Sarah Palin ‘believed Queen was in charge of British forces in Iraq’
Another article from the Daily Telegraph.
I think if the Queen had been in charge, we wouldn’t have had a war in Iraq.
Sarah Palin always strikes me that if she had had a word fight with any of the great wordsmiths, she’d have been metaphorically hung, drawn and quartered.
King’s Troop Say Good-Bye to St. John’s Wood
Today was in some ways a sad day, but also a proud one, as the King’s Troop of the Royal Horse Artillery marched through St. John’s Wood for the last time, as reported here in the Westminster Chronicle. They were on their way to fire a salute in Hyde Park to mark the start of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
In the next day or so, they will ride to their new purpose-built barracks at Woolwich.
Tomorrow, they will probably be on most front pages.
Has Anybody Asked The Queen?
They are talking this morning about a new Royal Yacht for the Queen.
Obviously, a lot of the great and good are in favour, as they like a good jolly and hope Her Majesty might ask them to come aboard.
I’ve been to one of her good jollies and I enjoyed it. But then you could say that I earned my invitation.
If you look at the list of royal yachts on Wikipedia, you’ll see that most large ones are owned by Arabs, with bad human rights records, except perhaps for the royal families of Denmark, Norway and The Netherlands. The Iranian president might have one too.
I think the Queen has said she only misses the yacht for her family cruise round the Scottish Islands and since the decommissioning of the Royal Yacht Britannia she has twice hired a small cruise ship called the Hebridean Princess.
So for her personal pleasure she has found a sensible substitute. According to Wikipedia, one year she paid £125,000, which doesn’t buy a very big yacht and pay for the maintenance.
But obviously, this doesn’t satisfy the great and the good, who get nothing out of it.
On the other hand, the owners of the Hebridean Princess get publicity that money can’t buy.
Why The Queen Doesn’t Wear a Hard Hat when Riding
The Sunday Times discloses today ewhy the Queen doesn’t wear a hard hat when she rides a horse, despite the fact that various organisations are always telling her to set an example.
She was once took to task by the racehorse trainer, Ian Balding, when he was hacking with her in Windsor Home. ‘I really think it is ridiculous that you above all others, do not wear a crash helmet.’ She never does, as this piece shows
The Queen replied: ‘I never have and you don’t have to have your hair done like I do’ As it says in the article in The Sunday Times, this is an expression less of vanity than of the practical need to be ready for her appointments.
Only In The United States Could Speaking French be a Disadvantage
According to this account on the BBC’s web site, Mitt Romney is being denounced for being able to speak French and actually doing it in public.
I think we have a rather different attitude in Europe, as although we argue with the French many of our politicians have used French when talking publicly in France. Although, we do make a joke of it between us. As two old friends would. Apparently, the French version of Allo Allo deliberately used bad French as a joke, even more than the English version did with Officer Crabtree being a deliberate parody of Edward Heath.
Remember too, the Queen speaks reasonable French, as this article attests.
We now live in a world, where many more people are bilingual, as their parents were immigrants. So the US has a large proportion of Spanish speakers and we have quite a lot of speakers of many other languages.
But go back to 1900 and has anything changed. Yiddish and German would have been heard in many places in London and New York for a start.
But now, only in America would the ability to speak a foreign language be considered to be a handicap for a politician!
What An Awful Bunch of Wanabees
I’m not talking about the latest Big Brother or X-Factor contestants, but the towns that want to be cities to mark the Golden Jubilee, according to this article on the BBC.
The list is as follows.
Bolton, Bournemouth, Chelmsford, Colchester, Coleraine, Corby, Craigavon, Croydon, Doncaster, Dorchester, Dudley, Dumfries, Gateshead, Goole, Luton, Medway, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Perth, Reading, Southend, St Asaph, St Austell, Stockport, Tower Hamlets and Wrexham
I always thought that Milton Keynes was a city already.
In addition, Chelmsford, Medway, Perth, St. Asaph and Wrexham already have cathedrals, so doesn’t make them cities anyway?
