Senior correspondent Barry Everingham takes a stroll through a royal fantasy world of Australian knighthoods and a British monarch ruling over the United States.
I haven’t wandered into David Flint’s realms of fantasy for a few weeks, so I wondered what’s been grabbing him since William and Cate dropped off the radar.
He’s deep in the heart of knighthoods again — he says New Zealanders are simply ecstatic now the community dividing remnants of colonialism have reared their obnoxious heads after the election of a conservative government across the Tasman.
And it seems William Cumberland has been succeeded in Flint’s mind by our own texting king, Shane Warne.
A London newspaper has reported that Warnie wants a knighthood; citing Bradman, Sobers, Hobbs and Richardson as having got theirs, it says Warnie wants one as well.
Then, the paper quotes Warnie as saying: "Sir Shane Warne – has quite a ring to it, don’t you think”?
David Flint then gets all magisterial — pointing out that for the cricketer’s dream to bear fruit, the knighthood would need to be a “gift of the Queen’s”.
A few things here.
First, if Warne really sees the value of a knighthood, he needs help. A relatively young bloke like him surely isn’t being serious.
Second, the Queen could hand out a gong to an Australian as her personal gift but, being the woman she is and regarding the importance she places on good manners, she would seek the views of Julia Gillard and I can’t imagine this Prime Minister saying “go for it.”
Mind you, Elizabeth II doesn’t need to mention such a move to the Australian Prime Minister, but it’s unlikely she would. The Queen would certainly be aware of Julia’s thoughts on knighthoods and other colonial trappings.
I think the former official secretary to several Governors General, David Smith, was the last Australian to be knighted and that was from the Queen.
I keep reminding Flint when he keeps up a call for the restoration of knighthoods that even arch-monarchist John Howard wouldn’t wear restoring them — so its London to a brick on that Gillard certainly wouldn’t.
But Tony Abbott is another matter; his adoration of the monarchy and all it stands for is sickening – dare I say even un-Australian – another of the many questions Australians need to ponder come the next election.
And while on the subject of the adoration of the monarchy, Flint has lifted a rock in Los Angeles – the home of extreme madness in the USA – and what did he find?
Incredibly enough, its a 29 year-old musician – J. Anthony McAlister – who says he is the president of the “LA Chapter of the International Monarchist League”.
In the world’s greatest republic, that such a chapter exists beggars belief.
Young J. Anthony – an African American – is a rapper of some note, so he can’t be all that crazy — but maybe he’s playing with us, just pretending he’s serious?
I’d love to share with our ever increasing readership what many of the deposed royals think of IML — and one day I just might.
But to put all this into perspective, remember what I have already written about the thoughts of some of the royals without thrones on our continuing ties with the British royals — to put it in the simplest terms, it’s one of total disbelief.
