Sometimes things happen to remind me what a tin-pot little country this is.

The United Kindom is awash with news that “a minor member of the royal family” has been the victim of an attempted blackmail plot concerning cocaine and alleged oral sex with an aide. Apparantly the two would-be blackmailers have been arrested and the case first came to court in secret weeks ago. There is apparantly a gagging order (no pun intended) which effectively stops anyone in the UK from finding out the identity of the errant royal.

This appeared to be earth-shattering news with speculation running wild, until the Palace stepped in pointing out that it was a minor royal and one who could not claim to be HRH (His or Her Royal Highness). This effectively ‘outs’ the person in question: there are only around 30 members of the Royal family, and if you take of those who should be addressed HRH, then the short list is, well, short!

The court order prevents me from actually naming the guilty party, but by now, international publications will be naming them to choruses of “who?”, “oh yeah!” and “big deal!”

Now I don’t buy into the hysteria on drugs, or sex for that matter. I couldn’t give a stuff if a member of the royal family is allegedly caught face down in a pile of nose-bag after copping off with a member of staff. My real beef is the difference in the way that rules are applied to Them and the rest of us!

When working-class icon and party girl Kate Moss was allegedly photographed ‘powdering her nose’ the pictures were all over the UK press. There was outrage in the home counties (our version of the US bible belt). She lost lucrative modelling contracts, was threatened with a child welfare investigation and interviewed by the police. All on the strength of a photograph, which would never be evidence in court and only proved that she sniffed an unidentified white powder.

What I can’t understand is why the ‘unidentifiable royal’ should not face the same Spanish Inquisition. If you are blackmailed, does that make you less guilty of the ‘crime’ that you were alleged to have committed? Why should their identity be protected where “Cocaine Kate’s” was not? If she had been blackmailled over the pictures, would she now be protected? Will the police be investigating the underlying claims of royal cocaine abuse?

In reality, this is a case of the privileged position the British Royal Family. I use the phrase British loosely. Our lot are in fact all German, except the Queen’s husband Phil the Greek, who is Greek! The current queen is a descendent of the German House of Hanover, who took over the British monarchy from the Scottish House of Stuart in 1741. The House of Hanover became the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha after the death of Queen Victoria. It imaginatively changed it’s name to the House of Windsor during the First World War, when the British, didn’t want to be ruled over by German monarchs! Their surname effectively changed from Battenberg to Windsor after their favourite castle!

There is a perception in the Union (of England, Scotland and Wales) that the English dominate, yet the last English monarch was Elizabeth 1. After she dies in 1603, the throne passed to James IV of Scotland and England became a subjugated nation under the Scots, until the Germans took over!

Why does all of this matter? Well the United Kingdom labours under a system called Constitutional Monarchy, where we get to hold a democratic vote for the House of Commons, the second house, the House of Lords is appointed (until a few years ago it was hereditary, with the ruling classes appointed by past monarchs having a major say in the laws of the land) and the monarch has to give Royal Assent to any laws, and has the power to dissolve Parliament.

Monarchists cite that the last time this actually happened was in 1708, but the fact is that this power exists, and it means that a member of the German Royal Family (which was part of the Austrian and Russian dynasties, whose family spat started the First World War, which led to the Second World War and the Holocaust, the formation of Palestine and arguably the rise of Islamic Terrorism) has the power to overule the elected Parliament of Great Britain!

Remember that when the British governemt claim to have gone into Iraq to bring democracy. We do not have true democracy in the United Kingdom, and what I find truly offensive is that the vote of an Iraqi insurgent means a little bit more than mine.

Related posts:

1. Gritty Democracy: Washington, D.C., home of the people
2. When travel to the Emirates can give you a four year headache
3. New Year’s Resolve: make the world smaller
4. Who ever said Russia wanted democracy?

This entry was posted on Monday, October 29th, 2007 at 5:15 am and is filed under weirdness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.