Phil the Greek
UK newspaper The Independent has a terrific roundup today of the top 90 gaffes ever committed by Prince Philip, the hilariously blunt husband of Queen Elizabeth II.
The Duke of Edinburgh, known more familiarly in certain circles as "Phil the Greek" due to his membership in the now-extinct Greek royal family, is also part of the old European royal line of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, and that's not even the funny part.
The funny part is that he's given to saying stuff like this:
"If it has four legs and it is not a chair, if it has got two wings and it flies but is not an aeroplane and if it swims and it is not a submarine, the Cantonese will eat it." Said to a World Wildlife Fund meeting in 1986.
And this:
"This could only happen in a technical college." On getting stuck in a lift between two floors at the Heriot Watt University, 1958.
And this:
"You managed not to get eaten then?" To a British student who had trekked in Papua New Guinea, during an official visit in 1998.
And my favorite, for its elegant simplicity:
"If you stay here much longer, you will go home with slitty eyes." To 21-year-old British student Simon Kerby during a visit to China in 1986.
It'll be a sad day when all of the old coots like Phil the Greek die -- he's almost 90. What they'll take with them -- aside from the whiff of racism and the unashamed snobbery -- is the habit of saying whatever occurs to them at that moment, without first putting it through the weasel-wording machine.
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Aug '10
Re: Phil the Greek
Prince Philip: Winning!
Re: Phil the Greek
The "now-extinct Greek royal family?" That would be news to Constantine, who, as Bill Buckley explained once before hauling me off to have dinner with the man, remains, after having been anointed at his coronation, a king, sacramentally, for the rest of his life, whether or not he retains a throne. (Which he doesn't.)
Here's a link to the website the Greek royals still keep up. If it has a website, it's real. That's the rule here at Ricochet, right, Rob?
Re: Phil the Greek
I love this list.
Re: Phil the Greek
Peter, we here at Ricochet are Americans. Not royalists. There is no King of Greece as far as I'm concerned, because there is no Greek throne. And there especially isn't a Greek throne in Gstaad.
Perhaps, if you insist, he could be called Constantine, King of the Greek Website.
Aug '10
Re: Phil the Greek
Rob Long
It'll be a sad day when all of the old coots like Phil the Greek die -- he's almost 90. What they'll take with them ... is the habit of saying whatever occurs to them at that moment, without first putting it through the weasel-wording machine. ·
You have heard of the gaffe-machine that is Twitter, right?
Jul '10
Re: Phil the Greek
We still have a little royalists in Us.
"Queen Claire of Ricochet"
Nov '10
Re: Phil the Greek
It's only a gaffe if it's not funny.
Feb '11
Re: Phil the Greek
This is great stuff.
Sep '10
Re: Phil the Greek
Speaking of no weasel-wording: it's said that the late, unlamented Senator Ted Kennedy was staying near Gstaad one season and asked the Buckleys if he could borrow their car to go into town. Patricia Buckley is said to have replied, "Hell, no! There are three bridges between here and Gstaad."
I hope it's true.
Edited on Jun 2, 2011 at 11:12amJun '10
Re: Phil the Greek
The list is very funny! So if you have real work to do don't click on the link. You have been warned.
Jul '10
Re: Phil the Greek
Phil would be a natural on Twitter.
May '10
Re: Phil the Greek
Also, don't miss the Prince Philip quote found by holding your cursor over his photo. For me, that was the funniest quote of the lot. There's nothing like a little self-deprecating humor!
Apr '11
Re: Phil the Greek
My personal favorite: 20. "Do you know they have eating dogs for the anorexic now?" To a wheelchair-bound Susan Edwards, and her guide dog Natalie in 2002
Jun '10
Re: Phil the Greek
How's that working out for them? Considering how Greece is faring these days, what with rumors of default and military coups, they may soon regret abolishing the monarchy...
Apr '11
Re: Phil the Greek
"Whiff of racism"! What racism? Maybe a politically incorrect open recognition of racial differences and of stereotypes that are practically inscribed in national constitutions, but there is nothing--not even a whiff--of racism.
Calling PtG's quips "gaffes" just shows again how journalists' lack of a sense of humor is distorting our (inter)national conversation. I was curious whether it was possible to commit a "gaffe" regarding America. Apparently, it is:
41. "Where's the Southern Comfort?" On being presented with a hamper of southern goods by the American ambassador in London in 1999. [an apt, even astute, concern]
53. "People think there's a rigid class system here, but dukes have even been known to marry chorus girls. Some have even married Americans." In 2000. [a wheeze tested by the ages]
The Baltimore Sun once described the humorlessness of the Watergate-era Washington Post's newsroom. The reporter's wives subscribed to the New Yorker. The reporters didn't get the cartoons (some of which, just to confuse thing, aren't funny). They felt the lack, so they started using "humor" words in their stories: "'We'll finish marking up the bill tomorrow', the Senator quipped."
Aug '10
Re: Phil the Greek
Maybe I'm punch-drunk from overexposure to all the weirdbeards I see on the twenty- and thirtysomething "artsy" and "intellectual" guys I know, but this one in particular stood out:
60. "Well, you didn't design your beard too well, did you? You really must try better with your beard." To a young fashion designer at a Buckingham Palace in 2009.
Also, I appreciate his vendetta against Tom Jones. To be puzzled by Tom Jones's fame, it's not unusual....
Oct '10
Re: Phil the Greek
So now we find out that Mr Robinson has been hob-nobbing with royalty. I'll grant you that it may not be on a Steyn-ean scale but I wonder if he'll be going easier on the bearded one the next time he's unavailable for a Ricochet podcast.
Aug '10
Re: Phil the Greek
I just love the phrase "weasel-wording machine." I can see it - cranking away....
Aug '10
Re: Phil the Greek
Hey this guy beat out Pete Townshend ? WHO else can say that ?
besides Keith Moon, WHO backbeat Pete Townshend.......
and he has great silver hairbrushes
Dec '10
Re: Phil the Greek
54. "Can you tell the difference between them?" On being told by President Obama that he'd had breakfast with the leaders of the UK, China and Russia.
No, seriously, can he?