Monarchical Foibles

The recent furore concerning Prince William and Kate Middleton has got me thinking about the fickle interests of our nation.

We are an island obsessed with keeping up appearances. Few of us will ever experience the atrocities of war, famine, or genocide first hand and, as such, these matters of monumental significance fall into the peripheral, whereas, the plight to keep up with the Jones’s becomes an important daily struggle.

The Royal family are considered to be the epitome of British family perfection, but this title is a heavy crown to bear, and there can be only one way off such a lofty pedestal. Their lifestyle may be unfathomable to any of us, but in spite of the disparity between the monarchy and us – Her Majesty’s humble subjects – the shortcomings that the Royals display are surprisingly unpretentious – their humanness is their most desirable and interesting quality and is, after all, the only part of their life that we can all relate to.

The newly released film ‘The Queen’ was successful because it captured the woman behind the dignified public persona. We all enjoy Phillip’s foot in mouth moments and young Harry’s drunken delinquency because we want them to be like us – imperfect. William on the other hand, has managed to slip through adolescence without sullying the Windsor name and was beginning to look like a lost cause to the tabloids. So it seems, as a nation, we can all breath a deep sigh of relief, as his recent break up with Kate Middleton is undeniable proof that he is a fallible mortal after all, and not the super gracious, superhuman, Clark Kent of the British people, that he appeared to be . . . or is it all an elaborate ploy?

Top 5 films on monarchical foibles

1. The Queen
2. The Last Emporer
3. The Madness of King George
4. The Queen's Sister
5. The Lost Prince

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