13th February 2011

Yesterday we enjoyed a good night out with our friends at the local cinema Le Querlys in St. Antonin. Really enjoyed The King's Speech but, where were the chocs on sale in the foyer, where the usherette of yesteryear offering Kia-ora and Mivvys? Don't be silly. C'est la France. Commercialisation hasn't yet arrived.
However, what was striking about the film was the underlying message. It's no good sticking with old, rigid prejudices. Doesn't matter whether you're King or mere mortal like the rest of us. N'importe quoi you live in Cairo, steeped in the old repressive mores of your country. Sometimes problems require you to get rid of all that inner baggage, forget what other people think, ignore the standard rundown ways of your countrymen. The Royal family have had to learn over the years since George VI that you can't continue with old rules, however traditional, in today's world. Anne was allowed to marry her Commander, Charles married Camilla. How different would Margaret's life have been if they'd let her marry Captain Townsend, the love of her life? There are lessons to be learnt. As King George VI and Winston Churchill discovered: you can succeed if you do the unthinkable and travel that extra mile.
But for Him indoors, the 'important' lesson he learnt was via the French subtitles: he now knows how to swear profusely in colloquial French!