The place of Queens in history

The British monarchy got the idea of using female talent much sooner than many other institutions in our country. In the last 500 years we have been ruled by Queens for 202 years or 40% of the time. This  includes the second Mary  ruling jointly with husband William, as their tenure  was based on her prime claim to the throne . Queens have not proved very different to their male counterparts in the way they have done the job. We have  seen one woman try to usurp the throne in 1554, with various men also trying something similar. In the era of executive monarchs Queens like their male counterparts used executions to deal with rivals and threats. Queen Mary I earned herself the title of Bloody Mary for executing Protestant dissenters from her Catholicism, burning many at the stake including a former Archbishop of Canterbury and a Bishop of Gloucester.

Three women share three of the top four slots for longest reigns, showing their political skills as well as their good health. Of the men only  George III had a reign of 60 years , in third place after  Elizabeth II’s 70 years so far and Victoria’s 64 years, though his reign was troubled by mental illness and entailed a Regency for part of it.  Elizabeth I managed to survive and flourish for 45 years on the throne despite many attempts to assassinate her. She also successfully confronted  a major planned Spanish invasion to remove her from office by foreign force when Spain was the contemporary superpower seeking  to unite Europe on Spanish terms.  She faced enemies at home plotting with enemies abroad to kill her and change the government. No other King managed more than 40 years. Charles I was executed after fighting a civil war against Parliament. James II was removed from office in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. Edward VIII abdicated over a  dispute with Parliament about his marriage.

Elizabeth II’s success in gradually modernising the monarchy whilst staying very popular for most of the time rests on one simple foundation. She has avoided expressing political views and has not tried to interfere with what her governments have been wishing to do. Her son needs to grasp the crucial importance of this before he in due course takes the throne. Pursuing contentious causes does not mix with neutral monarchy.

Today there is a small minority of republicans who want the institution abolished and who will not be celebrating the Platinum landmark. Most people from Mirror readers to Express fans, from Brexiteers to  Remain supporters will celebrate the anniversary in some way or will look in on the national events of the four days on their televisions with a friendly eye. That is in itself the one tribute to the Queen that matters. 70 years on, in a world of Republics and with a global enthusiasm for greater equalities this monarchy is still relevant.

The Queen has carved out an important role as the UK’s first diplomat. On the whole successive governments have used her wisely in that role, as she has been the uniting figure for the nation that foreign heads of government and of  state can relate to whatever their politics. Some foreign leaders might not have wanted a photo op with some of our Prime Ministers owing to big political divides, but all seem to want the photo with The Queen, a person known worldwide for her decades of meeting and greeting.

One of the advantages the UK has in the world of international diplomacy is the monarchy. Heads of State visiting here get something different from the five star hotel and luxury limo experience. They may dine in  a castle, ride in an open carriage and meet a Queen they have no political issues with who is an internationally recognised global celebrity.

104 Comments

  1. Cheshire Girl
    June 3, 2022

    Her Majesty is so amazing. We are lucky to be able to share this once in a lifetime experience of her Platinum Jubilee. We shall not see her like again.
    Although, I do remember her Father, in my childhood, She has been a constant in my life, and a unifying force for this Country.
    I wish all on this site, a very happy Jubilee weekend, and you, Sir John, for giving me the opportunity to post my opinions, and good wishes.

    1. Mark B
      June 3, 2022

      +1

      And to you too

      🙂

    2. Mary M.
      June 3, 2022

      Cheshire Girl, an article in the Daily Telegraph yesterday by the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, entitled ‘The Queen’s Christianity is the lens through which she views the world’ is worth a read.

      A slice of luck that the Archbishop of York is able to stand in for the Archbishop of Canterbury today to conduct the service of thanksgiving at St. Paul’s.

      1. Mary M.
        June 3, 2022

        – and he came up trumps. Lovely that he addressed Her Majesty directly, thus involving her personally in the service although she couldn’t be there.

        Thank you, your Excellency.

    3. Nottingham Lad Himself
      June 3, 2022

      Yes, as someone once said, we may permit ourselves a brief period of rejoicing, not least at the fact that for seventy years this country has not been invaded.

      However, do try to read the concise article in today’s Guardian by Andriy Zagorodnyuk as to the position of others and what must be done.

      1. SM
        June 3, 2022

        ?only seventy years?

        There were unsuccessful attempts by the French and the Spanish of course, and the Dutch made it part of the way up the Thames in the C17th, but when would you say the last successful attempt at invasion was made?

