UK Mirror: Bush "goons" wreck Buckingham Palace lawn

UK's Sunday Mirror ^ | 11/23/2003

[jmcclain19]

GROUND FARCE 1 Nov 23 2003

Queen's fury as Bush goons wreck garden

Exclusive By Terry O'Hanlon

THE Queen is furious with President George W. Bush after his state visit caused thousands of pounds of damage to her gardens at Buckingham Palace.

Royal officials are now in touch with the Queen's insurers and Prime Minister Tony Blair to find out who will pick up the massive repair bill. Palace staff said they had never seen the Queen so angry as when she saw how her perfectly-mantained lawns had been churned up after being turned into helipads with three giant H landing markings for the Bush visit.

The rotors of the President's Marine Force One helicopter and two support Black Hawks damaged trees and shrubs that had survived since Queen Victoria's reign.

And Bush's army of clod-hopping security service men trampled more precious and exotic plants.

The Queen's own flock of flamingoes, which security staff insisted should be moved in case they flew into the helicopter rotors, are thought to be so traumatised after being taken to a "place of safety" that they might never return home.

The historic fabric of the Palace was also damaged as high-tech links were fitted for the US leader and his entourage during his three-day stay with the Queen.

The Palace's head gardener, Mark Lane, was reported to be in tears when he saw the scale of the damage.

"The Queen has every right to feel insulted at the way she has been treated by Bush," said a Palace insider.

"The repairs will cost tens of thousands of pounds but the damage to historic and rare plants will be immense. They are still taking an inventory.

"The lawns are used for royal garden parties and are beautifully kept. But 30,000 visitors did not do as much damage as the Americans did in three days.

"Their security people and support staff tramped all over the place and left an absolute mess. It is particularly sad because the Queen Mother loved to wander in the garden just as the Queen and Prince Charles do now.

"Some of the roses, flowers and shrubs damaged are thought to be rare varieties named after members of the Royal Family and planted by the Queen Mother and Queen.

"Other Royals had their own favourite parts of the garden as children and some of those areas have been damaged."

The Queen's insurers have told her she is covered for statues, garden furniture and plants she personally owns, but the bill for repairing damage to the lawns and the structure of the Palace will probably have to be picked up by the Government.

The Americans made alterations to accommodate specialised equipment. The mass of gadgetry meant the Royals couldn't get a decent TV picture during the visit.

[U S Army EOD]

Ay, Paddy, or is it Brigett.

[sully777]

Paddy.

"Customer: (entering the bookshop) Good morning.
Proprietor (John Cleese): Good morning, sir. Can I help you?
C: Er, yes. Do you have a copy of "Thirty Days in the Samarkind Desert with the Duchess of Kent" by A. E. J. Eliott, O.B.E.?
P: Ah, well, I don't know the book, sir....
C: Er, never mind, never mind. How about "A Hundred and One Ways to Start a Fight"?
P: ...By?
C: An Irish gentleman whose name eludes me for the moment."

Monty Python Live At the Hollywood Bowl, Bookstore Sketch

[Hoboken]

CNN Germany as translated by Google;

The British queen Elizabeth II. is heavily hereditary east, because US president George W. Bush and his attendants damaged her English lawn. After a report of the "Sunday Mirror" palace servant did not see the 77-jaehrige Queen "ever as furiously" as after the inspection of its green area maintained since generations of top management. The helicopter of the president and two Begleit helicopters would have left enormous h-foermige castings in the country.

[Chemnitz]

Bushes Damage Bushes!

[HardStarboard]

Bushes Damage Bushes!
,p>
I'm gonna nominate you to chief headline writer for FR!

[U S Army EOD]

An Irish "Gentleman"???? Surely you jest.

[roadcat]

"That's what you get for burning our capitol. Or did you guys think we forgot? You're lucky we left with the palace still standing. ;-)"

Excellent point! Did we ever get paid for all the damage those nasty Brits did to our Capitol? We lost a lot more than flowers at the White House, I think we only got a few paintings out of there before it burned.

[Bonaparte]

Nope, we didn't get so much as a farthing.

Colonel Jackson got to use them for target practice, though. ;-)

[weegee]

Wonder if they ever ran articles about Clinton/Gore's goons trashing the White House as they left.

[Citizen of the Savage Nation]

Sorry, this doesn't even pass the smell test. For starters, no helicopter would ever be allowed to make such landings without prior approval. This is really insulting to our intelligence, as if our guys would just be allowed to run amock without the British govt having the slightest idea what's going on.

More garbage for left wing europeans to digest.

[LoneRangerMassachusetts]

Really. I thought it was the jug head prince cavorting with Camilla in the garden that ripped up the lawn and scared the flamingos.

Bristish Royalty

[MARTIAL MONK]

So Bush bashed the bushes and goosed the gooses. I'll send my inlaws for a couple of weeks to drink beer in the parlor and piss in the corner. They'll be happy to have G.B. back. Might even make him King or sumpin.

[richmwill]

Wow. Repairing those roses might tear the Queen away from her important work doing... umm, what exactly does she do anyway?

Rich

[Fledermaus]

Wow, I bet the IRA is really pissed. If, after all this time, they had just attacked the gardens they'd have all the concessions they wanted!

DOH! Who knew?

Are the Brits now officially retarded?

[FormerlyAnotherLurker]

All I saw were motorcades after AF1 landed - to Buckingham Palace, to Banqueting House, etc. I don't recall seeing a helicopter at all.

[texasbluebell]

It's a wonder we have anything left standing in America.

Honestly, aren't we Americans the most reprehensible neanderthals on the face of the earth?

Who'd have thunk it? Helicopters might actually muss up the lawns.

Why don't these media morons get a clue?

Maybe the Queen can get her battalions of gardeners to clean up after her visitors, ya think?

[texasbluebell]

Yeah, she looks REAL MAD here. /sarcasm

Yep, somehow I don't think the Queen really minds too much that her gardeners have to put in an extra hour or 2 cleaning up after her special visitors.

[tracer]

I wonder whether HRH viewed with the same disdain the American "goons" who wrecked French beaches during "D-Day" and performed other "goonish" acts to save the royal arses of her demonstrably dysfunctional family of in-breds.....

[Citizen Soldier]

There is a stately manor house in Ireland called Muckross House near Killarney where Queen Victoria visited just before Albert died and she had 1 or 2 fire engines parked on their lawn just outside her windows on the ground floor because she was afraid of being caught in a fire. I am sure she did not care about the lawn damage, after all, the owners had to build a 3-room suite for her to stay in. It was never occupied after that as sleeping quarters, but the sitting room was turned into a billiards room, as we saw it a couple of years ago. The British royals can inconvenince others too!