Once upon a time, there was a little four-year-old girl named Julie Alloro who wandered away from her home on a mission. Like many of us today watching the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, she was excited about the royal wedding of her time: Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip in 1947.
But little Julie was also well aware of food shortages in Europe after World War II. She was concerned the princess would not have enough food on her special day. Newspaper accounts say the four-year-old wandered the streets by herself, even rode the subway, and ended up at the offices of a charity in Manhattan (likely CARE package headquarters).
Carrying a piggy bank, she roused company officials and asked them to send a turkey to Princess Elizabeth. Julie wanted to make then Princess Elizabeth happy on her wedding day.
The charity's officers listened intently to her request while trying to locate her mother, which they eventually did. Once her mother arrived, it was learned that the charity's circulars had been at the home, which gave Julie the idea. She had also been to the offices before with her mother.
Mrs. Alloro gave some money to purchase food to send as a royal wedding gift. Julie, however, wanted something from Princess Elizabeth in return for her effort. She asked her to send back the wishbone of the turkey.
At that time, many Americans did send CARE packages as wedding gifts. Princess Elizabeth had these packages given to poor families in England who were struggling after the war. Not only had war hit Europe, but harsh winters and drought had followed. So food was needed by many people on the continent.
CARE packages were one of the means by which Americans responded to hunger overseas. The Silent Guest program was also launched that Thanksgiving. Secretary of State George Marshall at about this very same time was proposing interim food aid which preceded the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe.
Article comments
1 - Cindy
Maybe they should have spent the 20 million of taxpayer money that went to security for these pompous asses on feeding people.
What kind of people have we become who can look at this outrageous display of self-aggrandizement and frivolous, narcissistic waste and not choke.
2 - STM
Come on Cindy, he's our equivalent of a future president ... without the power given to a POTUS, of course. The Brits prefer that to be in the hands of the people.
But the monarchy is still relevant today for that reason. It's the role they occupy at the executive level that makes them so important. I think some Americans misunderstand how it works. He's not going to be our ruler, but our head of state, and largely a figurehead at that. His main job in the constitutional monarchy that is Britain is act almost at the exceutive level on decisions of parliament.
However, while bound by the constitution not to interfere in the legitimate affairs of government, the monarch DOES have the power to stop a government acting unconstitutionally.
Besides, the Brits loved it. They don't really celebrate a national day and something like this brings them together in a sea of red, white and blue and love of country.
Good for us too since he'll likely be the King of Oz one day as well if we don't become a republic in the meantime.
The amount spent on royal wedding like this is worth it just for that alone ... the Poms chucking their own party once every couple of decades.
Don't be a curmudgeon :) William's a serving helicopter pilot - a real one - with the Royal Air Force search-and-rescue squadron; he's now married a woman with no royal blood (the Middletons are descendents of Durham coal miners). That last bit makes it a momentous thing and brings the monarchy into the modern age. Marrying for love will that for you.
He invited his crew and many of his squadron mates to the wedding and has gone back on duty in Wales before departing on the honeymoon. And Harry's a war veteran who could have chosen to stay home at the palace but went to Afghanistan instead. I know your views on that, but at least he didn't sit in splendour at Buck house with his grandma and leave the dirty work to everyone else.
And I suspect some of the charities the royals are involved in do actually do something to alleviate world hunger.
Now to the pat-on-the-back bit: thanks for the surf vid, Cindy. Loved it, and so did my mates. I've watched it half a dozen times and it only gets better.
Cheers.
3 - STM
make that "his main job ... is to act almost exclusively at the exceutive level on decisions of parliament."
4 - Cindy
Glad you liked the surfing with crocodiles. :-)
(I do not recognize elites as valuable. I find all people who place themselves in positions above others to be reprehensible. IMO, the world will never be a healthy place for all to live until the 'death' of the elite system. My eye is always tuned into those with the least. Would that that image were in the mind of everyone, we could actually change starvation and want. Practically speaking, only when it is in the eyes of most of us will we accomplish that. Instead of being obsessed with the worship of power, wealth, and accumulation. We need to become a culture that puts the unimportant in its place to actually become one which values the important.
Besides, they all disgust me. It is obscene to see such waste with such want. Too bad most people can put the needy under a rug and not think about them.
And then there are the lies and and sexism and fascination with status of the fairytale and princess/prince stuff sickens me that children are so indoctrinated.)