The Queen is not ‘one of us’

When Republicans like myself mouth off against the Windsors, we always add the caveat ‘But the Queen’s different!’ What we mean is that among a menagerie of malingerers – her mother left behind £7million in debts when she died; her sister, a sottish snob who crippled herself during a miscalculation with boiling bath water; her husband a mouthy bounder; her sons a hopeless shower – she alone seems to understand that the price a modern monarchy must pay is not to appear to be layabouts who believe that life – and the public purse – owes them a high standard of living. 

Stories about the Queen’s down-home decency have permeated our culture; we lap up reports of her liking for turning off lights, shivering by two-bar electric fires and eating something eggy from a tray while watching re-runs of Dad’s Army. Having grown up in the shadow of the Abdication and being related to foreign monarchies whose high-handedness propelled them head-first into the high-piled tumbrils of history, she is aware of how extravagance can lead to penury.