Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Kate Middleton and the fall of Western civilisation

Congratulations to Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Conventional wisdom has it that the Middleton family fortune comes from a mail order business providing fancy goods for children's party bags. I thus see them as complicit in the collapse of our civilisation. What is wrong with a balloon and a piece of cake?

The truth is a little more complicated than that. According to an article by Claudia Joseph (sometimes the Daily Mail is indispensable), the Middleton's fortunes owe much to the family's background as Yorkshire cloth merchants.

And, promisingly, Kate is a direct descendant of Cromwell's general Thomas Fairfax.

1 comment:

Kieran said...

Cromwell's general Thomas Fairfax?

I know Black Tom was not exactly the prime mover behind events at the time, but he was still Cromwell's superior officer wasn't he?