Guest post by AL Kennedy
In a few days, a nation dangerously short of cash, as far as ordinary people are concerned, will spend millions on a mysterious ceremony during which a cranky old man is given a souped-up hat. The man is also drizzled with oil – not by a waiter, like a salad, but by an archbishop, like a demigod. The hat will not mean he is king then. He is already king. When the queen died, he seamlessly took her place, like a pickpocket’s hand replacing another’s in the pocket of a helpless victim. For if we lived for even a moment without a monarchy, and if it did not immediately rain frogs – one of the few plagues from which we do not suffer at present – then we might get the idea that this monarchy is an anachronistic and ridiculous financial one burden. And that is absolutely not possible! At least we’re told that it wouldn’t work.