Wednesday Diary: The Diamond Queen
Zoe Kalus feels a bit sorry for Chris Huhne and thinks we should skip a generation of the Royal Family.
8 Feb 2012, 08:00
The Official Diamond Jubilee Portrait of HM The Queen
* With just two weeks to go until I start my new job I’m trying as best as I can to have a holiday and ignore the news before I’m back to the grindstone. Saying this however, it was rather hard to ignore Chris Huhne’s resignation last Friday. Plus, we’ve all been waiting so long for something to happen with the story; it would have felt somewhat rude to ignore it. I’m surprised to admit I rather felt sorry for the former Environment Secretary when the time finally came. Yes as a politician he was foolish to let his wife take his driving penalty points on his behalf (if indeed that does prove to be the case) but what a horribly silly reason to end your career. The whole unravelling of events is so embarrassing for both parties, one can’t help but wonder about what their kids think about the whole sorry affair. As much as I feel for Vicky Pryce, surely there could have been another way for her to punish her ex-husband without all this?
* I very much enjoyed Andrew Marr’s jubilee documentary ‘The Diamond Queen’ on Monday night. I watched it grandparents who have grown up with Elizabeth II and unlike myself don’t take her for granted. It made me really realise how incredible she is. She works so very hard and has seen so much. All the former Prime Ministers interviewed by Marr respected her, no matter what politics they held and seemed to really appreciate their weekly meetings with her. I fear Prince Charles wouldn’t be quite as impartial as the Queen. We all know how he feels about organic farming and architecture and I think having such strong views would be dangerous in a monarch. Perhaps, when the time finally comes and we must choose the next Head of State we should skip Charles and give Prince William a try. Then we could really make the most of the Kate and William brand and not worry about King Charles spending the nation’s coffers on organic sausage farms.
* My granddad is an excellent gardener and spends a lot of time tending to his glorious shrubs. He’s also incredibly conscientious about the creatures that visit his garden and he takes particularly good care of the birds. He has five bird feeders from which the winged creatures feast and sitting in the kitchen looking out it’s very entertaining watching them fight over all that grub. Perhaps the feature that differentiates Poppa’s bird facilities most however is his bird bath. Not only is it topped up with fresh water every day but that water is warm. After the snow fell this week the birds were queuing up to prance around in their bubbly bird bath. What lucky birdies they are!
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Zoe Kalus
Zoe Kalus is a freelance broadcast journalist, who works for Sky News & the BBC.
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At the time, of course, Huhne was a much more obscure figure: not even an MP yet, just an MEP nobody had heard of. He'd already had a 3 month driving ban that year: I imagine the second ban would be significantly longer, so at the time he probably felt the risk was worth it.
I certainly hope the succession can somehow skip Charles and Camilla - the alternative would have to be rushing to become a republic. Constitutionally, can he pre-emptively resign his position in the succession?
08/02/2012 21:19On the Huhne thing, it just goes to prove the old adage: it's not the crime that gets you , it's the cover-up. Actually I have no sympathy. If he is found guilty then he will have deliberately chosen, as a law-maker, to avoid the laws to which he would subject others. Whether guilty or innocent, this is a man who ended his marriage with a short announcement during the half time interval of a football match an dthen went to the gym. He is also alleged to have encouraged his own children to perjure themselves so as to cover up his offence. The man is an amoral coward.
Also, sorry to be pedantic but to say "...when the time finally comes and we must choose the next Head of State ..." is either ignorant or lazy. The whole point of the Monarchy is that the Head of State is chosen by the laws of succession, not the people!
09/02/2012 21:36