I dislike the royal family intensely. No, that's not strong enough. I despise the royal family and everything that it stands for with a vengeance - the honours system, deference, patronage, the class system, big country houses, snobbery, palaces (although not castles strangely), the House of Lords of course, and all of the ridiculous tomfoolery and invented tradition that follows them. It's not personal. I'm sure that the royal family contains the same mix of heroes and villains as every extended family, albeit slightly more inbred than most. But these people enjoy untold wealth, a life of unimaginable luxury, privilege, and some of it paid for by the British taxpayer. How ridiculous is that? One of the richest group of individuals in the world being subsidised by the British taxpayer? I really wish someone would explain that to me. Their opinions on matters great and small are not only sought after but listened to and acted upon. But that's good ol' British democracy for you. Anyway, this disgust with the motley aristocratic crew that too many sensible people still kowtow to, prevents me from enjoying one of the best films of the year, 'The King's Speech'. Good friends of mine have seen it and warmly recommend I overcome my prejudice and enjoy it too. But no, I have my principles to stick to and stick to them I will. I do sometimes worry however that the phrase 'my principles' is synonymous with obstinacy, particularly on this occasion. 
I had no scruples about watching and thoroughly enjoying the recent tv series, The Tudors, which is clearly about a dynastic royal family, although the films were most definitely enlivened by the frequent nudity and rumbustious sex scenes. (Did all Tudor women really have such perky boobs?) So perhaps my bias is time-limited? Perhaps my intolerance of things royal has a self-imposed, if sub-conscious expiry date? Tudors yes. Elizabethans of course. Hanoverians also good, Georgians too. But Victorians, now they are starting to be beyond the pale. And as for the Saxe-Coburg Gothas, sorry Windsors, a thousand times no. As if to highlight my hypocrisy I enjoy reading about the last Imperial family of Russia, the current Japanese royal family, the current Spanish king too. And, shame on me, I relish stories in which any member of any royal family experiences a setback, misfortune or just sheer bad luck. A sort of patrician schadenfreude. So where do I stand on the death of Diana? Bring on Clark Gable because, 'Frankly my dear. I don't give a damn.'
I had no scruples about watching and thoroughly enjoying the recent tv series, The Tudors, which is clearly about a dynastic royal family, although the films were most definitely enlivened by the frequent nudity and rumbustious sex scenes. (Did all Tudor women really have such perky boobs?) So perhaps my bias is time-limited? Perhaps my intolerance of things royal has a self-imposed, if sub-conscious expiry date? Tudors yes. Elizabethans of course. Hanoverians also good, Georgians too. But Victorians, now they are starting to be beyond the pale. And as for the Saxe-Coburg Gothas, sorry Windsors, a thousand times no. As if to highlight my hypocrisy I enjoy reading about the last Imperial family of Russia, the current Japanese royal family, the current Spanish king too. And, shame on me, I relish stories in which any member of any royal family experiences a setback, misfortune or just sheer bad luck. A sort of patrician schadenfreude. So where do I stand on the death of Diana? Bring on Clark Gable because, 'Frankly my dear. I don't give a damn.' 
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