Elizabeth Windsor has suffered two affronts in the last week. In keeping with the often trivial preoccupations of the British news media, the more important one was given less attention. Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s pre-emption of the “Queen’s Speech” by giving Parliament an outline of his legislative programme was an encouraging sign that he may be reluctant to give the feudal institution the deference it expects.
\nBut deference was back on the front page when the BBC misrepresented Ms. Windsor in a documentary trailer. Some monarchists called for heads to roll at the state broadcaster. For an organisation that has spent millions of other people’s money over many years promoting the family while ignoring or insulting republicans, that must have been hard to take.
\nWith its feudal affinities the BBC can hardly complain. “The greatest force for cultural good on the face of the earth” expects not only deference but tribute from the masses in the form of its fee for a licence to do what, in a democracy, should be a basic right. Those who resist feel the master’s whip on their shoulders in the form of threats, enforcers knocking at their doors and the summons to the magistrate’s court.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Elizabeth Windsor has suffered two affronts in the last week. In keeping with the often trivial preoccupations of the British news media, the more important one was given less attention. Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s pre-emption of the “Queen’s Speech” by giving Parliament an outline of his legislative programme was an encouraging sign that he may […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n