God save our gracious Queen

 

Queen Elizabeth II as a land-girl

during the Second World War

This last weekend has seen the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, who ascended to the throne of England 70 years ago on the death of her father, King George VI.

Monarchy is something of a mystery to Americans, their country having always been a Republic (albeit seized back from the monarchist English). As the French writer Alexis de Tocqueville noted in his noted mid-19th-century book, Democracy in America, the USA was always intended as an experiment in democracy and, until quite recently, was a very successful one.

But the Queen of England is, I believe, the world's longest reigning monarch. Long to reign over us, as the lyrics to the National Anthem say. She has served with an enthusiasm, a devotion, and a quintessential sense of what it is to be English, that is moving to every true-born Englishman. To be born an Englishman, said Sir Cecil Rhodes, is to win first prize in God's lottery. I am not sure that is still the case, but Elizabeth Windsor sometimes makes me believe that we were once an Empire on which the sun never set, and that this was a good thing. The world now is doing without the British Empire. Good luck with that.

Of course, there are voices in the UK who despise the Queen, the Royal Family, and all that goes with the concept of monarchy. Not least is the BBC, who manage to suck all the glory and pageantry out of the weekend celebrations by noting that Her Majesty is looking fragile and has mobility problems. She is 96 years old, you fucking mutts. Let me know how you are walking when you are four years shy of 100 years old.

But the people of England adore the Queen, which is why the Left instinctively despise her and everything she stands for. Admittedly, she is the matriarch of one of the world's most dysfunctional families, one which makes The Simpsons look like The Waltons, but that is hardly her fault.

So, God save our gracious Queen.

Long live our noble Queen.