Sixty Joyless De-Britished Uncrowned Commonpoor Years (1949-2009)

Elizabeth II Vice-Regal Saint: Remembering Paul Comtois (1895–1966), Lt.-Governor of Québec
Britannic Inheritance: Britain's proud legacy. What legacy will America leave?
English Debate: Daniel Hannan revels in making mince meat of Gordon Brown
Crazy Canucks: British MP banned from Canada on national security grounds
Happy St. Patrick's: Will Ireland ever return to the Commonwealth?
Voyage Through the Commonwealth: World cruise around the faded bits of pink.
No Queen for the Green: The Green Party of Canada votes to dispense with monarchy.
"Sir Edward Kennedy": The Queen has awarded the senator an honorary Knighthood.
President Obama: Hates Britain, but is keen to meet the Queen?
The Princess Royal: Princess Anne "outstanding" in Australia.
H.M.S. Victory: In 1744, 1000 sailors went down with a cargo of gold.
Queen's Commonwealth: Britain is letting the Commonwealth die.
Justice Kirby: His support for monarchy almost lost him appointment to High Court
Royal Military Academy: Sandhurst abolishes the Apostles' Creed.
Air Marshal Alec Maisner, R.I.P. Half Polish, half German and 100% British.
Cherie Blair: Not a vain, self regarding, shallow thinking viper after all.
Harry Potter: Celebrated rich kid thinks the Royals should not be celebrated
The Royal Jelly: A new king has been coronated, and his subjects are in a merry mood
Victoria Cross: Australian TROOPER MARK DONALDSON awarded the VC
Godless Buses: Royal Navy veteran, Ron Heather, refuses to drive his bus
Labour's Class War: To expunge those with the slightest pretensions to gentility
100 Top English Novels of All Time: The Essential Fictional Library
BIG BEN: Celebrating 150 Years of the Clock Tower

Monday 12 February 2007

In Praise of Taki

Somebody please pinch me. The great Taki Theodoracopulos claims The Monarchist, along with four other top drawer choices, among his favorite blogs! (see proud tower).

For the ignoramuses who don't know of whom I'm talking about, I'm referring of course to the gentleman courtier who was a personal friend of the late Princess Diana, and who happens to be married to royalty in his own right. The worldly patrician who hails from the cradle of Western civilisation itself, much like that other elegant Greek of royal marriage, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. Like His Royal Highness, Taki is blessed with a certain inclination towards Old World political incorrectness; a refreshing disposition compared to the universally accepted, morally poisonous pablum of the "garbage culture" (Taki's phrase). It is a statement of our times that such gentlemen and their pronouncements are considered even mildly controversial, while the squalid, numbskull mentality of the celebrity cult go unquestionably revered.

You can usually find the long-time High Life columnist at The Spec, or in the evening at the traditional London swank, Brooke's, no doubt getting lordly in his wine or whatever it is the high life bon vivant fancies drinking. As with Churchill, Taki has no distaste for pleasure. I hear both are defined in the English language under boon companion. My kind of elite.

More importantly, Taki is the polemicist of our times, the traditionalist crusader who wants to "shake up the stodgy world of so-called ‘conservative’ opinion", which he believes has been highjacked by neocon, pasty-faced kids in need of a wedgy. He co-founded The American Conservative magazine with Pat Buchanan to give voice to his iconoclast views. Taki is pro-American and anti-Iraq-War. A rare bird. He says he doesn't really hate the neocons, because the only man he ever hated was Hillary Clinton.

In terms of pure talent, he may not be at the level of, say, a Christopher Hitchens (both have written for Vanity Fair), because he is in fact at a higher level. Unlike the foul smelling, anti-monarchist, anti-Christian Trotskyite, Taki has noblesse - he would never consider attacking the Queen Mother or Mother Teresa, or anyone by virtue of their position or faith or lack of wealth, who could not defend themselves. We admire him because he admires the traditional values espoused by Burke, and because like all men who respect their heritage, he believes in the elevated spectacle of monarchy, "the Corinthian capital of polished society". Wouldn't we be better off if, instead of seeking to tear it down, this is the level to which we all aspired.

7 comments:

Sir Edward Heath said...

Why the shock and surprise Monarchist? Surely you realise by now the quality of the company that you keep. That your readers, by being discerning, are also very select.

The Monarchist said...

Well, it's not exactly an extensive blogroll Taki keeps, so I suppose we should be somewhat delighted by his tastes.

The Monarchist said...

On the other hand, this kind of genuflecting may not be all that endearing. Better luck next time.

Sir Edward Heath said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sir Edward Heath said...

Careful you grasp my meaning Monarchist. For what I put forth can be read both ways.

Keir said...

My only views of Taki come from Private Eye mag...

Anonymous said...

As a reader of "The American Conservative", I appreciate Taki's fine columns and support of the "old Right" in the dying USA.

Fine writer indeed.