Prince Harry Is A 'Wastrel'

[AnitolaNova]

Here's the link.

wastrel -
1. One who wastes, especially one who wastes money; a profligate.
2. An idler or a loafer

^ Thought I'd post that just in case someone didn't know what wastrel meant.  :)  

[LadyLove]

"Wastrel" is a harsh word. I don't think Harry is a waste. :(:( he's way to cute to be a waste.

[LisaG]

Geez, give the guy a break! He's on 19!!! He's got his whole life ahead of him.

[AnitolaNova]

I kinda fell bad for him.  :(  Just 'cause he likes to party a little  :partytime: , people call him a disgrace and a wastrel. They're being really cruel. It's not like he did something horrible! He got drunk. Big deal!!  :angry:  

[princessrose]

I definitely don?t think Harry is even close to being a wastrel! I mean just the idea of comparing him to king Henry VIII Is a bit unreasonable seeing all the differences in their positions, and then giving the assumption that he will end up to be like him :huh: , come on people give him a break

I?m almost tempted to question the ?usefulness? of the professor who stated this <_<

[aussiegirl]

what a derro lol imagine saying this at a freakin conference, and besides what did Henry VIII do that was so bad or is that a stupid questain? lol

[LisaG]

what a derro lol imagine saying this at a freakin conference, and besides what did Henry VIII do that was so bad or is that a stupid questain? lol

Well, for starters he married 6 different woman and had most of them murdered so that he could marry again. He wasn't a good guy. I certainly woudn't compare Harry to that!!

[tkampenhout]

Wastrel is defnitely harsh. Every 19 year old parties and gets drunk. This media crap is really getting stupider and stupider every day.

[princesscharmingolas]

^ Thought I'd post that just in case someone didn't know what wastrel meant.  :)

well it's a good thing you did, because I didn't have a clue what the hell that meant. Although it sounds a little funny. And I don't think he's a wastrel.

[abc]

Well I thought I already responded to this, but I don't see it, maybe it was another thread. The article is really harsh, he is only 19 and they should back off, I don't know why but lately there seems to be a bash harry band wagon going around and the articles author is deffinetly on it.  

[pixie]

I'd say Harry probably is a bit of a wastrel.  He clearly didn't do much studying at Eton, hence earning his the title of loafer, and taking a double gap year doesn't do much to counter that.  I don't know what it is, but the whole "had to drop one of his A levels and STILL managed to get the lowest grade in the class" thing doesn't exactly conjure up the image of a careful and dutiful studier to me.  It's more the "bum around till midnight than dash off a bit of work" type, the loafer type, the wastrel type, if you will.  And I'd bet he's probably a bit of a spendthrift, too.  Drinks are pricey, and if you want to get absolutely loaded on a night out--which we've seen him do--and you want to do it at nice places, you're going to spend well over $100 to do so.  And it costs me that much money, and I'm a tiny little girl.  He's 6'2.  You're going dole out an awful lot of cash before you're falling-down-on-the-street drunk.  Besides, rich kids with money tend to just spend an awful lot of it.  There's that whole "value of the dollar" thing that just doesn't penetrate your head.  Rich kids who don't have a tad of wastrel in them are few and far between.  It's not that they don't exist, it's just that there aren't many of them, and I'm very doubtful that Harry is among their ranks.  Yeah, I'd definitely count Harry as a wastrel.

Being a wastrel isn't the same thing as being a waste.  One's a relatively minor personality flaw, the other's a judgement of you as a person, saying you are not worth the resources you consume.  I don't think the comparison's fair to Henry the Eighth, but I do think wastrel's a just description.

