Not cynical but bitter, why begrudge Sarah the fact that she has rich friends who support her!? I don't understand the desire to be negative until you see Sarah living in a cardboard box on the Embankment. Paddy McNally has remained friends with Sarah since her divorce he has given her the use of his chalet for a winter holiday and house in Spain for a summer holiday. Lucky her, she doesn't pay for it, move on people. Richard Branson also gives her free accomodation, last year another friend flew her down to Nekker Island is his private plane. Again lucky her, why should total strangers be bitter?
First things first; I don't want to
see Sarah living in a cardbox box and of couse she will not be reduced to this. And I am not 'jealous' either - indeed, I have nothing to be jealous of! What
I do want to see is Sarah living with an appropriate degree of humility at the moment, because however you dress it up, it is her immense sense of entitlement coupled with greed that has bought shame to the Royal family and has caused a lot of pain to many of those who have lost out financially.
My objection to Sarah's vacation is because it seems the height of bad manners and poor taste to holiday in this way, regardless as to whether the house and flights etc are being provided by a third party
when you have in VERY recent memory you have been unable to pay your staff the money to which they were entitled. It seems that although two of her most senior staff did receive around 80% of what Sarah owed them, The [London] Times and The Daily Telegraph have reportedly frequently that Sarah had a total of 15 staff and that the majority of them received only 25% of what Sarah owed them. It also seems that the staff who received this low settlement figure were not highly paid or wealthy.....
For my own part, if I was owed money by my employer and then only received 25% of what I was entitled to, I would be angry if I then saw him on an all-expenses paid jaunt.
The Telegraph has reported that since the 'Fake Sheikh' 'sting' that Sarah has had 20 trips and holidays abroad. Perhaps it would be better if she had spent August in Beautiful Berkshire.
Side Issue - it is all very well accepting 'free hospitality', but we always say that 'there is no such thing as a free lunch'. I always wonder whether those wealthy foreigners who host Sarah are really it doing for the best reasons or whether they have some kind of ulterior motive. Sarah is no longer royal, but she is the mother of two Princesses, and I fear that to some hosts, that could be quite an advantage. Many are wealthy businessmen; at some stage if they have a new factory or a property development or anything where association with Royalty could be useful, the Princesses could find themselves under an awkward obligation at 'pay back time'
Second side issue; on her marriage and up to the time of her divorce [and indeed for some years afterwards] Sunninghill Park was NOT owned by Prince Andrew outright - and Sarah NEVER had a legal share in the property. The Queen was the beneficial owner, having taken a LEASE of the property from the Crown Estate. It was some years after the divorce [and Sarah's settlement] that the Queen bought the freehold from the Crown Estate and apparently transferred the beneficial ownership to Andrew.
Just my views
Alex
