Not my King

It is hard to remember now, but in the aftermath of the death of Princess Diana, the Monarchy was in chaos and peril.

As the nation mourned, the Monarchy stayed quiet, and refused to have flags at half mast in mourning because of "protocol", the nation raged until The Palace relented.

This was the point at which the nation's attitude towards the Monarchy was at its lowest.

And so began a long campaign to restore it and Prince Charles into a better light.

He married his ex-girlfried, with whom he had broken his marriage vows with Diana with, odd for someone who would become the head of the Church of England.

Over two decades of pro-Monarchy propaganda culminated yesterday in the Coronation of Charles.

He was already King, this happened the day his Mother, Queen Elizabeth II died, this was all for show, to legitimise his place, and that of the Monarchy, going forward.

All of it was un-necessary.

All of it.

And as for someone who had inherited £1.8 billion pounds on the day he became King, the nation and its taxpayers would foot the bill.

My good friend, Sam Cornwell, thought it odd that someone who served in the Military, and took photographs of churches as a hobby, could be so anti-Monarchy, but my thoughts are, what purpose does it serve the Nation in the 21st Century.

It brings in tourists, we're told.

And this must be true as no tourists visits the Palace of Versailles in France as there is no Monarchy.

Future generations of Royals have a single career path, that of Military officers, and this must be the least cost-effective selection process for the Military. Other than that, they cut ribbons, wave at crowds and are subject to extreme media scrutiny. And all the while they must smile and carry on waving.

But the Monarchy, and Sovereign, does have a constitutional function. They pass laws, and thanks to some limited Freedom of Information requests, we know that something like 160 laws and pieces of legislation were changed after requests by various members of the Royal Household, Charles included. But we're not allowed to know which pieces of legislation were changed, and from what to what either.

Its secret.

The cornerstone of Common Law is that it applies to Kings as well as serfs.

Only it doesn't.

The Coronation is a set piece to legitimise the Crown in the nation's mind, not to question it, to make it seem part of the nation's history.

One final point, I served my country, not the Queen. I may have sworn an oath to her, and saluted every officer I met as that is saluting and respecting the Queen's commission. But it is my country I served.

I served to protect our, all our rights. Including the right to protest. I may not agree with anything you stand for, but would defend your right to protest to the death. If Western values stand for anything, its the right to protest. But that is now being taken away here. Despite reaching agreement with the Police this week, the leading Republican pressure group were arrested in London yesterday, BEFORE protesting.

That is un-British, and un-western. But is the way that this Government, and signed into Law by Charles that we as a Nation is going.