The UK papers were awash a few days ago with the stirring words of the Duchess of York, a.k.a. Fergie as she defended the honour of her daughter the Princess Beatrice a.k.a. ‘chubby buns’ who is getting a lot of flak (she says) because of her size and shape, i.e. errr… cuddly (?).
Well you’d have to admit that there *is* quite a lot of chubby buns to go round. I have no idea if she *does* go round and that’s none of my business. Well actually I suppose her size and shape is none of my business either really, but I do tend to comment on the way the press reports various ‘issues’, especially when they have created the ‘issues’ themselves.
This is one of those.
To begin with what the hell are they doing publishing a picture of a 19 year old girl who in most ways is just an ordinary citizen. There is virtually zero chance of her ever approaching the throne as a candidate for Queen and her only claim to fame is through the family of her father and her mothers propensity for having her toes sucked… and ensuring she remains in the media spotlight… of which we say nothing.
Well ok we must say something, especially when this woman was chosen to explain to a desperately poor family how to manage on a food budget of £80 a week? I’m not sure Fergie is even aware exactly what ‘poor people’ eat. And while it’s all very well to complain about the publicity her girls get, you have to remember that she pushed them out into the limelight herself. How much did we hear about Princess Anne’s kids as they grew? Very little.
Anyway… back to the point… I see very little ‘news’ value in the story whatsoever and I think it’s just an excuse to fill column inches on a day when there is little or nothing else of note to comment on.
After all who would be interested in the conflict in Darfur, or murders in South Africa, famine in Uganda, cyclones in Burma, or earthquakes in China?? Nobody I’ll bet. Females, males, young or old are all being told that the fact this female is generously proportioned is more newsworthy than all else. Really? I think not.
Ok she is being protected by security paid for by the UK taxpayer, but really… is it necessary for her to be inflicted on us? She’s of even less interest that Peaches Geldorf and that’s saying something!!
Personally I’d have thought government plans to store and vet *all* emails and internet traffic was *far* more sinister and worthy of comment… but what do I know?
The country is going to the dogs.
The Eclectic Interweb 
I have real issues with the way this was reported in the press.
(i) She is apparently a size 10 which seems perfectly ‘normal’ to me and yet this type of reporting will surely re-enforce this ridiculous stick thin image pushed down teenagers throats every day causing real harm both psychologically and physically.
(ii) She suffered from bulimia in her early teens and is testament to both her mother’s support and her own ability to recover from that and surely this should be celebrated not ridiculed.
(iii) Finally, they drove her mother to the US by the constant hounding and ‘FAT’ jokes, do they want to do it again to a young girl..?
In all three cases I feel that this is NOT in the public interest nor is it actually responsible reporting in fact it is downright harmful and these ‘members of the press’ should be prosecuted or as a minimum be subject to the same level of ridicule.
The problem isn’t with Beatrice at all. The problem is her mother who is such a media-hog that she’d attend the openeing of on envelope if she thought te press would be there!
Her mother left for the US after running up ridiculous bills for her extravagant living, and getting caught by the press indulging in ‘Ugandan Diplomacy’ with various ‘friends’. She wanted to be in the public eye and made no attempt to shy away from it even when no longer a ‘royal.
The result has been that instead of a dignified career away from the spotlight she has hogged it and dragged her kids into it constantly with the result *they* have become ‘celebrities’ in their own right even if it’s just because of their mothers inability to act with decorum..
Contrast her behaviour with other ex-royals such as Lord Snowdon… or better yet… Mark Phillips?
Still it isn’t ‘news’ as far as I’m concerned and the coverage was inappropriate to say the least. So why is the picture there? Well really it just shows she *isn’t* some huge hairy hippo. She has no ‘pot’ hanging over the edge of her bikini… she is just a normal girl with a big frame who needn’t be concerned about her shape or clothes size… and who shouldn’t be hounded by the media.
Now her mother… well that’s another issue entirely!
It’s another case of “public interest” versus “what the public is interested in” I’m afraid and the problem is compounded by the fact that “we” the great unwashed buy the wretched newspapers.
The only time the public have voted with their feet as far as I can remember was the boycotting of the Sun in Merseyside over their Hillsborough coverage where it still has a large gap in its copy sales penetration.
Celebrity unfortunately sells. You only have to look at the sales of Hello, Ok and the rest. Maybe that says something about how people are happy or unhappy with their own lives but the point is that in an age where news is increasingly delivered on line, print media have had to adapt to deliver comment and background as a strategy to keep already declining sales from falling even further.
Anything remotely royal for them is fair game, and “we” ravening hordes descend on it with a very unhealthy appetite and with no regard whatsoever for the poor sod who is the subject of the attention.
‘Twas ever thus ……..