Birthwatch

We see, on perusing the news this morning, that the BBC have lifted their deathwatch on Nelson Mandela for the moment, & shifted to birthwatch on a lady they identify in their headline as “Kate Middleton.” I think they are referring to the Duchess of Cambridge, & that the child will be, according to received laws of succession, third heir to the throne of Canada, after his or her father Prince William, & grandfather Prince Charles. We pray all goes well.

My views on monarchy have not been concealed, & though Jacobite I must say that I am finally reconciled to the Hanoverian succession. In light of the performance of (apostate) Catholic figures on the world stage, I might almost thank God they are Protestant. And I pray for Canada, & for the other remaining British dominions, & for Little England, too, that we will continue to deserve our Queen, & her successors. Lord give them strength & wisdom, to do the little that remains in their charge with elegance & exemplary panache, as a constant reminder of noble order in a world given over to, … well, look around.

My formula for the rectification of powers between Church & State was stated somewhere on an idiot box. Multiply those of the former by ten, & divide those of the latter by ten, & the State will still have too much power. As to rebalancing between Crown & Parliament within the State, I would employ approximately the same arithmetic. But of course our system is not “and” but rather “Crown in Parliament,” so the whole thing should be done invisibly. We’ll leave Commoners & Lords (within the Parliament) to another day.

Patriots & Loyalists alike should be reminded that the little tyrannies against which we both railed, back in the 1760s & ’70s, originated almost entirely in the Parliament at Westminster, & not, as certain propagandists alleged, in the household of his late majesty, King George III. The attacks on him were cheap shots, & typical of self-serving politicians. Now that my republican friends have had a good taste of the despoliations of their own Congress, perhaps they may finally agree to review the mistakes that were made.

In the meanwhile all I can say is, God save our Queen!

*

Afternoon update: IT’S A BOY!