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.

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