A Question for Jamie (or anyone else from the UK)

24

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  • Reply 21 of 63
    powerdocpowerdoc Posts: 8,123member
    [quote]Originally posted by Stroszek:

    <strong>



    The royal family is actully the royal family of Wales, right? But do they rule over all of the UK, or just Wales, and if they rule over all of the UK, did Wales at some point conquer England and Scotland?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    The royal family is not the royal family of wales. Charles is the prince of Wales, it's a title. UK means united kingdom. You have to remember that Great britain was a giant empire, but rather than the king or queen take the title of emperor which permit to have kings under him or her, they prefer to have only one king or queen for all, in order to lower the threat of nationalism. But the nationalism is still very strong in great britain,( for example scottish are very proud to be scottish and you should not call them english) , so it was not possible to remove the previous kingdoms and to replace it whith a big one named great britain.

    UK is the way that people from great britains have find a balance between unity and nationalism.



    Here is all my 2 cent explanation on the subject.
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  • Reply 22 of 63
    stroszekstroszek Posts: 801member
    So if Charles is the prince of Wales, is there a prince of Scotland? what is William?





    If the scottish get mad if you call them English, do they get mad if you call them British?
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  • Reply 23 of 63
    [quote]Originally posted by Stroszek:

    <strong>This may be another stupid question, but where I come from, the only thing that they teach us about the UK is that you tried to tax us without representation.



    If England, Scotland, and Wales are countries, then what is the United Kingdom? Is it kind of like the European Union? Or is it a country too?



    The royal family is actully the royal family of Wales, right? But do they rule over all of the UK, or just Wales, and if they rule over all of the UK, did Wales at some point conquer England and Scotland?</strong><hr></blockquote>





    <img src="graemlins/surprised.gif" border="0" alt="[Surprised]" /> England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland were originally entirely separate countries with their own governments but they were conquered by the English at various points during the Middle Ages - or to be more precise, by the Norman French who had conquered the native English. (The exception is Scotland which became part of the Union when King James the somethingthe ascended to the throne of England I]and[/I] Scotland in 160something). Southern Ireland won independence in the 1920s (I think), but because the majority of the population in northern Ireland was protestant descendants of Scottish settlers, as opposed to the Catholic Irish, they were allowed to remain under the British government in the province of Northern Ireland - and most northern Irish protestants are still vehemently opposed to integration with the Republic of Ireland, however much the British government might like this.

    Nowadays, the term 'United Kingdom' refers, as Jamie rightly says, to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, all governed from London ? although Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the English regions all have varying degrees of autonomy. The situation is similar to the position of the US states in relation to the federal government. The geographical term Great Britain, or just Britain, is a synonym for United Kingdom.

    The Royal Family are the royal family of the United Kingdom, although it should be remembered that they are just constitutional figures for the tourists, and have no real power. The official title of Prince Charles is the Prince of Wales, but again this is just a title and has no real meaning.
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  • Reply 24 of 63
    [quote]Originally posted by Stroszek:

    <strong>So if Charles is the prince of Wales, is there a prince of Scotland? what is William?





    If the scottish get mad if you call them English, do they get mad if you call them British?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Whoops, powerdoc got in there before me and he's more or less right, although I'm not entirely sure about some of his more sociological theories.



    [quote] So if Charles is the prince of Wales, is there a prince of Scotland?<hr></blockquote>



    The Queen's husband is called Duke of Edinburgh, but again, it's just a title. It doesn't really mean anything.

    William is just heir to the throne, as far as I know. If Charles or Her Maj died, he'd become Prince of Wales presumably.



    [quote] If the scottish get mad if you call them English, do they get mad if you call them British?<hr></blockquote>

    No, because 'British' means from the United Kingdom, which includes England and Scotland
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  • Reply 25 of 63
    stroszekstroszek Posts: 801member
    [quote]Originally posted by The Blue Meanie:

    <strong>William is just heir to the throne, as far as I know. If Charles or Her Maj died, he'd become Prince of Wales presumably.

    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    In this case, why would he become the Prince of Wales and not the King?
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  • Reply 26 of 63
    jambojambo Posts: 3,036member
    The Blue Meanie is almost completely correct but Great Britian, or just Britain, is not the same as the UK. Great Britain does not include Northern Ireland. Look here:



    United Kingdom (the whole thing) of Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) and Northern Ireland.



    MiMac Tiocfaidh Ar La!



    Stroszek, Wales conquer England and Scotland? <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" /> No.



    J :cool:
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  • Reply 27 of 63
    jambojambo Posts: 3,036member
    DP, Soz



    [ 06-21-2002: Message edited by: Jamie ]</p>
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  • Reply 28 of 63
    jambojambo Posts: 3,036member
    [quote]Originally posted by Stroszek:

    <strong>



    In this case, why would he become the Prince of Wales and not the King?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    William is second in line to the throne. When Queen Liz dies, Charles will become King and William will receive a title (not necessarily Prince of Wales). Then when King Charles dies William becomes King.