      2. Hat man
        June 3, 2022

        And since we’re O/T, lad, let me recommend an article in yesterday’s Guardian by Larry Elliott, who says: ‘The perverse effects of sanctions means rising fuel and food costs for the rest of the world – and fears are growing of a humanitarian catastrophe. Sooner or later, a deal must be made.’ That sounds like good sense to me. Even in the Guardian.

        One impressively constant theme with our Monarch has been her concern for the developing world, especially in the Commonwealth. I cannot imagine she will be happy with the appalling prospect of famines and food riots in those countries, resulting from Western countries’ policy decisions.

    4. John Miller
      June 3, 2022

      Thank you and may you have a splendid weekend.

      1. Margaret brandreth-j
        June 4, 2022

        Well I have had 2 barbeques with experimental home grown food (veg and salads ie) have been to our local Greenmount cricket club where people wanted to congregate and I thought of a way to spend my dotage in summer afternoons.,even though I wanted to organise a much improved events organisation . You could John enter vets competitive club cricket and rally conservatism here …..

    5. John Rollinson
      June 7, 2022

      Whilst I have the highest respect for the Queen I do think it is time for the UK to have a debate on the future of the royal family and its links with church, state and land. The UK has to modernise and remove the class system that is proped up by royalty and the hangover of empire. If we can implement brexit to get our sovereignty back, surely we can implement independence from the royals and create a more equal society that fits the 21st century rather than the 17th century! Just an idea.🙂

  2. turboterrier
    June 3, 2022

    Dispite her leadership and achievements it is a great shame that members of her immediate family have not sought to use the success of her reign as a more than reasonable benchmark of the expected behaviour that breeds respect, trust and admiration from her people.
    Òne can only hope that her son and heir and her grandson sit down and take every opportunity to listen and learn from the ultimate head of state.
    The world has changed dramatically but the way Her Majesty has adapted is in someway amazing. She has not reigned without getting some very hard knocks but she has learnt and adapted accordingly. For a lot of us she is what she is because she is perceived to have kept out of politics.

    1. Fedupsoutherner
      June 3, 2022

      Great post Turbo. You’ve said what most of us think perfectly. The actions of some family members must have been difficult for her to cope with. We all have difficult family moments but we don’t have to put up with or cope with the whole world knowing and commenting. Some of the episodes must have hurt immensely.

      1. Mark B
        June 3, 2022

        turbo & FUS

        Very much agreed. The world has changed and not always for the good but she has endured.

  3. javelin
    June 3, 2022

    I’m not optimistic about the end of the Elizabethan era. I predict “go woke, go broke” will apply to the whole country. £50 billion invested in wind farms producing 1% of our electricity this morning.

    1. Ian Wragg
      June 3, 2022

      And Bozo wants to triple the number
      Saudi Arabia of wind, what a laugh.
      I would like Lizzies take on the whole farago.
      Perhaps we should give her executive powers and we may start fracking and digging coal.
      Oh to be ruled by someone competent.
      Alas it’s not to be , only idiot central for this great country ruled from Dublin.

      1. glen cullen
        June 3, 2022

        What isn’t a laughing matter is that all our woke MPs & Lords went along with our Dear Leaders wind-farm lunacy
’’for evil to prevail it only takes good men to do nothing’’
        It’s the 3rd June is cold, wet and windless – my morning walk along my beach front and all I see is hundreds of ‘still’ offshore windturbines
rock n’ roll to climate change

  4. Mark B
    June 3, 2022

    Good morning.

    Think Sir John you have raised some good points. The Monarchy has evolved over time mostly by the desire for power, first from the Barons and then to elected officials. Although this power transfer was not always smooth. Her Majesty has carved out a different role from her predecessors, one of duty and service. And I think that needs to continue with her heirs and successors. It is why other members of the ‘Firm’ are excluded and, rightfully, both disliked and untrusted.

    I like many do not like to see the Royal Family mixed up in various bits of Globalist nonsense. HRH The Prince of Wales was very much pro-EU and made no effort to disguise it. This places him in minority in public view and as Remain forces continue to undermine the result of the Glorious Referendum of 2016 I fear public mood will turn against this Charles as it has previous namesakes.

    Enjoy the celebrations.

    1. Sharon
      June 3, 2022

      I am not looking forward to Charles becoming king either. He is very much on board with the notion of changing societies to fit in with the green agenda


      I love William and Catherine, and just pray that Catherine will keep William grounded and out of politics.

      We went to the lighting of a beacon locally yesterday evening. There were lots of people there, all ages and ethnic back grounds
 it was lovely to come together and celebrate the Queen and being British.

