Around Our Sceptered Isle

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Though growing up very much into the regal roles for which they were born, the royal brothers have lively, individual personalities. It is nice to know the Queen has a good sense of humor. After all, many of us would lack the moxie to play a practical joke on our grandmother, queen or no queen.[/caption]

PRANKING PRINCES AMUSE GRANDMUM

A PRESS REPORT PASSED ON that Prince William and Prince Harry apparently recorded a fake message on the answering machine of their grandmother. They were asked to help with the machine after the Queen was baffled by the technology, and recorded the message: “Hey wassup! This is Liz. Sorry I’m away from the throne. For a hotline to Philip, press one. For Charles, press two. And for the corgis, press three.”
The Queen saw the humor in the prank while thinking about who could have heard the message. Apparently Queen Elizabeth’s private secretary was not so amused. The Daily Star reports that he almost fell out of his chair when he heard the message.

BOOKS WE CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT

ONCE AGAIN, THE BRITISH public has been surveyed. A new poll conducted in conjunction with World Book Day has produced a list of the top 100 books in the collective conclusion of the British people. Granted, the British are partial to polling the proletariat in the making of lists. Perhaps the propensity reflects a deep social desire to find a comforting consensus in these fractured times. Still, the results are always interesting.
Herewith are the top 10 titles of Books We Can’t Live Without:

Pride and Prejudice—Jane Austen
The Lord of the Rings—J.R.R. Tolkien
Jane Eyre—Charlotte Bronte
Harry Potter series—J.K. Rowling
To Kill a Mocking Bird—Harper Lee The Bible
Wuthering Heights—Emily Bronte
Nineteen Eighty-Four—George Orwell
His Dark Materials—Philip Pullman
Great Expectations—Charles Dickens

Shakespeare rates farther down (right after Joseph Heller), but I was delighted to see John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces made the list. Three of Thomas Hardy’s elegant Wessex novels represent Dorchester’s favorite son. While any number of irreverent editorial comments comes to mind, I will suffice it to question how many people have actually read the books they nominated.

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The rules were changed to allow Lady Thatcher to be honored with a bronze statue raised in the House of Commons during her lifetime.[/caption]

BRONZE FOR THE IRON LADY

Baroness Margaret Thatcher becomes the first living former prime minister to be honored with a statue in the House of Commons. The 7-foot-6-inch bronze sculpture, in the members’ lobby, shows Britain’s first female PM in a political pose, stabbing her finger in the air to punctuate a debating point. Ironically, she stands opposite her own political hero, Winston Churchill.
Traditionally, statues of former prime ministers could only be raised five years after their death. The rules were changed (with some controversy, of course) to allow Lady Thatcher to be so honored during her lifetime. Lady Thatcher, 81, who has been in failing health for several years, attended the unveiling this past February 21.

UPROAR OVER REFORM OF THE LORDS

Reforming the makeup and function of the House of Lords has been an ongoing commitment by the present Labour Government. It was not without much wailing and gnashing of teeth that it succeeded in a monumental first round of reform during the euphoria of Tony Blair’s first term in office. During that realignment of “peers,” all but 92 of the hereditary peerages—marquesses, earls and such—were abolished and disenfranchised from their seats in the upper chamber of Parliament. Some few senior Anglican bishops and Law Lords retained their traditional seats, but the vast majority of the current membership of 747 are life peers created by the British Honours system.
Now, before the fuel runs completely out of Blair’s fire and Gordon Brown (presumably) has to defend Labour in the next general election, the Government would like to finish the job. Commons Leader Jack Straw issued a White Paper calling for MPs to vote on various reform options detailing changing percentages of elected and appointed “peers” to constitute a new upper House of Parliament. The fly in the proverbial ointment was that Straw’s proposal did not give the legislators an option of voting “No.” MPs would vote on seven options for reform, ranking their choices. The least popular option would be eliminated and its second preferences redistributed until one option received a majority.
Both Labour MPs and the Tories reacted vigorously against what was rightly perceived as setting a dangerous constitutional precedent. A Tory spokesman described the proposal as a “constitutional abomination. This is not an issue about reform of the House of Lords, it is about setting a precedent for the voting system in both Houses of Parliament.”
The Government’s proposal was an attempt to end years of deadlock over the issue. Besides the furor now unleashed over the voting practice, many critics object to the idea of parliamentarians being appointed in any number, as it is the political parties themselves that would do the appointing.
Unlike the American structure of government, which was purpose-built, the British Parliament has evolved over many centuries. History shows us time and again that the institution’s reforms have come through long and often acrimonious campaigns. It should hardly surprise us that this present rebirthing of the British Constitution is a difficult labor.
As it happens, the uproar unleashed caused the Commons Leader to change his mind. In a free vote, MPs were left to vote yea or nay on nine different proposals. After rejecting most of them, the proposal winning the strongest support favors an all-elected upper house. Now the House of Lords will discuss the matter. Hmm.

