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

Friday 20 April 2007

Marry Australia

Thank the Heavens our handsome Prince did not propose to that Berkshire girl - we don't need the Royals to marry further into England, what we need is for them to branch out to the other realms and give greater credence to the idea of a Commonwealth Royal Family. As Cato correctly points out, "one must feel that we have an historic opportunity: marry the boy off to an Aussie and kill the republic faster than you can say glossy magazine. If Queen Vicky had married her eldest off to an Indian princess, you just know that there would still be Emperors at Delhi."

Indeed, and I take back that bit about what the Royals do in their down time being none of our business. Kyle is right: what they do, how they conduct themselves, who they mingle with and who they marry is of obvious social and moral significance, as we painfully learned in the dysfunctional 90s with all those annis horribilisses. Instead of making a right royal mess of it and riding the wave of Britannia's retreat and surrender all the time, for once the Royal Family needs to go on the attack. That inevitably means shoring up the crown Down Under, and establishing a beachhead where the future of monarchy is most tenable, and by extension everywhere else. Would it not be worthwhile to have William carry out his naval training in the R.A.N., in convenient proximity to the girls of the Outback? If we have the Will, is it such a longshot to think of a Royal Wedding in Oz divorcing Australia from its republican ways?

13 comments:

mrcawp said...

That would be rather fun, but the British wouldn't stand for an Oz wedding. Maybe two ceremonies, no matter how untraditional?

Anonymous said...

I'd stand for it. The traditionalists would like the Commonwealth link, and the weepy modernists would like the breath-of-fresh-air-into-the-stuffy-old-etc editorials. Everyone wins.

Plus it wouldn't half nark the Kiwis...

Cato

Anonymous said...

I always thought they should send Prince William to Australia as Governor General and Prince Harry to New Zealand for four or five years. (Or perhaps vice versa?)

Matt Bondy said...

I, too, am sympathetic to the view that members of the royal family could serve as Governors General of Commonwealth realms.

I also applaud the idea of royals marrying Canucks or Aussies. As the author mentioned, it would raise the profile of the Commonwealth and give the media something new to talk about.

Anonymous said...

Or how about invite a royal (Prince Andrew?) to come to Canada and become our King?

The Monarchist said...

The most glorious aspect of the crown are the bonds of fraternity between the nations that share it, which are all in personal union under Elizabeth II. I would only support that if there were some sort of break away upon the demise of ERII.

Republican nationalists would of course balk at the idea of a royal becoming GG, and would raise a big divisive stink of it. I think the young princes would have to ease their way into such a position by spending some time first in the country. I think if they went so far as marrying a local, the country would rally to their side and provide the spectacle of a future patriot king.

Aeneas the Younger said...

Gents:

This kind of idea was popular back in King George's (V) day.

I remember my Mum telling me that if was widely bandied about in the 1920's and 1930's that the King's living Sons (Edward, Albert, Henry, & George) should be dispersed to the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand in rank of preference upon the demise of the King.

The reality became that the Monarchy was too popular to allow this, and that too many people loved Edward so much that the idea of NOT having his as the Common Sovereign became unsupportable.

As well, there is really no formal mechanism for such a move. It would probably be unconstitutional - as in Imperial practice we are not big on a divided Crown/Sovereignty.

Ever hear of the Act of Union?

The Marriage idea is a sound, if not novel, one.

The Repubs would likely bitch about the fact that any such Woman would have to be an Anglican. (Not a problem for me ...)

Lewis Holden said...

This is a great idea!

Because nothing would fire republican sentiment in New Zealand more than the prospect of having an Australian head of state... Prince Harry to New Zealand? Great. He can go live in Northland for a year.

The Monarchist said...

Strictly speaking the King would still be British. Only the Queen Consort would be Australian in this case, but she would not be the Head of State.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

If you look at all the fuss that the Australian media makes over Princess Mary, than I think it's a marvelous idea.

For those who don't know Mary was an Australian who married the Danish Heir to the Throne.

Anonymous said...

Why can't he marry who he wants to? :( He is a human after all.

Keir said...

Why Wills dumped Kate: part 342
Earlier this year for a bit of fun some friends of Kate Middleton mocked up a fake bank-note with Kate's head where the Queen usually goes. Which would have been fine,
except that one of William's friends saw it. His circle were not amused. And Kate was soon for the chop.