Chapter 655 The Olympic Team Issue
To be fair, the naming of these two new heavy-duty aircraft carriers is a bit flattering. But given the relationship between General Mountbatten and the royal family, who would risk offending the royal family to object to such a naming?
Although the British monarch has little power in name, the power of the royal family is not in name at all.
Now let's see what Elizabeth, who has not yet been officially crowned, thinks about this matter. Mountbatten himself took his two daughters and two sons-in-law to Buckingham Palace and asked Elizabeth what she meant.
The future queen is of course willing. The British royal family is not superstitious about this kind of thing. She is very happy that such a most advanced post-war aircraft carrier is named after Elizabeth herself.
"The Crown Prince's image is widely praised in the Commonwealth countries. Once he is crowned, it will be a good thing for the entire Commonwealth. I have a suggestion!" Alan Wilson, a reliable person sitting aside holding hands with Pamela Mountbatten, said, "The Royal Navy can organize a ship review at the same time as the coronation ceremony. On the one hand, it will celebrate the coronation ceremony, and on the other hand, it will also boost Britain's morale after the war."
"With the coronation of the Crown Prince, our country should usher in a new era. While protecting the glory of the past, it should also give British citizens good expectations in the new era. This is a great thing for both public and private purposes."
Alan Wilson made this suggestion with reference to the historical 1953 British Ship Review. After all, there aren't many famous scenes like this, so it's better to happen as scheduled. The most fundamental reason is, of course, to allow the British Empire to show off in front of the vast number of young, old, border and poor countries.
There is no occasion more suitable to do this than the Queen's coronation, and it is not without precedent. From Edward VII to George V, the coronation of the British king was inevitably accompanied by a fleet review.
The most familiar and shocking ship review for people in later generations is the ship review in 1914. The endless steel giants covered the entire strait in a majestic manner, embodying the empire on which the sun never sets. of majesty. Only half of the British Royal Navy participated in the ship review.
"If the second ship of the new aircraft carrier is also completed by then, then the two heavy aircraft carriers will participate together. I think it must be a grand ceremony." Alan Wilson said this to General Mountbatten for advice, "Dear General ,what you think."
"Of course I am happy to have the Royal Navy's most cutting-edge warships appear during the ship review." General Mountbatten immediately agreed and also felt that this was a great thing.
"The cabinet has not yet come up with any opinions on the coronation ceremony." Elizabeth said calmly, "It may be too early to mention this matter. I have to wait for news from the cabinet."
"Dear Crown Prince, in fact, considering the factors of maintaining the feelings of the Commonwealth, and the organization of a ship review, of course it may take some time, diplomatic work cannot be rushed." Alan Wilson said slowly,
"Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, etc. all need time to prepare. There is no way around this."
After all, if there is no difference between the current Britain and the Britain before World War I, not only the cabinet and Whitehall do not believe it, but also the current British citizens. At this moment, British India, the crown jewel of the British Empire, has long been independent.
The huge price paid by the war cannot be compared with the past. The entire society is also a little confused about the current position of Britain in the world. At such a moment, Elizabeth's coronation can let the country see through the young queen. to your own future. But the right balance is hard to strike: enough of the past so that Britons can regain confidence in the continuity of history, but enough of the present and future that they don't feel like they're lying in the graves of their ancestors.
Alan Wilson said this very frankly, and Elizabeth nodded. This was a tricky balance, and he himself had been prepared in his heart.
Elizabeth still has great respect for Mountbatten, the influential representative of the royal family in the Royal Navy. Courtesy kindnesses were also expressed to several relatives, including Alan Wilson.
Alan Wilson is actually not suitable for this kind of occasion. He prefers the feeling in Kuala Lumpur. But this time the communication did not last long, and soon General Mountbatten left the palace with his relatives.
"Ellen, does it really take so long to prepare?" Pamela Mountbatten asked, holding her husband's hand.
"Dear, in theory we all hope that everything can be done as quickly and cost-effectively as possible, but many times, these characteristics themselves are contradictory. The foreseeable grand ceremony must highlight the image and status of the United Kingdom in the world. For such a grand event, it’s not too much to spend more time preparing.”
Alan Wilson can be said to be righteous. After all, Britain can be considered a global power now, right? The necessary ostentation is still required!