David Hockney is Awarded the Order of Merit
The Order of Merit is a unique order in that it is a personal gift of the sovereign. It has just been awarded to David Hockney.
I first came aware of Hockney when he won the John Moores Painting Prize at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, in 1967 and can remember seeing his painting, Peter Getting out of Nick’s Pool, at the time with C. I also have seen the major collection of his works at Saltaire.
Reading the list of those who have been awarded the Order of Merit is to read a list of some of our greatest scientists, artists and composers with a few politicians thrown in. Although, I think it is true to say, that these days there are more of the thinkers than the politicians, than there was fifty years or so. At present there are only two British politicians on the list and both are women; Margaret Thatcher and Betty Boothroyd. There are however two long serving Commonwealth Prime Ministers; one Canadian and one Australian. Decades ago, there would have been many from the military, but now there is only the respected military historian; Sir Michael Howard.
I think on the whole it is a good list and if you look at those who hold the honour today, no-one stands out as universally condemned by all.
There are some interesting connections and some would think anomalies.
For instance the only churchman is the Anglican Primate of Ireland, Lord Eames. Although Cardinal Hume was a member.
Dorothy Hodgkin was also a member, as is her pupil, Margaret Thatcher. I think it is true to say, that their politics were very different. I wonder if they ever met, when Thatcher was Prime Minister! This web page provides a glimpse of their relationship.
Margaret Thatcher worked as a fourth year student on X-ray crystallography in Dorothy Hodgkin’s laboratory. Despite later political differences they always held a great affection for one another.
According to this page on the BBC, they did meet whilst Thatcher was Prime Minister to discuss world peace.
What Would Mary Whitehouse Have Thought?
Twice in the last week, I’ve seen or heard of risque cabaret in unusual places.
On Tuesday, we were informed on our trip to the entrance of the Thames Tunnel, that dancers had performed the can-can in the space.
Then on Friday at the Zoo was what they called a Twisted Cabaret, which included a compere, singers, a burlesque dancer and a fire-eater.
Is this all a taste of what we will be seeing in 2012, with the Olympics and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee?
What Have Betty Boothroyd, David Attenborough, Lord Foster and Tim Berners-Lee In Common?
They are all members of the Order of Merit, which is the only British honour that is a personal gift of the Sovereign. It is limited to 24 members and with the deaths of Lucien Freud and Joan Sutherland, there are now only twenty two full members and one honorary one; Nelson Mandela.
From inception in 1902, the honour has always been open to women and originally was awarded as a means to acknowledge “exceptionally meritorious service in Our Navy and Our Army, or who may have rendered exceptionally meritorious service towards the advancement of Art, Literature and Science”.
Looking at the current list, there are no military figures, two women, an archbishop, three politicians, of whom one is a Canadian, a playright, several Nobel prize winners, a sculptor, a broadcaster; David Attenborough, several scientists and mathemeticians and a couple of philanthropists. Perming any six from twenty-two would make one hell of a dinner party.
So the Queen has a problem!
She has to fill the two vacancies and she will do this without political interference.
There is only one from the theatre;Tom Stoppard, so such as Alan Bennett, Judi Dench and Ian McKellen must be in the frame. Alan Bennett has already refused a knighthood, so he may not accept. On the other hand, it might have been Benjamin Britten, who initially refused, but accepted when he was told that the honour was the personal gift of the sovereign.
There is no doctor, so perhaps Lord Winston or someone of equal stature should be added. I have one doctor in mind, as he helped me greatly when C died, but I won’t name him here.
There are also no sportsmen or sportswomen on the list and if you look at past holders none came from sport. But then when the order was founded sport was an irrelevance to most people, except for gambling and entertainment. So should this ommission be rectified? In my view the only possible person might have been Chris Brasher, but he died a few years ago. Ian Botham will be another possible in a decade or so, as he is too young at present.
The Queen’s New Photo
The Queen has had a new portrait photograph taken and it is shown here on the BBC.
I don’t like it as it is too formal and looks like the sort of rubbish monarchs would have had painted hundreds of years ago.
I bet she likes this one much better!
The Anonymous Widower 