RoverAndOut

Death date for Maranne on Wiki appears to have gone. In which case, it's still game on for now...

Death date appears to have been removed on Wiki. The silence elsewhere suggests an error?

The latest big managerial dismissal seems a good time for an update, although it's been a relatively quiet month. Changes in green as usual. Hits mentioned here (13): Eddie Howe (Bournemouth - mutual consent), Russ Wilcox (Southend - new manager confirmed), Hayden Mullins (Watford - new manager confirmed), Mark Molesley (Weymouth - moved to new club), Sabri Lamouchi (Nottingham Forest - sacked), Garry Monk (Sheffield Wednesday - sacked), Philip Cocu (Derby - sacked), Slaven Bilic (West Ham - sacked), Frank Lampard (Chelsea - sacked), Bradley Quinton (Welling - sacked), Darrell Clarke (Walsall - moved to new club), Chris Wilder (Sheffield United - sacked), Alex Neil (Preston - sacked) Also hits (10): Gerhard Struber (Barnsley - moved to new club), Mark Bowen (Reading - resigned), Mark Kennedy (Macclesfield - resigned), Richie Wellens (Swindon - moved to new club), Stuart McCall (Bradford - sacked), Joey Barton (Fleetwood - sacked), John Askey (Port Vale - sacked), Neil Harris (Cardiff - sacked), Paul Lambert (Ipswich - sacked), Lee Bowyer (Charlton - resigned) Misses (20): Paul Cook (Wigan - resigned), Graham Coughlan (Mansfield - sacked), Michael Jackson (Tranmere - new manager confirmed), John Sheridan (Wigan - moved to new club [technically ineligible for this game though]), Ben Garner (Bristol Rovers - sacked), Sam Ricketts (Shrewsbury - sacked), Phil Parkinson (Sunderland - sacked), David Dunn (Barrow - sacked), Vladimir Ivic (Watford - sacked [ineligible]), Ian Holloway (Grimsby - resigned), Tony Pulis (Sheffield Wednesday - sacked [ineligible]), Jake Buxton (Burton Albion - sacked), Glyn Hodges (AFC Wimbledon - sacked), Jason Tindall (Bournemouth - sacked [ineligible]), Keith Curle (Northampton - sacked), Paul Tisdale (Bristol Rovers - sacked [ineligible]), Dean Holden (Bristol City - sacked), Michael Jolley (Barrow - sacked [ineligible]), Steve Ball (Colchester - sacked), Ross Embleton (Leyton Orient - sacked), Darren Moore (Doncaster - moved to new club), Harry Kewell (Oldham - sacked), Kenny Jackett (Portsmouth - sacked), Aitor Karanka (Birmingham - sacked), Richie Wellens (Salford - mutual consent [ineligible]), Mark Molesley (Southend - sacked [ineligible]), Mark Cooper (Forest Green - sacked), John Sheridan (Swindon - sacked [ineligible]), Jose Mourinho (Tottenham - sacked) Current leaderboard: @RoverAndOut - 12 (Howe, Monk, Mullins, Cocu, Lamouchi, Wilcox, Kennedy, McCall, Bilic, Barton, Lambert, Bowyer) @Great Uncle Bulgaria - 9 (Howe, Mullins, Cocu, Molesley, Askey, Quinton, Clarke, Lambert, Bowyer) @BuffaloPhil - 9 (Cocu, Struber, Lamouchi, Bowen, Wellens, Bilic, Barton, Bowyer, Neil) @msc - 6 (Howe, Struber, Lamouchi, Lampard, Lambert, Bowyer) @Miracle Aligner - 5 (Howe, Monk, Harris, Lampard, Wilder) Incredibly, just one scoring sacking this month, for BuffaloPhil and Alex Neil. Perhaps more damningly, 3 of the 6 sackings this month were ineligible as they've already sacked the manager in play at the start of the game this season, while 3 of those sacked were already picks for previous jobs they've left this season. Talk about a merry-go-round!