Alan Wilson changed the topic and asked softly, "Dear, I asked about something. I heard from my colleagues in Whitehall that you would be interested in taking over the project to develop the airport?"
The airport project he is talking about is naturally the aviation transit port project in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. At a time when the UK is fully supporting the Comet airliner to seize the market, the project itself has received attention.
"I have been hesitating recently. My dear, you know that this project is taken very seriously by the local people. And it is foreseeable that the investment will be very large. I am worried about the risks. This is not only a financial consideration." Pamela Mountbatten She decisively admitted that she was interested in the project, but was a little daunted by it.
In fact, it is still a question of money. Although his wife denied this, Alan Wilson could hear that this was the most important point, and gave a suggestion, "Using Pakistan's manpower to build this transit port can solve most of the problems." The problem, at least part of it, I believe the rest should be controllable.”
Some people say that later generations of the Middle East and India always feel that they are very influential. On the one hand, it is because India is not far from the Middle East and is within reach.
Another reason is that the Middle East is the main destination for Indians to work overseas. After all, the United States is too far away, and Southeast Asian countries are not that richer than India. East Asian countries do not have a favorable impression of Indians. Britain only has the upper class, so there are almost no options left.
There are a large number of South Asians working at the bottom of the economy in the Middle East, and South Asia is not a richer region than Africa. Workers in South Asia cannot expect good treatment. During the construction of the World Cup in Qatar, Nepal faced the high temperatures of the Middle East and was forced to work, resulting in a large number of casualties.
Now that India is moving towards a promising goal, it is better to let Pakistan do this hard work. This is also more in line with the South Asia rebalancing strategy.
"If the raw materials cannot be provided locally, Malaya will make up for it, and the manpower will be found from Pakistan. Let the local chief use oil as collateral. Of course, the settlement must be in pounds." Alan Wilson sat in the co-pilot and faced the driver. The wife said, "I remember that Mr. Jinnah even took a photo with us when we were engaged in New Delhi. If necessary, we can use it to close our relationship when we are in Pakistan."
Pamela Mountbatten nodded frequently, expressing her approval of her husband's plan. Alan Wilson is very proud. Who said taking pictures is not a good habit? He thinks this habit is very good and can be used for many things.
There was no need for his wife to know about his numerous private collections. This time I returned to London just in time for the release of Woodpecker Pictures' epic masterpiece The 300.
In order to support the European film industry, Alan Wilson found an opportunity to take his wife to watch this movie starring Greta Garbo.
But it's quite annoying to hear that the film has been banned in Greece. According to gossip, the reason for the ban was that the Athenian authorities believed that the film was easily associated with the Turkish army, which was helping the Greek government pay its bills.
However, it is also said that the Greek royal family and the government have different opinions and believe that the government's decision to ban the film is very hasty.
"Maybe this is the movie that swept all the awards at Cannes." Alan Wilson waited until the queen played by Greta Garbo appeared and commented to his wife.
Seeing Greta Garbo reappearing on the screen, his heart surged. After subduing Vivien Leigh's Cleopatra, he was about to attack the Spartan Queen again. But it's not a big deal. Greta Garbo has played the Queen of Sweden before, so it's not a problem.
"What a surprise. Didn't Greta Garbo disappear?" Pamela Mountbatten was very surprised. She also knew Greta Garbo's name.
"I don't know, maybe it's just a cameo." As the man behind the Queen of Sweden, Alan Wilson said with a clueless look, "It seems that the president of Woodpecker Pictures is also a Swedish, so he invited her out. .”
Garbo always drew all the attention to herself on the screen. Garbo had an otherworldly face, exactly like the one Keats saw in the poem's vision: charming, demure. Her figure became otherworldly and beautiful.
After watching the movie, Alan Wilson had no idea what the entire movie was about, so he just remembered the relevant clips where Garbo appeared. It seems that on this trip back to Kuala Lumpur, Paris must be chosen as the transit stop.
Alan Wilson is working non-stop with British Sport to discuss the dispatch of the Helsinki Olympic delegation.
In fact, the sports association already knows Alan Wilson's purpose and has prepared relevant rhetoric.
However, this kind of rhetoric could not move Alan Wilson. He directly took out the medal data from the last London Olympics and pointed out that the current sports association is a model of waste of resources and used reduced allocations as a bargaining chip.