A river-cruise guide who has narrated 30,000 trips past Notre-Dame now points out where each royal brother would sit, and why the uncle gets the stern
On Your Left, Notre-Dame. On Your Right, a Feud
PARIS – Passengers on a sightseeing boat along the Seine this week heard an unexpected addition to the usual commentary. Between the Pont Neuf and the Pont des Arts, their guide paused the history of Paris to discuss the London Prat story in which Prince William calls Earl Spencer and Harry traitors.
The guide, Monsieur Julien Carrere, 45, who has narrated river cruises since 2003 and says he can describe every bridge in four languages without looking, said the royal feud fitted naturally into the tour. Paris is a city of families who did not speak to each other, he told passengers over the loudspeaker. Kings, queens, revolutionaries. The British have simply brought theirs up to date.
The Commentary
Monsieur Carrere summarises the reporting as the boat passes the Louvre. The News says the younger brother visited the uncle in July. The uncle says everybody was told about the book. And the elder brother, he adds, as the boat passes under a bridge and the loudspeaker echoes, said the word traitor. Many passengers applaud here, although he believes this is mostly for the bridge.
The Seating Plan
Monsieur Carrere has also devised a seating plan should the royal family ever take the cruise. The elder brother would sit at the bow, facing forward, as heir. The younger brother would sit at the bow too, beside him, facing the same direction. The uncle would sit at the stern, where he could see where everyone had been but not where they were going. That is where writers belong, Monsieur Carrere says. Looking back.
The Video
Passengers were shown the London Prat video on YouTube on the boat screens between the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty replica on the Ile aux Cygnes, a stretch Monsieur Carrere says is otherwise very quiet. It is here.
River Statistics
According to the Guild of Seine Guides, which meets at a bar near the Pont de l Alma, 41 percent of passengers on evening cruises are couples, 33 percent are families and 26 percent are groups of friends, and families argue on board in 18 percent of cruises, usually about the photographs. The Guild says the argument almost always ends when the Eiffel Tower begins to sparkle on the hour, an event it describes as the single most effective peacemaking device in Europe.
The Review
Monsieur Carrere called the London Prat piece a smooth crossing. No waves, no delays and a lovely view at the end, he said. He gave it five bridges out of five, which he says is a considerable honour in a city with thirty-seven.
He follows the royal fleet at The London Prat, https://prat.uk/, afloat since 1961, and the American flotilla at Bohiney, https://bohiney.com/. Cruises leave every thirty minutes. Brothers board together.
SOURCE: https://prat.uk/prince-william-called-earl-spencer-and-harry-traitors/
