'Cause thats just the way it is

Wanted to live a 'normal' life away from monarchy: Edward VIII and his wife, Wallis Simpson.

There are many questions which prompt the answer in this title, but none more so than the historical reasons behind the existence of the monarchy in Britain. A fellow blogger has questioned the need for monarchy, and its relevance to our modern society today. I suppose its the nostalgia for 'Great' Britain, for tradition, for legacy, for quintessential Englishness.

While several Commonwealth countries in recent years have complained about the persistent presence of the Queen in matters of formality, many Americans are fascinated by the idea of monarchy. Is it because Americans yearn for some kind of divine historicity that the artificiality of their democracy cannot replicate? Isn't this what attracts the hoards of tourists to Buckingham Palace every year - the monarchy's empirical claim to power and symbolism of a nation?

What is the point of this man aside from heading a few trusts and foundations?

But as few care to recognize, major public events concerning the Royal Family is a delicate and precise PR exercise. Noone remembers the constitutional crisis when Edward VIII abdicated from the throne, nor does anyone want to acknowledge the fragility of the monarchy after the death of the 'People's Princess' in 1997 - how could the Royal Family be perceived to be compassionate and humane to a woman divorced from the monarchy but with a strong affinity to the public?

So as people celebrate the national holiday of April 29th next year, the thought will come to some about the bizarre and unusual circumstances which have made the survival of the monarchy possible in an age where republican government defines the majority of the leading nations around the world.