      As David Starkey said yesterday, the more stable countries of the world have monarchs. Monarchies give that stability in his view, and I’m inclined to agree.

      1. beresford
        June 3, 2022

        I can’t blame Charles for wanting to do something with his life, even if I disagree with his opinions. It is by no means a given that he will not predecease his mother. I predict that if he accedes he will fall into the expected apolitical role, if he doesn’t he will be brought into line by Camilla, who has more idea of what it means to be part of the ‘Firm’ than many of the direct bloodline.

        1. Bill B.
          June 3, 2022

          Good point about Camilla . At last the tide is turning and the Duchess of Wessex is no longer the victim of royal snubs as she was for so long. I see now she’s been appointed patron of the National Theatre instead of ghastly Megan. Good sign.

        2. Bill B.
          June 3, 2022

          Good point about Camilla . At last the tide is turning and the Duchess of Cornwall is no longer the victim of royal snubs as she was for so long. I see now she’s been appointed patron of the National Theatre instead of ghastly Megan. Good sign.

      2. Fedupsoutherner
        June 3, 2022

        Sharon. With all the woke crap going on I’m surprised some stupid activist hasn’t tried to stop the beacons being lit. OMG. Think of all that CO2 being released.

      3. Lifelogic
        June 3, 2022

        +1 I agree fully.

    2. Everhopeful
      June 3, 2022

      Or as reported by the BBC

      Trudeau and the Queen in a nicely posed photo, exchanged a warm hand grasp in front of a large arrangement of yellow and blue flowers.
      When asked about the meeting, Trudeau said

      “We had a really useful – for me anyway – conversation about global events, as we always do.”
      Previously the Queen had made a donation to the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal to help people fleeing the conflict in Ukraine.

  5. Peter
    June 3, 2022

    ‘She has avoided expressing political views and has not tried to interfere with what her governments have been wishing to do. Her son needs to grasp the crucial importance of this before he in due course takes the throne.’

    Yes she was a quiet figurehead over the course of her reign. She also had the benefit of youth.

    Unfortunately it is too late for her son. His views are already well known and his life has been well chronicled with all its ups and downs.

    Maybe her grandson might have a better chance with his wife more able to take on the quiet, popular, photogenic, Royal figurehead role.

    1. Denis Cooper
      June 3, 2022

      The longer the Queen lives the more difficult it will become for Charles to take over. He is already fourteen years older than Edward VII was when he succeeded to the throne, and five years older than when he died. Perhaps he and William should become joint sovereigns? A coregency would not be unprecedented, we have had Mary I and Philip of Spain, and William and Mary II, the novelty would be the father-son combination.

      1. Donna
        June 3, 2022

        Not a bad idea. I think they’ll use William and Catherine as “human shields” for Charles anyway; it is well understood that he isn’t popular.

      2. Original Richard
        June 3, 2022

        Denis Cooper :

        Yes, I did hear that Philip of Spain did a great job building up our navy.

        1. Denis Cooper
          June 3, 2022

          🙂

  6. Everhopeful
    June 3, 2022

    The Queen was pretty cross about the 2008 financial crash when many ( high and low ) saw their investments topple.
    And she, like many politicians, has befriended celebrities who have turned out to be “not quite the thing”. Excoriated even.
    The poor Princess D episode was utterly tragic.
    These Jubilees etc ( like that film in the 60s/70s) usually come along when interest in and approval of Royalty is seen to be waning.
    Still
much preferable to a dictator President.

    1. Shirley M
      June 3, 2022

      I am not too keen on the idea of Charles taking the throne, but even he would be preferable to a President. With our luck for choosing crap leaders we’d probably end up with someone who had all the worst qualities of Biden, Macron, Trudeau, Johnson and Blair all combined together in the one UK President!

      1. Everhopeful
        June 3, 2022

        +1
        Agree.
        We just need a monarch and government who do their jobs properly.

    2. Clough
      June 3, 2022

      Yes, EH, who wants a washed-up politician as President installed in Buckingham Palace?

      1. Everhopeful
        June 3, 2022

        I very carefully pointed out that I do not want a President.

  7. Everhopeful
    June 3, 2022

    But does the tax payer funded ( ÂŁ26m ) Pageantry achieve what it is intended to?
    Does it hide the fact that our country is swamped by debt and uncontrolled immigration?
    That our hard won democracy hangs by a thread as we are more and more silenced?
    The soothing familiarity of pomp and ceremony changes nothing.
    We have been right royally sold down the river!