Yep, sounded too good to be true. Isn't Nagelsmann supposed to be Bayern's man to replace Hansi Flick? Chris Powell and Ryan Mason taking over 'til June apparently, with a new coach appointed for next season.

Very peculiar that none of us did. Guess we all banked on the bounce before the collapse as usually happens. Plus the fact it would cost them 30m quid to sack him as reason enough to keep him. But then we weren't expecting the disintegration of football as we know it and the need for a convenient distraction. I've seen rumours he refused to support the Super League proposals so was sacked, which would make sense given the unusual timing. If so, he's gone up ever so slightly in my estimations as a man, no higher as a manager though.

The Countess Mountbatten of Burma, wife to the 3rd Earl Mountbatten of Burma, grandson of Lord Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, Prince Philip's uncle, murdered by the IRA in 1979. I know. But that wasn't the point I was making. She wasn't there specifically for that link, she was there because she was one of the Duke's closest friends and his carriage driving companion - in other words, someone he enjoyed spending time with in a social capacity. She is not a blood relation.

Clearly he missed Harry's £30m wedding with 600 guests 3 years ago... He also missed the fact Philip's carriage driving companion was present. They even managed to shoehorn someone with shared interests and hobbies into the 30 allowed to attend!

Not sure why you're so confused by Toast's response. You argue she's a woman of her own means, Toast argues she's a gold digger. You say her money is going to come from selling her story about being married to a member of the Royal Family and cornering the 'royal baby wear market' in the USA, which would mean her being in the marriage to make money out of it: the very definition of her being a gold digger. I'm not picking sides in the discussion, the whole debacle has become incredibly toxic. But to add a fairly brief comment on her 'own means', I wouldn't deny she had a career before Harry, but, personally, I'd never heard of her or 'Suits' before she got together with him, so it would be foolish to suggest her profile hasn't be increased tenfold by being involved with him, whether it works out or not. And it is at best incredibly naive if she's telling the truth that she didn't research the royal family at all before agreeing to marry Harry, the family is littered with failed marriages and her own friends warned her of the issues with dating him. It's somewhat disingenuous to walk into something with your eyes closed shut and then complain it isn't what you thought it was going to be. But on the other hand, I have absolutely no idea why this thread's been activated today, she should be left to her own devices on the other side of the planet, today was supposed to be about laying the Duke of Edinburgh to rest. It seems as much of it has been about whether William and Harry have made up, but even then, that's nothing to do with Meghan, it's between the brothers and the wider family.

I'd be surprised if that wasn't the case. She's the Head of State and her immediate family do care about her a great deal. If she wanted a companion, it could have been accommodated within the 30. I suspect she wanted a last moment of quiet intimacy with her husband and her thoughts. I saw that there was only one journalist allowed in the Chapel, from the BBC, and she was in a hermetically sealed box in the rafters of the Chapel observing. She said that at one point, not picked up by the cameras, the Duke of York (who was seated closest to her) looked over to check she was alright and they shared a brief moment.

Very much so, and is also held responsible for the spread of haemophilia through European royal families. To give you an idea, Queen Victoria's close relations included: Edward VII - father of King George V of the UK, married to Alexandra of Denmark, daughter of King Christian IX, brother of King George I of Greece and aunt to Tsar Nicholas II of Russia (his mother was Alexandra's sister). His daughter Maud of Wales married the King of Norway, her grandson is Harald V, as Biblio mentioned. Victoria - married Kaiser Frederick III of Prussia, mother of Kaiser Bill Alice - mother of Tsarina Alexandra of Russia, the last Tsarina Alfred - father of Queen Marie of Romania Arthur - father of Margaret, first wife of King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, 5 children then died - her grandchildren include King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden (the current King), Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and Queen Anne-Marie of Greece, the exiled monarch', King Constantine's wife. Beatrice - mother of Victoria, Queen of Spain, grandmother of King Juan Carlos I

One thing that is always peculiar about these royal gatherings is just how inter-related they all are. The Duke of Kent and Princess Alexandra are going to the funeral as first cousins of the Queen, but are also first cousins once removed of Prince Philip himself, as their mother, Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark was Philip's first cousin. No wonder everyone thinks they're lizards.

