The uncertainty over who was going to form the next British Government when this year's General Election resulted in Britain's first hung parliament since 1974 proved once again that Britain's constitutional monarchy is the best form of governance in the world today.
When Cameron and Clegg both desperately tried to cut whatever deal would get them into power or, in Brown's case, whatever deal would help him stay in power, it was very reassuring to the British people that none of these politicians were, at the end of day, going to become Head of State and that there was always the reassuring presence of that lovely old grandmother at the end of the Mall.
Thanks to our monarchy, Britain's state is not headed by a greedy politician desperate for the reigns of power but by Queen Elizabeth II, one of the most popular monarchs in British history, providing stability and a constant presence..
The monarchy is one of the reasons why Britain works.
The Queen is saving us from sleaze
By Tony Parsons
29/05/2010
The Mirror
A reassuring presence: Queen Elizabeth II smiles with delight as she looks at some of the flowers during last week's Chelsea Flower Show
One day the Queen will be gone and only then will we start appreciating her.
Her dignity. Her calm. Her unchanging goodness. The way she seems completely unruffled when all manner of madness starts coming out of the woodwork.
What a week she’s had. First her ex-daughter-in-law was exposed as a brainless, money-grabbing gold-digger, keen to w hore access to her former husband if the price was right.
And then Her Majesty had to trundle down to Parliament for the Queen’s speech, where she was obliged to read out the grand plan of the ConDem coalition – two parties of power-hungry politicians who have treated their manifesto pledges like yesterday’s Y-fronts that have been chucked into the laundry basket.
The Queen, looking resplendent on her Throne in the House of Lords, reads out her new Government's proposed policies and legislation for the coming session of Parliament during the State Opening of Parliament on Wednesday. It was the 59th time she has attended the ceremony.
At 84 years of age, Queen Elizabeth II glides through scheming relatives with money problems and politicians who have heaped shame on democracy itself.
She’s an oasis of decency in a world of sleazy losers, who are gluttonous for money and power.
Cherie Blair (Tony Blair's wife) turned me into a raving monarchist. This country would be another dreary European backwater without the Queen, ruled over by a changing procession of men in suits and ties.
Without the constant, reassuring presence of our Queen, our nation would be represented by whatever greedy chancer clawed their way into Downing Street.
She is one of the main reasons this country works.
Even after that election, when they were all desperate to cut whatever deal would get them into Government, there was that lovely old lady at the end of the Mall.
When the country was in danger of teetering on the edge of chaos, the flag was still flying above Buckingham Palace.
And knowing that the Queen was there somehow made it clear that whatever shabby backroom deals were cut by Cameron, Clegg or Brown, the nation would endure and our way of life would survive.
Part of the greatest generation this country has produced, the Queen is not so much the figurehead of our nation as its heart, its soul and its spirit.
Is the monarchy inherently unfair? Well, of course. But haven’t you noticed yet?
So is life. And having a monarchy is the foundation of our nation’s stability.
I am glad the Queen made it to the Chelsea Flower Show.
With Fergie on one side and Cameron on the other, I reckon it was the one bit of fun she had all week.
The ancient British monarchy: Facts and figures
King Egbert (reigned 802 to 839) is considered to be the first King of England
The British monarchy is Europe's oldest surviving political institution.
There is a bit of a debate as to who was the first King of England, but many historians give that honour to King Egbert. King Egbert was King of Wessex from 802 to 839, at a time when what is now England was divided into 7 Anglo-Saxon kingdoms (The Heptarchy). Wessex was the most powerful of the kingdoms and, during his reign, it temporarily annexed neighbouring Mercia, therefore allowing Egbert to rule over a huge area of what is now England. Therefore, he's regarded by many as the first King of all England.
Another likely contender for the first King of England was Edward the Elder. He was King of Wessex from 899 to 924. During his reign, Wessex and Mercia forged a permanent union, thereby creating the embryonic English state. Edward the Elder was the son of King Alfred the Great who, in turn, was the son of King Aethelred who, in turn, was the son of King Egbert. Alfred is probably the most famous of all English monarchs and once notoriously burnt the cakes.
