Sarah, Duchess of York Current Events 14: February-October 2009

[queenofthelight]

The nice photos of Sarah, thank Iceflower!

Turkish police ask Home Office to quiz Sarah over children's welfare film - hellomagazine.com (16/09/2009).
http://www.dailymail.co.uk./news/ar...tary-highlighting-plight-Turkish-orphans.html

 

[Marsel]

I'm not generally one to defend Sarah but I find this latest development ridiculous at best.

It's not as though she made up something: Sarah only highlight the truth, the plight of vulnerable children. Turkey had better tried to improve the deplorable conditions those children have to live in, rather than try to find conspiracy theories where there are none.

 

[susan alicia]

very confusing, you are damned if you do and damned if you do not. I keep them on when outside in the winter, try to take them both of when inside before shaking anyone's hand and do not put either of them on when leaving church and going to shake hands with the Minister

I apologize on beforehand to any of the Mods for putting my 10 cents in and going off topic

An interesting bit of ettiquette that I picked up from watching various Royal boards is that Royal ladies (except in Britain) remove the right glove in order to shake hands. It's considered more polite. However, according to North American ettiquette, a lady leaves her gloves on when greeting people. I wonder if it's an instance of the Old World custom surviving in the New World after it's been disguarded in the Old?

 

[Skydragon]

Duchess of York may face police quiz over undercover TV documentary highlighting 'plight' of Turkish orphans | Mail Online

Last night it emerged that a request has now been made to the Home Office for Sarah to be formally questioned over the allegations. There is no indication yet as to whether the Queen's grand-daughter would be interviewed as well.
Sources say it is too early to say whether the Duchess would be arrested but confirmed that both the Home Office and Scotland Yard were discussing the issue and may well need to speak to her in due course.

-------------------------
What did she expect and to think she took HM's grandchildren with her!

 

[susan alicia]

she is her daughter first I would suppose and she did not involve her in anything dishonorable.

I think Scotland yard and the foreign office are only considering it because of diplomatic protocol.
And what nonsense that this action would be about sabotaging the possible membership in the EU, many east european countries are members and have excactly the same apaling conditions in orphanages etc.

-------------------------
What did she expect and to think she took HM's grandchildren with her!

 

[Emeralds and Opals]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/court_and_social/article6836933.ece

"Turkey 'seeks Duchess of York for questioning over TV documentary.'"

 

[Skydragon]

she is her daughter first I would suppose and she did not involve her in anything dishonorable.

No, they are grandchildren of the Queen and in line to the throne first and foremost. She involved the girls in deception.

Many countries have the same problems so how was the decision made to expose Turkey?

 

[Marsel]

-------------------------
What did she expect and to think she took HM's grandchildren with her!

She was perhaps trying to show the Queen’s granddaughters that there are a lot of disadvantage children around the world living in appalling conditions. As Her Majesty’s grandchildren, Beatrice and Eugenie will have a unique chance to actually change or influence certain things.

I remember a case of an undercover journalists, who explored the pitiful conditions Romanian children lived in, who was universally praised for his work. It also had direct positive results for the children because the Government took steps to take better care of them. I wish Turkish Government had gone the same way, rather than worry about conspiracy theories. At the end of the day, those children are Turkey’s future: they could be a tad more concerned about it.
Why is Sarah's case different? Shouldn't she be praised for drawing attention to the plight of those poor children, whatever her motives for the documentary were (and I, for one, believe it was a genuine desire to help)?

 

[Skydragon]

... I remember a case of an undercover journalists, who explored the pitiful conditions Romanian children lived in, who was universally praised for his work. ...
Why is Sarah's case different? Shouldn't she be praised for drawing attention to the plight of those poor children, whatever her motives for the documentary were (and I, for one, believe it was a genuine desire to help)?

As journalists, he/she deserved the praise for doing their job. Sarah is not a journalist, Sarah drew attention here to yet another bungle and she involved HM's grandchildren!

 

[Odette]

I would be one of the last persons to defend Turkey or the Turkish government, however aren't there any other issues the Duchess could be involved in and make
good use of her time and efforts?
It seems to be a weekly event about one controversy or another. Is the media too
anxious to ridicule her or is she too careless in her choices?

 

[Mermaid1962]

I doubt very much that Sarah will be extradited. I hope that she tells the truth during her interview with Scotland Yard.

 

[Wisteria]

She was perhaps trying to show the Queen’s granddaughters that there are a lot of disadvantage children around the world living in appalling conditions. As Her Majesty’s grandchildren, Beatrice and Eugenie will have a unique chance to actually change or influence certain things.

How on earth will Eugenie and Beatrice be able to change or influence things?
They are not members of the Government (thank goodness).
Even the Queen can only advise. What can these two girls do?
If they want to help disadvantaged children perhaps they could start somewhere in their own country instead of embarassing their grandmother and her government.
Their mother has no sense but as she is no longer a member of the royal family it is of no importance what she does unless of course she breaks the law but she should not involve the princesses in her her schemes well intentioned or not.

