We should be paying close attention to how Brexit is playing out in the UK and the role of its Head of State, also ours. There’s not much to see as the Queen has been mislead by the Prime Minister over proroguing Parliament and was clearly piqued by the election manifesto that she was required to read out in her speech at the opening of the new parliamentary session on 14 October. For this, she chose full regalia including the George V coronet, the most obvious symbol of the Crown other than the Koh i Noor crown of state worn at the coronation. This is in contrast to her choice of daytime dress for similar events in recent years including the famous Europe blue coat and hat for the 2017 opening of Parliament. It would be interesting to know if the full regalia was requested by the Prime Minister or selected by the Palace. Catherine Bennett, writing in The Observer, describes the Crown, after recent events, as increasingly hollow and having no role at all. Read on link below. [“The Queen might be admired, but the crown has seldom seemed so empty” by Catherine Bennett, The Guardian online, 14 October 2019]
Woman for an Australian Republic, Adelaide Ironside, republican poet and artist 1831-1867
Self portrait 1855, Newcastle Art Gallery NSW
