Dave

Oh dear god! I hope we can be done with them before twenty years. Strip them of their money and possesions and set them adrift in south London and see how long they'd last.... only fit for the streets. Le Roi est mort; Vive la revolution!

American

Yeah, then go and elect your own pres. Or you can have ours if you want. Hell, he already is your leader!

the archaeologist

good threads deserve uncovering!

xxx

Lets keep in mind that the main house of parliament in the UK is called the House of Commons. Commoner is not a negative connotation, it just means "not royalty." Churchill was a commoner, so was Thatcher and so was anyone else who was Prime Minister. The Royals are not allowed to be members of the House of Commons. Commoners represent the vast majority in British society, so it is safe to say that it is not a bad term.

Charles

Class rules ok.<BR><BR>However I believe we all live in the gutter but some of us have our eyes on the stars....(Oscar Wilde)

justin

Of course there is a class system in Britain. They can tell where you are from and IF you were educated by the way you talk. Their education system also implies that you are FIT or NOT fit for college by the exam that each kid takes--if they score high they are eligible for college, otherwise steered to a trade school. Also, if you have ever flown BA you may notice that they have the most elegant first class seats, (just a few of them) and the coach section has the tightest configuration and most uncomfortable seats of any plane I have ever flown on. The aristocracy, even if you don't have a danged dime, totters above everyone else (get the "gentlemen's clubs" which are exclusive and you have to be born in to them). Just keeping the Royals around in such pomp and splendor while everyone else is either struggling or on the dole indicates to me that they like it that way.

Anon

Justin,<BR><BR>From how you have spoken you obviously have no idea how the British education system works, nor do you it seems have any idea about the LOW unemployment rates in Great Britain. <BR>Please enlighten me as to this exam one takes to steer into "trade school" or college?<BR>We have some of the finest universities in the world, which are open to people of all age and class. Plus a low unemployment rate.<BR>So all of us have different accents, what of it?

x

erlsegaard you don't know what you are talking about--"In a real upper class family no one has ever set foot in a public school". Did you ever hear of Harrow? No, not the swimming pool company. What about Eaton?<BR>

Sheila

Most of our Prime Ministers were from the aristocracy until about the middle of the 19th century, actually.<BR><BR>And I think, dear "x" that erlesgard meant public school in the American sense

x

Sheila, perhaps you are correct, but she doesn't even know what it is in the British sense.

harry

Hey, everyone knows that if you took a total of the iq's of the entire royal family, it would not add up to room temperature. Yet these people are paid to assume a role, a representation of their country (they have no other earthly purpose) and yet they behave like 'trailer trash'. Duh!!! What is the point here?

Jilly

Poor poor Justin you don't know what you are talking about.Please talk about things you have knowledge of.I don't know where you get your ideas from but you are so very wrong.By the way which school did you attend in Britain?

Julie

Jim - India has a CASTE system, and it was in place for many hundreds of years before the British colonized.<BR>And the two are virtually incomprable. Two caste, for the most part, arn't even permitted to speak to one another.

your

&gt;Their education system also implies &gt;that you are FIT or NOT fit for &gt;college by the exam that each kid &gt;takes--if they score high they are &gt;eligible for college<BR><BR>What on earth is wrong with that?<BR>What's the point of going to University if you are not bright enough to take advantage of it?