    1. a-tracy
      June 3, 2022

      Everhopeful, don’t we pay all these people in the pagents anyway? We pay the red arrows pilots, this is wonderful advertisement for the RAF and the military and the skill of these people, what would people prefer them to do go and drop bombs? They are developing ways to hone and then show their skills in a peaceful way without harming anyone but reminding the World we do have these skills.

      Billions and billions of people around the world have seen the spectacle of British brilliance, it is the cheapest form of advertisement that the British will ever get and no one was hurt, everyone there enjoyed it, there are plenty of things we don’t participate in that is funded by the State, lottery, charities etc but we accept that this is the way of the world and let the people that enjoy that part of British life enjoy it fully and feel uplifted by the thanks offered to our Monarch for her 70 years life living in a gold fish bowl, giving out awards and rewards that make people feel very happy and treasured. The Monarchy has raised billions for charities and brought billions of tourist pounds into the UK. These tourists don’t come to visit Nottingham or Leeds or Preston. They’re only likely to come to Manchester to watch the Football.

      1. Everhopeful
        June 3, 2022

        You seem very contented with the way things are going?

        1. Lester_Cynic
          June 4, 2022

          Everhopeful

          +100. Well said!

      2. turboterrier
        June 3, 2022

        a-tracy
        Very well said.

      3. Cheshire Girl
        June 4, 2022

        A Tracy:

        Well said!

        Also, I have read that some/all of the celebrations have been funded by donations from Businesses .
        If this is wrong, others on this site, feel free to correct me.

    2. glen cullen
      June 3, 2022

      Its becoming woke having a dissenting voice against our queen
all of a sudden everyone is a royalist; just mention republic and you’re a pariah
.what happened to free speech

      1. Everhopeful
        June 3, 2022

        +1
        It is called “Mass Formation”.
        They did it with Brexit and Covid and Ukraine.
        Malleable minds.

        1. glen cullen
          June 3, 2022

          Chip chip away at free speech – chip chip away at democracy

          1. Everhopeful
            June 3, 2022

            +1

      2. Paul Cuthbertson
        June 3, 2022

        GC – Agreed. Methinks the monarchy as such is dying. If we change the whole of our governmental system and had a Constitution similar to the USA which states “We the People……..”then maybe we would have more control of our destiny. Under the present system we have not got a hope in hell. However I think change is coming!!!!!!!!

      3. Fedupsoutherner
        June 4, 2022

        Glen. You’ve just been allowed free speech along with many others on this site who are for and against the monarchy.

        1. glen cullen
          June 4, 2022

          
and this site may well be the last bastion of free speech

      4. Lester_Cynic
        June 4, 2022

        Glen Cullen

        Yes indeed, well said

  8. DOM
    June 3, 2022

    This almost reads like an apology, a justification.

    I look around and I see a western world devoid of majesty, decency and dignity. I see western world in which ideological POLITICS is eroding the human cause. I don’t see monarchy kicking back against that. I see a monarchy refusing to confront it. That is unacceptable. A constitutional monarchy’s main purpose is to proffer up a bulwark against authoritarianism. It has failed it’s big test in order to protect its own privileges.

    If constitutional monarchy fails it is back to Hitler, Mao, Stalin, Lenin etal.

    If the Queen wants to serve a useful purpose she should condemn all that we have seen since 1997

    1. Everhopeful
      June 3, 2022

      +Agree many times over.
      It is all very grim.

    2. BeebTax
      June 3, 2022

      I’m not sure how powerful, or even how influential (against creeping authoritarianism) she is. Were she to speak up, the general public would be surprised but also probably bewildered by what she was saying. After all, a majority of them seem to blithely accept greater government control. The MSM would jump in, characterising the Queen as formerly irreproachable but now elderly, frail and confused. Hands would be wrung. Constitutional changes might be “needed”…or the installation of a Regent…or…

      Of course, if she spoke up for authoritarianism then she could do immense damage, aided and abetted by the powerful interests that would benefit.

      So perhaps trying to stay neutral, even though the BBC can report events in a way that fits its agenda, is all she can do?

    3. Shirley M
      June 3, 2022

      +1 DOM, but she should have intervened in 1973 when Heath took us into the EEC without electoral approval. It was unconstitutional and undermined both the monarchy and Parliament. It was probably illegal too! Fortunately, the internet has made information more readily available and I doubt Heath would have got away with his lies and deceit these days. Most of the MP’s must have been asleep on the job, or complicit, to allow Heath to proceed.

