Would Jubileevit?

[Lordgeous]

And on another (bum) note, WHY do TV commentators always want to talk over the often splendid music at Royal church ceremonies??? It started again this morning at the start of the St Pauls service on BBC. Thank God the producer appeared to quickly shut him up. I remember occasions in years past completely ruined by the talk over. Choirs, organ, brass & timps - a magnificent and thrilling sound!

[Ein Heldenleben]

And on another (bum) note, WHY do TV commentators always want to talk over the often splendid music at Royal church ceremonies??? It started again this morning at the start of the St Pauls service on BBC. Thank God the producer appeared to quickly shut him up. I remember occasions in years past completely ruined by the talk over. Choirs, organ, brass & timps - a magnificent and thrilling sound!

I think the band of the Royal Marines did an excellent job in ‘I Was Glad’ - not a piece thay can perform often - and when it is on telly it’s to an audience of millions.

[Petrushka]

And on another (bum) note, WHY do TV commentators always want to talk over the often splendid music at Royal church ceremonies??? It started again this morning at the start of the St Pauls service on BBC. Thank God the producer appeared to quickly shut him up. I remember occasions in years past completely ruined by the talk over. Choirs, organ, brass & timps - a magnificent and thrilling sound!

Watch on channel 601 - no commentary! You can follow the order of service here: https://www.stpauls.co.uk/sites/defa...0-%20FINAL.pdf

[Bryn]

Lest we forget, Elizabeth Windsor only got the job she has carried out with dedication and dignity because her Nazi fellow traveller uncle was constrained to abdicate. I am no monarchist but do not begrudge her considerable respect for the way she has accepted and carried out the associated duties of that job. The local celebration here will be on Sunday and is highly likely to get rained out.

[french frank]

Thus far I've only seen one street party

Someone suggested we should have one - which met with some Oooh, yeses on the street WhatsApp. But when everyone looked at the Usual Suspect and he said he was too busy to arrange anything at the moment the idea fell through.

I'm with Bryn. I'm absolutely not a republican. EiiR has done a good job - all respect to her. But as for all the complication of holding a referendum to see if we would be willing to put up with some fruitcake as head of state for the principle of having a democratically elected head of state .... ....

[gradus]

Someone suggested we should have one - which met with some Oooh, yeses on the street WhatsApp. But when everyone looked at the Usual Suspect and he said he was too busy to arrange anything at the moment the idea fell through.

I'm with Bryn. I'm absolutely not a republican. EiiR has done a good job - all respect to her. But as for all the complication of holding a referendum to see if we would be willing to put up with some fruitcake as head of state for the principle of having a democratically elected head of state .... ....

Vulnerability to Fruitcakes would be a great concern given the democratically elected US experience.

[RichardB]

I am no monarchist but do not begrudge her considerable respect for the way she has accepted and carried out the associated duties of that job.

A job that doesn't need to be done (acting as a symbol of hereditary inequality), for which she is paid an astronomical amount. Why are "heads of state" necessary anyway? sorry, offtopic

[Bryn]

A job that doesn't need to be done (acting as a symbol of hereditary inequality), for which she is paid an astronomical amount. Why are "heads of state" necessary anyway? sorry, offtopic

I see a need to deal with the situation as it is, not as I would wish it to be. Within that context, she has fulfilled her allocated role with some considerable success. As to heads of state, the same applies, thus when Barbados rightly dumped her, it found a replacement.

[french frank]

Why are "heads of state" necessary anyway? sorry, offtopic

I'm not sure why they're "necessary" but can you think of a country which doesn't have one?

[RichardB]

I'm not sure why they're "necessary" but can you think of a country which doesn't have one?

I can't think of a country that doesn't burn fossil fuels either, yet one way or another eventually fossil fuel burning will have to stop.

[teamsaint]

The monarchy seems to me to be the pin that holds the top of the pyramid together. Until it goes, our “ system” of privilege, land ownership( based on ancient theft) and patronage, which does so much to hold people and the country back, will never change in substance.
Still, the bunting and flag guys will have had a good year, so that’s nice.

[Joseph K]

The monarchy seems to me to be the pin that holds the top of the pyramid together. Until it goes, our “ system” of privilege, land ownership( based on ancient theft) and patronage, which does so much to hold people and the country back, will never change in substance.

[french frank]

I can't think of a country that doesn't burn fossil fuels either, yet one way or another eventually fossil fuel burning will have to stop.

I think that most countries would agree that "eventually fossil fuel burning will have to stop" for reasons that can be understood. There isn't any particular agreement that having a head of state eventually will have to stop. It is one (obsolete) definition of anarchy, which some individuals may advocate but I don't think the sentiment is strong enough to prevail globally.

Iceland is pretty close to being 100% renewables.

The monarchy seems to me to be the pin that holds the top of the pyramid together. Until it goes, our “ system” of privilege, land ownership( based on ancient theft) and patronage, which does so much to hold people and the country back, will never change in substance.

It's strange that some of the most-admired countries for their democratic egalitarianism are monarchies: Norway, Sweden, Denmark.

[Bryn]

. . . Iceland is pretty close to being 100% renewables.

Yes, but they have a copious supply of geothermal energy to fall back on.

[Historian]

The monarchy seems to me to be the pin that holds the top of the pyramid together. Until it goes, our “ system” of privilege, land ownership( based on ancient theft) and patronage, which does so much to hold people and the country back, will never change in substance.

If that is correct then that would be a good reason to move to a republic. However, that assumes that any replacement system will indeed be based on more equitable principles. I am not entirely convinced that this would be the case.