Last Week Tonight's take on the British Monarchy

Nov 16, 2022 23:17

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Last Week Tonight with John Oliver tackles the subject of the British Monarchy aka "the best thing to happen to white actors since literally everything else."

• 1:41 - Mentions that some crowds at sporting events in Scotland and Ireland chanted "Lizzie is in a box."
• 3:13 - Charles once supported a controversial cancer treatment which involved 13 fruit juices a day, coffee enemas and weekly injections of vitamins. (Google says he did do that)
• 7:03 - The usual argument that tourism generated by the Royal Family brings more money than the cost of keeping them around.
John brings up that the Sovereign Grant (government money they get to fulfill their royal duties) isn't their only source of income. There's talk about the family's business and their tax exemptions. E.g. as Prince of Wales, now William holds the Duchy of Cornwall, which is a billion dollar real estate portfolio nearly the size of Chicago.
• 10:49 - Starts talking about the Commonwealth, colonialism and the massacres and abuse of indigenous people in Australia, Kenya (this one happened while Elizabeth II was already queen) and Canada.
• 13:03 - The monarchy's involvement in the transatlantic slave trade, which lined the pockets of the Stuart monarchs. Enslaved Africans were branded with the initials DY, meaning the Duke of York, who led the Royal African Company responsible for the human trafficking.
When Britain abolished slavery in its colonies in the 1830s, it took out a loan of 20 million pounds that went to enslavers who wanted compensation for the "loss of income" and, up until 2015, the British state was still paying off this debt.
• To sum it up, the Royals "continue working hard to be perceived as a mere symbol, while never taking responsibility for what that symbol excused."

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last week tonight (hbo), british celebrities, royalty / royal family

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