    4. glen cullen
      June 3, 2022

      Agree…if we don’t have cheque n’ balance, what do we have

    5. No Longer Anonymous
      June 3, 2022

      +1000

  9. Donna
    June 3, 2022

    “Her son needs to grasp the crucial importance of this before he in due course takes the throne. ”

    It’s too late for that. He should have been told decades ago that expressing contentious views in public was not compatible with his status as Heir to the Throne.

    We all know that Charles is an enthusiastic (and hypocritical) advocate of Net Zero. With a Medieval attitude of Droit d’Seigneur, he and other Elites can fly around the world in their private jets and expect to live highly privileged lives ….. whilst the peasants must know their place and accept poorer living standards, restricted mobility and exorbitant costs for basic essentials like fuel.

    We also know he is an associate of Klaus Schwab and supports the activities of the unelected, unaccountable, unrepresentative but highly influential WEF: I wonder if Charles intends to “own nothing and be happy?” Somehow I doubt it.

    For a long time I’ve hoped that Charles would never take the throne. Sadly, William has chosen to copy his father, rather than the vastly superior example set by his Grandmother. So it looks like a pattern of using an hereditary position to wield power is being propagated.

    Whilst the Queen has provided an exemplary example of a Constitutional Monarch and has personally served the country well, I’m sorry to say that her management of her children has left a great deal to be desired.

    The only one who demonstrates the qualities necessary to succeed her is another woman …. Princess Anne.

    1. Original Richard
      June 3, 2022

      Donna,

      I completely agree.

      Lord Monckton starts his Heartland Institute 09/12/2021 COP 26 speech covering this very subject.

      Difficult now to find on YT but possible if “Attention United Nations: There Is NOT a Climate Emergency – Lord Christopher Monckton” is entered into the search box.

    2. Pauline Baxter
      June 3, 2022

      Goodness me Donna, it must be telepathy. I was thinking about how Princess Anne yesterday and how she often has more sense than her brother.
      I also was disappointed to learn that William was copying his father.

    3. BOF
      June 3, 2022

      + 1 Donna

    4. DavidJ
      June 3, 2022

      +1 Donna.

    5. Lester_Cynic
      June 4, 2022

      Donna

      Yes, very true!

  10. Bloke
    June 3, 2022

    Queen Elizabeth II adds enduring quality to our fine history with solid loyalty and reserve.
    Margaret Thatcher also led loyally toward better, but with powerful opinions and ACTION.

    Both are admired, even by those who despise their existence.
    The collective wisdom of UK people dictates who is allowed to lead.

  11. Everhopeful
    June 3, 2022

    Oh but ..I’d quite forgotten.
    Our monarchs were always involved in Europe!
    Romans, territory in France, William and many more examples I expect.
    Victoria seeded quite a few (10?) European royal families ( an early EU?).
    And of course the poor old Tsar ( cousin to our King) got no help whatsoever against the commies who killed him and his family! Five beautiful children slaughtered in cold blood for no sin.
    Wouldn’t even help him get to France which was offering sanctuary. Then he put the blame on the PM ..Lloyd George.

  12. DOM
    June 3, 2022

    References to Mandela, Obama and women’s issues eh. Put down the Guardian Mr Redwood, you’ll be chaining yourself to the railings next

    An an aside, I see Andrew’s caught Covid, again, or has he? I thought he was vaccinated? I thought the purpose of a vaccine was to protect one from a viral infection? I think we should be told the truth.

    Covid, the gift that just keeps on giving to all those who NEED AN EXCUSE to suspend liberty, take time off work and restructure our entire world. This is the great reset.

    1. Everhopeful
      June 3, 2022

      ++++++
      Absolutely.
      As ever Dom is right! So right!!
      I notice that the workers ( much working here, plasterers, plumbers, carpet fitters, yesterday and today) aren’t so keen on this latest attempt to destroy their businesses. Not getting paid to create noise and mayhem this time! Is the awful truth seeping through the dense grey matter?
      I have waited in terrified suspense for the screaming, rock concert level music and general hot tub, trampoline and bbq shrieking to begin from 3 surrounding gardens. Like during The Great Imprisonment.
      But as yet 
nothing! Fingers crossed.
      Petrol, food and the other sheer cruelties biting?

    2. BOF
      June 3, 2022

      DOM
      It seems quite certain now that these gene therapy jabs do not prevent anyone catching or passing on Covid because they compromise the immune system! I have witnessed this among staff in hospital. No one who has had Covid need any further protection.

    3. Paul Cuthbertson
      June 3, 2022

      DOM – Spot on. Remember the visit of Donald Trump, Nothing can stop what is coming Nothing. I do not want any of them.

