The ThunderDragon: The Queen

Showing posts with label The Queen. Show all posts

23 April 2008

Why Not Reform The Succession?

This was in yesterday's Times:

The Attorney-General’s office has ruled out any legislation that would give equal rights of succession to the throne to daughters of a monarch. Nor will it repeal the law that bans the heir to the throne from marrying a Roman Catholic.

And this in the Telegraph two days ago:

Vera Baird, the Solicitor General, who is steering the new equality bill through the Commons, said the right of males to succeed ahead of their older sisters was "unfair" and "a load of rubbish"...
Mrs Baird also wants to repeal the law that bans the heir to the throne from marrying a Catholic.

I think that Vera Baird is completely right. I can see no reason not to change this rule. It is very much out of date and utterly absurd in the modern world.

In its time, the rules were fine and acceptable - if not absolutely necessary. But the time when the monarch was expected to actually run the country and to lead armies in the field is long long gone. There is no need for the monarch to be specifically male. And the past fifty-odd years of Queen Elizabeth IIs reign has proven it.

And as for the restriction over marrying a Catholic? Why do we we have this ridiculous law any more? It is a relic of the Glorious Revolution. It's about time, after 320 years, to repeal it.

How are either of these at all justifiable in the modern world?!

Just a note: This isn't the first time I have supported these modernisation.

20 December 2007

Long May She Reign Over Us

20 November 2007

Happy Anniversary, Ma'am

Today the Queen and Prince Philip celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary, having been married for 60 years. That is a fantastically long time indeed. It is unfortunate that none of her children have managed to hold down a relationship.

To mark their anniversary, the Queen and prince Philip are returning to Malta, where they spent the first two years of their married life.

Sources: BBC, The Times, The Telegraph

09 September 2007

God Save The Queen On Our Passports!

Keep the Queen on our passports!

References to the Queen could be taken out of British passports in a bid to make them more European, it has emerged.
The new documents, which could be in place as early as 2010, would bear reference to the EU constitution in order to remind UK citizens that they are part of Europe.
The first page of the British passport has historically featured the royal coat of arms with a message from the Queen beginning: "Her Britannic Majesty's Secretary of State".
The words go on to outline that the citizen has a right to travel freely and has the right to protection and assistance.
Under new changes, however, it has been suggested that the coat of arms are scrapped and replaced by the EU emblem of 12 stars with the message underneath reading: "Every citizen of the Union". (The Telegraph)

How dare they?! The Queen is, and shall remain, our head of state. We are, first and foremost, subjects of the Queen. The EU should stay away from our passports. We may be citizens of the EU, but we are citizens of Great Britain and subjects of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II first and foremost.

So the EU can fuck off if they think that we will have their twelve-star logo and a passage from their - rejected - Constitution on our passports. We're still British and not European, and Britain is still, technically at least, a sovereign state. So until we are forced to become nothing more than a region of a United States of Europe, we will continue to have the royal coat of arms on our passports.

Source: The Telegraph

27 June 2007

He's In
Updated

Gordon Brown entered the Palace to kiss hands [but not literally] just a few minutes ago, and has presumably by now been invited to form a government by the Queen. So he has now achieved his ambition of at least the last 24 years, since he became an MP, and formally taken over from Tony Blair. He has managed to last ten years as Chancellor, the longest anyone has ever served, and thirteen years as the heir. No matter what you think of him, that is some success.

However, now he has to face the reality of the situation. He can no longer pull his Macavity act whenever anything goes wrong, as it is now his responsibility. Who will he have in his new Cabinet? We will find out soon - and since he has had so long to do it, he cannot get it wrong.

He is going to make a statement when he gets back from the Palace. What are his aims for his premiership going to be? We should soon find out...

UPDATE 2.48pm: Gordon Brown has just left the Palace as Prime Minister.

UPDATE 2.55pm: Extracts from Brown's speech just before he enterted 10 Downing Street:

"I just accepted the invitation of Her Majesty the Queen to form a new goverment... This will be a new government with new priorities... at all times I will be strong in purpose, resolute in action... I want the best chances for everyone. That is my mission... As Prime Minister I willcontinue to listen and learn from the British people... This need for change cannot be represented by the old politics... I am convinved that there are no wekanesses in Britian today that cannot be overcome by the British people... I promise to do my utmost..."

UPDATE 3.05pm: The Number 10 website ~~has already been~~ was updated with Gordon Brown as Prime Minister. It was as Brown left the Palace, but seems to have changed back for some reason... Wait, it's back again! I wonder what happened there?

Click to enlarge

UPDATE 4:

Nick Robinson on Brown's first speech as PM here.

Tory Radio has the audio of Brown's speech online here.

The Times have the full text of the Brown's speech here.

UPDATE 5: Brown's speech on YouTube:

He's Off!

Today is Tony Blair's final day as Prime Minister. In just an hour or so, he will no longer be Prime Minister. At his last PMQs, he got a standing ovation from MPs on all sides.

He has now just left 10 Downing Street for the last time on his way to the Palace, to formally resign from office. As they left, Cherie Blair had a very direct message to the media: "We won't miss you at all".

Very soon after Blair formally resigns, Brown will be called to "kiss hands" although not literally. Very soon we will have a new Prime Minister and a new Cabinet.

16 June 2007

Old age doesn't equal technophobe, especially it seems in the Queen:

"Six years ago she shocked the world with the revelation that Prince Andrew had bought her a mobile phone - only to trump that in 2005 with the admission that her Majesty was the proud owner of an iPod mini.
But now, Spy can reveal that the Queen’s latest technological foray has been into the realm of email...
So it’s official: the disreputable cousin of pen and ink now has the Royal Warrant...
Whatever next - a royal blog?" (The Telegraph)

Why shouldn't she? The Queen may be old but the ranks of the silver surfers aren't all that small! And a blog written [or rather dictated] by the Queen would be fantastically interesting to read! One must keep up with one's people, after all...

02 June 2007

The Queen And The Prime Minister

This is an interesting look at the relationship between the Queen and her Prime Ministers, from the Downing Street YouTube channel. It features Tony Blair, John Major and Ted Heath.

via Dizzy Thinks

22 May 2007

The Queen gets a reward that she richly deserves:

"The public voted her Greatest Living Briton 2007, beating Sir Paul McCartney, Dame Julie Andrews, Baroness Thatcher and Robbie Williams.
The Queen was not present at the ceremony to collect her award, voted for by ITV1 viewers, but Prince Edward paid tribute to his mother via a video transmission." (The Telegraph)

The Queen has been on the throne for more than fifty years, and there is no denying that she has done a good job, and has held the country together. This is a reward, and award, which she definitely deserves. God save the Queen!