A Very Un-British Feeling

 

I’m proud of my country. Not in the Michelle Obama “first-time” sense, but one which, for once, I’m comfortable “sharing” (as the abominable Markle might put it).

My Lord, so many flag wavers. You’d think the country had turned “American” all of a sudden. Loved it, from the Horse Guards, to the Trooping the Colour, to the St. Paul’s service, to the “Party at the Palace,” and the grand finale of the pageant today. Cheesy, some of it? Certainly. Heartfelt? Definitely.

Not to mention the Paddington Bear skit. Can’t help thinking that stand-up comedy lost a master of comedic timing and delivery the moment Elizabeth inherited the throne:

Would that the 17-years-younger President of the United States were able to remember his lines and deliver them so perfectly, even with the aid of a TelePrompTer and when faced with real opposition, adversaries, or interlocutors. Never mind in a situation where he’s dealing with an imaginary green-screened CGI puppet. (At one point in today’s pageant, a hologram of 26-year-old Elizabeth appeared inside the gold Coronation State Coach. Just a thought, Joe Biden’s handlers, just a thought….).

Hologram of Queen in carriage.

At the risk of triggering all you anti-monarchical folks (you know who you are–and I probably do too), I stand with Mark Steyn, who comes firmly down on the side of a constitutional monarchy as an excellent form of government. In a recent conversation, Mark commented on the difference between the Royal Family (THE royal family) and the US President, pointing out that the Queen (THE queen) got stuck in traffic (because no special arrangements are made for the monarch’s travel), and arrived late on her way to Buckingham Palace the other day, remarking that such a thing would never happen in the United States because–prior to the President’s appearance at any local event–all the roads would be closed for his 45-85 car motorcade, and the citizens of the republic would simply have to deal with the indignity of their own needs counting for nothing while their betters sailed along.

Can’t argue with that. ‘Cause he’s right.

Plus. And (as the late Mr. She might have said): The entire Jubilee spectacle was a massive middle-finger-in-the-eye to the Covid hysterics.

So, there’s that.  God Save the Queen!

Image:

PS: Full disclosure: Mum and Dad met the Queen and Philip on their 1956 tour of Nigeria. Dad’s favorite recollection is that of the Queen (THE queen), after a very long day, kicking back in a lounge chair in the Kaduna Catering Rest House, closing her eyes, and announcing “Cor, it’s nice to put yer pins up.” (Translation: “Lord, it is lovely to put one’s feet up on an elevated platform after such a day.”)

Haven’t we all felt that way, at least once in our lives?

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  1. TBA Coolidge
    TBA
    @RobtGilsdorf

    She (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):

    She (View Comment):
    The Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie (daughters of the repulsive Prince Andrew, but–as far as I can tell blameless in their own right other than in their choices of hats for State occasions)

    Not as bad as all that, surely …

    LOL. Yeah. Those were they. Now–which is which?

    Ostrich Bacchante is on the left, Medusa Bo-Peep on the right. 

    • #121
  2. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    She (View Comment):

    LOL.  Yeah. Those were they.  Now–which is which?

    Eugenie and Beatrice. But I’m guessing.

    • #122
  3. BDB Inactive
    BDB
    @BDB

    She (View Comment):

    Amy Schley, Longcat Shrinker (View Comment):

    Western Chauvinist (View Comment):
    Love that! And I bet the Queen would get a good chuckle out of it too

    There’s a BBC comedy called “The Windsors” that I catch clips of. One episode involves Wills wanting to get a job, while Charles objects. “Waiting to be king IS a job!”

    Well, he’d have to feel that way, even IRL, wouldn’t he? Otherwise, his entire life, from the age of four until his current age of seventy-three would be a farce…

     

    That dude will have a lot of pent-up woke-ism to inflict as quickly as possible.

    • #123
  4. She Member
    She
    @She

    TBA (View Comment):

    She (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):

    She (View Comment):
    The Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie (daughters of the repulsive Prince Andrew, but–as far as I can tell blameless in their own right other than in their choices of hats for State occasions)

    Not as bad as all that, surely …

    LOL. Yeah. Those were they. Now–which is which?

    Ostrich Bacchante is on the left, Medusa Bo-Peep on the right.

    🤣🤣🤣

    • #124
  5. She Member
    She
    @She

    BDB (View Comment):

    She (View Comment):

    Amy Schley, Longcat Shrinker (View Comment):

    Western Chauvinist (View Comment):
    Love that! And I bet the Queen would get a good chuckle out of it too

    There’s a BBC comedy called “The Windsors” that I catch clips of. One episode involves Wills wanting to get a job, while Charles objects. “Waiting to be king IS a job!”

    Well, he’d have to feel that way, even IRL, wouldn’t he? Otherwise, his entire life, from the age of four until his current age of seventy-three would be a farce…

     

    That dude will have a lot of pent-up woke-ism to inflict as quickly as possible.

    Well, he may just have to suck it up.

    His Royal Highness has just been told by members of Her Majesty’s Government (and Nigel Farage!), that his opinion on the resettlement of illegal refugees to Rwanda (first plane leaves on Tuesday) isn’t needed or appreciated (he called it “appalling.”)

    Prince Charles is an adornment to our public life, but that will cease to be charming if he attempts to behave the same way when he is King. That will present serious constitutional issues.

    A lot of his views on architecture and horticulture are interesting, and I would always be willing to listen to them privately.

    But that’s very different from him making public interventions as monarch.

    The Queen’s genius is that most of us have no idea what she thinks–Senior Cabinet Minister

    Another “Senior Cabinet Minister” added that Charles has “misunderstood the role” of a Royal, and that the trouble with him is “he thinks he needs to be interesting”. [LOL.  If only.]

    Unless Prince Charles wants to destroy the monarchy he had better shut up fast–Nigel Farage

    Clarence House (TBC, that’s the official mouthpiece of the Prince of Wales, not a character in a Jimmy Stewart movie or one in a US medical TV drama), quickly “clarified”:

    We would not comment on supposed anonymous private conversations with the Prince of Wales, except to restate that he remains politically neutral. Matters of policy are decisions for the government.

    Right you are.  Although the rules for heirs-apparent and the heirs of heirs-apparent aren’t as strict as they are for the reigning monarch, the Royals are supposed not to get involved in official government policy.  Here’s hoping (against hope) that this particular old dog has learned a new trick.

    🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿

    • #125
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