  13. ChrisS
    June 3, 2022

    Being the same age as our host, neither of us have experienced life under another monarch, male or female, but HM has been a force for stability and dispensed wise council and wisdom to our political leaders throughout her reign. For that as much else we have to be extremely grateful for.

    Consider the alternative of a UK Republic : we could now be ruled by President Blair or even President May. Perish the thought !

    1. ChrisS
      June 3, 2022

      We could be sure that President Blair would be doing his best to establish a dynasty by grooming son Euan Blair MBE to succeed him !

      1. hefner
        June 3, 2022

        You enjoy being scared, don’t you. Presidential mandates in democracies are mostly for two consecutive four-, five- or six-year terms (if reelected obviously), which means Blair elected in 1997 could only have stayed at most till 2009.

        wikipedia ‘List of political term limits’.

        1. Pauline Baxter
          June 3, 2022

          Ah but, hefner, with Blair as president we would never have got out of the EU.
          By 2009 he would have found some way to chain us into it, even more than he managed by being P.M., I expect.
          No. Leave that bit of our Constitution alone. It doesn’t need changing, even though Charles 111 promises to be disastrous. At least the Monarch has very little power and is a tourist attraction.

          1. DavidJ
            June 3, 2022

            Indeed Pauline.

    2. Denis Cooper
      June 3, 2022

      I refuse to call her Lady May, let alone Madam President May.

    3. glen cullen
      June 3, 2022

      The past 7 decades haven’t been all plain sailing as you might suggest

  14. John Miller
    June 3, 2022

    The Queen makes me proud to be British, a feat to which no politician has ever come close.
    I respect her enormously and admire her dedication and stoicism.
    The pictures of her last year, sitting on her own, without her beloved Philip, tore at my heart and made this cynical old geezer nearly shed a tear.

  15. John Miller
    June 3, 2022

    I wanted to post the above and not sully my compliment to Her Majesty with a political comment. But I cannot resist pointing out that the Lefty Parties, so enthusiastic in proving how “progressive” and caring they are that they are willing to throw women aside, in favour of men with penises who like to put on a dress, can’t bring themselves to appoint a woman to a position of power.

  16. margaret brandreth-jones
    June 3, 2022

    It’s so strange . Myself being born in 1951 ,Elizabeth 2nd has always been there . She is ageing along with us . A marker of time and a stabilising force has been her unerring duty. With the concept of Great Britain eroding , rightly or wrongly , surely we must maintain this stability through hard times and easier times. Charles is older than me but I remember when he was quite a young celebrity in himself and his investiture doesn’t really seem that long ago.I agree with his views of slimming down the monarchy . I agree with his green stance and I think he will make a good King.

  17. Original Richard
    June 3, 2022

    “Her [the Queen’s] son needs to grasp the crucial importance of this before he in due course takes the throne. Pursuing contentious causes does not mix with neutral monarchy.”

    Unfortunately the Queen’s heir is going to bring the Monarchy into disrepute and unpopularity when the Net Zero Strategy designed to “save the planet” by zeroing our 1% contribution to global CO2 (plant food) emissions comes to its planned stage of demand matching supply resulting in expensive and intermittent electrical energy.

    For 4 days this week the 24.5GW of installed wind capacity has provided less than 3GW (yesterday less than 0.5GW) out of the 30-40GW required for supply to match demand.

    Millions will take to the streets because there is no point in staying at home in the cold and dark. And not possible to travel when transport has been electrified.

    1. BOF
      June 3, 2022

      O R
      Glad you have focussed attention on capacity vs reality. However much wind and solar is installed, it will need conventional backup of equal capacity. We therefore pay out billions in a subsidy scam. The government must think we are all indeed ‘green’.

  18. Norman
    June 3, 2022

    All this talk about institutions and political expediencies misses the point: that Elizabeth is a unique person, with a distinctive meekness and wisdom, and an invested authority and dignity consistent with her Coronation Oath. She is sincere in the role she committed herself to, humbly asking for our help. So many of her subjects can relate to this.
    At the same time, representative of the times in which we live, this much-loved Queen of ours has had to endure all the pressures and apostasies of the age, without compromising her own personal convictions, which I believe are based on a genuine Biblical faith, the source of all true freedom.
    Like all godly virtue, such things are tender, vulnerable, and constantly under attack in this world, which makes her gracious reign all the more remarkable. This day of grace for the world is nearly over, but we have it on good authority, that the One to whom Her Majesty has sought to be an ambassador will ultimately prevail.

