Monarchy – parsian news

Barbados PM says country owed $4.9tn as she makes fresh call for reparations

Mia Mottley tells London audience that King Charles’s comments about slavery’s impact were welcomeKing Charles’s comment that the “time has come” to acknowledge the enduring impact of slavery has been welcomed by the prime minister of Barbados as she s…

Mia Mottley tells London audience that King Charles’s comments about slavery’s impact were welcome

King Charles’s comment that the “time has come” to acknowledge the enduring impact of slavery has been welcomed by the prime minister of Barbados as she spoke in London about the need for reparations.

Mia Mottley said Barbados was owed $4.9tn (£3.9tn) by slave-owning nations, noting that conversations over how this debt should be repaid would “be difficult and will take time”, she said on Wednesday evening.

You can’t truly understand the royal race row unless you’ve felt the sting of skin tone bigotry | Georgina Lawton

The row over Omid Scobie’s new book has reignited a depressing debate about mixed-race identity, with our voices barely heard There are a few words and phrases I’ve muted on X (formerly Twitter) for a while, including: mixed-race, biracial, interracial…

The row over Omid Scobie’s new book has reignited a depressing debate about mixed-race identity, with our voices barely heard

There are a few words and phrases I’ve muted on X (formerly Twitter) for a while, including: mixed-race, biracial, interracial relationship, and royal race row. But I would have had to have thrown my phone in the sea to avoid part two of the latter, involving Archie’s skin tone, Meghan and Harry’s unofficial biographer, Omid Scobie, and his new book, Endgame – in which the two royals who apparently commented on Archie’s skin colour before he was born were named in the Dutch-language version of the book (which was promptly pulped by the publisher).

I do sympathise – with Archie first and foremost, that is. Before he is even able to talk, his heritage has been loaded with meaning, his very existence described as progressive, transgressive, a step forwards or a step backwards, depending on whom you speak to. Being born into a story over which you have little control is a heavy load to bear. Many people of colour in white spaces and “mixed-race” people will relate.

Georgina Lawton is the author of Raceless: In Search of Family, Identity, and the Truth About Where I Belong

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Behind Omid Scobie-gate lies an age-old maxim: always blame the translator | Anna Aslanyan

When something goes wrong, the finger is often pointed at us. But our work is more crucial than people knowIn 1977, Jimmy Carter visited Poland. It was a dismal December day, and Steven Seymour, hired to interpret during the arrival ceremony, got very …

When something goes wrong, the finger is often pointed at us. But our work is more crucial than people know

In 1977, Jimmy Carter visited Poland. It was a dismal December day, and Steven Seymour, hired to interpret during the arrival ceremony, got very cold while waiting for the presidential plane in the freezing rain. Carter began his address with a greeting, before going on to say: “When I left the United States this morning …” Seymour’s translation, “When I abandoned the United States …”, made the Polish-speakers in the audience chuckle. The president then said he was there to “understand your desires for the future”. Seymour’s rendition of it, translated back into English as “I desire the Poles”, was reported in newspapers around the world.

Back inside from the cold, Seymour admitted he might have used the occasional infelicitous verb. Most of the sensationalist coverage, however – “grab at the Poles’ private parts” and suchlike – had been made up. Seymour, who died in 2014, is warmly remembered by his former colleagues, who recently forwarded me a copy of a letter from his archive. It begins with “Don’t let the exaggerated criticisms disturb you” and is signed “Your friend Jimmy Carter”.

Anna Aslanyan is a journalist and translator, and the author of Dancing on Ropes: Translators and the Balance of History

Behind Omid Scobie-gate lies an age-old maxim: always blame the translator | Anna Aslanyan

When something goes wrong, the finger is often pointed at us. But our work is more crucial than people know

Anna Aslanyan is a journalist and translator, and the author of Dancing on Ropes: Translators and the Balance of History

Prince Harry challenges Home Office over decision to downgrade security

High court in London hears that wider impact of an attack on the duke should have been taken into accountThe wider impact of an attack on Prince Harry should have been taken into account when downgrading his protective security while in the UK, a court…

High court in London hears that wider impact of an attack on the duke should have been taken into account

The wider impact of an attack on Prince Harry should have been taken into account when downgrading his protective security while in the UK, a court has heard.

