War of Mrs Merkel’s Rear

‘IS it war? We’ve had the War of Jenkins’ Ear, a war sparked by a Honduras v El Salvador football match (the El Salvadorans lost 1-0) and assorted wars with birds, bras and between Chantelle and Jordan. So why not the War of Mrs Merkel’s Rear?

Battle lines have yet to be drawn, but the Times does report that the Germans are less than happy with the Sun’s decision to publish shots of their political leader, the aforesaid Mrs Angela Merkel, changing into her swimming costume by an Italian pool.

“This is certainly not traditional British courtesy,” says Thomas Steg, a German government spokesman. “Both Chancellor and her husband have a right to privacy.”

Perhaps so. And just perhaps the Sun’s article on Mrs Merkel headlined “I’m big in the Bumdestag” (a play on words referring to Germany’s lower house of parliament, the Bundestag), which contained no fewer than eight puns on bottoms, is not in keeping with the usual language of diplomacy.

(Puns include: “Germany’s fortunes are no longer sagging – with a much improved bottom line”; “The Iron Frau…has done more than cover up the cracks since taking over last year”; “she’s pulling up her pants.”)

Eduard Lintner, of Germany’s Christian Democrats is less than pleased. Employing the language of classic British understatement, Lintner calls the pictures “very bad form”. He continues: “There should be no place for such pictures.”

And Germany’s media is also unimpressed. Bild Zeitung heaaldins a story: “Brits Lampoon Our Chancellor’. The article asks: ‘Where does this hatred come from? These are photos of private activities that no one would want to see of himself in the newspaper.’

We will not dwell on the subject of hatred for Germans by holiday swimming pools, perceived or real, and just say that in reacting with so little humour the Germans are really driving the joke home.

Had they dismissed the pictures as British nonsense, where would the joke have been? Better to complain long and loud and give us all a real laugh.’

Posted: 19th, April 2006 | In: Uncategorized Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink