Folha de São Paulo - Op-ed section - page A2

As far as I know, English speaking countries have never attempted to impose a global orthography for the English language despite the fact that differences between spoken American English and the English spoken in England are much less than the differences between the Portuguese spoken in Brazil and Portugal.

Nonetheless, certain words in English can have very different meanings on opposite sides of the Atlantic.

Take the word "class" for instance, something Americans are not supposed to have, but which the English do; class, that is, in the old Marxist sense meaning distinctive social groupings organized hierarchically.

Generally speaking, "class" in the United States implies stylishness, a personal attribute evident in the quality of behavior and character. Yet, the odd thing about Britain today is that the family that stands above social class, the Royal House of Windsor, decidedly lacks "class" in the American meaning of the word.

Take two events this week:

In St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, Peter Phillips, the Queen's eldest grandson, married a Canadian called Autumn Kelley. The couple sold the photographic rights to the wedding to Hello! Magazine for half a million pounds. Ian Gibson, a Labor member of parliament

complained: "The British public would expect the Queen to rise above being pictured in Hello! She is the Queen; not a footballer's wife."

Then there is Prince Andrew, the Queen's second son. Prince Andrew sold his country house, Sunningdale Park, to one Kanes Rakishev for

£15 million. Mr. Rakishev is the 29 year old son in law of the billionaire former prime minister of Kazakhstan, a former soviet republic, rich in oil and gas, which ranks 150 on the transparency international corruption list (Brazil is ranked 72).

The Prince claimed £438,000 last year from the British tax payers for expenses incurred in his role as "ambassador for trade". He certainly made a good trade with Mr. Rakishev who paid £3 million more than the asking price for Sunningdale Park which had been on the market for five years.

No orthography nor class here, just cold cash in a deal Brazlians would see through in a instant. And British householders facing property values in free fall would love to find a Kazak friend like that.

KENNETH MAXWELL is a weekly op-ed columnist (every Thursday) for Folha de São Paulo, Brazil's leading newspaper