The Queen's Opinion

The Queen is of the opinion.. the the politicians should sort themselves out.

As for who becomes PM, she has no opinion at all. At least any public one.

This is a woman who once had Winston Churchill as Prime Minister, and has seen ten others come and go, reigned through socialism, Maggie Thatcher, and Tony. To be perfectly honest, she probably does not care much, as I can't see her being particularly impressed with any of the candidates.

And the other part of it is that this is Queen Elizabeth II. She is a highly respected monarch, deeply popular with the people, who has been very respectful of the constitution. No political party would wish to involve her in the dispute - it would simply not be right to do so. It would be like a group of 10yr old boys going to the Principal of their school to decide who gets the ball first. It just is not done, and you would all look like a bunch of silly nincompoops for doing it.

And that, quite simply, is something I love about British politics. Whatever happens, you have the Queen. In this case, if the politicians cant figure out who should rule, the Queen will have to offer the seat to one of them. But every political party wishes to keep the Monarchy separated from the legislature, as does the Queen.

It is a very different form of separation of powers than we have here in the US. The Queen is the ultimate font of power and authority but is almost entirely removed from the political system. The deference to the queen in the press right now is palpable. Everyone knows that who can set up a coalition government and how it is all going to work is a big deal. But then, at the same time, it isn't something you would really want to bother the Queen with. She and her staff will closely monitor the situation, and be in contact with the cabinet secretary among other civil servants. In the end someone will drive to Buckingham Palace and be invited to run the country.

But you will always have the Queen.

It is times like this that the role of the Queen is all the more important. What is that role you ask, because the Queen is not actually 'doing anything'. The Queen is the embodiment of the country, its protector in a time of crises, and its leader in a way above and beyond politics. She is the mother to the citizens of the UK, the constant reminder that the country shares a culture, history, and set of values which run far deeper than the differences between political parties. She is the founding fathers rolled up into one and presiding in benign magnificence over the country. In a way that Americans can only talk of Thomas Jefferson, Brits can turn on the telly every Christmas and hear the Queen. She is prestige and tradition, national pride and national identity.

I do not begrudge the American system which attempts to tie all this and executive authority up into the position of the President. But as politics becomes an increasingly divisive and dirty business, where respect, tradition, honor and reason increasingly play minor roles, the modern British Monarchy seems increasingly a system for the future and not just the past.

Then again, it could all just be because of Queen Elizabeth, who will long stand as one of the great Monarchs of any age.

So I hope the politicians get their crap figured out, and God Save the Queen.

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