Monday 6 February 2012

The Queen and I

It has been reported that the British government is pushing a plan to buy a new yacht for the Queen as a present to celebrate her 60th anniversary on the throne. Prince Charles – not surprisingly – is all for it.

The Queen does not have to try to be popular – she is popular. She is generally liked as well as respected by her subjects. But, if the Queen would take my advice, instead of that of her ministers, she would be doing the right thing. Right for her and right for us.

Instead of getting the taxpayers or some rich sponsors to buy her a yacht, the Queen should make a substantial present to us, to her subjects, to show her gratitude for being allowed to reign over us.

What I want is the Royal Collection: 7000 painting, 40,000 water colours and drawings and 150,000 old master prints. That is all. This enormous art collection is not privately owned by the Queen but held by her in trust, as the sovereign. So, it would not really cost her or her children anything.

The time has come for all those works of art to be openly and freely available to everyone. They should not be locked in the royal residences and only shown occasionally and partially at the Queens Gallery, where the Queen actually charges entrance fees.

So how about it, Ma’am?

4 comments:

  1. Ingenious, David! What a wonderful idea!

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  2. Off with your head!

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  3. Very clever idea, I like.

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  4. I was glad to see you campaigning for the release of the Queen's art collection -- yes, the continued concealment of these treasures is amazing. You're quite right.

    I might suggest however that there is an unwritten point going on. Britain deliberately keeps art from its growing population, wilfully not including the learning of any such thing from its teenager people. It will of course breed a country of louts, a timebomb that already exploded last summer in England's streets.

    One has to know that this is government policy. They are just saving money, of course.

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