Each year, Royal Knights and Ladies of the Order of the Garter gather at St George’s Chapel in Windsor for a colourful procession and ceremony.
Watched by crowds of onlookers, they walk down the hill to the chapel from the State Apartments, dressed in blue velvet mantles, red velvet hoods, black velvet hats and white ostrich plumes.
Pat asks me whether I am not shocked at Tony Blair being made a Royal Knight of the Order of the Garter. It passed me by these handouts. Some are corrupt of course, I believe Prince Charles has been caught out handing a knighthood to an Arab noble. And goodness knows how governments reward the backhander entrepreneurs in this country with lordships. I think it is called corruption, egotistical could be another answer.
The Queen has on her own initiative chosen Blair for this honour, last British prime minister was Sir John Major, his scandal was slight, Tony Blair's took us into a war where many lives were lost.
We don't punish the rich it is as simple as that. They very rarely end up in prison, that is for the common prisoners. Make a lot of dough and fuss around with charity and you are in! Plus of course there is a deeply religious element in the Blair family and the Queen is a believer as well.
I don't question her authority to do what she did, I think her duty tells her to do these things. She is a stickler for royal show, and this Order is only a spectacle of pomp and ceremony and has nothing to do with the governing of this country. !4th century mumbo-jumbo in our present modern century.....
I'm always bemused by your sportsmen and entertainers being knighted. How/why/when did that happen?
ReplyDeleteJust written a long comment and the internet went! Basically it is about merit. There is a honours committee who judge, then it gets passed to the prime minister, who may whittle it down or add I presume. Then it lands on the Queen's desk. It's tradition but some of it is nonsense, like sitting on the Woolsack.
ReplyDeleteIn interesting to juxtapose Blair and the Queen. I see Blair as starting out with good intentions, or at least we all believed he had, and then he seems to have become corrupted by power, and took us into a disatrous ill advised war which so many opposed. But at least he is only getting a knighthood. If we didn't have a Queen it could so easily have been a Presidency. If not him, sommeone even worse.
ReplyDeleteapologies for spellings etc.
DeleteI think that there was a power behind Blair in the form of his wife Cherie. She was/is a lawyer I believe and aspired to the good life. Their form of politics was hard cheese as far as ordinary people were concerned. To be honest Blair always looked a bit mad with those staring eyes as well;)
DeleteRory Bremner said that he was playing tennis with Tony Blair once and Blair was trying to persuade him to cease publicly criticising him in his shows. Bremner said he would criticise whoever he wanted and Blair said, "How does LORD Bremner sound to you?" I think he stopped playing tennis with him after that.
ReplyDeleteThat is how it works, bribery and corruption. Good on Rory Bremner for taking note and dropping Blair like a hot potato.
DeleteWe so thoroughly agree with you and your commentators to here. What really is the point of Honours anyway, and if they do have a point, handing them out for political reasons devalues the work of people who really have earned them for something truly meritorious.
ReplyDeleteThere are many people who deserve an award, and even tea on the lawns of Buckingham Palace, but then the cronyism that springs to life in the realms of politics and business is rotten. Are we seeing the Tory party use the offices of the parliament to reward through contracts a self serving minority. Who knows, but someone should come along with a broom and sweep the corruption away.
DeleteBrilliant Thelma - just what I hoped you'd say - you always say these things better than I do.
ReplyDeleteThat is not true Pat, you can also nail the subject to the spot when needed.
DeleteI have too much respect for the queen to question much she does, especially not these year end knighthoods.
ReplyDeleteThe knighthoods are only temporary as also being made a Lord in the House of Lords. There are many good people recognised at this time as well of course. The Queen carries the responsibility of ancient laws which she upholds and is therefore respected for that Joanne.
DeleteI always feel as if I shouldn't comment on your politics there. My goodness, it's not as if we don't have our own scandals and corruption here. But...you're right.
ReplyDeleteDebby I have just read a couple of articles in the Guardian on the fate of America, which does not make easy reading, and as Tasker says better to have our Queen than a president ruling.
DeleteI think our attitude to monarchy and it's associated honours and ceremony is telling in its contrast to say our view of 'colonialism' - many aspects of which we rightly condemn and feel ashamed of. The truth is that the history of of our monarchy is full of misdeeds, atrocities, misogyny, putative divine rights, anti-democratic practices... I could easily go on. And yet we celebrate it largely without criticism at all. I'm not saying that is inherently wrong, but it is interesting that we apply such different standards to this aspect of cultural history than almost any other.
ReplyDeleteDivine Right. Both the religious and Crown is how they justify their place in society. In the end the republicans will overcome the royalist I think ;) But all the things you have listed will still go on whoever has the upper hand. We cannot haul the whole of history up and put it on trial, the human race is imperfect.
ReplyDeleteThe Crown is kept at a safe distance by the law, and hopefully law keeps the government in control.