ilx ranks the royals

the virus jumped from bat to man, and from man to lizard, and from lizard to bat again; but already it was impossible to say which was which
— george orwell, zoonotic farm

Chaz's tooth-brusher valet in self-isolation, emergency brush-training underway for the man who will be king

ffs no "looks like charles is getting coronated after all" jokes yet?

not even a special strain just for him

i keep reading this thread title in the Michael Palin in Life of Brian voice

theory: Prince Charles is a similar personality to Tony Benn in a lot of ways - in the later diaries Benn is forever coming up with plans and reports for how various problems could be solved, various institutions reformed and trying to press them into the hands of influential people in a way that reminds me of Charles and the black spider memos - this impression of frustration that they can't run things themselves, but coupled with untiring enthusiasm for their particular causes. I can imagine Charles looked on Benn's success in renouncing his peerage with envy - this impression that if only he wasn't cursed by being their heir to the throne then he'd be free to advocate for all his brilliant ideas without restraint. There's a bit in the diaries of Benn's personal friend and one-time political ally Chris Mullin where Mullin meets Charles and goes on at length about what a great guy he is, a serious thinker who is unfairly maligned, which seems a bit odd at first, but I think Charles reminds him of Benn. Maybe someone could write a novel set in an alternate timeline version of the 1980s where Charles becomes king and Benn becomes PM.