Firstly, Canadians pulling down the statues of Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II in protest because the Catholic Church kidnapped native Canadian children, now known as First Nation, and put them into Catholic schools where they made them speak only English and cut off all ties with their families and traditions. As if this wasn't bad enough, mass graves of a total of 1000 First Nation children have been found in the vicinity of these school "orphanages". Which would suggest that there are many more as yet undiscovered graves.
I understand the anger. I get it that it was colonialsim that invaded Canada, and the whole of the Americas, and tried to eradicate the First Nation completely.
The treatment of the First Nation from the 19th Century right up until the 1970s was atrocious. The mass graves of children give absolute proof of the racist oppression. I understand the anger. I would be angry. I also understand that anger being vented on colonialism. I don't really care that the statues of the two queens were toppled and destroyed, despite the fact that neither queen is, was, nor ever has been Catholic.
Agreed that Catholism came to Canada with the colonists, even if it did come largely with the French. Seriously, topple away at any symbol of colonialism if it makes you feel better. But don't deny the fact that the people who actually carried out these horrific murders of First Nation children, were the near ancestors of many present day, white Canadians and not Queen Elizabeth in the UK.
About the unnamed idiot who caused mass injuries on the Tour de France by stepping out in front of the cyclists to hold up a greeting sign and have it be broadcast on television.
The next day it was announced that she'd fled the scene, was being hunted down by the police, and could face up to a year in jail. With such wide media coverage, it was only amatter of time until she was found. So after a couple of days in hiding, she did the only thing left to do and turned herself in to the local police.
The woman is devastated, ashamed, and deeply sorry. Obviously. It was a stupid thng to do and she made a massive, humiliating for her, expensive and potentially life threatening mistake. I read all this in the newspaper and it seems to be an accurate description of the event. So far so acceptable.
But then, her her lawyer said, "it took her a couple of days to realise what had happened as a result of her action." Rubbish! She realised instantly what she had done, which is why she fled the scene and tried to hide. If you're truly sorry then own up to all of it. Don't try to mitigate your actions by lying about what came next. Either you're sorry for all of it or you claim that some of your behaviour wasn't your fault. By wriggling out of some of it in this way, you have given up any bit of respect you could have retained for owning the mistake and repenting. (Btw, while a year in jail is not helpful imo, a few hundred hours of community service would go a long way.)
And finally, Harry. Whilst in the UK to unveil the statue of his mother, he appeared at a charity event for children. (was this an official Royal visit? I hope not.) He seemed to be his old jolly self and made every effort to show the cameras how good he still is at these sorts of public duties. I couldn't help wondering if he really wanted to be there. Was he just grinning and bearing it because that's the job?
At the unveiling itself, after they'd pulled away the covering, Harry walked towards William with open arms and a big smile, as if he wanted a big hug between brothers to show the world they have reconciled. William wasn't playing into that manipulitive move. He was not going to be used for Harry's back-in-the-fold agenda.
Here's the thing. I hope William and Harry, and Charles, make up. I hope they are able to move forward with love and forgiveness because families are precious. However, the British people don't owe Harry anything. We do not want him to represent us in any way, shape or form. He should live in harmony with his family, but he resigned as a working Royal. If he thinks he can undo the damage he has done by saying by-gones but not sorry, he's in big denial. And even if he is sorry... too late mate.
The irony is that Harry's only qualification is being good at mixing with the public in a warm and engaging way. As long as he read the speeches written for him, he was perfect for the job of being a Royal. He gave up the one thing he could do well with no viable plan B.