An English Country Garden

It’s the day of the year according to the worldwide press. Meghan and Harry are tieing the knot, the Union Jacks, bunting and street parties are being rolled out in traditional VE-Day style. We can all forget about our daily troubles, the near state of civil war in the land and the crumbling ruins of the Motherland, Commonwealth and Empire.

I guess the razzamatazz surrounding Royal Weddings started with Princess Anne and Mark Phillips in 1973 – then there were Charles &  Diana, Andrew and Fergie. Three out of four failed and the Diana episode very nearly ended the monarchy.  Who will still admit to their thoughts of September 1997? I guess few of us were around when a member of the British Monarchy last tried marrying a divorced American lady and was hounded out of the country, public life and treated as a black sheep by his own family.

I wish the pair, just as I do all those young and old who marry or set up a civil partnership (why are we still discussing this in the UK?), all the very best and hope they have a long, happy and successful relationship. They do seem to be a very likeable couple and it is to be hoped that Meghan’s influence might help to end some of the bigotry in the land. And I wish her and her family all the strength in the world to endure the paparrazzi but also the hounding she will get from the “serious” UK press the moment she opens her mouth and expresses an opinion.

I saw a question posted on a “serious” website (Quora) recently:
"Why don’t working-class British people call for the abolition of the monarchy? Why do they tolerate their tax monies paying for a life of spoiled luxury to non-deserving royals?"

I can’t fully agree with all the points the first person, a certain “Harry Ward”, gave as an answer but in general, I think the British Monarchy are worth their money. In fact, they are probably one of the last big UK enterprises that bring in large amounts of taxes for Her Majesty’s Treasury and quite likely the biggest earner of foreign currency.  


I am a strong supporter of the monarchy as it has existed in my lifetime but who knows how long it will be before another mad King Henry VI or George III appear on the throne. 

BUT, I only support them as a celebrity enterprise who should have no role whatsoever in the political structure of the country. Along with that, the abolition of the nonsensical House of Lords and the farcical honours system should happen. If they want to keep control of the Church of England, then they should be allowed to.  Whether William wants to have the responsibility is probably doubtful. Has of course been of use in the past to get rid of unwanted spouses and still retain God’s blessing. I doubt for now that Camilla, Kate and Meghan are likely to have their heads removed.

No doubt the outpouring of “joy”, especially from the strangely named “working-class”, is mainly due to the fact that the monarchy is the one institution in the land which one can trust. And given their own work rate & staying power, I suspect one should include the Queen and Prince Philip to the "working-class".
 
Oh well, MrsMY came by today to ride and she said she would like to speak English with me when she was here – she had as part of her education qualified as a foreign language correspondent and needed to refresh as she nowadays got little practice. I doubt I can help much as I need English lessons too.

The girls had another wonderful long ride. MrsMY suffers from an old coccyx fall injury and will try out an English saddle tomorrow. I had the same problem and it took a good 20 years before the pain went. Rosie who has anyway been enjoying being ridden again has always gone well with English "equipment". I met them at the halfway point to collect Luna. A three-house hamlet named “Krautenberg” (Herb Hill) and the house & garden they are posing in front of us is owned by an Englishman and his German wife. I have never met him and only exchanged a few words with her. The garden was looking wonderful just like a perfectly manicured English Country Garden. And around at the side, their two horses with a foal on a field. Felt very jealous and wanted to go home and get the chainsaw, hedge trimmer and mower out. See extra photos.
 
The horses and Angie are staring at a massive John Deere tractor and muck wagon that is about 10 metres away. The farmer had run out of fuel at the entrance to the farm and was busy trying to get her restarted with cans of diesel.