No Business Like Show Business... for the time being.

I had resolved not to join in the Royal Wedding nonsense. To simply have no part of it. But this piece on the Principia Dialectica site was too good not to re-post here,
The announcement of the forthcoming royal marriage will be used by the coalition as a smokescreen, a feel-good factor and an economic bonanza. But the euphoria will not last long. Nothing does these days. The crisis of the economy is too deep. Too many people are suffering. Many will be left with unsold souvenirs.

The entry of Kate Middleton in the royal family is quite symbolic. The monarchy in Britain have always been keen to be seen to change. It did not back Nicolas II when he was toppled. George V discarded his cousin, he could not be seen to back such an autocrat, since there was trouble at home, and it could become much bigger like in Russia. So the czar and his family were left behind…Politics is a cruel business. So the entry of the middle-class to the monarchy is a new move, and it could end the mystique of the Royal Family. Kate Middleton would probably not be out of place on the X-Factor circuit or Celebrity Come Dancing. An art history student is to marry another one.

No wonder all the journalists wheeled in to applaud were over the moon. “A brilliant boost for the economy ” said one hack from ITN (16 of Nov, 2010),”a bonanza for the capital” said another on the same network. Cristina Odone , the God fearing feminist from the New Statesman was over the moon about the marriage , because of sales, and tourism. (Channel 4, 16 Nov, 2010). . then the historian Simon Schama spoke of “of the fetish of the ring”- Kate was given Diana’s wedding ring. Schama also spoke of that marriage as “exorcising Diana’s death” , he also said it was “good news for the government”. and then he added we could be in for a three year Royal display.

First this coming marriage, then the Diamond Jubilee of the queen and her husband, and then the possible marriage of Harry. The crisis of the commodity economy is bottomless. The system has no way of rectifying itself. For Tory historians, in times of crisis, the precedent is there to follow: rally round the flag.

David Starkey, that perfect little Tory squirt and historian of royalty was over the moon with this marriage. He belched: “The Royal Family is reaching out.” Starkey could hardly stay in his chair, you had the impression he was going to take his clothes off and scream: “JOY, JOY, JOY.”

So it is the end of royalty as you knew it, it is now a middle-class show. Maybe the queen is the last monarch, Britain might be a republic in a few years. The Australian PM is of that opinion.

'Nuff said.