The Oil Crisis
Prince Charles has allegedly done something with a palace servant that he apparently shouldn’t have. Who are we to judge what he can and cannot do? Why should the Palace have to be forced into the courts to serve an injunction on anyone who might have dared to publish the details of this alleged incident?
Paul Burrell, a money-grabbing parasite and former butler to Princess Diana started this current bout of Royal obsession with the release of his book. I’m no fan of the Royal Family; I was no fan of Princess Diana whose self-righteous moralising served to help her own state of mind more than anyone in genuine need. I would much prefer that the millions spent each year on maintaining the Windsor’s lavish lifestyle be put to better use.
The arguments for sustaining the Monarchy are finally starting to wear a little thin. The idea that American tourists are attracted to Britain purely because of the Royals is utter nonsense. The argument that the Queen is an important safeguard against executive dominance from Downing Street is utter tripe – the Queen’s Speech is simply ceremonial pomp.
The Queen’s honours are hardly a strong reason for maintaining the Monarchy. This year we have seen a Royal honours bestowed on individuals such as Jamie Oliver. Does ‘bastardized humus’ and ‘pukka chicken’ really warrant the fullest honour of British pageantry?
Despite all this the Monarchy will survive. No government is ever going to have the nerve to suggest sweeping constitutional change involving the Monarchy because the British public are obviously deeply fond of the Royal family, or are at least intensely interested in their lifestyles. We only have to observe the recent revelations in the media. Despite Piers Morgan’s assertions that his undercover reporter’s brief was not to provide a “kiss and tell style titillating expose” of the Royal Family that is exactly what it was and that is exactly what people wanted to read. Whatever Burrell’s motives, his book will sell well because we cannot help but be curious about Diana’s private life.
Reforming the Monarchy is off the agenda. But the question still remains of what to do with the Royals? How about expanding the genre of reality TV? With Prince Charles’ alleged bedroom antics, Prince Harry’s drug dabbling, Princess Anne’s raging temper tantrums, Prince Philip’s eloquence and the nasty ex-butler could provide endless entertainment. If secret cameras were rigged up in the Palace then Mirror journalists would be free to fill their pages with something that people actually want to read about.
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