monarchy

Real Harry
It is hard to see a reason for some things, then suddenly it all becomes clear. For most of my life I have had a relaxed attitude to the monarchy; for most of yesterday the news media has been far from relaxed about the comments of Prince Harry (see right). Frankly I could not give a damn about what he said but it is important he said it because the whole point of the monarchy, I've just worked this out, is to inflame passions and it does not matter which way, just so long as somewhere someone is annoyed. But this can cause confusion. To illustrate my point the Evening Standard said in a headline - Gordon Brown backs 'racist' Prince Harry while the Telegraph had the headline - Prince Harry's 'Paki' comment unacceptable, says Gordon Brown.