[Ads-l] Power without responsibility--the prerogative of the harlot throughout the ages

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Professor Joseph Campbell of American University asked me to look into
a remark about U.K. press barons who were accused of wielding "power
without responsibility--the prerogative of the harlot throughout the
ages." Here is a link to the Quote Investigator article:

https://quoteinvestigator.com/2021/07/06/prerogative/

British politician Stanley Baldwin used the expression during a speech
in 1931. Campbell wanted to know whether Baldwin was given the line by
his cousin Rudyard Kipling.

In 1955 Stanley's son Arthur W. Baldwin published a biography titled
“My Father: The True Story”, and Arthur indicated that the remark
about prerogatives was given to his father by Rudyard Kipling. Arthur
gave more details in the 1971 citation described in the QI article.

Note, the 1971 article was already known to quotation researchers
Elizabeth Knowles and Fred Shapiro.

Feedback welcome,
Garson O'Toole

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