Sheila

PM David Cameron put on an Aussie accent when he repeated what Australian PM Julia Gillard had said to him at a recent Commonwealth heads of government meeting. He was talking about a very recently passed law here in the UK which will ensure that the first-born child of Prince William and his wife Catherine, whether a boy or a girl, will be the next in line to the throne after William. Julia Gillard said it was good news for Sheilas everywhere.

 

Sheila is a generic word for young woman in Australia. The OED says it is 'playfully affectionate and predominantly in male use'. Sheila is an Irish name (can also be spelled Shelagh) and was often originally used in Australia to refer to any woman, where Paddy would be used to refer to any man. The first citation for Sheila in the OED, from 1828, is "Many a piteous Shela (sic) stood wiping the gory locks of her Paddy, until released from that duty by the officious interference of the knight of the baton".

 

You can see and hear the David Cameron video clip here (the Australian accent is at the very end).

Comments

[Picky]

I think I'm right in saying that no such law has yet been passed in the UK. Indeed the whole point of the meeting in Australia of the heads of government of those countries which have the Queen as head of state is that the UK is not able to pass such a law on its own without getting into a terrible tangle. There is, indeed, doubt in some quarters as to whether the UK is constitutionally able to pass such a law on its own. What the meeting agreed was that such a law should be passed if possible in each of the Queen's dominions. New Zealand, I understand, has been asked to look after the process.

[John]

To Picky's point, the meeting seems to have been an attempt to smooth the inevitable passage of the Crown with such a law. I don't think that it is a given that the British Monarch is the head of The Commonwealth or Head of State for any member countries, aside from the United Kingdom. The world and Commowealth are vastly different since Queen Elizabeth II's coronation. I trust it can all be worked out; I'd hate to see the Crown embroiled in the same type of legal tangle which seems to surround everything these days.

[Picky]

The Head of the Commonwealth thing is quite separate, John. There are more than 50 countries which are members of the Commonwealth but, I think, just 16 countries which are independent but have the Queen as head of state. The present rules for the succession to the British throne apply also to the thrones of the other 15 realms (one of them is Canada, of course). So there is a real problem with changing the rules applying to one realm discretely, even if that realm is the UK - some say it might be constitutionally possible, others not so. At any rate everyone is agreed that the best way is ... for everyone to be agreed. The aim is to get the same legislation through the parliaments of all 16.

[John]

Understand - thanks Picky. Then what is the process and/or criteria for establishment of the next Head of Commonwealth?

[Picky]

Interesting if arcane question, John. I believe no such process or criterion exists. Certainly it isn't a hereditary adjunct to the Crown. I believe that when the Queen dies it will be up to the next Commonwealth heads of government meeting to decide whether the office should continue and if so how it should be filled. If it does continue it seems to me very unlikely that it would be filled by her successor as sovereign. As the Commonwealth has a Secretary-General and a Chair, perhaps it doesn't need a Head, too?

[sophie]

I am not sure that this law should be passed, I think somethings should be left alone, and the eire to the thrown be a man if first born. You can't change the path of history.

[Virtual Linguist]

Thanks for putting me right, Picky, and for all the other erudite points made by all of you.

[sophie]

I definatley think that the law should be changed equality for everyone.

[ava]

PM David Cameron really wants to start considering the effect his actions have on the working class.