Since the reign of King Egbert, Queen Elizabeth II is the 66th monarch of England or, as it became later, Great Britain. She is the 40th monarch since William I (the Conqueror).
Elizabeth II is a descendant of King Egbert.
Before invading England, King William I (1066-87) was known as William the Bastard because his parents were unmarried.
The ugliest queen of England was probably Caroline of Brunswick. In 1794 the Earl of Malmesbury called her “stocky, jutting and malodorous”.
The oldest person to ascend the throne was King William IV at 64 in 1830. Prince Charles would become the oldest if he were crowned after 2013.
Banknotes have carried the monarch’s portrait only since 1960.
Queen Elizabeth I owned the world’s first flushing lavatory, presented to her by her godson, the inventor Sir John Harrington.
William IV (1830-1837) had ten illegimate children with his mistress. A descendant of one of those illegitimate children is the British Prime Minister David Cameron.
King Stephen (1135-54) died in agony from a burst appendix.
King Edward II (1307-27) died in even greater agony, by the insertion of a red-hot poker up his rectum at Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire. His assassins had been told not to leave a mark on his body. His murder was arranged by his wife, Isabella, and her lover, Roger Mortimer, after he had a homosexual relationship with his court favourite Piers Gaveston.
There have been at least 7 known homosexual monarchs - William II (1087-1100), Richard I (1189-1199), Edward II (1307-1327), Richard II (1377-1399), James I (1603-1625), William III (1689-1702) and Anne (1702-1714).
The first British monarch to drive a car was King Edward VII in 1897 whilst still Prince of Wales.
Edward III pawned the Crown Jewels to pay his troops during an overseas campaign. Charles I’s queen pawned them in Holland at the beginning of the Civil War.
The queen on a pack of playing cards is Elizabeth of York, mother of Henry VIII.
In 1587, Mary Queen of Scots’ executioner missed her with the first blow of the axe. After he finally killed her he had the task of picking up the severed head and showing it to the crowds. Unfortunately nobody told him that she wore a wig, and her head fell down and bounced across the hall.
King George III was declared insane in 1810, but was still the longest reigning English or British king in history.
mirror.co.uk
When Cameron and Clegg both desperately tried to cut whatever deal would get them into power or, in Brown's case, whatever deal would help him stay in power, it was very reassuring to the British people that none of these politicians were, at the end of day, going to become Head of State and that there was always the reassuring presence of that lovely old grandmother at the end of the Mall.
Thanks to our monarchy, Britain's state is not headed by a greedy politician desperate for the reigns of power but by Queen Elizabeth II, one of the most popular monarchs in British history, providing stability and a constant presence..
The monarchy is one of the reasons why Britain works.
The Queen is saving us from sleaze
By Tony Parsons
29/05/2010
The Mirror
A reassuring presence: Queen Elizabeth II smiles with delight as she looks at some of the flowers during last week's Chelsea Flower Show
One day the Queen will be gone and only then will we start appreciating her.
Her dignity. Her calm. Her unchanging goodness. The way she seems completely unruffled when all manner of madness starts coming out of the woodwork.
What a week she’s had. First her ex-daughter-in-law was exposed as a brainless, money-grabbing gold-digger, keen to w hore access to her former husband if the price was right.
And then Her Majesty had to trundle down to Parliament for the Queen’s speech, where she was obliged to read out the grand plan of the ConDem coalition – two parties of power-hungry politicians who have treated their manifesto pledges like yesterday’s Y-fronts that have been chucked into the laundry basket.
The Queen, looking resplendent on her Throne in the House of Lords, reads out her new Government's proposed policies and legislation for the coming session of Parliament during the State Opening of Parliament on Wednesday. It was the 59th time she has attended the ceremony.
At 84 years of age, Queen Elizabeth II glides through scheming relatives with money problems and politicians who have heaped shame on democracy itself.
She’s an oasis of decency in a world of sleazy losers, who are gluttonous for money and power.
Cherie Blair (Tony Blair's wife) turned me into a raving monarchist. This country would be another dreary European backwater without the Queen, ruled over by a changing procession of men in suits and ties.