  19. Geoffrey Berg
    June 3, 2022

    Theoretically I agree with Republicanism which is very rare for a British Conservative but I really cannot see adequate theoretical justification for massive, enduring political influence deriving from a lottery of birth. Yet our Queen has been so diligent and good at acting as a constitutional monarch that I am not really now bothered about creating a Republic. Well done, Queen Elizabeth.
    I turn to John Redwood’s comments yesterday on progress over the last 70years. I agree technology has massively improved and enabled us to live more comfortable and better lives. Yet governance has not improved. The ‘better educated society’ that blog writes of is an example of regress. For a start examinations have been massively dumbed down but even more importantly this extra ‘education’ just doesn’t justify the cost either in people’s money nor time (the extra 5or 6 or more years of their lives now generally devoted to education by most people). It is moreover absurd that occupations such as nursing and policing which rely mainly for effectiveness in the job on personal rather than academic qualities have become open only to graduates.
    We need more rationalism by governments and rational analysis (not more education) to improve the governance of society.

  20. a-tracy
    June 3, 2022

    ‘Most people from Mirror readers to Express fans’. The Daily Express is the most poisonous paper to the Monarchy. Every day stories to bash the royal family, the top headline today right now ‘very, very frosty Megan and Harry’s awkward jubilee reception’. They want their privacy, M&H, give it to them and a truly supportive paper would just concentrate on the main working Royals.
    Shock as North Korean despot sends message to the Queen over historic milestone – why is this a shock?
    Queen last minute diary change scuppers Harry and Megan. ENOUGH already!
    Sturgeon demands end of the Monarchy.

    Is this food for fans of the Monarchy. I disagree I think the Express is a republican supporting newspaper which is fine if they want to pander to the 20%.

  21. acorn
    June 3, 2022

    The banter with data miners and number crunchers across the Channel; is coming fast lately. For instance, (roughly interpreted); is the UK nation under the Boris government, a parody of the Simon Pegg film “Shaun of the Dead”. BBC Radio fans over there, picked up on a repeated David Baddiel, Brexit referendum one liner, I paraphrase. “In Jane Austen terms, it was a triumph of Pride and Prejudice over Sense and Sensibility.”

    At street level in the EU, I am being told the Belfast Agreement is little understood and even less concerned about. The UK breaking the Withdrawal Treaty using the Northern Ireland Protocol; is concerning.

    The Platinum Jubilee TV coverage has prompted mention of Noel Cowards’s novel “Pomp and Circumstance” for some reason.

    1. Peter2
      June 3, 2022

      I wonder why you live in the UK acorn
      You don’t seen very happy here.

      1. acorn
        June 3, 2022

        How do you know where I live; or, can live if I like. That’s one of the advantages of my Bank, labelling me and my family as “high net worth”. Hopefully, one day, Roundup Optima+ Concentrated Total Weed killer; will eliminate weeds like you. But don’t get into cuts in your hands. No offence you understand.

        1. Peter2
          June 3, 2022

          How rude you are acorn
          You are getting more angry and abusive with every post.
          I really hope you don’t live in the same country as me.

          1. acorn
            June 4, 2022

            16,141,241 Remain voters, also hope they don’t live in the same country as you.

          2. Peter2
            June 4, 2022

            You should be ashamed of your dreadful weedkiller comment acorn.
            A new low for you angry lefty trolls who post on here.

      2. DavidJ
        June 3, 2022

        Indeed.

  22. BOF
    June 3, 2022

    As I watch the service from St Paul’s cathedral I am struck by the fact that many, if not the majority, of the worthies in attendance are contributing to, (and some actively and knowingly) the destruction of our economy by backing net zero policies through considerable financial backing. They then collect the considerable subsidies on offer.

    When the messy stuff hits the fan and it is realised that wind and solar does not work their capital will be redeployed elsewhere and the tax payer left to pick up the bill. All for almost no change in CO2 in the atmosphere and a climate still driven by the sun!

    1. glen cullen
      June 3, 2022

      Correct – just look out of the window, nothing has changed…the weather hasn’t change in the seven decades of the queens reign

      1. glen cullen
        June 3, 2022

        My mistake, it has changed its got a lot cleaner – according to the governments own BEIS report our air and environment is cleaner now than in 1890

    2. DavidJ
      June 3, 2022

      Indeed BOF. The green nonsense has to stop.

  23. Barbara
    June 3, 2022

    If you want to see the difference between then and now, watch the Queen’s Coronation Fleet Review and Fly-Past, 1953. Sad to see what we have been reduced to – and I include HMQ in that.

