Personally, I sympathise with the Countess of Wessex, formerly Sophie Rhys-Jones. Unmistakably, she was duped by some money-grabbing lowlife, masquerading as an Arab Sheikh, whose prime intention was to create a bit of sadistic sensationalism and earn a few bucks at the same time.
Whenever a public figure is asked for their views on a particular person and they say, "No comment", well, we all know how that is interpreted, don't we? It's also not what we want to hear. We want to know the truth and we want to know that celebrities are normal people with normal feelings, normal likes and normal dislikes.
The Queen is an old dear and William Hague looks baby who's been injected with large quantities of human growth hormone.
I wonder how many of us, lured into a similar situation of trust and subsequent unscrupulous grilling, would divulge our real feelings and thoughts about our friends and members of our own families? You only need to listen to customers chatting in the supermarket queue, for example, to know that each and every one of us occasionally has cause to belittle someone else.
Nobody can be nice all the time and nobody can say that they have never criticised someone else. That would be the same as admitting that they condoned the behaviour of a child murderer, because there are some actions in this world that cannot warrant anything other than criticism.
As John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) said, "We can never be sure that the opinion we are endeavouring to stifle is a false opinion; and if we were sure, stifling it would be an evil still."
There is no difference between those who have spiteful thoughts and remain silent and those who express their malevolent thoughts verbally.
There is no difference between those who have spiteful thoughts and remain silent and those who express their malevolent thoughts verbally. Personally, I think the two-faced attitude of those who keep their real thoughts to themselves is far worse than coming clean. At least you know where you stand with outspoken friends and acquaintances.
Even if the allegations about her disparaging comments were true, The Countess of Wessex would be perfectly correct in her judgements. The Queen is an old dear and William Hague looks baby who's been injected with large quantities of human growth hormone. However, I'm not part of the Royal Family, so I can say that can't I? I call my Gran an old dear, but it's an endearing term and is certainly not the same as referring to someone as an old bag.
The Countess is perfectly entitled to her opinions, as indeed are we all. As John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) said, "We can never be sure that the opinion we are endeavouring to stifle is a false opinion; and if we were sure, stifling it would be an evil still."
What also has to be taken into account is the adeptness of some papers to grossly distort and exaggerate the truth. And often, much of what is set in print is entirely untrue.
Fortunately, unless we are high profile celebrities or members of the Royal Family, we do not have our opinions published by the media for the world to see. I admire Sophie for been forthright and honest, rather than hiding behind this false veneer of stomach-churning, goody-two-shoes' congeniality that we see of so many stars. During many a chat show interview, I have observed the body language of the star guests and can clearly detect their insincerity. I think, "Oh please! Cut the crap and just admit that you don't like the guy", or whoever or whatever the subject of the host's interview happens to be.
The high-profile people that I most admire are those who are not afraid to be controversial and refuse to be anything but themselves, irrespective of the situation. This is why the stars who received my vote on Celebrity Big Brother were Vanessa Feltz and Jack Dee. They weren't out to try and impress people and to grab votes by gingerly stepping on eggshells and tailoring their behaviour to hopefully enhance their popularity and future career opportunities.
Some might argue that if you are privileged enough to be part of the Royal Family, then it is your duty to exercise restraint and diplomacy when asked for your personal opinions on certain people or issues. However, if that were the case, then Princess Diana would not have spoken out about land mines, the Prince of Wales would not have expressed his concerns about genetically modified foods and many other worthy causes would not have been given much-needed attention.
There appears to be this mentality of building people up and then proceeding to knock them off of their pedestal once they reach the untouchable, superstar status. As soon as they attempt to engage in everyday activities, as would Mr or Ms Average, some photographer from the gutter
press camps out behind a tree for two days and then pictures the idol in a compromising position. The photographer then scurries off to his dark room and, with crafty dexterity, magnifies the imperfection ten thousand times ready to splash on the front page of the following day's major tabloids, along with some bitchy editorial.
If, for example, they have attempted to take a well-earned break with their latest partner, you can guarantee that however remote their foreign hideaway might initially seem, a revealing photo will be emblazoned across news stands the following day, showing the idol wearing not a lot and displaying, unspeakably, a miniscule blob of cellulite.
When they're not busy sneaking up on unsuspecting celebs trying to conduct the private life to which the rest of us mere mortals are entitled, these media reptiles are digging up some misdemeanour from a whiter-than-white superstar's past.
And if they don't unearth anything seedy enough, they make it up.
It is a sad fact, however, that this unscrupulous behaviour is fuelled by the public's enjoyment of reading such tripe. Not only does it make Mr or Miss Ordinary feel better about themselves, but it demonstrates how jealousy of others' success, wealth and beauty can promote enjoyment of an accomplished star's imperfections and public disgrace.
There must be some misguided people who are under the impression that popular famous people are godlike, superhuman entities, who don't have bad hair days, skin problems or dental plaque and only ever have lumps and bumps in the acceptable places. I presume, therefore, that the press feel it is their duty to enlighten these poor, ill-advised citizens and present the truth to them in all of its stark glory.
What I would say to those who condemn is, "take at look at yourselves." If everyone concentrated on making the most of their own gifts instead of using their energy to attack and belittle others, then they too would flourish.
Successful, attractive, wealthy and well-known people probably look less than perfect first thing in the morning, they break out in the occasional spot, suffer from pre-menstrual tension, have hang-ups about their bodies, suffer identity crises and have relationship problems. They also have personal opinions, good or bad, about their own friends, family, work colleagues and others with whom they come into contact. Above all, they have feelings, just like you or I and they should not be slated for any attributes with which they were born or have worked extremely hard to achieve.
And, as Jack Dee proved on Celebrity Big Brother, even famous people fart.
"An injury is much sooner forgotten than an insult."