Huge surprise. An actress who's really been at the top of her game over the past decade, as you say, been in everything. Peaky Blinders obviously what she's probably most famous for these days, but she was great as a veiled Theresa May-esque figure in Roadkill last year on BBC1. Great shame she's been cut down in her prime.

Ah, indeed. But they're cousins, not grandchildren. Perks of being in the semi-immediate family that Mr Mapelli Mozzi gets to be at THE funeral of the year. Re: Fergie, maybe, but they might also wait out of respect for his father's disapproval until his mother's also gone. But it will be interesting to see if you're right. Autumn engagement and Christmas wedding, anyone?

Agreed. The tributes last week talked about how there were plenty in and around the family who were deeply worried about him marrying Princess Elizabeth, not just because he was seen as a bit of a playboy but because of his German links. This being the same Philip Mountbatten who most of his contemporaries think would have risen to be First Sea Lord had his Navy career been allowed to develop.

As you've just pointed out though, Andy and Fergie are *not* spouses. Think they'll wait until The Queen dies myself. Don't think Harry will drop that low at any point in his life. Really, you're looking at it from the wrong angle: Princess Alexandra was the second child of the Duke of Kent, the 4th son of King George V and therefore King George VI's niece. At the time of her birth, only King George VI's two daughters (the Queen and Princess Margaret), the King's brothers, the Duke of Gloucester and the Duke of Kent (Alexandra's dad) and her older brother, the current Duke of Kent, were in front of her. That puts her roughly in the position of David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl Snowdon (formerly Viscount Linley). When he was born in 1961, he was the nephew of the Queen and 5th in line to the throne (behind Charles, Andrew, Anne and his mother, Princess Margaret). He dropped to 6th a couple of years later when Prince Edward was born. He's dropped from 12th in line to the throne in 2005 to 23rd in line today and counting. A rough calculation, by the time he's Princess Alexandra's age (if he gets there), I reckon he'll be around the 40s in the line of succession, once the younger members of the immediate family have grown up and the families that have just started, like Beatrice and Eugenie's have had their children. For the next generation, Archie will be in the same position, nephew of the future King and 6th in line to the throne after the Queen dies (unless Kate has another). He'll drop a fair way over the decades as George, Charlotte and Louis grow up.

Interesting that the original guest list was for 800! Shows how many hangers on there when you boil it down. No place for his Private Secretary either. Fun fact (matter of opinion) I came across, while looking up the German relatives: Prince Donatus, Landgrave of Hesse is the grandson of Prince Philipp, Landgrave of Hesse, after whom (according to Wikipedia at least) Prince Philip was named (Philipp spent a lot of time in Greece with his aunt, Princess Sophia of Prussia, Queen of Sophia of Greece, the sister-in-law to Philip's father). It says Donatus has been invited to represent Philip's younger sisters, who married into the Hesse line. Donatus was actually named after his relative Georg Donatus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse, who was married to Philip's younger sister Cecilie - they died in a plane crash in 1937. This led to the photo that has been doing the rounds recently of Philip at a Nazi funeral - the Grand Duke had joined the Nazi Party 6 months earlier. No Lady Pamela Hicks, I think they've drawn the line at the only necessary 90+ year-old being present. And re: the Countess Mountbatten, as Toast said previously, and has been publicised, she was Philip's carriage riding companion. She's late 60s, so surely a bit young for any funny business with Philip, and anyway, I think it's her hubby that's the one who likes to play around - according to headlines on Google from the DM and such like, the 3rd Earl Mountbatten was out of the family home for a while due to infidelity. At least this way, the Mountbatten name is still represented and by somebody the Duke actually liked. Seems like a list he'd approve of for the most part, but I'd agree maybe getting rid of Mapelli Mozzi and giving a place to his Private Secretary would have been more apt, although I guess they couldn't leave him out when everybody else could bring spouses.

