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The Real Value of
BRITAIN'S
ROYAL FAMILY
I
S TH E
Br itish
M o n a rc h y a
rid iculous,
"old-fashioned"
instit uti on t hat
simply refuses to
die?
Sorne fcw Bri–
lons have looked
upon this Monar–
chy as "a royal
soap opera"- so
much
uselcss
pom p and cere–
monial nonscnse,
so much "Royal
flummery." They
view the Monar–
chy as leftovcr 1m–
perial t rappings–
as an expensive
drain on the Brit–
ish taxpayer.
Others insist thc Br itish Royal
Family plays an important and
vital, if unenviable and (at times)
thankless, part in Britain's stabili–
ty in this modero, 20th century
space age.
Mo na rchy and t he Ro ya l
Wedding
A royal wedding is a poignant
reminder of the tremendous popu–
larity ofthe British Monarchy. 1t is
a reminder, too. of the awesome
force of example.
On the very day that the coming
marriage of Prince Charles to
Lady Diana Spencer was an–
nounced, King Juan Carlos of
22
by
T.C.F. Prittie
ROYAL FAMILYposes informal/y. From
/eft: Prince Philip, Prince Edward,
Prince Charles. Oueen Elizabeth 11,
Prince Andrew and Princess Anne with
her 3-year-old son Peter.
Spain was personally engaged in
suppressing an armed aitempt to
overthrow Spain's first democratic
government in nearly half a cen–
tury. A member of the Spanish
government coalition, Alfonso
Osor io, remarkcd that J uan Car–
los' bold action had "proved the
value of having a king."
It
is no
secret that the king has modcled
his general line of conduct on that
of the British Monarchy. No Brit–
ish king, admittedly, has faced
other."
such a challengc for
300 years.
In his book
The
English Constitu–
tion
historian Wal–
ter Bagehot had this
to say of the Monar–
chy: "The use of the
Queen, in a d igni–
fied capacity, is in–
calculable. Without
her in England, the
present English gov–
ernment would fail
and pass away....
The best reason why
Monarchy is a
strong government
is that it is an intelli–
gible governmcnt.
~
The mass of man–
~
kind understand it,
l
and they hardly any–
~
where in thc world
u nderstand any
In another passage his tor ian
Bagehot wrote: "A monarch that
can be truly rcvcrenced, a House
of Peers that can be rcally
rcspected, are historical accidcnts
nearly peculiar to this one island,
and entircly peculiar to Europe. "
The House of Lords may not
enjoy quite the prestige an d
acceptancc that once belongcd to
it. But revcrcncc for the Crown,
accompanied by the deep affec–
tion of thc great majority of Bri–
tons, certainly remains.
T he sovercign, again according
to Walter Bagehot, has three
rights: 1) the right to be con–
sulted, 2) the right to encourage,
The PLAIN TRUTH