There was a minor international gasp!!! this week when the Michelle Obama touched the Queen this week. This was seen as a break of traditional protocol when dealing with the monarchy. This protocol includes that you are only allowed to touch her hand when she reaches out her hand first…and the touch cannot be a hand shake…it has to be very gentle. Some stories have traced this tradition to the fact that the Queen is technically in the position of the defender of the faith as the head of the Church of England. In the past, this position was thought to come with powers of healing, so you could not touch her…she could only touch you.
Whatever the reason is, it only drives home the reality of a bloodline monarchy. It truly offends my sense of democracy and the ideal that all people should be treated as being born equal. I do not think I could grow up in a country with a monarchy…I think it would be very frustrating…
5 April 2009 at 1:07 pm
Watch out. You might upset the Canadians, as long as they have the queen’s permission, of course. As messed up as royalty is, the relationship of Canada and the Queen is still worse. In what century do we live?
5 April 2009 at 5:51 pm
There are so many things about the Commonwealth that I do not understand. Like why is the Queen’s husband a prince? If I married the Queen, and people did not call me King I would be pissed. Plus it sounds a little like she married her son. How about why is the Prime Minister of England better than the Prime Minister of Scotland? Why do Canada and Australia still want to be part of the Commonwealth? Why do they continue to eat that dreadful food? So many questions…