[e-ccentriceventer]

I know of plenty of 19-year-olds who don't even drink- who never even have. :) I will count myself among their ranks. Most of them go a private university known to members of my family, where they study without a place that serves alcohol for at least half an hour away, don't wear jeans to class, attend chapel daily, and go off-campus to church every Sunday. Two, almost three thousand of them. And they're happy and like it there.
That was a NoW or Sun thing- he got the lowest Geo grades, but there WERE other D's in there.
However, think about this- he was pulled out a cattle muster because he was being photographed in Oz. Is that right? Does he stop getting drunk because he's being photographed? No, but he does stop the work he's doing.

[tkampenhout]

Well hey I know a lot who don't drink but just because he does does not mean he is a wastrel. And what do you mean he didn't study much at Eton? His grades weren't as good as Wills but he still studied.

[pixie]

I know of plenty of 19-year-olds who don't even drink- who never even have. :) I will count myself among their ranks. Most of them go a private university known to members of my family, where they study without a place that serves alcohol for at least half an hour away, don't wear jeans to class, attend chapel daily, and go off-campus to church every Sunday. Two, almost three thousand of them. And they're happy and like it there.

Good for them.  I never said they couldn't be, or that all 19 year olds have to drink and be lazy bums or anything like that.  I said rich kids (I'm talking genuinely rich, not just "I got a nice car for my 16th birthday" rich) who don't have a bit of wastrel in them--neither a bit of loafer nor a bit of spendthrift--are few and far between.  Almost every person I know who I would consider to have been born rich who is not yet fully grown up either spends a lot of money, engages in more than a proper share of loafing around, or does both.  There are exceptions, to be sure, but they are, in my experience, few and far between.  The point that they are few and far between however, is irrelevent.  They could be plentiful, but that still wouldn't change the fact that Harry is not among their numbers.  He spends a lot of money.  We know this because of his drinking.  Note, I'm not saying that all 19 year olds drink or that all drinkers are wastrels, what I am saying is exclusively the context of money spent.  Harry goes out to expensive bars and gets absolutely trashed.  Consider how many $15 drinks it takes a 6'2 boy to fall down on the street.  That's no paltry amount of cash.  And as one definition of a wastrel is someone who spends a lot of money, and since we know he does because of the cost of drinking, Harry is a wastrel.  

That was a NoW or Sun thing- he got the lowest Geo grades, but there WERE other D's in there.

It was a Sun thing, but since they're the same company it doesn't matter.  The article said that only one D grade was received, and that would be Harry's.  Of course, I'm not exactly bursting with trust for the Sun.  There could've been other D's, who am I to say?

What I can say, however, is that only taking two A-levels at Eton isn't done.  Everyone takes three.  It was extremely, extremely unusual for him to take only two.   And for him to take only two and still receive either the worst grade or one of the worst?  That's ridiculous.  If he'd studied more, he certainly would've done better.

However, think about this- he was pulled out a cattle muster because he was being photographed in Oz. Is that right? Does he stop getting drunk because he's being photographed? No, but he does stop the work he's doing.

I'm not sure what to make of that.

[pixie]

Well hey I know a lot who don't drink but just because he does does not mean he is a wastrel. And what do you mean he didn't study much at Eton? His grades weren't as good as Wills but he still studied.

I said this above in my reply to e, but I'll repeat it because it's worth repitition.

In order to drink in the manner Harry does and to the extent he does, you have to spend a lot of money on it.  One of the definitions of a wastrel is someone who spends a lot of money.  We know Harry spends a lot of money because of the drinking thing, so that qualifies him as a wastrel.

His grades were pitiful.  Not only were the grades absolutely horrific, he only took two A-levels.  Everybody at Eton takes three A-levels.  Only taking two automatically qualifies him as the worst in the class.  If he'd gotten good grades on both of them, then you could've said "well at least he worked hard at what he was studying."  He didn't, though.  He got a D, reputedly the only one in the class.  That's some hard core not caring about your homework right there.  He definitely was doing some loafing in order to get grades like that.

[e-ccentriceventer]

Most schools post A-levels results on their site; Eton did and there were several D's, but only in geography- so the Sun was lying by omission, so to say- he did get the only D- in geography. If you go to the College wesbite, those are still up, and there were fourteen D's.

