Posted 5:03 PM by Gene

Speaking of the past, I can recall when my mother and brother had this thing about the Brits. They were mad for shows like The Avengers and Secret Agent and The Saint and were glued to the papers when Bonnie Prince Charlie got his job. (I too, in a way; I liked Matchbox and Corgi cars.) A lot has happened since; we now know, for instance, that the royals are a extra-ordinary family with a pedigree, and they try to breed like mongrels. Today we Philthydelphians are supposed to be excited that Charles and his mis -- DUCHESS are here for some PR stunt, and it seems less than exciting because we all know he's a middle-aged old fogy who's been waiting and waiting and waiting to become king, God knows why, and he has less than stellar taste in women, although Di once looked nice in a see-through skirt. They get to see our domestic middle-aged old fogies who think their increasingly anemic bloodlines are still an entitlement, and they witness some doing good in the neighborhood, and they go back to Merrie Olde Englande, presumably to argue, and to wait.

All this said, we shouldn't be hard on Charlie; he is a good guy, tastes notwithstanding, and we wish him a jolly olde visit.