Well, I figure it can’t have been an entirely satisfactory event if both liberals like the blogger at This Ruthless World and conservatives like Peter Hitchens are displeased with it.  Though of course, for different reasons.  TRW seems to oppose the festivities out of a sense of republicanism (not Republicanism) and egalitarianism.  The late Christopher’s younger brother, on the other hand, seems to feel that the Monarch was not given sufficient respect and deference.

I kind of get why people like the Monarchy and its ceremonies, and yet at the same time, I don’t.  I can see there’s a certain appeal to the spectacle of lots of people in uniforms and dresses going about.   But it’s a bit odd all the same, especially when you consider the Queen’s lack of actual power. I suppose there is some “if I were in their shoes” fantasy appeal to the whole thing.

But anyway, what is interesting about both these pieces is that, although written from almost completely opposite political viewpoints, they come to a remarkably similar conclusion: that it all boils down to celebrity worship in the end.  Of course, Hitchens thinks that this is not always the case with Monarchy, but I think he tends to romanticize the past–or perhaps more accurately, he romanticizes “the way things are not”.