 

[Iluvbertie]

The very fact that they are the granddaughters of Her Majesty The Queen means that if they do something to highlight an issue it will get press in the same way that things the Queen's daughter does highlights problems for children.

Sarah took her daughters to help highlight a situation - if the girls weren't there and she wasn't their mother do you really think that the publicity would have been as great, or that the Turkish government would be taking this sort of action. They are embarassed because the granddaughters of the British Queen were involved thus highlighting the very reason that Beatrice and Eugenie could highlight these sorts of issues - they are HM granddaughters.

For most of the 20th C the British royals concerned themselves with the Empire and its issues but as the Empire broke up they (particularly Diana) got more and more involved in issues on a world-wide scale thus doing good in raising profiles of bad situations but also increasing the chances of making things difficult for Britain diplomatically.

 

[Iluvbertie]

No, they are grandchildren of the Queen and in line to the throne first and foremost. She involved the girls in deception.

Many countries have the same problems so how was the decision made to expose Turkey?

I must disagree.

Sarah carried them and gave birth to them.

They are first and foremost her daughters.

They are also the Queen's granddaughters but they are her daughters first and foremost and the Queen's granddaughters second.

 

[Russophile]

Sorry Iluvbertie, though I respect your opinions a lot, they (the granddaughters) are property of the Empire and Crown, first and foremost. And that is where Sarah got into trouble as this makes relations for GB and Turkey strained.

 

[Mermaid1962]

This is one thing I don't understand. If it's true that members of the Royal Family need permission to travel abroad (from the Queen or the Foreign Office, I'm not sure which), Sarah must have been deceptive about why the York women were going to Turkey. Perhaps the "powers that be" thought that they were going as tourists. IF Sarah intended to visit the orphanage all along, that means that she lied to the people who granted permission for Eugenie and Beatrice to leave the UK.

 

[Iluvbertie]

This is one thing I don't understand. If it's true that members of the Royal Family need permission to travel abroad (from the Queen or the Foreign Office, I'm not sure which), Sarah must have been deceptive about why the York women were going to Turkey. Perhaps the "powers that be" thought that they were going as tourists. IF Sarah intended to visit the orphanage all along, that means that she lied to the people who granted permission for Eugenie and Beatrice to leave the UK.

Or that the Queen and Foreign Office knew and approved.

 

[Iluvbertie]

Sorry Iluvbertie, though I respect your opinions a lot, they (the granddaughters) are property of the Empire and Crown, first and foremost. And that is where Sarah got into trouble as this makes relations for GB and Turkey strained.

As there is no Empire they don't belong to an extinct organisation

They are not the property of anyone but themselves.

Their mother has first claim on any allegiance not a grandmother who happens to be the Queen. She gave them birth and it is clear that even the Queen acknowledges the fact that Sarah has the first call, over the Queen on the daughters based on the fact that Sarah is able to take them where she wants.

There have been no reports of the Queen saying 'No' to Sarah over her involvement with the girls but the opposite e.g. Beatrice asking Sarah to be invited to some things and her consequent visit to Balmoral a couple of years ago.

As the girls enter royal duties Sarah will increasingly be associated with them as she is their mother and the person to whom they go for guidance.

A mother takes precedence of a grandmother - to you and I she might be the Queen but first and foremost to them she is 'granny' not 'mummy'.

 

[rmay286]

I guess I'm of two minds about whether or not Sarah should have brought Beatrice and Eugenie into Turkey. I don't think Sarah herself did anything wrong, disguise notwithstanding, because she is no longer a member of the royal family. The line gets blurrier when it comes to Beatrice and Eugenie. I honestly don't know to what extent the royals should be involved in politics or politically charged situations. They are supposed to be apolitical, but that hasn't stopped many of the royals--eg. Prince Philip, Prince Charles--from expressing their opinions about controversial topics.

Nevertheless, I don't think that the trip to the Turkish orphanages should be so controversial within Britain. Yes, the British government has to respect other governments, but not at the expense of human rights. The EU was skeptical about admitting Turkey because of issues like the treatment of the children in orphanages, and Sarah's documentary simply helped show that there was a basis for that skepticism.

Turkey was obviously "caught redhanded", and knows it, and is now striking back at Sarah. And yes, in the short-term her documentary might have damaged Turkish-British relations. But sometimes a cooling in the relationship between two countries is inevitable or even necessary. Britain should try to be on good terms with Turkey, but not at the expense of its own principles.

And yet I'm still on the fence about Beatrice and Eugenie's involvement, because their presence could make Turkey feel as though the British government itself (represented by the royal princesses) was directly "spying" on them. I do believe that the royal family should try to stay apolitical as much as possible...but then again, sometimes staying completely apolitical isn't possible even for a royal--or right.

 

[ada]

Just one more embarassing incident involving Sarah

 

[susan alicia]

thought the same thing, through their position in society they will receive attention.

