WHISPERS IN THE DARK

There are no lines in the national anthem as follows:

‘Innocent and powerless
Long to reign over us
God save our queen.’*

In reality I think the majority of people would think it strange if it did. Yet this is one of the basis on which the monarchy is sold to us; along of course with the line about bringing in the tourists. Incidentally this latter point is almost certainly untrue. Royal free Paris is the most popular destination in Europe, and of course tourists would still flock to the UK if they could enter and view the royal palaces as interesting museums.[1]

Getting back to the national anthem the reason that no such verse exists is that it would be untrue. To quote the organisation Republic:-

‘The Queen certainly does have power, including the power to sign international treaties and deploy British troops abroad. It’s true that most of these “royal prerogative powers” are today exercised by government, but that in itself is a serious problem. These powers have been transferred directly from the monarch to the prime minister and don’t need the approval of parliament, effectively shutting out the British people from important decisions. That is fundamentally anti-democratic – and it can only happen because we have a monarchy.’

Whilst the country has been subjected to a sustained campaign of nauseating sycophancy on the BBC and in the national press over the birth of a ‘royal’ baby, in the background another campaign has been waged by the Guardian newspaper to expose political interference by the heir to the throne. Attempts to expose the level of the Prince’s lobbying on matters of public policy, in letters to government ministers, have been continually blocked by this government and the last on the grounds that  to inform the British public just how persistently the future head of state has been attempting to influence government policy could ‘undermine the public's perception of the prince's political neutrality!’ Well certainly, if the British public is under the misapprehension that the Prince is politically neutral the release of these letters, described as being ‘"particularly frank" and containing [The Prince’s] "most deeply held personal views and beliefs,"’ [2] would certainly disabuse them.

However one does not need to see the letters to know about Charlie’s lobbying on behalf of an issue close to the heart of every quack, new age fruitcake and astrology obsessed flake, homeopathy.
For those not in the know homeopathy is based on the belief that water has memory. Now it is over 45 years since I last sat in a science class, though even I can tell you with absolute certainty that water, or H2o as we scientific types like to call it, does not have memory. It does not, having freshly emerged from the tap into my bath tub, tense up at the thought that I am about to submerge my sweaty mass once more into its delicate molecules.
The second major principle of homeopathy is that the ‘remedies’ prescribed must be  applied in absolutely miniscule amounts; indeed amounts so small that the body cannot register their ingestion. In short homeopathy has no scientific basis; it is baloney, bunk, hogwash, it is mumbo-jumbo.
Yet this nonsense has given birth to a whole ‘new age’ industry, with the purveyors of this particular brand of snake oil accumulating serious money by peddling this piffle. There is it seems no shortage of the credulous, the congenitally stupid and innately gullible. One such individual is the idiot prince, heir to the throne of Great Britain.
Incredibly homeopathy, championed by the intellectually challenged dauphin, has found a place for itself within the NHS, and, despite the lack of any scientific basis, this ‘treatment’ is being doled out to patients.
It is worth repeating that homeopathy is useless as a treatment for any condition, the best that can be said of it is that it is harmless. Any recorded benefits of homeopathic treatment are purely down to the placebo effect. Of much more benefit than the application of miniscule amount of ‘medicines,’ is the feeling of being cared for, of someone sitting you down and asking lots of questions about yourself. It is this that makes you feel better.
Despite this Prince Charles continues not only to believe in this hokum but uses his position to secretly lobby the health secretary about the need for its retention, at considerable cost, within the health service.[3]

Now I don’t care what this imbecilic individual believes in, tarot readings, spiritualism, crystal gazing or the magic powers of horse chestnuts, what I do object to is this unaccountable idiot being given the ear of government and accorded special lobbying privileges. Those who argue for the retention of constitutional monarchy point to the apolitical nature of the role. Charlie the chump gives the lie to this hoary old fiction.
Now of course if Charlie does not wish to abide by the formal rules of the constitutional settlement, believes he has something politically to offer the British people, he could stand down, abdicate his role and stand for election. There is a by-election coming up soon in Falkirk. Of course if he were to do so he would then have to subject his views to scrutiny, interrogation, even to the Paxman[4] treatment. No wonder he wants to continue whispering in the dark.

Whenever I am asked for arguments against the hereditary principle in general and the British monarchy in particular I point to the woeful individual of Charlie Windsor, who may be incredibly stupid but is not completely naïve and certainly not without power.


*Incidentally as a republican atheist this last line insults me at so many levels.
http://www.republic.org.uk/Get%20Involved/Join%20Republic/index.php

[1] Even if it were true this latter argument is absurd, can you imagine a debate in the US along the lines of ‘we cannot possibly interfere with the right to bear arms, it is such a tourist magnet.
[3] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2370754/Charles-NHS-homeopathy-row-Prince-holds-secret-meeting-Health-Secretary-lobby-treatment-denounced-doctors-witchcraft.html Of course Charles only pays income tax out of the goodness of his heart, he is not compelled to do so. Presumably should support for homeopathy be dropped he could decided to stop paying tax in a fit of pique.  
[4] Well know British TV journalist, noted for his ruthless interviewing style.




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