The Duke of Sussex is challenging the decision by Ravec, the committee to which the Home Office delegates security decisions on royals and other public figures, to accord him a lesser degree of security after his decision to no longer be a working member of the royal family.

‘If only Harry were next in line, said a source close to Harry’ – Omid Scobie’s Endgame, digested by John Crace

The book that charts the royal race row has finally made it to British shores. Our parliamentary sketch writer assesses the damageIt was a warm September day in 2022. Expectation hung heavy in the air and around the green and verdant lawns. I was atten…

The book that charts the royal race row has finally made it to British shores. Our parliamentary sketch writer assesses the damage

It was a warm September day in 2022. Expectation hung heavy in the air and around the green and verdant lawns. I was attending a remedial writing course when the phone rang. It was the call I had long feared. I immediately donned my black polyester suit.

“Is that you, Omid?” said a frail yet familiar voice. One that I recognised immediately.

‘If only Harry were next in line, said a source close to Harry’ – Omid Scobie’s Endgame, digested by John Crace

The book that charts the royal race row has finally made it to British shores. Our parliamentary sketch writer assesses the damage

“Is that you, Omid?” said a frail yet familiar voice. One that I recognised immediately.

I’m not keen on our aversion to keenness | David Mitchell

Princess Kate is criticised for being enthusiastic in a new royal book, but using eagerness as a slur is silly and snobbishControversy raged last week over the issue of whether or not the Princess of Wales has regularly been called “Katie Keen”. In End…

Princess Kate is criticised for being enthusiastic in a new royal book, but using eagerness as a slur is silly and snobbish

Controversy raged last week over the issue of whether or not the Princess of Wales has regularly been called “Katie Keen”. In Endgame, his new book about the royals, Omid Scobie claims she has. Her “pliable” and “coachable” approach to royal duties led, he writes, to the nickname “Katie Keen” becoming a “popular refrain on social media for several years”. Tuesday’s Daily Mail disputes this: “A search of social media last night… found no mention of the moniker before it appeared in the book.”

So what’s going on here then? I must say, to my ears “Katie Keen” doesn’t have the ring of social media about it. Where’s the antisemitism or Islamophobia? Where are the makeup tips? Plus I’ve never heard her called that. Still, it’s not beyond the bounds of possibility. But the Mail’s view is clear: the disgraceful Scobie, relentless advocate of Meghan and Harry’s cause, has made it up as a vicious slur. How dare he call her keen, thinks the Mail, and suggest other people have also called her keen?!

David Mitchell’s new book, Unruly: A History of England’s Kings and Queens, is out now

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I’m not keen on our aversion to keenness | David Mitchell

Princess Kate is criticised for being enthusiastic in a new royal book, but using eagerness as a slur is silly and snobbish

David Mitchell’s new book, Unruly: A History of England’s Kings and Queens, is out now

Royal book at centre of racism row barely stirs a ripple on London streets

Few rushed to buy the book, despite hype over claims two royals discussed skin colour of Prince Harry and Meghan’s first childIn the last two centuries London’s oldest bookshop, Hatchards on Piccadilly, has sold stories of royal scandals, ructions and …

Few rushed to buy the book, despite hype over claims two royals discussed skin colour of Prince Harry and Meghan’s first child

In the last two centuries London’s oldest bookshop, Hatchards on Piccadilly, has sold stories of royal scandals, ructions and rifts.

The latest book in the royal genre, Endgame by journalist Omid Scobie, was at the centre of a media frenzy for most of last week, but was barely causing a ripple among shoppers this weekend. It was not on prominent display at the five-storey bookstore, which has royal warrants. The single copy had been put aside on order. At the nearby Waterstones, about 14 copies were stacked on a table near the entrance, but there was limited interest there too.