Plus the vast majority of those photos are irrelevant to this funeral. This isn't the funeral of a monarch, it's the funeral of a consort. The only photos relevant to that are the ones from the Queen Mother's funeral in 2002. Although it's also worth noting that this is the first example of a consort dying before the Monarch since Prince Albert, so is itself of different significance to the deaths of Elizabeth, Mary of Teck and Alexandra.

Just over 14 months later, sounds like this was one thing he was telling the truth about.

Random historical update alert: Shirley Williams's passing means the long-gone Rockhopper Penguin becomes the 10th person to complete the first round of this game. He actually scored a Unique hit (his 3rd) but also his 5th and final House of Lords member, meaning he becomes the second person after ImNotHades to complete 2 ways at once! Only Switch, Young Willz, Rad Guy, Time and good old Deathers have yet to finish the first round any of the 3 possible ways nearly 5 years after it began and nearly 3-and-a-half years after it ended!

I was going to say huge figure in general, but then decided people would argue and I couldn't be arsed. Just for the record, the Gang of 4 who quit the Labour Party and formed the Social Democratic Party [SDP] (who later merged with the Liberals to form the Liberal Democrats) were: Roy Jenkins (1920-2003) - Labour Chancellor 1967-70 and Home Secretary 1965-67 and 1974-76, President of the European Commission 1977-81, Leader of the SDP 1982-83 - died of a heart attack. Bill Rodgers (1928-) Labour Transport Secretary 1976-79, created Baron Rodgers of Quarry Bank in 1992, sitting for the Liberal Democrats, Leader of the Lib Dems in the Lords 1997-2001, suffered a stroke in 2001 but fully recovered. Shirley Williams (1930-2021) - Labour Education Secretary 1976-79, created Baroness Williams of Crosby in 1993 sitting for the Liberal Democrats David Owen (1938-) Labour Foreign Secretary 1977-79, Deputy Leader of SDP 1982-83, Leader of SDP 1983-1987, created Baron Owen of Plymouth sitting as a crossbencher

Baroness Shirley Williams, Lib Dem stalwart and Gang of 4 member dead aged 90 according to Laura K. Big figure on the left for decades. Also the daughter of Vera Brittain.

Not a bad looking list but looks more like our back of a fag packet calculations rather than necessarily any inside knowledge. Not entirely convinced by a couple of names, particularly Princess Alexandra (84) and Lady Pamela Hicks (91). Are they really going to be travelling to a funeral in a pandemic? Although I suppose the risk is lessened now given vaccines and transmission being low, and also this is a pretty big one and they are local(ish). Then I realise that the Kents are now nearly 90 themselves and the Michaels and Gloucesters are mid-70s+. Also seen various places saying the Archbishop of Canterbury will be officiating, but maybe that's just a general assumption. Guess we'll see. Article from Women and Home here 4 days ago about the mysterious disappearance on Princess Alexandra, who hasn't conducted a royal engagement since July, but is not ill according to the Palace (who won't say why she's not been seen). There's a Christmas message she recorded in the article, so presumably that's from about 4 months ago if you're looking for signs. On the Duchess of Kent, there's this from the Express last year gossiping about how she's claimed to have both the Epstein-Barr Virus and Coeliac Disease but also claimed she's got "no history of ill health". No analysis, expert opinions or anything like that. Just a short article stirring the shit, as one would expect of the Express. But there we have it.

EFL matches to be moved to avoid clashing with the funeral. Times to be announced once the full details of the funeral are released, but sounds like they may hold them earlier or later on Saturday. https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12271909/efls-3pm-kick-offs-on-april-17-to-be-moved-for-prince-philips-funeral

I think this game is going to outlast some of its competitors...

Since some of you have been on tenterhooks...