To the extent that we in Ireland think about the British royals \u2013 we rarely do \u2013 the genuine deference shown to the monarchy by its subjects is a source of profound bafflement.<\/p>\n
That incomprehension will not be made better by What\u2019s the Monarchy For, BBC<\/a> veteran David Dimbleby\u2019s enjoyable but rambling survey of the British crown and what purpose it does and doesn\u2019t serve in 2025. Ultimately, there can be only one takeaway: thank goodness they are saddled with this arcane institution while we are not. It\u2019s a free shot of smugness, served piping hot like cocoa, just before bedtime. <\/p>\n There is a significant Irish component in this first of three episodes, as former president Mary McAleese<\/a> recalls Queen Elizabeth<\/a>\u2019s May 2011 visit to Ireland. McAleese talks about the historical significance of the trip \u2013 and about the allure of monarchy, which continues to fascinate people globally. <\/p>\n That attraction is especially potent in the US, where Donald Trump<\/a> was recently rendered speechless when UK prime minister Keir Starmer<\/a> pulled from his pocket an invitation for a state visit from King Charles<\/a>. Trump was lost for words: he might as well have bagged a golden ticket from Willy Wonka or a seat in the Hogan Stand on All-Ireland Sunday.<\/p>\n \u201cAn elected president has a lot of influence at home,\u201d says McAleese. \u201cIn the world we live in, kings and queens still hold the Hello magazine spot when it comes to celebrity. It is history, isn\u2019t it? We still have the big overhang of colony and empire, power and majesty. There is still a kind of mystique there.\u201d<\/p>\n She\u2019s absolutely right, though it can be argued that this allure is not confined to the former Saxe-Coburgs nor to Britain. A century on from their downfall, we are still absorbed by the Habsburgs and the Romanovs. Similarly, the long-defunct Continental monarchy \u2013 all those French counts and Prussian junkers \u2013 are as romanticised as their British equivalents. Stick someone in a fancy suit and give them a title that sounds a bit like something from Game of Thrones, and half the world swoons. <\/p>\n The rest of the film is less interesting from an Irish perspective. Dimbleby \u2013 remarkably spry at 87 \u2013 considers King Charles\u2019s past life as a busybody penner of letters about architecture and shrubbery, which would invariably and immediately make their way to the top of a ministerial dispatch box. He also wonders about the t\u00eate-\u00e0-t\u00eates between the UK prime minister and the queen and is baffled by former PMs\u2019 reticence to reveal the contents of those conversations.<\/p>\n If they were merely exchanging platitudes, why the secrecy? If they were talking policy, surely voters have a right to know? <\/p>\n His sounding board for these questions is a rotating cast of grandees, including Captain Brexit himself, David Cameron, and weaponised Bertie Wooster, William Rees-Mogg. As these ridiculous figures flap and fawn over the British royal family, you can\u2019t help but think, better them than us. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"To the extent that we in Ireland think about the British royals \u2013 we rarely do \u2013 the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":212296,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[3412,356,18,117,19,17,5446,8417,72599,79454,393,384],"class_list":{"0":"post-212295","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-bbc","9":"tag-donald-trump","10":"tag-eire","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-keir-starmer","15":"tag-king-charles","16":"tag-mary-mcaleese","17":"tag-queen-elizabeth","18":"tag-united-kingdom","19":"tag-united-states"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115652894825815107","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212295\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}