Leave them alone

Rating: Null/10 (2 September 2007)

There was a time, I believe, when to depict any living member of Britain's Royal Family was simply not allowed, whether by law or Royal Proclamation I'm not sure. I guess the rules were changed somewhere down the line. What hasn't changed is the Royal Family's inability to respond, to fight back, publicly, their only refuge being to "rise above." Revenge is not in their arsenal.
Brits and Canadians and New Zealanders and Aussies, and others, will tell you that while their feelings may be mixed (in the same way that they can be with parents), the very idea of Royalty, uniting together a Kingdom, with its central theme of continuity and tradition and dignity and its separation from the ever-changing politics of the day, make for an emotional tear-in-the-eye response from those who have ever been connected to, for example, soldiers or sailors or airmen. Symbols abound; HMS, the Red Duster, Royal Mail, products produced "By Appointment to ...", the Changing of the Guard, "Great" Britain, the Opening of Parliament, the Christmas speech, the Victoria Cross, Westminster Abbey, the myriad name appendages of Sir and Lord, and other honors (admittedly not always deserved.)
In short, for reasons that are hugely subjective and incapable of being pinned down, we, and I am one of the majority who wouldn't have it any other way, are left with National Pride. Being so, a fictional and personalized account of current royal life promoted by an opportunistic for-profit commercial enterprise, is an affront. And it's not a matter of whether such accounts of royal goings-on of the living are truthful - as if anyone knows - but to pretend to know is a lie and an impertinence. Their interactions should remain private - and a mystery, until such time as they pass into history. Then, and only then, have at them by all means. Portrayals such as "The Queen" are, simply put, ill-intentioned and damaging, especially if they are well made; they contribute only negative input. Unless we want to end up a floundering Republican mess, like the U.S. of A.