Now I come from a very split family on this front - my mom loves anything to do with the Royal Family and my Dad is very anti-Royal and sees them as nothing but a drain on taxpayers money.
So I've often debated the issue in my mind and thought about where I stand on it....
As I've got older, I have to admit - I have found the Royal Family completely fascinating as people.
I love reading about their lives behind the palace doors, and with the odd exception - I find most of them appear to be very likable characters.
I love watching Prince Charles embarrassing-Dad stints dancing around at various events while his sons look on woefully - I love seeing the Queen hoisting herself into Liverpool's Duckmarine boats and wondering what on earth she must be thinking to herself as she's made to do all these weird & wonderful things! I could watch them and read about them for hours....
And while I do understand the concerns that some people have, I personally think it's lovely to be part of a country that has a Royal Family - I enjoy all of the pomp & ceremony that goes along with it, I enjoy celebrating their achievements and occasions and having the eyes of the world on the little old UK as we show them how its done!And I do think that the revenue that's brought in to the country by the Royal Family just being there has to be considered - would there be half as many visitors to our capital without their presence?! I'm not convinced!But all things Royal aside - one thing that seems to be rather "Trendy" at the moment is the "Anti-British" stance.
It seems to me that a lot of people have somehow become rather muddled in their attempts to not be seen as part of a small minority of extremist people who use our flag as their symbol and are out to wreak havoc and violence in the name of "reclaiming Britain for the British".
Now I am not for one moment saying that I support the viewpoint or actions of those people - but it bothers me beyond words that it is now considered somehow racist to use the image of the Union Jack or St Georges Flag anywhere - with police asking people to remove them from their cars and house windows even during football tournaments where they are commonly used for the innocent purpose of showing support for a football team.
It seems that it is no longer acceptable for anybody to state that they are Proud To Be British without being accused of being racist, and that really does bug the hell out of me.
Yes Britain has its problems, many of them - but there are far worse countries that we could all have been born into and I for one am extremely thankfully to have been born here - and I AM truly proud to be British.
