It's been a good week for … sartorial choices
Talk about statement headwear. When the Queen rocked up to the State Opening of Parliament in a hat that bore a strong resemblance to the European Union flag, the collective intake of breath was heard around the world.
Not since fashion designer Katharine Hamnett met the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher back in 1984 while wearing a T-shirt bearing the anti-nuclear slogan "58% don't want Pershing" has a sartorial choice been so hotly debated.
The conspiracy theories were glorious. Could the Queen have been sending a subliminal anti-Brexit message to the nation? Was she trolling for Theresa May for almost making her miss Royal Ascot?
Could it be an homage to Vincent van Gogh's The Starry Night (and a cryptic nod to the artist painting the famed scene while looking out from his room in an asylum)?
Or perhaps HRH simply fancied wearing a rather nice blue hat with a smattering of yellow flowers? I'm doffing my cap to her either way.
It's been a bad week for … mumbling
What's that you say? Mumbling. Nope, I still didn't get it. Can you speak up? MUMBLING. Come again? M.U.M.B.L.I.N.G.
Poldark has become the latest to join the Mumblegate ranks as fans of the BBC drama complained that they struggled to decipher the dialogue of salty sea dog Tholly Tregirls – played by Shameless star Sean Gilder – in last Sunday's episode.
One viewer wrote on Twitter: "What on earth is Tholly saying? #MumblesThePirate."
Even my husband, who has the kind of Ninja-like aural capacity that can hear a pin drop from six streets away, was reaching for an ear trumpet.
Mumbling on TV shows has reached epidemic levels. It blighted the BBC's big adaptation of Jamaica Inn a few years back and similarly War And Peace, Taboo, Happy Valley and SS-GB.
Garbled delivery is among my top telly peeves, second only to poor lighting (yes, I get that it is meant to be night/a cave/the olden days but I might as well listen to the radio if I can't see a damned thing).
What's the point of even having dialogue if we can't make out what they're saying? If I wanted subtitles I could watch a decent Scandi drama or some posh French arthouse cinema.
And don't try and distract us with Poldark's Aidan Turner taking his top off either. Enunciate, please.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel