1701

now i am on record as being a fan of the monarchy. i think they provide value for money – after all where else are you going to get a key public figure in nazi uniform (well maybe formula 1), where else are you going to have the heart warming story of a boy so besotted with his girlfriend he just drops into her parents field in his military issue helicopter?
gawd bless the royal family is what i say.

but in a case of pc gone mad the royal family are under attack from equality legislation.
back in 1701 eldest daughters were prevented from becoming the monarch if they had younger brothers.
but if vera baird, the solicitor general, has her way all this will change and women in the royal family will the same rights as their brothers – so it will be first out of the womb first on the throne (unless you marry a catholic – but that is another matter…)
as “unfair" and "a load of rubbish".
she went on to say "i have always thought that what we have to do with the royal family is integrate them as far as possible into the human race."
we all know that there is a glass ceiling for women in the economy and perhaps changing such a venerable institution as the royal family may encourage businesses around the country to give women equal pay and equal opportunities in the work place. but i doubt it.
why?
let’s be fair we have had a queen on the throne since 1952 and still the situation for women lags behind that of men. we have even had a woman prime minister (though most of us are still trying to forget those harrowing years) but look at parliament and look at the make up of the parties. look closely and you can see some women.
even with major examples there is much resistance to giving women equality so playing around with the royal family just seems to be no more than gesture politics.
but what really makes the whole thing, to quote ms baird, “a load of rubbish” is that the royal family by its very nature is unequal, it is a hereditary institution there is no equality in it – you have to be born into. it is not about ability, it is just about being there.
the exercise would make sense if people showed respect to the royal family, but as it stands very few people care about the status of the royal family, they are just interested in their antics.
perhaps ms baird would be better off looking at parliamentary institutions first.