to wonder why the whole country has gone completely bloody Royalist?

[Hullygully]

Erect the scaffold.

Up the Republicans.

We are ADULTS we don't need a feudalistic Divine Right of Kings addled parasitical bunch of halfwits to live off our taxes.

The English don't get to celebrate much (St George's Day is a non-event) - I don't think having a few street parties and a bank holiday every few decades is that unreasonable.

soz, daisy, i got a bit distracted by the hate.

I will try to give it some attention.

slippery.i'm new here,i only responded today to what i was reading,as i suppose ,everone else was.

The queen isnt harmless because she is German,is that what you are saying?

If monarchies are so bad, now come northern European countries have retained them? Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium.

Let's not forget, that to seize power in the UK, someone would need to overthrow the Crown as well as Parliament and the Judiciary. Our complex constitution actually makes it harder for an unscrupulous leader to take over the reins than a straightforward Republic. Who would dismiss a rogue PM bent on an enormous power trip who nevertheless had the backing of his party? (Think Hitler.)

Yes, it's probably never going to happen, but then neither is a power-crazed monarch very likely.

I like things the way they are.

Good , now I can get on with the rest of my life.

The queen isnt harmless because she is German,is that what you are saying?

Only if you can't read.

I blame the media, who gives a fuck what the Queen carries in her handbag? Or has a 'well earned G&T'?

My Gran worked from the age of 12 in a printworks mill, she was widowed with 3 young children, she left the house at 6am and came in a 6pm. I could go on and bore you to death, but she was a woman to be admired not queenie.

Good job you don't live here Hully, we're swamped with Union Jacks et al from June until August.

hahaha @ million

ok, I have to go.

You haterz enjoy yourselves.

Vive La Republique!

Hully you need to add 'Loves Baiting Well-Meaning Mumsnetters' to your title. I think that's all you're doing now.

Who would dismiss a rogue PM bent on an enormous power trip who nevertheless had the backing of his party? (Think Hitler.)

Hmm - I'd say 'think Tony Blair'.

The Queen is a reptile theory

Would she be a German Lizard?

Honi Soit Qui Mal y Pense!

It's like being fucked in the arse and being shown a picture of some kittens

Can we please have The Collated Wisdom of Tethers published

And for a four day weekend I wouldn't care if the bunting was painted with the blood of virgins.

Oh, everyone lighten up, jump on my Jubilee bandwagon and have some

So much worse crap going on than the Jubilee, and any excuse for breaking out bunting and cake sprinkles in several different colours is alright with me

elephantsandmiasmas - an excellent post! It is true that inherited wealth and privilege of an elite establishment at the root of many of our problems. I know that inequality can never be eradicated totally but its effects should be minimised as much as is reasonable in a free & just society; yet in the monarchy we have a system which enshrines, underpins and celebrates inequality, sitting like a parasite on top of the rottenness of it all.

greylady - we cannot be both a monarchy and a democracy, a country whose people cannot choose their own head of state is not a democracy. My parents/grandparents fought for freedom of oppression too and many of these rights which they fought for so hard are being taken away now. The queen has nothing to say about it....her silence means that she is complicit in all of this.

People are really suffering in this country of ours and I hate this enforced celebration which is being foisted on us. I think the queen should be embarrassed and ashamed by it all. Bread and circuses....with the difference that in ancient Rome the emperors paid for it, this time round it is the people (ie the taxpayers) who are paying......again.

I will do my best to enjoy the holiday for my DS sake but I still feel ashamed not proud.

I'm going to Anglesey on Saturday.

I'm anti-royalist and anti-republican. We should just make the elected parliament work properly instead.

Incidentally, don't think you could say any monarch has been 'British' since Harold II if you're going by ancestors:

Normans - obviously descended from the 'Norse men' in northern France
Plantagenets (sp?) - descended from William the Conqueror's granddaughter and Geoffrey of Anjou, so Norse and French
Tudors - descended from Edmund Tudor, Welsh
Stuarts - Scottish monarchs
Hanoverians - may have originated from Hanover but traced their claim back to the Stuarts I believe, so Scottish
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha - Prince Albert was not the monarch, Queen Victoria was from the House of Hanover, see above. Think her mother was Belgian as well
Windsor - As 'British' as any of the rest over the last 1000 odd years

There, history lesson finished (complete with blinding errors I'm sure)

I hope you have a nice time ExitP

loveis - now that would have been interesting! HM dismisses PM to prevent an illegal war.

If anything defines Britishness it is (IMO)

• our ability to go totally OTT about an occasion. Christmas starts in September, Easter in January etc.
• we will take any excuse for an extra day off (thank you Kate Middleton, half of London 'unable' to get to the office during Olympics) from work
• we will take any excuse to drink in the street (world cup)
• finally and most importantly we embrace whole heartedly the jaw-droppingly naff. Our streets and gardens were made for bunting, we love a novelty tea towel and seem to enjoy wearing ridiculous hats (Ascot, weddings)

So it's either a knees-up with pimms and bunting and a nice long weekend or I can sulk in a corner with some racists

Hmm tricky one :)

Jubilee frosties is taking the piss however.

Just waiting for the first Youtube of someone dyeing their dog/house/pubic hair red white and blue .