Prince Philip couldn't be bothered

[smurfchops]

Did you notice how uninterested Prince Philip was towards the crowds clapping and wishing him well, outside Church today ? I even noticed someone in a wheelchair waiting outside church. What is it about the Royal Family that makes people queue for hours in the cold and wet when certain members can't even be bothered to look at them ?

[nfn]

He has a house at Wolferton where he 'entertains'

[starone]

OMG! What have I got to look forward to? Woe is me!!
Jem, I also have read about his affairs but some time ago when he was a lot younger. I expect he was picked for her out of the socially acceptable young men available in those days but I haven't seen anything derogatory about him lately - well not in that way anyway. As you say it has been swept under the carpet and well hidden. Although I suppose she could have divorced him, it's not unknown in royal circles.

[anneasquith]

dont think he will be " entertaining " much now , with a paramedic constantly in the background :)

[Barmaid]

Welsh, I'd be interested in your sources. My work brings me into contact with a huge amount of elderly people (alive and dead) and actually relatively few suffer any form of dementia.

I do not think it right to categorise someone as "probably senile" based on age alone. That is generalist and judgemental. I regularly lunch with an 88 year old gentleman who would frankly, have your guts for garters. I can discuss quite indepth legal propositions with him on an intellectual level that I can't do with people of less than half my age. He still works every day as a senior lawyer in one of the most respected organisations in the country.

As someone who works with the elderly I think you should try to employ more of an open mind and make a few less sweeping statements. ON a more personal level, my grandmother at 85 is now showing signs of senility. Her husband at the age of 87 has a sharper mind and memory than any of the 30 and 40 somethings sat round the dinner table on Christmas day. Just be slightly less judgemental.

[starone]

That's interesting nfn. Still at it then is he?

[nfn]

The Doctor in the background is most unhappy to be there (and I know him)!!

[nfn]

The old boy's still at it!!

[Barmaid]

NfN = Normal for Norfolk?!!!!!!!! Just a guess.

Craft, you're past it, love so I'd give it up now. ;0 (PS, can I have the gin cellar, please. If you can remember who I am)!!!!

[anneasquith]

" the old boy is still at it " well i hope he uses protection, we dont want anymore royal scandals !

[welshlibranr]

Barmaid!...................I am not judgemental at all, I too meet very with bright and sharp elderly folk every day!.........but have to say that most of the 90 year olds are suffering dementia to some degree!......sorry, but that is a fact|!.......

[nfn]

Barmaid - clue please?!!

[craft1948]

Sorry BM................I've still got 17 years to empty it....if I can remember where it is.

[nfn]

My grandad came to us for Christmas for the first time since 1988, he's 90 and sharper in wit and everything than most 70 year olds!

[starone]

Well, sex can go on well into the eighties and presumably the nineties and there have been cases of very old men (usually film stars or millionaires) fathering babies although in these cases I often wonder whether there is a young stud round the corner waiting for a chance.

[Barmaid]

NfN, it's a standing joke that the doctors in Norwich Hospital have an abbreviation for patients' charts = "NfN". This means "Normal for Norfolk". Given that you mentioned Wolferton I thought you might be local and were using that slang. No offence intended.

Welsh, thats the point most of the ones you meet are suffering dementia to some some degree. Thats "most" of the ones "you meet". Does not back up your earlier sweeping statement, now you have qualified it. Well most of the ones I might are not. I assume you are professionally qualified in psychogeriatrics though and probably know more than me.

[bunkmoreland]

ridiculous sweeping statement,that age 90 means senility has taken hold! the people who work with dementia patients have all my respect,but,the idea that anyone of that age must have some degree of senility is completely patronising :-(. i thought barmaid said it all.

[ladybirder]

Some interesting stuff here if anyone can be bothered to read it at this time of the night. Three years old but informative.
http://www.sciencedai...8/07/080702160957.htm

[nfn]

BARMAID,none taken!! I just thought you'd sussed my id!! Bunk, in my line of work I see many dementia patients MUCH younger than 90 - some are in their 50s. It is a cruel disease with no respect for age, class, status or money

[Barmaid]

lol nfn.

However, whilst I accept that you see much younger patients with dementia I know for instance that early onset Alzheimers can come at any age and can be particularly exacerbated by an abnormal grief reaction. But it doesn't follow that someone of 90 is "probably senile". Categorising someone as senile based on age alone is just wrong and frankly, discrimatory.

[starone]

I just read it ladybirder and a couple of things struck me. One is it is an American study so maybe it might b a bit different here and the other one is that since the incidence of women living to old age is greater than that of men it stands to reason that more women will end up with dementia since there are more women anyway. I occasionally go to a lunch club for pensioners and most of the people there are women. There are only about four or five men as opposed to about forty women. It's got to mean something.