At Christmas, One's Thoughts Turn To The Commonwealth?

Even the BBC no longer knows that the Queen's Christmas Message is not the same thing as the Queen's Speech. And the official British viewing figures for the former add up to about one in 17 people in the whole country. Of course Jeremy Corbyn does not watch it. So what? Does Boris Johnson?

It is designed for Commonwealth consumption, anyway. The Head of the House of Windsor could no doubt remain Head of the Commonwealth, and would no doubt be perfectly happy with that. It says it all that the Commonwealth has ceased during the present reign to be of any political significance whatever in the country that founded it. If the Queen had had any say over anything, that then would never have happened. And if she has no say over anything, then what is the point of her?

Well, Johnson has never commanded the confidence of the House of Commons, and he now openly intends to remain Prime Minister even if he has lost his seat. The Queen appointed him, only the Queen can remove him, she acts only on the advice of the Prime Minister, and he is the Prime Minister. So there.

So there, indeed. He is entirely correct. That is the constitutional state of affairs. And while he himself is the British Trump, with British Macrons, British Clintons and British Le Pens also easily identifiable, the fact that most republican arguments are still wrong and repulsive no longer even makes the monarchist ones romantic, and certainly does not make them right.