Day two in Greece

Zante, or Zakinthos to those in Greece has been amazing. Saying that, other than me taking a short walk down the road, we have not left the hotel. We woke late for breakfast, had a swim in the pool outside out room and while my wife had what she later called the best massage of her life, I watched parts of the Royal Funeral while taking breaks for a swim as well as a walk around the grounds of the hotel. 

My wife is still affected by her knee and swimming, while normally a good exercise for someone with joint issues, appeared to set off her knee. 

Lunch was great, I actually had some wine (I normally do not drink until the evening) but dinner was amazing. The hotel has a guest chef in for two nights, tonight being his last night, and he was amazing. This meal means that this is in the top ten of dinner locations that we have been to. Sadly he will not be here tomorrow, but the meal of today would be a hard act to follow.

My guilt at leaving the kids behind is still present, but not as much as before. I am not sure that they would appreciate it here, and while I know that there is stress for them back in the UK, it is nice not to have to deal with it directly myself,

In a way we’re ALL in a massive queue leading to a coffin

Today is a historic day with the funeral of The Queen taking place. I am not sure if my wife and I will be watching history as it happens, being on holiday, but leaders from across the globe have come to pay respects at her funeral.

I am in favour of The Monarchy, not because I consider them to be better than me (I do not do so BTW), but I prefer them to be Head of State. The option of an elected head of state has no appeal for me. In 2019, the Brexit party got the highest percentage of votes in the European Elections which are, or were, our only elections held under Proportional Representation which meant that Nigel Farage won it. In 2014, Brexit supporting parties won over 50% of the vote (a combination of UKIP, the Conservatives and the DUP equalling 50.5% of the vote, Nigel Farage getting the most votes again. If those elections had been for Head of State, we would have had Nigel Farage in office since 2014. The role is essentially ceremonial, The Monarch in essence doing what they are told, keeping their views private. King Charles, when Prince Of Wales, was outspoken on environmental issues, campaigning for this when it was not a big issue for the political mainstream (i.e. before the electoral performance  of The Green Party in the 1989 European Elections). In addition to this, he has reportedly spoken out in private about being against the deportation of refugees and migrants to Rwanda, a policy that would have seen Paddington being sent to the jungles of deepest Africa and Jesus being housed in an inn in Kigali for fleeing The Massacre Of The Innocents. Now, as head of state, he is going to have to appear to speak in favour of policies that will probably increase our contribution to global warming and may include even more radical proposals on deportation. Nigel Farage, in such a position would have a more prominent platform to spread his lies designed to stir up hatred and division in our multicultural nation.

The fact that so many have come to the funeral is a sign of how Britain is viewed and respected across the globe, Biden is risking death to do so by having to meet Liz Truss (though this has been postponed).  Few have sent representatives other than the head of state. 

I am not ashamed to have a Royal Family. I do understand the anger of republicans that so much money is spent on them when so many are facing a cost of living crisis, and it has been pointed out that the Dutch Royal family are housing Ukrainian refugees while ours are not.

What I am ashamed about when it comes to the Royal Family is the double standards shown (again). The Duchess of Sussex held the hand of her grieving husband and faced a backlash from many about this. I suspect that those who felt that she was wrong to do this will not speak out when other wives do the same on official visits to our nation. It just so happens that those couples are not mixed race and both are white.