LETTERS Europe for ever
Sir: Andrew Gimson (Windsor iiber Alles', 25 November) writes: 'We ought to find it easier to stop worrying whether we are "European" enough, when we rediscover the fact that our royal family has been European all along.' In Hampton Wick we pace the streets all night — sleepless with worrying whether we are European enough; while over the bridge in Kingston (where, a thousand years ago, England's kings were crowned) they are amazed to learn that the royal family has not just arrived from Asia or Africa.
The Europeanness of our royal family does not lie in Prince Charles being a Von Battenberg by descent, or the Queen com- ing of the line of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
Three hundred and fifty years ago we had a king born at Dun Pharlain in Fife (which is in Europe). Five hundred years ago we had a king who was born at Penfro in Dyfed (which is in Europe). A thousand years ago we had a king who was (possibly) born at Corfe in Dorset (which is in Europe), and eleven hundred years ago a king who was born at Wantage in Berkshire (which is also in Europe). The Queen's elder grandson (presumably the next king but one) was born, thirteen years ago, in Paddington in Middlesex (which likewise is in Europe).
Kings, European in their essence, kept court at Aberffraw, Holyrood and Windsor when Schonbrunn, Versailles and Potsdam were obscure villages. Europe is here — or it is nowhere.
lain Burgess
4 Cedars Road, Hampton Wick, Middlesex
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