    Here is the link, if it is allowed
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6qDYrqfjRQ

    1. Mark B
      June 3, 2022

      Cheers

    2. Lester_Cynic
      June 3, 2022

      Barbara

      A reminder of past Glory!

  24. formula57
    June 3, 2022

    There is something refreshing at seeing made the statement “In the last 500 years we have been ruled by Queens for 202 years or 40% of the time” without accompanying apology and self-flagellation for the possible sexism it proves given the unequal durations. You do realize though that many Millennials and all (I would think) Generation Z-ers who read your words likely will be laid-up with stress?

  25. turboterrier
    June 3, 2022

    Whether you love or hate the the circus made by the actions of some of the Royal Family by our media the one thing that cannot be denied by the vast majority of people in these islands and the commonwealth that their world was a better place for the last 70 years place for having her as our monarch.

  26. alastair harris
    June 3, 2022

    The evidence for the claim that Victoria suffered from mental illness is not compelling. Post natal depression perhaps. She was certainly a complex lady, who ruled during a time when the Monarch still had power. I was aware of the Regency Act of 1830, but it was never used. Was there another one?

    Reply As I infer, there was a Regency period to govern for George III from 1811 to 1820

  27. glen cullen
    June 3, 2022

    Petrol price update– my petrol station this afternoon has put up the price again another penny to £1.78’9
.Maybe our Queen could petition our government to drill for more oil & gas, construct refinery & storage capability and prioritise domestic markets first only selling surplus on the international markets

    1. DavidJ
      June 3, 2022

      +1

  28. ukretired123
    June 3, 2022

    Queen Elizabeth II got her lifelong grounding when war broke out when she was just 13 years old and experienced first hand the threat to our very existence and freedom on a world scale. She had to step up to the plate in a man’s world and demonstrate leadership as Churchill had done with her parents visiting the people in the blitz, Coventry and the Commonwealth post war. She says little but has always asked pertinent simple questions to make a point, like asking why no-one saw the financial crash coming to all those experts.
    Charles means well but he has been lobbying all his life. Unfortunately his Colditz in kilts education and Bachelor of Arts Cambridge didn’t kit him out for STEM despite his RAF and Navy experience and his passions for paintings and love of gardens and organic farming rule instead. Group-think has taken over and science gone out of the window. China and Russia are not convinced of his green evangelism. It would be painful for him to succeed HM with all this controversial baggage unelected akin to discovering unelected Green Queen Carrie too late.

  29. Denis Cooper
    June 3, 2022

    This morning I sent a letter to our local newspaper in which I dismissed our now defunct EU membership as “our historically brief dalliance with the European federal project”, just to tease an opponent, and later that set me thinking about the old Labour party leader Hugh Gaitskell and his 1962 protest that joining the EEC would mean the end of a thousand years of history:

    https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classic-podium-the-end-of-1-000-years-of-history-1190761.html

    “We must be clear about this; it does mean, if this is the idea, the end of Britain as an independent European state. I make no apology for repeating it. It means the end of a thousand years of history. You may say: “Let it end.” But, my goodness, it is a decision that needs a little care and thought.”

    And that in turn set me thinking about one of my heroines, Æthelfléd, the Lady of the Mercians:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86thelfl%C3%A6d

    “On her husband’s death in 911, ÆthelflĂŠd became Myrcna hlĂŠdige, “Lady of the Mercians”. Ian Walker describes her succession as the only case of a female ruler of a kingdom in Anglo-Saxon history and “one of the most unique events in early medieval history”. In Wessex, royal women were not allowed to play any political role; Alfred’s wife was not granted the title of queen and was never a witness to charters. In Mercia, Alfred’s sister Æthelswith had been the wife of King Burgred of Mercia; she had witnessed charters as queen and had made grants jointly with her husband and in her own name. ÆthelflĂŠd benefited from a Mercian tradition of queenly importance, and was able to play a key role in the history of the early tenth century as Lady of the Mercians, which would not have been possible in Wessex.”

    Without her we would probably all be forced to walk around with horns on our helmets (not).

    1. DavidJ
      June 3, 2022

      +1

  30. DavidJ
    June 3, 2022

    “She has avoided expressing political views and has not tried to interfere with what her governments have been wishing to do.”

    Maybe we would be better off if she had interfered to prevent our sovereignty being given up to the EU and, nowadays, the globalists who Boris is in thrall to. I dread to think how much worse off we will be when Charles takes over.

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