Simon the supine
From Mr Mark Fox Sir: Simon Heffer's self-appointed role as Gold Nib-In-Waiting to the Jubilee Court On the line of duty', 5 January) does neither him (as a hitherto robust and fearless commentator) nor it (not short of grovellers) any good at all.
He is quite right to say that the Channel 4 documentary on New Year's Day was offensive and uninformed to the point where the only option was to turn the sound down and watch the film footage in silence — which was splendid.
Yet the proper response to so gratuitous a programme is not to pen a supine article but to robustly highlight the successes and acknowledge the failures, thereby pointing the route to greater success in the future. After all, is the person Mr Heffer talks about acting with 'self-effacing, modest propriety' the same woman who lives and maintains full households at one palace, two castles and a country house in Norfolk — Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, Balmoral Castle and Sandringham House?
Is this person for whom he laments the payment of tax the same as the person who has one of the largest private fortunes in the country; whose son benefits from a Duchy of Cornwall that is worth hundreds of millions of pounds and generates tens of millions?
Mr Heffer highlights the Queen's ordinariness and how remarkable it is. For a person who has had considerably less of an education than her husband, children, grandchildren and even the humblest of her subjects, she is perhaps right to rely on others to craft her speeches.
The British people are fond of their Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Queen Mother, and enjoy their visits and work. And they like the look of Prince William. But they are not blind to the royal family's wealth, influence and very real behind-the-scenes power.
Mr Heifer would serve his sovereign and his fellow subjects better if he adopted the same tone of constructive criticism he usually employs when commenting on the government of Tony Blair or his predecessor, John Major — but perhaps the Queen does not quite deserve that!
Mark Fox
London SW1
Previous page
