Shropshire Star

Cathy Dobbs: For once the angry minority isn’t being pandered to

Cathy Dobbs’ weekly look at life.

Published
The Queen and Charles

Seeing the outpouring of love for the royal family reminds us how important they are to the fabric of our society.

This tidal wave of admiration for The Queen, and our new King, has kept the anti-monarchy minority firmly in their place. So, in Edinburgh protesters thought they had a right to shout their disapproval – but this petty heckling was drowned out by the cheers of thousands.

One protester holding an offensive sign was arrested for a breach of peace and someone who booed was told by a member of the crowd ‘Oh shut up’. For once the angry minority isn’t being pandered to – and doesn’t it feel good!

The Queen and Prince Philip led by example – not just for future monarchs, but also to their support crew. This includes Anne, Camilla, Catherine and Sophie who have shown over many years how resilient and reliable they are. While Charles works hard, Anne pips him to the post as she carried out 387 official engagements last year – two more than her elder brother. As patron of 300 organisations, she has built up a reputation as the hardest working royal.

It looks like the death of The Queen has put the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in a difficult position. They have to make a choice between releasing Harry’s tell-all book and making a small fortune, or ripping it up and showing loyalty to the King. In the speech he made after losing his mother, Charles expressed his love for Harry and Megan. Surely it will look really bad if Harry now publishes something controversial? If Harry can move forward instead of constantly looking back maybe he, and his family, will be able to enjoy the best of both worlds – a life in the US and loved by the UK.

Having a king is going to take a bit of getting used to. Over the last few days, news readers have struggled with ‘His Majesty’, saying ‘Her Majesty’ instead. It is a slip-up we are all going to make at some point, but as coins, post boxes, stamps and job titles change, so will we.

I don’t think many will easily forget Jacki Pickett’s Ratner moment when she destroyed her business in minutes by popping open champagne on social media to celebrate the Queen’s death. Not only did she attract an angry mob to her Scottish fish and chip shop, but police were also called and her trade organisation membership revoked. Someone should have told her it’s the cod that needs to be battered, not her business.