|
"Why we love the real Posh" |
|
Published by The Guardian (UK)
|
|
Sunday, 23 May 2004 |
|
"Why we love the real Posh">Why we love the real Posh - Europe's royal families are enjoying their greatest surge in popularity for a century as our obsession with celebrity thrives" "Two other deep currents are helping monarchy. The first is European integration. The further development of the European Union (even in Britain where polls report public recognition that we will one day be members of the euro) is understood to be a necessity, but is not greatly loved. European processes may be rational and even democratic, but Queen Beatrix represents the House of Orange that founded the Dutch Republic and King Juan Carlos the Bourbons who have been Spain's monarchs for nearly as long. They are embedded in national cultures in a way that Brussels institutions can never be. As currencies are lost, national parliaments weakened and armies cut back, monarchs remain symbols of national unity. The young European royals wisely do not complain about the European constitution; it is their ally rather than a threat.."
|