by The Laird o’Thistle
June 19 2005

Something has quietly happened to the British monarchy of late.  After about twenty-five years of almost constant turmoil, it seems they have stumbled into something approximating normalcy.  I realized this last weekend as I saw the pictures of the Duchess of Cornwall taking her place in the carriage, and on the balcony, at the Trooping the Color ceremony.  Now that she and the Prince of Wales are married, things are rather settling in for the Queen’s family.

But the remarkable point is that it has been a quarter of a century since the Mountbatten-Windsors were in such a relatively ordinary set of familial circumstances.  It was that long ago, just about, that Diana happened.  Next came Fergie.  Then followed the marital disasters and the annus horriblus.  Diana died.  Camilla emerged as Charles’ partner.  A certain butler and various other servants started writing books.  And through it all, the headlines screamed.

But now, Charles and Camilla are a conventionally married and fairly boring couple in late middle age.  Andrew is a fairly conventional and boring divorcee, albeit with a penchant for a lot of golf.  Edward is a quietly settled family man.  The Princess Royal is long since remarried and plugs on in her royal duties.  All in all, the Queen must be delighted.  For the first time in half of her reign, the family is just unremarkably there.

There’s an old Noel Coward bit about how he always got to places just after the cherry blossoms, or departed just before the next revolution, and so on… and how he found it terribly “restful.”  I wonder if the Queen, who knew Coward well, ever calls that piece to mind these days?

Even William is cooperating.  He’s done well at university and shows a decided preference for a discrete and fairly settled relationship with his Kate.  He also seems to get on well with his new step-mum.  Harry’s the only real wild card at the moment, and he seems fairly safely shunted off to the army for the foreseeable future.

Oddly enough, I think this current mode of being for the royal family may fit the spirit of the times.  Britain has been in transition from empire to European state for over half a century.  Splendor and ferment are both a bit dated.  It is a good time for quietly settling into the unfolding new millennium.

The only real question I see is whether the U.K. press can LET the royals be boring for now?  Or will the press need to keep stirring up things to serve their own needs for headlines and circulation?  Camilla on the balcony just does not have the pizzazz of Camilla on the backstairs.

Elizabeth II is now in her eightieth year of life.  The Duke of Edinburgh is now in his eighty-fifth year.  This autumn they will celebrate fifty-eight years of marriage.  Both seem to have suffered the old curse of “living in interesting times.”  It was said that, as a matter of policy, the Queen wanted to see Charles married and settled before she dies.  I would suspect that as a person she also wants, during these latter years of life, to enjoy whatever approaches normalcy for someone in her position.

During the Golden Jubilee celebrations, I saw a wonderful picture of the Queen and Duke.  It was one of a series of celebrity amateur shots conceived by Prince Andrew.  The picture showed the aging couple about to depart the palace for an engagement.  They were elegantly but simply dressed for the day-trip and sunlight flooded through the windows.  I remember thinking about how her shoulders looked a bit rounded.  They were off to do the routine.  I hope they find it “restful.”

Yours aye,

– Ken Cuthbertson