All the King's Horses

All the King's Horses could not hold my attention when there is the splendid display of the Queen's Hats upon which to gaze! You will never convince me that this woman is stuffy because you can always judge a woman by her hats! And her hats get more fun as the years progress. I don't believe for an instant that in the privacy of her royal boudoir, she sniffs disdainfully with boredom when these hats are unpacked from their tissue!

By all reports, Queen Elizabeth is shy, reserved and of course always aware of the awesome responsibility of her office. In England, the Monarch is not only the head of the country, she is the head of the Church of England!

Times may have changed for the rest of us. Indeed, we live in a world where the word f**k is commonly heard on every street corner. We regularly get bullied into hugging total strangers and a handshake is scorned or ignored. Children are indulged and rarely taught manners. Respect for the elderly has all but disappeared. (When was the last time you offered your seat to an older person or stood up when they entered or exited the room?)

In our Free Society we have come to scorn manners, pomp, decorum and awe. We sneer at our President's and Statesmen, and refer to everyone by their Christian names. We have taken 'casual' to the extreme, and it has become the norm to look for scandal rather than good in the people we celebrate.

In fact the only people we seem to admire are living firmly in the debauched demesne of the gutter. People like Paris Hilton and Britney Spears are our version of Royalty, and we seem to enjoy being shocked and repulsed by them.

So if you are caught up in the trend, then you must not be able to understand what a comfort it is to know that there is one Royal Lady out there who will not be grabbing people and hugging them, exiting limousines without her knickers in full view of photographers, getting drunk and disorderly in bars and on street corners, or behaving in a way that would diminish her office or besmirch the image of the monarchy.

I was delighted to have her visit us again, and utterly charmed by her grace and sweetness. In spite of the speculation about the stuffy royals and their supposedly stiff lives, I believe you only have to look at her delighted and happy smile to see that she is a woman of great interest! I would love to know her! Really know her.

So that maybe I could borrow some of her hats!