The Monarchy In Britain
A brief guide Is the Family Impartial? |  |
It is an essential part of the defence of a hereditary head of state that the royal family does not take sides in political debate. It is not true that family members keep themselves out of political controversy, however. Although Liz Windsor has followed a "least said, soonest mended" doctrine, her support has been claimed by one subversive. In the 1960s newspaper publisher Cecil King, plotting against the government of Harold Wilson, broached the idea of a "national unity" government with "Lord" Mountbatten. He urged Mountbatten to give his support because the queen was "desperately worried about the whole situation." Liz Windsor let it be known during the administration of Margaret Thatcher that she disapproved of the attitude of the government towards South Africa and towards the poor in Britain. The "Queen Mother" on the other hand was far to the right in her politics. She toasted Britain's most controversial Prime Minister at her dinner table, supported South African apartheid and favoured appeasement of Nazi Germany. Her son-in-law, the "Duke of Edinburgh," is notorious for his slurs against a number of the ethnic and national groups that are represented in the population of Britain. Charlie Windsor, (aka The Prince of Wales) has intervened very publicly to use his influence to deprive Britain of modern architectural works and to give advantage to one side in the debate about genetically modified food.  Next
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