No matter what the press thinks, the Monarchy makes sense. Members of Parliament come and go, Prime Ministers can disappear overnight. But Her Majesty rules. The British Monarchy has its beginnings with a woman, Bodica. When the Romans began their occupation of Britain on their quest to rule the known world, they hit a large number of impasses in Britain. The Brits were a tribal people (and still are, if you follow footballers). There was no central government, no divine Emperor, no glory that was Rome. Instead there were Picts, Brits and people who liked to paint themselves blue and put the heads of their enemies outside the house, like a picket fence. This certainly kept door to door salesmen to a minimum. Finally Queen Bodica had about had her fill of the Romans and gathered her tribesmen and declared war. After several victories by massed warriors, the Brits met up with the highly disciplined legionaries who defeated them in a crushing blow that restored the even more brutal and oppressive rule from Rome. Finally the Empire , faced with economic and other stresses withdrew to Rome and left the Brits alone. Free to be tribes again liberty and chaos ruled. No king and no rules were the rule. At some time Arthur appears and the true beginning of the Monarchy is seen. He is a king for all Britain (sort of). Britain remains a series of small feudal kingdoms, until the French, led by William of Normandy come to call and stay. Now the Monarchy picks up speed and a sense of order appears.
King John finally meets his match in the form of his own vassals who wring a Man Carta of rights (their rights) from him and the Parliament is in the wings. Initially after fits and starts a Parliamentary form of government with a King and some limits to his rule and a body that votes is the basis of the rights of Englishmen (some of them, that is). Still, the king no longer had divine right over all his subjects. Neither did the Parliament. An uneasy divide between King and the representatives of the people existed and when Cromwell tipped the balance, the people recalled their King to service.
The Parliament has had every combination of political idea represented, and the sessions have often resembled war. Prime Ministers have gone from one extreme to another. There have been Disraeli’s, Churchill’s and Brown’s and their governments have fallen overnight with votes of no confidence. How you can govern a country with such a changeable system is anyone’s guess. But the glue that has held the whole confusing and bewildering thing together has been His or Her Majesty. They have been a variety of leaders, fumblers and bumblers, geniuses and those with just average intelligence. They get divorced, get featured in the tabloids, make mistakes and still appear gracious. Her Majesty has her royal household and equerry and castles. But still the connection with a past that is part legend, part fact and entirely majestic is what keeps the wheels turning. Britain is still a somewhat United Kingdom with many of its former colonials and Commonwealth citizens now lending colors and tongues to the streets of London. But at the core and foundation is something they all can say with one voice: “God save the Queen”.
