17 DECEMBER 1983, Page 31

Saving the English

Sir: With his usual candour Mr Worsthorne (`Queen and Commonwealth', 3 December) perceptively states that the common people of England no longer love the multi- cultural Commonwealth, whereas the beloved Queen of England loves it more and more. The English also regard the monarch as 'defender of the faith', whereas Her Majesty has used the traditional 'Christmas broadcast' for an apparent endorsement of the 'multi-credal' society. Both attitudes in face of 'third world' nationalism are understandable, but we must concern ourselves with the ultimate construction and character of our own par- ticular nation.

Not only do the English love the Queen more than any other people, but the historical significance of our monarchy is rooted almost entirely in our people. The monarchy belongs first and foremost to the related populations who belong ancestrally to England, New Zealand, Australia and Anglo-Saxon Canada. Without the primary loyalty of these millions, there would be no monarchy here at all. Consequently, it is potentially far more damaging for the liberal establishment to

exploit the royal family in pursuit of an illu- sion that enables foreign nations to gain advantages at the expense of this country than for the press periodically to publicise immoral escapades or intrusive hooliganism associated with the palace. A rumour cur- rent in Waltham Forest, which the local press significantly refuses to discuss, illus- trates this point admirably. The Prince of Wales was invited to attend the opening of two local establishments and had accepted, when local Conservatives — attempting to ingratiate themselves with the shopkeeper electorate from the foreign Moslem republic known as Pakistan — suggested that the newly created 'Asian centre' should also be visited by 'Charles and Di'. Natural- ly, the two original sites were scrubbed, and the royal visit was confined solely to the Asiatic immigrants alone, with the predic- table growth of republican racism where none had existed before.

Times have indeed changed since Kipling's 'sons of the blood' planted the English flag in the far-flung corners of Em- pire, but that is precisely the point. The Queen is now the Queen of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, not the 'Head of the Commonwealth' in sup- posedly independent, largely communist Afro-Asia. Let us hope her compassionate yet intelligent son will regard himself as an Englishman rather than some hereditary president of an artificial state of 'Multicultura', established on our native soul against the will of the indigenous 'sovereign people'.

Not sedition but patriotism prompts us to recall that Her Majesty had our future King christened after our own patron saint George and after our own national hero Arthur, who — as Layamon foretold in a poem that has haunted our extraordinary history for seven centuries — 'shall yet come to save the English'.

Wade Smith

Gleimick House, forest Road, London F17