“Whenever monarchs err, the people are punished.” – Horace
Over the past few years there has been a great debate in Australia about whether we should become a republic or remain a federal parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II officially the Queen of Australia (which is a title and role separate from her position as monarch of the other Commonwealth realms). Since Queen Elizabeth lives in the United Kingdom, in Australia the executive powers vested in her by the Constitution are normally exercised by her viceroys, who are the Governor-General at the federal level and by the Governors at the state level. These viceroys, by convention, act on the advice of her Ministers – that is, the elected Australian Government. However, this situation can also have dramatic and unforeseen consequences that demonstrate the power of the crown. The proof was the Governor-General’s reserve powers outside a Prime Minister’s request resulting in the dismissal of the Whitlam Government in the constitutional crisis of 1975…
So until we become a republic, our queen is Queen Elizabeth II. This is a state of affairs (pun intended!) that I find amazing in this day and age. Kings and queens are a relic of times past when monarchy was widespread throughout most of the civilised world and a hereditary royal office was de rigueur! That we still have these relics of the past amongst us, and more importantly, that there are still staunch royalists around underlines the fact that so many people still live in childhood dreams and pad out their humdrum lives with fairy tale fantasies of kings and queens, princes and princesses (as a peek in many a popular magazine will show).
Through information released under the Freedom of Information Act, it has recently become apparent that in 2004 “our” Queen through a Senior Aide applied for a “poverty heating grant” from the Government of the UK to cover the rising costs of heating her palaces!. The Aide sent the UK Government a written request to assess the Queen’s eligibility for assistance from a £60 million anti-poverty fund dedicated to saving energy and helping those in need cope with heating bills. The Aide justified the request by saying that the cost of Royal utilities, which doubled in 2004, stood at £1 million per year and had become “untenable”. This was further justified by pointing out that the £15 million government grant to maintain the Queen’s palaces was inadequate…
When I read about this in the newspaper I was stunned! The sheer monstrous audacity of the request was mind-blowing! The Queen of England is one of the richest people in the world with a personal fortune close to half a billion dollars, and this does not count the palaces, crown jewels, and other treasures she and her heirs enjoy, as technically they belong to the British state (unless of course, she says like Louis XIV: “Je suis l’ état. L’ état c’ est moi.”). The enormity of the transgression of asking for money that was put aside for the down-and-outers is incomprehensible!
At least, I am glad that the Government Department administering the poverty heating grant turned down the request in an apologetic email that explained the purpose of the grant: The handouts were to help low income families cope with no money at all for heating. There was also an expressed concern that if Buckingham Palace were to be given money from the fund it would lead to “probable adverse press coverage”. This latter part was probably what closed the matter for Buckingham Palace – there has been so much bad press these last few “anni horribiles”.
Queens and kings are a thing of the past. They have a place in history books and fairy tales, packs of cards and chess boards. Their currency is passé and their days are numbered, I should hope. Behaviour such as that outlined above is proof enough that we as a society should rid ourselves of this antique parasite. God knows we have enough modern parasites in the guise of politicians, pop singers, sports personalities and film stars to maintain in the style we have accustomed them to…
This is quite disturbing! When you consider so many people living in poverty and needing the help having to compete with someone who is so rich and supposed to give a good example it is amazing to have even made an enquiry in the Government department about it!
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