be too far fetched (as he admits) Meister has fun with the possibility of Great Britain becoming a country without a monarchy.