An awful time for an English monarchist

! This post hasn't been updated in over a year. A lot can change in a year including my opinion and the amount of naughty words I use. There's a good chance that there's something in what's written below that someone will find objectionable. That's fine, if I tried to please everybody all of the time then I'd be a Lib Dem (remember them?) and I'm certainly not one of those. The point is, I'm not the kind of person to try and alter history in case I said something in the past that someone can use against me in the future but just remember that the person I was then isn't the person I am now nor the person I'll be in a year's time.

The last few weeks has been pretty awful for me as an English monarchist.  I’d love to get involved in celebrating the Queen’s diamond jubilee but the politicians have made it all about Britain and Britishness and big business has happily gone along with it seeing pound signs in front of their eyes.  As a result, instead of seeing pictures of the Queen everywhere, we’ve got British flags.  I just can’t stand seeing the British flag everywhere, it irritates me immensely and it’s effectively precluded me from joining in the festivities.

Queen of EnglandWhilst the Queen is, of course, the Queen of the UK she is also the Queen of 16 other countries worldwide without counting the member states of the UK.  This weekend’s celebrations are supposed to be for the Queen’s 60 years on the throne, not a celebration of the British state or even her reign as the Queen of the UK.  Her diamond jubilee has been celebrated in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and other countries she’s Queen of although of course none of them put in quite so much effort as England.

The BBC have naturally been banging the drum for Britishness.  At one point during their coverage of the jubilee I did wonder if presenters had been set a target for the number of things they should declare to be “British” or if perhaps they’d adopted a new version of the game Bullshit Bingo using only the word “British”.  The weather was “British”, the people were “British”, queuing up all night was “British”, the pageantry was “British”, the whole event was apparently quintessentially “British” according to the BBC who were at their most Britishly British on this most Britishly British of Britishly British occasions.

Over the last few years the British flag has declined into virtual obscurity, only really making an appearance on government buildings and hotels whilst the English flag – the Cross of St George – is commonly found hanging from bedroom windows, fluttering on cars and flying from flag poles everywhere else.  This pleases me immensely because it means that English people are finally recognising the difference between England and Britain, between the British imperial government and the English colony.  Up until now that is because it seems that all it takes is for the shops to start selling red, white and blue tat and for politicians and the media to tell us how great it is to be British and English people start flying the butchers apron instead.

Maybe I’m being a little unfair on my fellow countrymen and women and they’ve simply been taken in by the British Flag = Queen rubbish.  Maybe they’ll take down the British flag and get the English flag up in its place in time for the football and I won’t have to see quite so many of them again.  I already know England is the last colony of the British Empire, I don’t need (or want) constant reminders from people who don’t seem to know any better.

Of course, most of this overt Britishness is far from spontaneous.  I know British flags have been handed out at lots of places to ensure it outnumbers any of our national flags (this is par for the course at the Proms, for instance).  Children (my own included) have been made to make their own little flags to wave for the Olympics and the jubilee and the Sun newspaper have been giving away free union flags for this weekend.  The fact that so many companies have had to start mass producing British tat, school kids have had to make their own British flags and a newspaper has had to give them away free speaks volumes.  You can buy a Cross of St George easily any time of the year and nobody needs to give them away for you to see them everywhere. Perhaps there’s hope yet for this nation of sheep?

7 comments

  1. Geoff, England (22 comments) says:

    You should try being a republican English nationalist. All these ‘Union’ flags everywhere remind me of the pictures I’ve seen from Nazi Germany or a May Day parade in Moscow (in the Soviet Union days) or Pyongyang. All we need is entire buildings covered with pictures of Cameron’s mug staring at us. After this the Jubilympic circus is over, reality will kick in again. Wait until the new academic year, when English people won’t be able to go to university, or the ones who do go hear tales on the university grapevine about how the rest of the Divided Kingdom gets stuff for free that we either have to pay a fortune for, or can’t get at all. Personally, I’ll watch the Euros. Yes, I know our team’s not going to get far, but at least they’ll be playing under our own flag, rather than the Butcher’s Apron, and representing a nation rather than an imperialist state.

  2. Daggs (55 comments) says:

    I’m involved in a Jubilee vintage vehicle display today.
    My vehicle will be sporting two Cross of St George flags.
    It makes me feel quite rebellious……… 🙂

  3. francis (3 comments) says:

    Hello,

    I am an English Republican now thanks to devolution in 1997. I do not call myself British anymore.

  4. wonkotsane (1133 comments) says:

    Daggs, isn’t it terrible that you’re made to feel like a rebel for flying your national flag in your own country? But that’s the British way!

    Francis, I’m not British either but still a monarchist.

  5. Philip R Hosking (2 comments) says:

    Bet you were thrilled to see the Cornish flag among the other national flags on the royal barge then.

  6. wonkotsane (1133 comments) says:

    I did wonder about that. I assume it was an homage to the Duke of Cornwall rather than a political statement but I didn’t see the Northern Irish flag so perhaps the person that designed it was a bit confused?

  7. Luisa Plancher (1 comments) says:

    Hello:
    I feel sorry for the feelings expressed by previous commentators. Nevertheless, ladies and gentlemen, would you consider changing your point of view?
    All the flags and all the paraphanelia are a testimony of what England stands for…. And that needs to be celebrated….
    England went out to the world and introduced Jesus to populations who ate each other during cannibalism rituals….

    Truly, England contributed to the civilization of countries riddled with murder and savagery: primitive countries that today enjoy a better quality of life.
    Instead of criticizing…. how about yourselves becoming involved in the pursuit of a better world?

    Of course, just like all of us, England is not perfect…
    But this is where the excitement comes… You, ladies and gentlemen can pitch in… and make it better…..
    Thank you so much, Luisa

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