The Queen
My brush with a royal literary crisis
The past week has seen another media splash about the self-exiled Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Following the recent ruckus…
Portrait of the week: Freedom off, GB News on and the Queen’s tea with Biden
Home The lifting of coronavirus restrictions was delayed from 21 June until 19 July, probably. The motive was to avoid…
Did any of this actually happen? The Crown, season four, reviewed
‘We have to stop it now!’ says Princess Margaret (Helena Bonham Carter), smoking another cigarette, obviously. She’s talking about the…
Why ‘The’ Queen should not be capitalised
I complained mildly seven years ago that the Court Circular, the official source for the doings of the British monarchy,…
Portrait of the week: Vaccine hopes, the Russia report and a knighthood for Captain Tom
Home A coronavirus vaccine developed by the University of Oxford, tested on 1,077 people, was found to induce antibodies and…
Portrait of the week: Europe’s lockdowns ease, England stays alert and Broadway stays shut
Home The government changed its slogan from ‘Stay home, protect the NHS, save lives’ to ‘Stay alert, control the virus,…
How many 100th birthday cards does the Queen send?
Multiplying by hundreds The Queen penned a personal 100th birthday message to Captain Tom Moore, who has raised money for…
Britain and the Royals must do more for Australians in their hour of need
In the Netflix series The Crown an entire episode is dedicated to the disaster at Aberfan. More than 100 people…
The only bearable TV series these days are the ones with subtitles, like Der Pass
True to the Andrew Roberts rule that the only bearable series on TV these days are ones with subtitles, I’ve…
Koo d’etat
From 16 October 1982: Prince Andrew’s Caribbean holiday with Miss Koo Stark (following, perhaps prompted by, months of all-male company…
The silence of the Scottish unionists
We citizens of the small Sussex village of Etchingham are proud of our clan chief, Julie, who chaired Tuesday night’s…
Robert Hardman: My private encounter with David Cameron and the Queen
David Cameron’s revelation that he sought ‘a raising of the eyebrow’ from the Queen during the 2014 Scottish referendum campaign…
The Queen can handle coups – she’s been on the receiving end of one
Supplies of Brexit invective are now almost exhausted. While the Prime Minister is denounced for denouncing Remainers as ‘collaborators’, his…
By royal disappointment: Meghan and Harry’s behaviour is undermining the monarchy
August on Royal Deeside. Soft rain falls without cease on the Caledonian pine forests, it soaks into the ancient peatlands…
We need the monarchy more than ever
One part of our unwritten constitution has been functioning perfectly during the Brexit upheaval: the monarchy. Unhappy behaviour by some…
Why Ceausescu’s 1978 state visit was far more humiliating than Trump’s ever could be
The Queen has seldom had more holes in a state banquet seating plan. The leader of the opposition, the shadow…
Elizabeth, the Eurosceptic queen
There has been much inconclusive speculation on the Queen’s views on Brexit. In 2016, the Sun asserted that she was…
Wedding lists are out of control – just look at Harry and Meghan’s
I have a phobia of wedding lists. They always seem very presumptuous. Friends ask for monstrous amounts of things that…
Why Britain is lucky to have Meghan Markle
The wedding of Prince Harry, sixth in line to the British throne, and Meghan Markle, actress and former star of…
Hooray for Meghan Markle, a very modern adventuress
I’m keen on all sorts of my fellow females — broads, gold-diggers, career girls — but the best is the…
Oxfam is the Harvey Weinstein of aid
The Queen is Head of the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth is headquartered in London, in the splendour of Marlborough House. The…
How I learned to stop worrying and love the monarchy
Prince Harry does not exist and soon Meghan Markle will cease to exist too. None of the royal family exist.…
Sexual misconduct claims leave government in crisis
Home An air of crisis hung over the government. Priti Patel, the International Development Secretary, was told to fly back…
The Spectator’s notes
Having worked flat-out to defend judges over the Article 50 case in the Supreme Court, the BBC has gone the…
The Lahore attacks reflected hatred of Christians. Why must we deny it?
You might expect that the murder of Christians would excite particular horror in countries of Christian heritage. Yet almost the…