I remember an interview with Sarah and Ruby Wax and Sarah said loud and clear "Please do not film my children, they will take them away" . In other words she did have custody but was not allowed to involve them in stuff like that while they were children. I do not know how the matter is now that the girls are more or less adult.

 

[Wisteria]

I must disagree.

Sarah carried them and gave birth to them.

They are first and foremost her daughters.

They are also the Queen's granddaughters but they are her daughters first and foremost and the Queen's granddaughters second.

I am afraid you are competely wrong. Firstly they are the Queen´s granddaughters and secondly they are Sarah´s daughters. Sad for Sarah but true. If Sarah took her daughter to Turkey thus embarassing the British Government and didn´t ask for the Queen´s permission then it was very wrong of her, I suspect that the Queen did indeed think it was a holiday.
Sarah, unfortunately has been a constant embarassment to the royal family, mainly because she does most things without thinking them out first.

 

[Iluvbertie]

I am afraid you are competely wrong. Firstly they are the Queen´s granddaughters and secondly they are Sarah´s daughters. Sad for Sarah but true. If Sarah took her daughter to Turkey thus embarassing the British Government and didn´t ask for the Queen´s permission then it was very wrong of her, I suspect that the Queen did indeed think it was a holiday.
Sarah, unfortunately has been a constant embarassment to the royal family, mainly because she does most things without thinking them out first.

First they are Sarah's daughters, secondly they are Andrew's daughters and then they are the Queen's granddaughters. This is clear in the way that Sarah and Andrew have been the ones guiding the girls, speak for them, the way the girls speak about them. I remember Anne saying that her children were normal with the Queen for a grandmother which tells a lot about the attitude of the royal family - parents are first and foremost in the lives and having the Queen as a grandmother comes after that.

If the Queen really felt like it she could stop the girls leaving the country with their mother but she hasn't done so as she respects Sarah's role in the girls' lives.

To many of you the Queen should be the dominant force in the royal family's lives whereas if you truly watch them they are a normal family in that parents are first and foremost and relationship to the Queen secondary, and as it should be.

They are the Queen's granddaughters and will eventually be the nieces and then cousins of the monarch but they will always be Sarah's daughters and so as they drop away from their position in relation to the throne Sarah will still be a major force in their lives.

 

[Skydragon]

--- edited - They are the Queen's granddaughters and will eventually be the nieces and then cousins of the monarch but they will always be Sarah's daughters and so as they drop away from their position in relation to the throne Sarah will still be a major force in their lives.

Once again we disagree, as members of the royal family, that commitment takes precedence over who birthed them. Using the Princess title makes them first and foremost grandchildren of the monarch and their mother should remember that when involving them in her antics to show how caring she is.

 

[susan alicia]

skydragon do you have reason to question her sincereness?

Once again we disagree, as members of the royal family, that commitment takes precedence over who birthed them. Using the Princess title makes them first and foremost grandchildren of the monarch and their mother should remember that when involving them in her antics to show how caring she is.

 

[Skydragon]

skydragon do you have reason to question her sincereness?

Had she encouraged a reporter to go to Turkey to report on the alleged abuses and allowed him/her to say afterward that Sarah had suggested it, or backed an appeal to open a centre in Wythenshaw and allowed the relavent people to say 'Good old Sarah we couldn't have done it without her backing', I would believe it was for altruistic reasons. But when Sarah is the star attraction, then yes I do question the sincerity of her actions. I hope it was done for publicity otherwise I would have to conclude she is not very intelligent.

 

[rmay286]

Of course Sarah's presence in the documentary added publicity, much more so than if the reporter had just mentioned her name in passing. That is how Sarah uses her royal title--to give publicity to causes she thinks are important.

Does anyone really think the Turkey documentary would have attracted this much press attention if "Sarah, Duchess of York" hadn't been involved?

 

[Skydragon]

The publicity was mostly regarding whether she should have been involved, whether she should have involved the Queens grandchildren and now whether she broke the law! The documentary regarding the Romanian children certainly got huge amounts of directed publicity in the UK, without any help from Sarah.

Sarah does not have a royal title.

 

[Wisteria]

Now that we have heard how Sarah used her ex royal title to give publicity to causes she thinks are important can anyone tell me what has actually happened in Turkey besides causing a complaint to be made to the British authorities?
Weight watchers was obviously very important to her as with the money from this she managed to pay off her debts, which I admit is a very good thing.
She may have a good heart but most of what she has done has helped her bank account get back on keel and hasn´t really made her very popular, at least in Britain.

 

[Katrianna]

Anytime a documentary is made that contains controversial matter is going to set off a fire storm. Turkey has been trying to become a member of the EU and they are especially touchy about any topics concerning that country. I cannot believe that Sarah did not know she would be stepping into a legal quagmire when she went ahead. She should not have put herself into the position let alone Eugenie. Leave it to qualified journalists.
Yet again Sarah has tried to do something worthy, but has had the project appearing to be all about her and having everything blow up in her face. Yet again it will not be her fault, according to her.