The Royal Family

Some members of the Royal Family - pretending to be normal.

This won't make any sense but there was such a big response to the last post about Prince William and his bride Kate and so I thought I would add a few random thoughts and see what happens; I see she is Catherine so is it Cate?
There are a few comments on the blog and I had quite a few e-mails; some against the royal family and some for – one quote described them as a bunch of inbred snoots descended from an oppressive lot of haughty prigs.
Well there is no arguing with where they descended from but I would guess that most of them would choose to be non-royal; can you imagine what it's like?
The thing is they are not snoots; by all accounts they are very nice – except Andrew. The younger one, Edward, defied his father and didn't go to Gordonstoun School like his brothers and he didn't join the military like them; I don't think he can fly Jet fighters or helicopters like his brothers and he married a commoner too and it seems his marriage has worked out; so far.
But by and large the people of Britain love them; mainly the working classes and the upper classes of course. I'm not sure about the middle class – the bourgeoisie – who try to ape the upper classes.
The upper classes have etiquette and good manners. The two things that I like. The middle classes are like Mrs Bucket, on TV, who call their living room their lounge, their lavatory the toilet and hold their knives, when they use a knife and fork, like a pencil.
They try to fit in with the upper classes and if ever they are invited to their homes they blow it by asking where the little boy's room is or folding their napkin or even putting the milk in their tea first; nobody in the world does this except for the British middles class.
If ever the middle class invite a rough member of the working class to their homes they run around after them putting doilies underneath their cups.
The upper classes of Britain have class; it's not acquired but taught. Prince Charles, and his mother, were trained for their role in life from a very early age which is why they can do the job when it falls into their laps.
Charles, and his aunt, Princess Margaret were very talented actors; very funny when in company and who knows what sort of a life they would have led if they hadn't been 'royal.'
In America the President has to achieve his greatness but in Britain the greatness of the royals comes with their birth and it is thrust upon them. As Shakespeare said: some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them.
The Prime Minister who is the head of the government – not the head of state – is usually dropped into the job before he or show knows anything about it; read Tony Blair's autobiography – he wasn't invited to the wedding, by the way, and neither was Gordon Brown. Thatcher was and so was John Major but Thatcher is too sick to attend.
Before the Queen's mother, Elizabeth, who was a commoner, even though she was posh and upper class, you have to go all the way back to Henry VIII for the last commoner who married a sovereign and, you know, that didn't work out.
Of the 4 Queen's children, 3 of them had broken marriages; if Charles had followed tradition and married a fellow royal, his marriage would still be going and maybe that would have been the case for the other 3; Princess Ann married Captain Mark Phillips – divorced; Prince Andrew married Sarah Ferguson – divorced and you will know about Charles.
The reason I am interested in the Royal Family is because I am interested in history; the royal family in Britain is the most documented family I know and I find them fascinating.
My interest in the Royal Wedding is very low but the reason I believe there should be a royal family in Britain – as I have said before – is that I would not like the alternative.
The Queen is the most loved person in Britain but when the most hated woman in Britain, Margaret Thatcher, became Prime Minister it was good to know that there was someone she had to answer to.
I think Thatcher hated having to go to the palace and get her papers signed each week and hated the idea; maybe she was a republican.
There are a lot of people – some of them in the government in Britain – who are against the royal family and are actively seeking the overthrow of the monarchy; this is quite legal unless they turn to violence. I don't think that could happen in America!
After the American revolution George Washington was offered the Kingship and turned it down but it wouldn't have worked would it – because he was a commoner and like in Britain or any other country a commoner will never be on the throne; they wouldn't know what to do with it.