The Royals Return

for paNOW

When I was seven or eight, it seemed that all girls my age collected pictures of the (then) Princess Elizabeth. We all had scrapbooks into which we carefully glued our photos of her, her father King George VI and the Queen Mother. Princess Margaret got short shrift unless a girl had an embarrassing lack of photos of her older sister. We got the pictures from newspapers mostly. Lucky the girl who’s Dad also read the Globe and Mail, as well as the local paper. Some girls made it all the way to the wedding of Princess Elizabeth with their scrap booking. I didn’t.

Scrap booking the Royals was a popular hobby indeed, and a cause of embarrassment – “I didn’t get that one and Mom threw the paper away”. Smugness reigned- “I got one from the Toronto Star or Daddy bought me (the magazine) The Royals”! Or jealousy – Mean Green!

We didn’t know everything the Royal Family did cost somebody else money. Royal weddings bring in tons of money, which is a good thing because the weddings cost the British people immense amounts of money. Fine. We don’t have to pay. We can watch Kate and William marry for free – if we are the least bit interested.

Therein lies the catch with regard to Royals. When I was seven or eight, it seemed everybody loved The Royal Family. Their visits to Canada were happy occasions. They cut more ribbons than there are bedbugs in Prince Albert. Now, can we love ‘em or leave ‘em?

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I think Kate and William are bang on in their intent to do without servants and live quietly while he trains with the RAF. (He is an officer in the Household Cavalry and has trained with the navy as well). They are, after all, modern people. Don’t even think about how many servants the Queen has! There are numerous castles and palaces, all of which need people to dust and count the pillow cases. The British people pick up about one third of the costs.

Now, here’s the rub. Kate and William, as endless Royals before them, are coming to Canada. The reasons aren’t all that clear. More ribbons I suppose. What is very clear to me is that their little jaunt to their favorite former colony – they all love us – is going to cost us a bundle!

The Queen is in the top five of the richest women in the world. She has billions. We have a shaky, albeit healthier than most, economy. At the moment, the common folk aren’t as rich as we wish we were just now.

So, if we are counting our loonies and the Queen is counting her extra billions, why can’t she pay for their vacation/ribbon cutting? She really isn’t paying most of her tremendous living costs so surely she could treat the kids – her’s, their’s and everybody else’s – to a trip.

At one time, we all adored them and longed for their visits. But do we still? Will Canadians flock to the streets to see them as they once did? Do we want to pay for the privilege of having them drop by and tell us how glad they are to be here? If they were visiting Saskatchewan, would you go to see them?