Agronomist,

"...she has never had to want for anything, has lived her whole life in luxury because of where she was born."

Well everything is relative - your sentence above could apply to most of us posting on this forum compared to someone who was born as an urchin in the backstreets of Calcutta. It was Lizzie's fortune to be born into royalty and to become Queen. It was my fortune to be born in a wealthy and peaceful country - how lucky am I!

We shouldn't waste our time lamenting hereditary opulence, etc...haven't you noticed that societies arrange themselves in to hierarchies. There's always someone at the top sitting on a gilded perch. It's what mankind does.

Yabby's right, that the pomp and pageantry generated by periodic royal celebrations is a psychological and financial shot in the arm for the British people and economy respectively.

(Just have to say that the interior and ceiling of St Paul's is sublime)

*There's always someone at the top sitting on a gilded perch. It's what mankind does.*

Well that's it. If they are not there, society creates them. Look
at Lara Bingle or Paris Hilton. Hardly hugely skilled people who
worked for it.

I'd personally hate Lizzie 2s job. Always on guard over every word,
always watched, can never let her hair down and say what she really
thinks. Her whole life. For what? If she had told them to shove
the job, she would have had a far more enjoyable life, IMHO.

Thank you LEXI, that was most kind of you.

And I'd have to agree with YABBY when he says that the Queen needs to watch everything she says or does, in public or in her private apartments. There's been many a story emerge about the private activities of the Royals. Usually from some aggrieved or disgruntled staffer, page or attendant.

Think about it for a moment, there's always somebody lingering or loitering around them, every minute of everyday. Even while they're attending to their own personal ablutions, someone is usually within earshot (legitimately). Privacy, is not part of their vocabulary, even when they sincerely believe they're relaxing in private.

Then there's always the 'threat assessment'. Neither imagined nor overstated, that you CAN believe !

With their immense wealth and every personal luxury. Never being able to outwardly express how they truly feel. Or, when in the eye of the public, they can't appear downcast or moody, even when they may feel really awful... The stiff upper lip, must always prevail !

No, I'd much rather enjoy my own mundane lifestyle. Where nobody really gives a tinker's cuss as to who I am, or how I feel. It's just me, my marginally inadequate police pension, and my lovely wife, and our two fantastic dogs. All three have graciously consented to share in my somewhat banal, occasionally monotonous existance.

The Royals can keep all their trappings, the absence of privacy etc. They'd not enjoy, 'the grand life of Reilly' as many of you might believe, I'd respectfully wager ?

Thanks to Agronomist and o sung wo, just that I like to know who the target is.
had a look about last night and this morning.
One page, bit out there anti Royal, had RF on a balcony pointing and laughing.
Speech bubble was saying go on laugh you stupid slaves!~
More mainstream 7 or 9s online news page said our Liz had barred some of the flock, including Fergys daughter of the hat!
Come bit rude that, they all feed off the same tax payer udder.
My family reunions see some real dills but they get to come, after the Blue, some get to go too.
Bit of mud wrestling on the lawns or toe sucking might brighten Buckingham Palace up

Yes, St Paul's Cathedral is a masterpiece of
English baroque architecture. And nobody
can deny that many of England's best-known
traditions involve the Royal Family. They are
part of their nation's great history. We can all
marvel at magnificent architecture,
foreign queens and kings, and the links they provide
with their nation's history. And just as we enjoy
Disneyland - we can appreciate and enjoy what a
country like Britain has to offer in pomp and
ceremony.

At the same time, until we break our constitutional
links to the mother country our nationhood will
be incomplete.

I have read recently that Prince Charles and his wife
shall be paying a visit to Australia shortly.
Why? And how much will this cost us?

Lexi,

It's called "nurturing ties", and it is standard diplomatic behaviour between countries who wish to maintain a close relationship.