Without the constant, reassuring presence of our Queen, our nation would be represented by whatever greedy chancer clawed their way into Downing Street.
She is one of the main reasons this country works.
Even after that election, when they were all desperate to cut whatever deal would get them into Government, there was that lovely old lady at the end of the Mall.
When the country was in danger of teetering on the edge of chaos, the flag was still flying above Buckingham Palace.
And knowing that the Queen was there somehow made it clear that whatever shabby backroom deals were cut by Cameron, Clegg or Brown, the nation would endure and our way of life would survive.
Part of the greatest generation this country has produced, the Queen is not so much the figurehead of our nation as its heart, its soul and its spirit.
Is the monarchy inherently unfair? Well, of course. But haven’t you noticed yet?
So is life. And having a monarchy is the foundation of our nation’s stability.
I am glad the Queen made it to the Chelsea Flower Show.
With Fergie on one side and Cameron on the other, I reckon it was the one bit of fun she had all week.
The ancient British monarchy: Facts and figures
King Egbert (reigned 802 to 839) is considered to be the first King of England
The British monarchy is Europe's oldest surviving political institution.
There is a bit of a debate as to who was the first King of England, but many historians give that honour to King Egbert. King Egbert was King of Wessex from 802 to 839, at a time when what is now England was divided into 7 Anglo-Saxon kingdoms (The Heptarchy). Wessex was the most powerful of the kingdoms and, during his reign, it temporarily annexed neighbouring Mercia, therefore allowing Egbert to rule over a huge area of what is now England. Therefore, he's regarded by many as the first King of all England.
Another likely contender for the first King of England was Edward the Elder. He was King of Wessex from 899 to 924. During his reign, Wessex and Mercia forged a permanent union, thereby creating the embryonic English state. Edward the Elder was the son of King Alfred the Great who, in turn, was the son of King Aethelred who, in turn, was the son of King Egbert. Alfred is probably the most famous of all English monarchs and once notoriously burnt the cakes.
Since the reign of King Egbert, Queen Elizabeth II is the 66th monarch of England or, as it became later, Great Britain. She is the 40th monarch since William I (the Conqueror).
Elizabeth II is a descendant of King Egbert.
Before invading England, King William I (1066-87) was known as William the Bastard because his parents were unmarried.
The ugliest queen of England was probably Caroline of Brunswick. In 1794 the Earl of Malmesbury called her “stocky, jutting and malodorous”.
The oldest person to ascend the throne was King William IV at 64 in 1830. Prince Charles would become the oldest if he were crowned after 2013.
Banknotes have carried the monarch’s portrait only since 1960.
Queen Elizabeth I owned the world’s first flushing lavatory, presented to her by her godson, the inventor Sir John Harrington.
William IV (1830-1837) had ten illegimate children with his mistress. A descendant of one of those illegitimate children is the British Prime Minister David Cameron.
King Stephen (1135-54) died in agony from a burst appendix.
King Edward II (1307-27) died in even greater agony, by the insertion of a red-hot poker up his rectum at Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire. His assassins had been told not to leave a mark on his body. His murder was arranged by his wife, Isabella, and her lover, Roger Mortimer, after he had a homosexual relationship with his court favourite Piers Gaveston.
There have been at least 7 known homosexual monarchs - William II (1087-1100), Richard I (1189-1199), Edward II (1307-1327), Richard II (1377-1399), James I (1603-1625), William III (1689-1702) and Anne (1702-1714).
The first British monarch to drive a car was King Edward VII in 1897 whilst still Prince of Wales.
Edward III pawned the Crown Jewels to pay his troops during an overseas campaign. Charles I’s queen pawned them in Holland at the beginning of the Civil War.
The queen on a pack of playing cards is Elizabeth of York, mother of Henry VIII.
In 1587, Mary Queen of Scots’ executioner missed her with the first blow of the axe. After he finally killed her he had the task of picking up the severed head and showing it to the crowds. Unfortunately nobody told him that she wore a wig, and her head fell down and bounced across the hall.
King George III was declared insane in 1810, but was still the longest reigning English or British king in history.
mirror.co.uk
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