Right Royal Punch Up

Barry Everingham

Verbal fisticuffs have broken out between Australian republican advocate and Melbourne journalist Barry Everingham and the vocal defender of the British Royals, the immaculately attired and coiffured  David Flint who is head of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy (ACM) .

David Flint

Everingham, who has been described as the "ultimate name dropper" is something of an expert on the royals and has reported on royal weddings for US cable TV MSNBC.
 He penned a biography of Princess "Pushy" Michael of Kent and his royal connections appear to be impeccable.

He's sipped cocktails with the late Princess Margaret and was once told by HM The Queen at a party on the Britannica in Kuwait Harbour  to "be as naughty as you like" before she quizzed him about Sultan Qaboos of Oman's new palace in Muscat (the Shuttle has been inside-it's magnificent!).
 Everingham is a contributor to the ABC's The Drum and News Ltd's The Punch. One delightful piece from his biog tells how he once danced with Imelda Marcos after being commanded to by Lady Mary Fairfax.

Writing for Independent Australia, an on-line forum in a piece called Fantasies & Follies of Flint Everingham says:
"David Flint’s rantings and slurs on anyone who disagrees with him is a disgrace to the monarchist cause"  calling Flint a "disgraceful upholder of a moth eaten, out-of-date and insulting system of inherited privilege" . Heady stuff.

Flint has cried foul and responded a week ago in this piece on the IA website crying 'defamation' and says numerous furphies have been perpetuated about his relationship with former PM John Howard who successfully scuppered the Republcian referendum in 1999.
Howard appointed Flint ( a former head of the Press Council ) as head of the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) but that appointment ended in tears when Flint resigned in 2004 after being interviewed by Rado csar John Laws on his morning show whilst the ABA was investigating Laws over the 'cash for comments' scandal.

We feel sure there is much more titilation to come from this scuffle but in the meantime, here is David Flint wearing his Mystic Meg hat with predictions in 2010 where he confidently predicts the mining "Super Profits Tax will end in a legal minefield " (hasn't happened yet) and that Julia Gillard will be defeated at the general election in 2011. She won.