| The Images Which Left The Royals Spitting Mad |
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| Written by Joanne Leyland | |
| Wednesday, 29 March 2006 | |
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Page 3 of 5  In 1986, at the height of the show's popularity, and with increasing speculation about the state of the once 'fairytale' marriage, royalists (and no doubt many anti-royalists!) eagerly bought Spitting Image slippers depicting Charles and Diana sleeping in separate beds, complete with the Prince of Wales crest on their pillows.Although it was a very innocent and fun gesture, it was in truth the start of a sad and, at times, dangerous decline in the perception of the world's most famous family. Although Diana had a famously strong sense of humour, it was said at the time (quite likely by an overly officious aide) that even she believed Spitting Image went too far in its often vulgar mockery of the royals. However, it was claimed at least once that the Princess had been seen laughing out loud when she came face to face with a pair of Charles and Diana slippers and rumour had it that, despite her denials, she regularly tuned in to laugh at the often wild portrayal of her royal relatives. Not even the Queen Mother was spared the ordeal of being mocked by the puppeteers. Week in and week out, Her Majesty was portrayed as a gin swilling old lady living in the past and obsessed with "the war". In one episode her knuckles displayed tattoos reading 'Gin' and 'Tonic'. 
At a time when some members of the Royal Family were being widely accused of demeening the currency of monarchy by appearing on chat shows (Princes Philip and Andrew, and Princesses Anne and Michael were all separately interviewed on the BBC's Wogan) and, of course, the controversial It's A Royal Knockout game show, Spitting Image undoubtedly helped precipitate a decline in the public's perception of the Windsors and, in turn, the institution of monarchy. Gone was the notion of royalty as being above and beyond criticism. Gone too was the unquestioning deference of old... |
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