If you are destined to become a saviour of the British royalty, you start young. It was eight-month old Prince George who flew in to wow the colonials in New Zealand the other day. Somehow his mother, the Duchess of Cambridge, carried him down the steps of the aircraft without tripping. (She also made it down without the strong wind blowing her skirt over her head.) At least young George was rescued shortly afterwards for a diaper change and naptime.
But they were there to quiet the natives. Not the Maori natives who are actually quite loyal to the monarchy but the colonials in both New Zealand and Australia who are tiring of the monarchy. The word is that down under they heartily dislike the Prince of Wales and his consort. It would have been counterproductive to send those two.
But it is the duty of the younger royals these days to shore up the crumbling empire. Young Harry is the aging playboy, sowing his oats throughout the civilized and uncivilized world. Catherine and Billy still need to do some breeding of pretenders to the throne to make sure of continuity into the future.
Even the old Queen is doing her bit and ventured to Rome to take communion with the Pope. (That is a joke, folks. If she did that, there would be rioting in the streets back home in Old Blighty.) The Queen and the Pope actually met as equals and exchanged gifts of peace and friendship.
Meanwhile, back in Canada, Prime Minister Harper keeps assuring Her majesty of his country’s undying loyalty to the Crown. Whether that loyalty will survive next year’s federal election remains to be seen.
But it is not just the questions about the Monarchy that worry many Canadians. The Senate of Canada remains the elephant in the room whenever anything touches on the Canadian Constitution. While Canadian politicians remain in dread of anything that might reopen the Constitution, there is no question but they want the Senate questions resolved as eagerly as the next citizen. Canada is long past the time that it can have an appointed chamber of its parliament.
The British Royalty is going to get caught in the crossfire. It will be collateral damage. It will probably be regulated to something in Canada’s past as we move on to a more positive future. It is time we were rid of the foolishness of the monarchy.
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Copyright 2014 © Peter Lowry
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