I've got nothing personal against The Queen - although I've always believed that it would be cheaper to simply pay Disney a royalty and put Mickey Mouse on the stamps (and they would look brighter too !)

The simple fact is that most people on this board have more right to claim the throne of England than she does !

The present "blood line" is broken. Edward IV was the illegitimate son of an Archer - and should never have become King.

At the time when Edward IV was concieved his supposed parents were 200 miles apart so the crown should have gone to Edward's brother, George, Duke of Clarence.

If you then follow the bloodline down you find that the real ruler of England should infact be a Mr Mike Hastings, or King Mike I as he should be known. Mr Hastings moved to Australia in 1960, and has five children. Mr Hastings is a modest farmer who lives in Jerilderie, Victoria, Australia.

There are numerous other "interruptions" in the supposed line of descent too. At one point the NEXT FIFTY direct descendents were over-looked simply because they were Catholic !

Eventually, a Dutchman (William of Orange) was "invited" to invade and take the throne. When that line ran out they turned to their German cousins to form a new line (who then changed their name to Windsor to make it sound a bit less "foreign" and also hide the fact that they were more closely related to the Kaiser than they were to anyone British !

I think that, in the main, they do a terrific job they didn't ask for.

ITK....almost correct. '50 Catholic' point is wrong ....Henry IIX for example; Catholics only started then in the 1500's. Still JK won't know - in another world !

ITK, you are perfectly entitled to your views, on this and any other subject.

But, what really grates on me are your constant personal attacks on individuals who, as a result of whatever kind of circumstances (sometimes totally beyond their own control), find themselves in a position whereby you feel it is appropriate to attack them.

Be it Princes or Prostitutes...

Take Harry & Wills, two lads who have been under the most unimaginable media scrutiny more or less ever since the day they were born. They have seen their mother both canonised and vilified by the media, and then ultimately hounded and killed by them. They were just boys when this happened. They then had to suffer years of subsequent

Pete Clarke wrote:
[quote]
You

Pete, you should take the advice you gave me. Don't even engage this guy. We'd get more sense from a brick.

ITK has said nothing deserving of reproach on this thread.

My views on the Royal family:-
Abolish them? What's the point? We could share all their wealth amongst ourselves and have a few quid each at best.

Revere them? Why? A bunch of in-bred oddities, who enjoy massive privilege through accidents of birth.

They are totally irrelevant in my world, and not really worth an opinion one way or the other, though clearly I have made an exception on this occasion.

We may as well leave them alone to live their odd lifestyles in peace.