The Jubilee concert was probably the highlight for most
people, seeing as the pageant was like watching an episode of The One Show – a
wet one at that. The concert featured such big names as Paul McCartney, Stevie
Wonder, Elton John, Tom Jones, Jessie J, Alfie Boe, Madness and… Cheryl Cole.
Yes, Cheryl Cole was the only real blip in what was
otherwise a really good concert. Why Gary Barlow thought giving someone who
can’t sing a slot on the royal stage is beyond me but the likes of Elton John
and Tom Jones were as great as you’d expect, and not even a random appearance
from Will.I.Am could ruin Stevie Wonder’s ‘Happy Birthday’ song (nobody told
the Americans it wasn’t actually her birthday).
Robbie Williams kicked it all off with ‘Let Me Entertain You’;
Madness found themselves on the roof of Buckingham Palace, rather them than me; Renee Fleming and Alfie Boe were singing 'Somewhere' up on the balcony;
and Paul McCartney finished off the night with a fairly decent performance… I’m
not a massive fan of Paul McCartney post-Beatles to be honest (I know, sorry).
Overall the weekend was one of great celebration and it was
seen as a big success by everyone involved. Unfortunately though two groups had
to put a dampener on things, something we really didn’t need considering how
drenched we were from the rain!
The first group is the Conservative-led government who have
been complaining that this double barrelled bank holiday has hurt our poor
ailing economy due to people being off work. I personally don’t understand why
considering Morrison’s must have sold 700,000,000 cocktail sausages in one
weekend.
Plenty of people had street parties, and what do you need to
hold a street party? Food, and lots of it. Surely this boosted the economy
rather than kicked it in the shins? Sure people aren’t going to be spending
very much on the actual bank holidays but they’ll have spent loads in the shops
in the days previous. Maybe they’re right, but there again this is a government
that blames hot days, cold days, snow, wind, leaves and royal weddings for
economic downturn.
Anyway, I can forgive them this once as they do actually
have an argument for their viewpoint which is a lot more than I can say for the
other group of idiots who tried to spoil the celebrations.
Yes, I speak of the anti-monarchy protests that cropped up
here there and everywhere, from the banks of the river Thames to Olympic torch
relays. These people are absolute morons. They stand by the side of the river
holding placards and chanting rubbish claiming this country would be better off
without Queen Lizzie.
These people call themselves ‘republicans’ as they see a
non-elected head of state as non-democratic. Technically speaking Great Britain
isn’t a republic as we are technically governed by an unelected monarch. The
thing is though, we’re not.
Great Britain is essentially a republic in disguise, yes we
have a monarch but she does not contribute to laws that are made, she has no
say on what goes through parliament, and she can’t randomly declare war on the
Dominican Republic. This is all the job of our elected politicians, and rightly
so.
Why then do these idiot protestors want rid of the Royal
family? They don’t have any power and they make our country unique in a very
competitive world. The amount of tourism and trade we receive simply because
these people exist is staggering and we would be insane to get rid of them.
Sure they cost the taxpayer some money, but I can’t think of a better investment
as a nation to be honest.
These protesters are the kind of people who protest for the
sake of protesting, professional protestors if you will. They don’t care what
the cause is, they don’t want to actually think about it, they just want to get
out there and protest in the same way a football hooligan wants to have a
random scuffle after the match – they don’t need a reason, they just want to do
it.
I personally wouldn’t say I’m pro-monarchy or anti-monarchy
but if it were up to me I’d keep them forever and ever. Yes, they’re old
fashioned but being British is all about being old fashioned! We teach Shakespeare
in schools, have silly little boat races down the Thames and roll cheese down
hills for crying out loud! I’d rather have what we have now than a system
closer to what our American cousins have across the pond.
I quite like the Queen, and the rest of the royal family. They give our nation an added bit of identity and generally evoke a bit of pride in most people. They turn the heads of every country in the world whether they be developed nations or developing nations and that's a pretty useful trait to have in my book, especially nowadays.
The Great British monarchy sets our country apart from all others and in
the end is generally quite interesting. Some of the stuff the Queen must have
in that brain of hers would be fantastic to hear about. She’s been Queen since
Winston Churchill was in office and she’s held meetings with every single Prime
Minister since then! Simply staggering when you think about it.
I’m not that keen on autobiographies but if she
released one I’d be queuing up outside Waterstones like a typical Brit faster
than you can sing the second verse of the national anthem.
That should give me plenty of time…
Brilliant. These so called 'republicans' are no better than than anarchists who like the sound of their own voice. I hadn't ever thought about us being a republic is disguise. Good point well made!
ReplyDeleteWhy, thank you kind sir.
Delete