So a nice old lady had a trip on a boat down the Thames. REJOICE!!!!
Ok, i am writing this at about 4am in the morning ( so apologies for any mistakes/typos). While the Queen/Royal family have about 80% support in the country (lets face it any politician would dream of that poll rating), The Queen has no direct power, in fact her role is ceremonial, Her Majesty is not elected nor stands on a manifesto, In fact when you look at it The Queen has lived her life in a goldfish bowl, no freedom to have her own life, Hell she cant even do the things that most kids done.
The problem i have is that the Queen and monarchy is against my beliefs, Yet my heart has respect for the Queen. In Her Majesty 60 years she has seen many PM`s Presidents, Kings and other dictators. Yet when i see the Queen on my screen my heart melts, the service she has shown is second to none.
Plus there are the many Prince Phillip gaffs.
The more i write this post, the more i think, Do i want a President Blair? Or President Blair?, No i don't, they have caused their damage (i suggest a lot less than the Queen). This throws into thought about whether to have a parliament where we get plastic politicians ( and God forbid we do this in second chamber) or a ruled by monarchy or ruled by ourselves?
Anyway until i resolve this question i say this:
God save the Queen
The monarchy has only itself to blame for being an irrelevant institution. If the Queen or the eventual King Charles III were to do something by way of exhorting the British people to get up off their arses and participate in democracy and "drive the money-changers out of the Temple," i.e., stop letting the politicians get off light for all their wrongdoings, have you any idea how fast you'd hear "Constitutional Crisis!" from the political class? "Glorious Revolution 1688!"? The political pundit Walter Bagehot in the 19th C. said the Constitutional Duty of the monarch was to advise, to encourage and to warn, but once George III, then an inexperienced 21-year-old man, handed over control of the purse strings to Parliament when he ascended the throne, the monarch became a salaried employee, and you probably don't want to provoke your bosses too much. If the Queen, or the Prince of Wales, or the Duke of Cambridge ever did go public and say, "They're all a bunch of crooks and how dare they speak in my name!", I daresay the public would get a kick out of it, but it would require that the public also back them unconditionally when the Camerons and Milibands strike back. Would the public do so, or would they just say, like Wimpy with Popeye and Bluto, "Let's you and him fight-- we'll hold your coats!"
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