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Queen Elizabeth II

Historic Jubilee proves Queen Elizabeth the best value for money UK has to offer



London, England -- Despite near winter temperature and driving rain throughout this past Jubilee weekend celebrations, Brits came out in their millions to show unabashed approval of their monarch. Other than a handful of republican protesters at the flotilla event, it was all true blue patriotism and a hankering to cling on to the values Britons understand and want their country to represent, embodied in the one woman who has been steadfast in her commitment to this country for 60 years.
At an annual cost of just under £1 per each citizen, Queen Elizabeth II represents the best value for money the UK has to offer. At 86, she still works tirelessly, attending 400 public engagements every year, to say nothing of the wealth of experience she brings to her weekly consultations with her prime minister, of which 12 have passed through her palace gates during her reign. All the pomp and ceremony keeps hundreds in jobs, not to mention the boost to UK tourism. In an age of global tensions, her non-political leadership of the Commonwealth means she is in a unique position to have the ear of many world leaders, often acting as a catalyst between parties that don’t see eye to eye.

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As constitutional monarch, her role as head of state is a focus of national unity. This was made evident with the millions that lined London’s rain infused streets, the 20% of the population that attended over 10,000 street parties, or the half of the nation that sat at home and watched the events of the weekend unfold on every television channel. Clutching my YouGov poll of statistics that told me 57% of Brits were proud of their Royal Family, 67% though they were good for Britain and nearly 75% want the monarchy over an elected head of state, your intrepid correspondent went to the local street party to seek out the pulse of patriotism in London. The poll also told me that 75% say community spirit has got worse in the last 60 years as well as 60% thinking that Britain’s standing in the world has decreased since 1952. The national poll bore out at my street party. In between the sausage rolls and the Japanese salad, the kebabs and the union jack cake, the Pimms and the overproof Polish vodka, neighbours who never normally socialize together, mingled amidst the background strains of Caribbean reggae, everyone unanimously agreeing that QEII is a unifier. One put it very eloquently: ‘We Brits don’t have much to cheer about. Monarchy is one of the few remaining things that unite us, even if it’s understated. We barely have any civic pride anymore. People used to have pride in their community and knew one another through going to church. Now we live our lives through celebrities like Victoria blinking Beckham, instead of looking at their own lives.’ The Queen represents a Britain everyone understands, whether they are native or immigrant. Natives remember a green and pleasant land of poets and empire, industry and agriculture spawning innovation and prosperity. A land where parliamentary rule of law became an example for nearly 70 countries. To be British was something special as many who fled to its shores to escape oppression will tell you. Modern monarchy gives Brits a symbol of national identity in an age where ‘diversity’ has been rammed down their throats through too much immigration and forced into law to be accepted without question. Witness our liberal laws on hate speech or the unaffordable welfare state. It is all very well to enjoy world cuisine at a street party brought there by immigrants, but there must be agreement on a cultural norm that a country stands on. In the UK that has been eroded to a point that is probably irreparable. Even long standing immigrants are saying ‘enough!’ It’s no wonder they cling to the solidity the Queen represents. Our national institutions have been politicized beyond recognition by the last Labour government. Entitlement programs have reached a stage where near double is being spent for every tax pound brought in. Yet our politicians squabble and tinker with the budgets as though all the money in the world is at their disposal with no end in sight; even by so called conservatives. Parliament is constantly besieged with one cash fiddling scandal after the next and acting on principle is trumped by personal political gain. The UK itself is in jeopardy with Scotland demanding freedom from the union. Socially, the family is under attack as never before, with government handouts making the state the parent with marriage now the next institution to come under scrutiny by parliament with so called conservatives calling for same sex marriage. The Queen and her family is the antithesis to this madness. Whether consciously or not, citizens cling to the structure we know in our hearts to be best for human organization. Where else can children, even in dysfunctional circumstances, have the confidence they need with the pairing of a mother and a father, each gender bringing its special gifts to the unit of family which is the building block of civilized society? Brits take comfort in the stability of the Royal family, with all eyes now on William’s wife Kate to supply the crucial heir and spare. For a moment in time this weekend, the country’s ills could be put to one side to wallow in the modern illusion of pageantry. This was no better displayed than on the River Thames, where a flotilla of 1,000 boats sailed 7.5 miles through the city’s centre with the Queen’s glorious barge decked out in gold leaf and red velvet, the centre focus. The last procession of this kind was the Lord Mayor’s procession in 1752, famously painted by Canaletto and which became the inspiration of this year’s Jubilee organizers. Two hundred and sixty years ago it was the great medieval guilds and livery companies that elected the Lord Mayor, and the flotilla they put on was a show of their wealth, power and status within the city. This year the display of wealth was more obscure, as companies bankrolled the event and outfit some of the barges, the Queens’ included, but it was mostly civilian and privately owned boats that put on the show. The best of British comes from a bygone age as we saw at the concert in front of Buckingham palace. Cliff Richard, Elton John, Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey and Paul McCarty were top drawers. Great artists -yes- but past their prime as each one croaked out a couple of hits in a voice well past its sell-by date. It was a spectacle steeped in a past that held values that are today falling away like leaves from a rotting tree. In the middle of it all stood the Queen. Solid, steadfast, uncompromising in her vows to God, country and family. And alone. With Prince Philip having taken ill and in hospital for most of the celebrations we were reminded of how old and increasingly frail our monarch will become. But will her descendants be able to carry the moral mantle she has set? With all but one of her children divorced and the stain of Charles’s awful marriage to Diana destroyed by his refusal to give up Camilla, the future queen consort so few approve of, can the role of defender of the faith continue? The Church of England will indeed need a strong defender, because that too is coming apart at the seams. Disillusioned with the allowance of gay bishops, women priests and the Archbishop of Canterbury condoning sharia law, Anglicans are leaving the Church of England in droves to join the Catholic Church. While the Queen reigns, there is her moral example to focus on, but once she goes, it will be open season on the meaning of faith in this country. Unlike the impeccable costumes and finery on display this weekend, the UK is fraying at the edges, and the Queen is the only stability anyone can point to at the moment. Until our society can reset its moral compass, she is great value at a hundred times the cost.


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Anna Grayson-Morley -- Bio and Archives

Anna Grayson—Morley is a London based freelance journalist.


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