Sarah Ferguson -
Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York and ex-wife of England’s Prince Andrew, recently made the news for being caught on camera accepting money from an undercover News of the World reporter, in exchange for introductions to her ex-husband, who is now a British trade envoy. At first glance, this sounds reprehensible. But is it? Isn’t one of the business world’s most repeated mottos "it’s not what you know, it’s who you know"? Doesn’t EVERYONE market their access to useful people in one way or another? That’s what "networking" is all about using connections to your advantage.
It’s what lobbyists do. It’s what talent agents do. And it’s what ex-Presidents, ex-Prime Ministers, and many ex-politicians do. How many directorships and director’s fees have been given to people who really do nothing more than lend their name and status and connections - to a Board of Directors?
Remember, nothing was sold except the promise of access. Accepting or requesting benefits for introductions to highly placed connections is not corruption. It is the way the wheels of business are greased.
The only real difference between Sarah Ferguson and these others is the way she got the money - in a hotel room with a hidden camera. That gave it the APPEARANCE that what was happening was somehow corrupt. If she’d thrown a twenty thousand dollar a plate banquet with her ex-husband as guest of honor the way most politicians do it - nobody would have batted an eye. And finally, let’s consider the person some are casting as the hapless victim in this story: Prince Andrew himself. It would be hard to argue that he has achieved his current standing strictly through merit and hard work. His title, and his OPPORTUNITIES in life are all based on who HE knows his mother, the Queen. There are few people on Earth who have benefited more from "good connections" than the Royal Family.
In fact, if there is anything wrong in this story, it is that some societies still accept the ancient and archaic concept of Royalty in the first place. Royalty is an inherited class system a publicly-funded one, at that - that I am totally against. If the Sarah Ferguson debacle is instructive in any way, it’s as a reminder that "the Royals" are an outdated system that does not belong in a free and democratic society.