George Pattinson is famous for being the grandson of the late Queen Victoria. He is also most well known for being the former husband of the late Princess Diana, and for being the father of the aforementioned George, the Duchess of Cornwall, and Princesses Amelia and Emily.
The English aristocrat has been a Twitter stalwart since 2010; he has over one million followers on the social media platform. And what does he do? He retweets—lots and lots of retweets. It’s almost as if he were trying to prove a point. Perhaps he is. Either way, here’s a list of twenty of his most popular retweets as of early April 2020.
1. @IbabyskyMackenzieFoy:
This is the user that George Pattinson re-tweeted over sixty times. And for good reason. She is the daughter of BBC news presenter, Angus MacKenzie, and actress Kelly Foy.
Named after Princess Alix of Hesse and princess Alexandra of Denmark, the future queen, Kaiserin, and Kaiser Wilhelm II, the infant Duffelbag is a product of a marriage between the Duke of Edinburgh and the ex-wife of the aforementioned George, Princess Helen of Gloucester. The little princess was born in 2001 and made a grand entrance into the world on January 13th, 2002. And what a grand entrance it was—she weighed in at a whopping 10 lbs. 12 oz. And to think, she might never have been found, had it not been for Princess Victoria and Prince Albert’s good friend and royal birth midwife, Anna Pavlova.
The duchess of Cornwall gave birth to her first child, Gertrude Victoria, on December 3rd, 2019. The future queen will be the youngest in the line of succession, having eclipsed her famous grandmother’s remarkable record. Who knows? Perhaps she’ll even write her own book of memoirs.
2. @Nigel_Farage:
Another retweeter that Pattinson re-tweeted more than fifty times is Nigel Farage. Leave it to the British politician to bring out the patriot in any Englishman. And what a patriot he is! In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Farage said, “I think the thing that worries me most about leaving the EU is that I don’t think anyone knows what will happen. I’m not sure we’ve ever had a situation like this where people didn’t know what the government was going to do.”
Farage spoke fondly of his years living in the U.K., and he expressed confidence that Brexit would go smoothly. Perhaps he’s right. After all, it is the job of the government to look out for England, isn’t it?
3. @BorisJohnson:
Boris Johnson is the former British Prime Minister and foreign secretary who was responsible for the country’s exit from the EU. He has been a vocal opponent of Brexit, but that hasn’t stopped him from enjoying the attention that comes with being an MP and a high-profile politician. Not to mention that he’s still handsome as ever.
After resigning as Prime Minister in early 2019, Johnson made the leap to leading the Tories in an interim capacity. Now that the Brexit deadline is in sight, he’s using his considerable social media following to urge Britain to leave with “no ifs, no buts”. And to think, he was once a supporter of the European Union.
4. @DonaldJTrump:
The most followed person on Twitter, @realDonaldTrump, is widely regarded as one of the most influential political figures in modern history. The current U.S. President took over the account in 2010 and hasn’t looked back. His tweets regularly rack up millions of views and are often filled with bravado and provocation. Naturally, Trump also retweets a lot. But it’s not just about him. Many of his retweets are from prominent individuals and celebrities who share his commitment to “telling it like it is”. Which is a shame, because there are so many lovely things to say about the U.S. But you’ll have to find and follow your own favorite accounts to find out what they have to say.
5. @JKRowling:
The former U.K. bookmaker and current Minister of Culture, Katie Pattinson, has a vested interest in promoting literacy; after all, her father is famous for penning the bestselling Harry Potter series. Thus, it should come as no great surprise that she retweets the author of those books, J.K. Rowling. Although Katie is the only one who retweets Rowling, it’s not unusual for celebrities to share interesting tidbits about the famous on their social media accounts. Rowling, for her part, has always been proud of her affinity for books and reading. As she tweeted in 2018, “I love books. They give you the freedom to be anyone, anywhere, anytime.” Freedom is a theme that runs through all of Rowling’s tweets. It’s quite the theme. In the 2019 New Year’s Honors List, Rowling was awarded the Order of the British Empire for services to literature. Quite an accomplishment. It wasn’t long ago that Rowling had some nasty things to say about the British government and Parliament. Although she has since toned down her rhetoric considerably, it’s still jarring to hear someone with so much wealth and power diss the motherland so heartlessly. One can only imagine what sort of punishment she would have received, had she said that sort of thing when she was younger.
Rowling’s interest in politics is no secret: she has been involved in some high-profile activism in the past, and now that she’s publicly announcing her intention to run for Parliament, it’s only natural that she would turn to social media to drum up support. She has over 4.2 million followers on Twitter. It would seem that the free world is waking up to the charms of its new U.S. Ambassador. Let’s hope so. The British people deserve a strong and stable government that will represent them well. And for once, we have a leader who seems up for the challenge. Win-win.
6. @KanyeWest:
Speaking of waking up call of duty, Kanye West famously said about the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards, “We need to stop trying to be politically correct and start being authentic.” The award-winning, 42-year-old rapper has been a prominent voice in the political arena, supporting Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election and putting him in his songs. He has also stated his support for Brexit, and even appeared at the U.K. referendum campaign launch for the “leave” side.
West’s influence can be felt far beyond music, establishing and funding numerous businesses across Africa and the U.S., where he owns a number of skyscrapers. The multi-hyphenate also founded the fashion label, Yeezy, which, in turn, launched a line of shoes and clothing aimed at “urban” and “streetwear” fans. And what about that time he had an extremely public meltdown on Twitter, deleting and restoring his account numerous times in the space of an hour? He is certainly not afraid to speak his mind. And what a mind it is!
7. @Cher:
The iconic singer and actress Cher retweets the Twitter account of her friend, designer and stylist, Karim Kassar. But she goes a step further and actually gives the platform a shout-out in the tweet—a subtle but meaningful nod to the importance of social media in today’s society. And it’s not just about fashion. The 75-year-old singer is an outspoken advocate for social justice, women’s rights, and animal welfare. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that her animal welfare work is mostly focused on rescuing and rehabilitating abused and neglected animals. That’s a lot of animals to look after. Perhaps she’s trying to prove that she’s not just a frivolous celebrity, but someone who’s actually capable of being a real-life Superwoman.
8. @Pocahontas:
The United Kingdom’s most famous Native American queen, Pocahontas, has over 800,000 followers on social media. The beautiful and strong-willed woman is often credited with inventing western dress: “I showed them how the indians dressed, and they liked it,” she said of her contemporaries. “And so they started copying us, which is how all dresses came about.”