BRITISH HERITAGE ON THE WEB

Yes, you can access a wealth of British Heritage online at www.historynet.com/magazines/british_heritage.
In fact, the History Net at www.historynet.com is a marvelous resource for British Heritage readers. On our own British Heritage pages, you’ll find an archive of articles from issues over the past few years. More broadly, from the History Net’s home page, easy dropdown menus lead to a treasure trove of indexed articles from the pages of all 10 magazines of the Weider History Group, including American History, Wild West, Civil War Times, Military History, World War II and Aviation History.
And…if you somehow missed an issue of British Heritage, you can always complete your set with back issues available on our Web site at www.historynet.com or by calling 1-800-358-6327.

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CHepstow Castle[/caption]

OUT OF THE BRITISH HERITAGE POST

Judith Berry of North Augusta, S.C., wrote to share her memories of travel to Battle and Cornwall that British Heritage inspired and her enthusiasm for the magazine: “I received a subscription to your magazine this past Christmas from friends…and you can be sure I will be renewing it when the time comes.” Thank you for the kind comments, Judith. You provide a good reminder that a subscription to British Heritage can be a much-appreciated gift for any occasion.
Christian Kirkpatrick, who wrote our story on the Burns Suppers in the last issue, followed up on her own story: “Thanks to you, my husband and I attended a Burns Supper last Saturday. The American I quoted for the article asked us to come to his organization’s supper as his guest. It was a blast. There was music, dancing, kilts as far as the eye could see, and of course haggis. That wasn’t bad, but this Southerner thought the dish could have used a generous dash of Tabasco.”
When a reader described himself as “not even Scotch” in our last issue, Robin Reid could not resist a gentle reminder: “Of course not, sassenach! The only thing that is Scotch is Whisky—without the ‘e’. Everything else pertaining to Scotland is either Scots or Scottish.” Joan Crook of Bumpass, Va., wrote with the same just complaint.
Jim Daniel wants to remind us that any reference to Jamestown as the first English settlement in the New World must be qualified. The Jamestown boys built the first permanent colony, but there had been several previous attempts—most famously Roanoke Island. Of course, the Spanish had already been hanging around St. Augustine for a couple of generations.

HONORING CHILDREN WITH THE DIANA AWARD

An independent charity now known as the Diana Award has been launched with the support of the Spencer family and the House of Windsor. It proposes to raise £1 million a year to further the Princess’ work with young children. In addition to funding an anti-bullying campaign in British schools, the foundation will honor schoolchildren between 12 and 18 whose lives inspire others in their community and classrooms.
The original Princess Diana Memorial Award, founded in 1999 and funded by government grants, has been awarded to more than 16,000 youth leaders, children who have overcome disabilities, caregivers and volunteer youth workers. The new, independent charity will carry on this work.
Chancellor Gordon Brown, who chairs the Diana Memorial Committee, said: “The Diana Award celebrates the fantastic achievements of ordinary people who do extraordinary things. Through their activities they display the values that we should all aspire to: valor, compassion, imagination, teamwork and sacrifice. Even 10 years on from Princess Diana’s tragic death, her memory continues to inspire young people to devote their time and energy—as Diana did—to helping others in their communities.”

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Regular British Heritage feature writer Siân Ellis (“How to Plant an English Cottage Garden”) took a weekend away from the keyboard to go hawking on Dartmoor—a long way from the cottage garden.[/caption]

AND JUST IN PASSING…

Congratulations to the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., on its 75th anniversary. Throughout the year, the Folger has a continuing program of events in celebration of this auspicious occasion. You can find out all about it at www.folger.edu. British Heritage profiled the great Folger in our “Hands Across the Sea” series last year (see March 2006). We are delighted to salute the Folger on the occasion of a bell-ringing anniversary. Long live the Bard and his friends!
Seren Cymru a’r byd reads the plaque recently unveiled in Pontrhydyfen, the Welsh village where Richard Burton was born. The marble memorial was dedicated at Jerusalem chapel on what would have been the actor’s 81st birthday. In English, the inscription would read “star of Wales and the world.”
Those bagpipes are noisy. A Highland pipe band, the Wick Royal British Legion Pipe Band, was given a health warning after an audiologist determined they were making more racket than a jet engine. The pipes were recorded at 108 decibels. Snare drums topped the charts, though, with a whooping 122 decibels. Safety laws provide for some intervention with decibel levels in excess of 90. The 40 members of the Wick band have been advised to buy earplugs.

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