King Princess has commented on the tragic outcome of the Titan submersible, saying that rich people consistently “make terrible decisions”.
The pop-rock soloist, whose real name is Mikaela Straus, is a descendant of two victims of the Titanic disaster. Straus’ great-great-grandparents were aboard the doomed ship when it sank in 1912 after striking an iceberg.
Now, in the wake of the suspected implosion of the Titan sub that was on a tourist expedition to view the wreckage of the 19th century ship, Princess has weighed in on the debate around wealthy people and dangerous endeavours.
It was confirmed yesterday (June 22) that the five men, two of whom were billionaires, aboard the missing submersible had died. Five pieces of debris from the sub were discovered in a search and rescue operation.
“Like, look at my fucking family, right? Who wants to take a boat across the ocean? That sounds terrible,” Princess said in a TikTok video that appears to have since been deleted [via Stereogum]. “But they did it because they had the money to, and they died. So now these people are like, ‘Oh, I have so much money, oh my god, I just want to go to the inhabitable depths of the ocean, in a GameCube?’ No. Dead! Sorry.”
Straus comes from a wealthy family. Her great-great-grandparents Isodor and Ida Straus (Isodor co-founded the US department store, Macy’s) died on the Titanic and were even portrayed in James Cameron’s 1997 film of the same name.
not so fun fact: king princess’ great great grandparents, ida and isidor straus, died on the titanic pic.twitter.com/qLZakiIzOl
— aquaaatica ???? (@kuilaa_) May 18, 2022
Additionally, Wendy Rush, wife of OceanGate chief executive Stockton Rush, who was one of five men who died in the Titan sub catastrophe, also has the the same link: her great-great-grandparents are Isodor and Ida Straus.
“I think there is a cycle of bajonga-jillionaires wanting to explore shit and then dying,” Straus continued in her video message.
“Oh! And rich people are not exempt from making really stupid decisions, obviously. Why do rich people go to space? You don’t need to be there. You’re not a fucking scientist. Because they make terrible decisions, constantly. I hate this world.”
She added: “One more thing: The sheer irony of these billionaires going down to visit the gravesite of other billionaires — amongst other people who were on the Titanic, there weren’t just billionaires — and then dying, is so crazy to me. Anybody else feel this way?”
The Titanic (1997) director, who has completed 33 dives to the wreck of the 19th century ship, said in a new interview that he immediately suspected that disaster had struck when he received news about the missing Titan sub on Monday (June 19).
Cameron told BBC News: “We now have another wreck that is based on unfortunately the same principles of not heeding warnings. OceanGate were warned.”