    J :cool:
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  • Reply 29 of 63
    stroszekstroszek Posts: 801member
    [quote]Originally posted by Jamie:

    <strong>William is second in line to the throne. When Queen Liz dies, Charles will become King and William will receive a title (not necessarily Prince of Wales). Then when King Charles dies William becomes King.



    J :cool: </strong><hr></blockquote>



    OK, I misread what the Blue Meanie wrote, I thiought he said William would become Prince of Wales if the Queen and Charles died.



    [quote]Originally posted by Jamie:

    <strong>Stroszek, Wales conquer England and Scotland? [[Laughing]] No.

    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    Hey, like I said, all I learned in school is that the King tried to tax us without representation.



    BTW, how is the Revolutionary War (or whatever you call it) taught in your schools?



    [ 06-21-2002: Message edited by: Stroszek ]</p>
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  • Reply 30 of 63
    I still don't understand the four soccer teams explanation. The United Kingdom is a single country. It only has one seat in the U.N. It should only have one soccer team.



    Are their any other examples of a single country having multiple soccer teams like this in World Cup competition?



    Texas was, at one point, independent of the United States. Does this mean that Texas is qualified to have it's own soccer team in the World Cup competition? Or the original 13 colonies for that matter?



    Not trying to be nit picky here, just curious if there's a logical basis, or a special exception being made for the UK.



    [ 06-21-2002: Message edited by: gobble gobble ]</p>
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  • Reply 31 of 63
    jambojambo Posts: 3,036member
    If the Queen and Prince Charles died then William becomes King.



    [quote]Originally posted by Stroszek:

    <strong>



    BTW, how is the Revolutionary War (or whatever you call it) taught in your schools?

    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    The what? We used to go shopping during history lessons. <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" />



    J :cool:
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  • Reply 32 of 63
    [quote]Originally posted by Jamie:

    <strong>[b]...Great Britian, or just Britain..</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Of course, we used to be called Fantastic Britain, but the Welsh brought the average down.



    : ucks back behind Offa's Dyke::
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  • Reply 33 of 63
    cdhostagecdhostage Posts: 1,038member
    When in doubt, drop a nuke on the Irish and yuou'lll solve most of the world's problems in two seconds as the shock wave expands.



    I love being Scottish.
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  • Reply 34 of 63
    jambojambo Posts: 3,036member
    [quote]Originally posted by cdhostage:

    <strong>



    I love being Scottish.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    As do I!



    J :cool:
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  • Reply 35 of 63
    [quote]Originally posted by Stroszek:

    <strong>



    BTW, how is the Revolutionary War (or whatever you call it) taught in your schools?



    [ 06-21-2002: Message edited by: Stroszek ]</strong><hr></blockquote>



    It's normally called the American War of Independence over here. It's taught in passing, but not in any great detail.
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  • Reply 36 of 63
    jambojambo Posts: 3,036member
    [quote]Originally posted by The Blue Meanie:

    <strong>



    It's normally called the American War of Independence over here. It's taught in passing, but not in any great detail.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Oh I see! The one with Will Smith and the PowerBook?



    J :cool:
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  • Reply 37 of 63
    [quote]Originally posted by cdhostage:

    <strong>

    I love being Scottish.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    The Blue Meanie is half Scottish...(and in fact has an outrageously Scottis real name)

    Nemo me impune lacessit!



    PS - Which CD took you hostage?



    [ 06-21-2002: Message edited by: The Blue Meanie ]</p>
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  • Reply 38 of 63
    [quote]Originally posted by Jamie:

    <strong>The Blue Meanie is almost completely correct but Great Britian, or just Britain, is not the same as the UK. Great Britain does not include Northern Ireland. Look here:



    United Kingdom (the whole thing) of Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) and Northern Ireland. </strong><hr></blockquote>



    Fair point. I guess Northern Ireland is a province, strictly speaking
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  • Reply 39 of 63
    [quote]Originally posted by gobble gobble:

    <strong>I still don't understand the four soccer teams explanation. The United Kingdom is a single country. It only has one seat in the U.N. It should only have one soccer team.



    Are their any other examples of a single country having multiple soccer teams like this in World Cup competition?



    Texas was, at one point, independent of the United States. Does this mean that Texas is qualified to have it's own soccer team in the World Cup competition? Or the original 13 colonies for that matter?



    Not trying to be nit picky here, just curious if there's a logical basis, or a special exception being made for the UK.



    [ 06-21-2002: Message edited by: gobble gobble ]</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Maybe it is a special exception. Dunno really. The nearest I can come to an answer is to say that England, Scotland and Wales still think of themselves as separate countries under a single government.

    Has anyone said Texas can't enter a separate team? Would it want to?

    [quote] four soccer teams <hr></blockquote>

    It's three, surely? England, Scotland and Wales. There's no team from Northern Ireland as far as I'm aware.
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  • Reply 39 of 63
    jambojambo Posts: 3,036member
    [quote]Originally posted by The Blue Meanie:

    <strong>



    Fair point. I guess Northern Ireland is a province, strictly speaking</strong><hr></blockquote>



    No it is a country but it's just not part of GB, because it's not on the main island.



    J :cool:
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