To be annoyed about the Jubilee

[thegreenlight]

I know I’m being miserable but I’m bloody pissed off about the sodding Jubilee! I went to sainsburys this morning, paid £1.68 a litre for petrol and then popped in to be confronted by bottles of champagne! The last thing I feel like doing is celebrating! I spent all morning cancelling non-essential DDs as things are really tight with the rise in energy prices and the increased NI contribution.
funny how this ‘magic money tree’ can be harvested to pay for this event when people are genuinely struggling and are told to ‘get a better paid job’! I have a bloody well paid job, thankyou, but am still feeling the pinch. I know people are going to say that the economy will benefit - but how? If people spend more then inflation will rise and the BOE will put up the mortgage rates! I despair!

Loving the fly past just now. Loving seeing the crowds - not a miserable face to be seen.

It always amazes me when people say that the royals are apolitical just because they've been told this. "Ceremonial only" 🙄

Watch closely what they do and then decide if they are a 'political' institution or not.

Tell me about your observations that lead you to the conclusion that the monarchy is political. I’m genuinely interested.

’I'm 37 @Blossomtoes . I find that people my age and younger don't want a monarchy anymore.
People my parents age (70/80 years) still seem very supportive of them, but probably because it's all they've ever known.’

i agree. I have also noticed that most of the people making a big fuss where I live are 45 plus, same people putting flags in the stress etc. They are seeing it as a reason to have a street party. Each to their own but I just hope the celebrations don’t get too loud and wake my young dc as this has happened before.

street*

Yet fewer than half of 18 to 24 year olds want an elected head of state, falling to a little over a quarter of 25 to 49 year olds. The stats aren’t on your side.

www.statista.com/statistics/863893/support-for-the-monarchy-in-britain-by-age/

Political? You mean, as in the Queen is Head of State?

www.royal.uk/queen-and-government

I live in an area that’s almost exclusively under 40s (new estate in a village), there are NO flags here. Go into the nearest town where there’s more old folks and there’s flags everywhere

Do we now measure support for the monarchy by display of flags? There are none on my house - what a failure of a monarchist I am! 😂

No, it’s just an interesting trend that the people who are very much into celebrating in a larger way also tend to be elderly folks. This ties in with monarchists tending to be older as well. Obviously it’s not a direct correlation with number of flags equating to being a more hardcore monarchist 🤣

DH 75 me 70 next year and we are hiding this weekend to avoid the neighbours who want to drag us into their Jubilee party. We aren't interested, I have nothing against the Queen and I hope she enjoys herself but I don't want some forced jollity with the neighbours.

There does seem to be abit of a flag competition going on where I live. One house gets a few flags the other gets more then the other gets extra.
It’s been quite funny to watch. They do seem to look at undecorated houses with disapproval ‘party poopers’ etc. One neighbour actually shouted “you don’t like the royals than!” 😲

It must vary by area @ForestFae. Where I live it’s all the houses with kids on the new estates that are strewn with flags and bunting, the older part seems to be a flag free zone. Apart from my next door neighbours who are from RoI and Egypt - there appears to be no rhyme or reason to it.

I hope these flags are recycled.

Only two houses on my road. They are 60+.

I get your point. However, a 4 day bank holiday (for those that don't work bank holidays) is nice. My boyfriend is on a psych ward and they're having a little party today which I know will cheer up some of them. I know it's not a race to the bottom but I'd love to have so many unnecessary DD that they took all morning to cancel. That must give you quite a lot of extra money.

My street are mostly under 40 - loads of flags and bunting up here.

Whether people are celebrating the jubilee or just taking advantage of a long weekend i don't know, but I work in a large supermarket and spending this week is right up with Christmas levels

No flags up our road unless they went up today, most people are retired, it's generally DC that want that sort of tat, same as Christmas.

The hard politics position is encapsulated in the official legislature. The fact that a constitutional monarchy is a system of governance of a country already tells us that it's a political position. The Head of State's relationship with the PM, the two Houses, and other bodies attest to this political role.

Then there is the soft politics position. There are numerous examples of royal meddling in affairs of state - the law, the taxation system, defence, and healthcare, to name a few. The British royals' relationships to the WEF, other royal houses such as the ones in the Middle East and the circularity of these networks and connections does not make them apolitical.

I am not anti-monarchy. It's probably as good a system of governance as any, and may even be better than some/most. I am against the current incumbents, whose position has become untenable. If we keep them, then something has to change. We can trial several models - make them work harder, elect from within family to certain positions (just brainstorming 😀), pay them less, or something. At the moment, we are watching them take the proverbial without being 'reigned' in (sorry). Monarchies can be reformed.

And now, with quite beautiful timing, PA has tested positive for Covid....

Well that's convenient 😆

I think it's natural to feel that way OP. At the same time, when things are hard public celebrations are even more important for many people. To keep their spirits up, because they can't afford private entertainment, to create some community solidarity.

If you aren't keen don't participate but everyone going into their homes and being seperate is not a great way to deal with an economic crises, in terms of community health.

I think maybe you are mixing up political and partisan. The monarchy is part of the political system, but it's mandated to be non-partisan.

Are you also annoyed by the UK Government contributing £2.3 million to get the Euro 2028 bid going?

No idea what the Irish Government has spent, but both governments will be spending millions more on the bid. Especially if they're successful.