[tkampenhout]

Well I know grades are important but there're not everything. and pixie just because he drinks and spends some money on it does not make him a total wastrel. I guess in a way its a waste to spend that much on drinking but as long as he doesn;t hurt himself just give him a dam break ok.

[AnitolaNova]

Well hey I know a lot who don't drink but just because he does does not mean he is a wastrel. And what do you mean he didn't study much at Eton? His grades weren't as good as Wills but he still studied.

I said this above in my reply to e, but I'll repeat it because it's worth repitition.

In order to drink in the manner Harry does and to the extent he does, you have to spend a lot of money on it.  One of the definitions of a wastrel is someone who spends a lot of money.  We know Harry spends a lot of money because of the drinking thing, so that qualifies him as a wastrel.

His grades were pitiful.  Not only were the grades absolutely horrific, he only took two A-levels.  Everybody at Eton takes three A-levels.  Only taking two automatically qualifies him as the worst in the class.  If he'd gotten good grades on both of them, then you could've said "well at least he worked hard at what he was studying."  He didn't, though.  He got a D, reputedly the only one in the class.  That's some hard core not caring about your homework right there.  He definitely was doing some loafing in order to get grades like that.

How do you know he spends a lot on booze?? You've seen a few pictures and read some article so now you know he's a dirty drunk. Well, William appeared to be drunk too in some of those pictures. And who cares if he spends some dough on a few drinks. They're some of the richest people in the world. Let him spend his bread the way he wants to. It doesn't seem to be harmful to him. He hasn't gotten into any accidents or been arrested for DUI.  

[abc]

What they spend on drinks when going out is probably nothing in comparison to what they have. And I am not sure its a waste, they go out with friends and have a good time, they aren't exactly doing it every day so I don't see a problem. While I may not do this I don't see why people are making such a big deal about him doing it.  

[pixie]

How do you know he spends a lot on booze?? You've seen a few pictures and read some article so now you know he's a dirty drunk.

I didn't say he was a dirty drunk.  I drink a good amount and I drink at expensive places, but I don't consider myself a dirty drunk.  As for how I know he spends a lot on booze, it's a relatively simple equation.  He's going to nice bars, where the drinks cost a lot of money.  He's also having a lot of drinks, as evidenced by the photos we've seen of him falling down drunk.  A lot of drink at a lot of money a piece = a good deal of cash.  

Well, William appeared to be drunk too in some of those pictures.

I'm sure one could make a decent case that William's a wastrel as well.  I don't imagine flying back to London for weekends (which he seems to be doing a lot) is too cheap, nor are his African vacations, nor polo, for that matter.  I'd bet William's a bit of a wastrel, too.  My guess is less so than Harry, but that's another day for another thread.  

And who cares if he spends some dough on a few drinks. They're some of the richest people in the world. Let him spend his bread the way he wants to. It doesn't seem to be harmful to him. He hasn't gotten into any accidents or been arrested for DUI.

Who cares if he spends some dough on a few drinks?  Well, seeing as it's relevent to the question of whether or not he's a wastrel, and as this topic is about that, I'd say the people posting in it would certainly like it as a fact to consider.  I'm not saying it's not Harry's right to spend his money that way, or that I don't (because I do), all I'm saying is that it qualifies him as a wastrel.

I appreciate that we all want to like Harry and protect him from the media making mean charges towards him, but I think you can make a fair case that he is, in fact, a wastrel, based on the money he spends and his academic record.  I'm not declaring him a bad person or anything, I just think, fairly, he's a wastrel.  If you don't, you don't, but I'm yet to see a convincing case as to why he's not.

[tkampenhout]

Well I know that somde pictures of them druk does not mean anything. And I know that they have a lot fo money. But I also do know that Harry does spend a bit of money on drinks for parties and his club.