badgerx16

So, you wouldn't go to the Louvre, or Versailles in Paris; or the Winter Palace in St Petersburg, or even the Kremlin, because the respective royal families are no longer there. How many tourists go to Horse Guards to stand next to the horses, as compared to standing next to the Queen ? How many watch the changing of the Guard, as opposed to watching the Queen ? The royal family are an historical anachronism, and their continued presence ensures that this country is forever trying to live on past glories. Also, AFAIK, I actually DO live in the real world. ( Though by the look of it, not necessarily the same one as you ;-) )

But you linked the ceremony to the presence of the monarchy, inferring that without the latter we might as well drop the former. My point is that republics manage the ceremonial perfectly well, and tourism thrives.

Edelweiss

Maybe we should have had an international banker on as well then

Why ? France has the Garde Republicaine, Greece has the Evzones, even the Vatican has the Swiss Guard.

Why does it matter ?

Because DC refused to allow his cabinet ministers to be shown up by Alistair Campbell.

On balance, reading back through the 'discussion', I think you are probably not ! wrt Africa, the initial colonial conquests of the European powers imposed artificial boundaries, and alien social concepts, on the established cultures. They were no more violent to each others' 'tribes' than their new masters had been to each other during the preceding centuries of European history, whether in the name of geographical, political, or religious causes. Once the imperial powers became established, they started eyeing up each others foreign territories, and so we exported European wars and prejudices to the continent, and as these conflicts, particularly WWI, progressed, the political map was realigned to match the prevalent European balance of power. It is a quite reasonable assertion, for instance, that the problems of the Hutus and Tutsis are directly linked to European, particularly Belgian, meddling. Similarly, the tensions in RSA, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, are inextricably linked to the concept of white ( European ) racial supremacy.

Blades

Queen Victoria, whose first langauge was German, was the eldest legitimate child of the 4th son of 'mad' George III, and came to the throne when her uncle, of sorts, William IV died without a legitimate heir. Her eldest son reigned as Edward VII, the only British monarch to be recorded as from the house of Saxe-Coburg Gotha because his son, George V, changed the name to Windsor in 1917, ( at the same time his relatives the Battenbergs changed their name to Mountbatten ). As we all know, Lillibet effectively came to the throne by virtue of Edward 8th's infatuation with a twice divorced american.

prevention

Rosie

Chip wrapper

Cosmic rays

Is that an 'agree' or a 'disagree' ?

And every club's staff, players, and most importantly the fans, have complained that they are getting hammered whilst the administration rules allow the truly guilty to escape,- or even get the club back on the cheap.

One word - Luton

hubbard

No, the Palaces and parks are good for tourism., as are the troops in their parade uniforms. Plenty of republics around Europe have their heritage on display for tourists, without the richest spongers in the world having to be there as well. There's more German blood in their veins than British, and the only useful purpose Liz is currently serving is keeping Chas off the throne.

It depends on who you classify as 'cheats', and goes back to the whole argument as to whether a football club, per se, should be punished because of the fraudulent activities of the people running it. In this case, it is story-teller, the potless arabs, the crooked israeli, etc who are at fault, and hopefully the post-liquidation investigation will nail them. ( And then the additional penalty for financial irregularities is dumped on the FC for good measure ).

The point of the liquidation is to allow the HMRC to forensically investigate the books, and pursue the directors and officers of the company personally for any financial irregularities. It seems it is something HMRC have agreed to in this specific case, as it probably reinforces the judicial processes already in place against story-teller, et al. What price a Luton-esque penalty once the evidence is unearthed ?

Stone Roses

bunting

Mistress

After next season we'll both be in the CCC, and after that.......