Debunking "Progress"

Traditional conservatives William S. Lind (unusual in American right-wing circles for his endearingly idiosyncratic affection for Kaiser Wilhelm II) and William S. Piper propose an alternative narrative of Western history, which includes many points likely to appeal to monarchists, including the proposition that the French Revolution and the fall of the Russian, German, and Austro-Hungarian empires must be regarded as tragedies.

Prince Philip at 90: Videos

Two excellent recent documentaries on the Duke of Edinburgh to mark his 90th birthday, including rare footage of his early life, are now available online: Prince Philip at 90 (Part 2) and The Duke (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6) (Part 7) (Part 8).

Guest Blogger: Choristers and the Royal Wedding

My friend Grayston Burgess of the Campaign for the Traditional Cathedral Choir to which I belong sent me his thoughts on one aspect of the recent royal wedding. As it's germane to the topic of this blog and I fully agree with him, I'm happy to publish it here.

THE LAST TRADITIONAL ROYAL WEDDING MUSIC?

Like the vast majority of the population I like to take Saturday mornings at a nice easy pace; in fact so easy that I try not to wake up until 9 o'clock at the earliest. I have to tell you that I fail every time to meet my target even though I refuse to open my eyes when I put the radio on in the early hours in the hope that the drone of the morning Overseas News Service and Weather Forecast will send me straight back to sleep again. From then on it's a toss -up whether I snooze, meditate, ruminate or contemplate.

On this particular Saturday I was thinking about the recent Royal Wedding, its colour, its pageantry, its beauty, the crowds, the music – ah the music! Having been Head Chorister at Canterbury and eventually going from there into the profession (indeed I had been a member of Westminster Abbey Choir itself), I have played my part in previous Royal occasions. Like those young choristers I was brought up to perform to high standards of discipline and technique, and was thus able to appreciate the hard work that must have gone into their performance whilst not forgetting the influence of the Master of the Choristers James O'Donnell. With their clear voices still ringing in my memory my subconscious took over and I was suddenly very much awake - “what a stupid thing to say” I declared out loud, opened my eyes and sat up in bed.

I was referring to a piece I had read about the Royal Wedding which rightly praised the wonderful choirs of men and boys of Westminster Abbey and the Chapel Royal but then added “It's probably time for the Monarchy to rectify this ancient bias, perhaps by inaugurating a parallel girls choir”. The next day a different writer added “O what a pity....things would have been even better with female singers”!!

With my background you would hardly have expected me to go along with that kind of thinking, but I have never seen such a deliberate dollop of insane political correctness and frustrated feminism! Most of us are fed up with political correctness just about as much as with some of the the ridiculous Health and Safety rulings which spoil so much of the fun and challenges in our lives, particularly those of our young children.

It is the same political correctness that insists that whatever boys do, girls must do the same, and that a male institution must have its female equivalent however unsuitable that may be. Of course we are all agreed that girls should sing as often as possible, and let us hope the present interest in Choral singing and singing in small ensembles becomes an educational and cultural requirement for all.

However, let us also remember that the sound of a boy's voice is different from a girl's, lasting a mere 5/6 years, before developing into a Counter-tenor, Tenor or Bass. Whereas a girl's voice lasts well into maturity. There is real concern that by mixing the voices of boys and girls, the unique sound of the boy's voice will be lost. Moreover, since we are also denying girls the possibility of developing their own particular style, we are in danger of reaching a creative stalemate.

We should not underestimate the benefits of creative stimulus at an early age and the positive influence that this has in later life. The tragedy is that the opportunity for building lasting self-esteem is being denied to many disaffected young people in our society. The good news is that the potential for artistic and creative success is not merely a bolt-on for those with money and privilege. There are countless musicians, artists, writers and sportsmen and women for whom social disadvantage has not been a handicap. But at some time or another these people will have been inspired to pursue their own particular excellence by their teachers or role models.

The boy chorister is no exception. He is uniquely placed to carry forward a long and distinguished tradition into 21^stcentury Britain. He is making and enjoying music – often to very exacting standards – with boys of his own age, whilst at the same time being part of an adult world. We must not deprive him of the opportunity to scale his particular heights, or the evocative “Once in Royal David's City” and “Oh for the wings of a Dove” will be lost for ever.

Trooping the Colour

Today is Her Majesty's official birthday, marked by the annual Trooping the Colour parade, of which the Mail has great pictures and the BBC has great video. This is the sort of spectacle that makes Britain truly Great, even with all the problems of the 21st century. I never fail to be moved and impressed by the greatest pageantry on earth; no one does it like the British, and I wish the UK were my country. Given that I live in the US however, I regret that I could not be present in Los Angeles last night for the LA monarchists' Grand Birthday Celebration; I'm sure it too was a splendid event.

Prince Philip at 90

HRH the Duke of Edinburgh, long one of my favourite members of the British Royal Family due in part to his refreshing lack of deference to the plague of political correctness that suffocates most public discourse today, turned 90 today. Amusing as his so-called "gaffes" are, however, what's more important is his lifetime of service to the monarchy and his country, to which many commentators including Peter Oborne, Tom Utley, and Ed West have paid tribute. As the oldest and longest-serving consort in British history, the Queen's husband has surely earned the right to finally "wind down," as he said he would in a recent interview. I hope Prince Philip enjoys many more years in which to finally relax a bit, and congratulate HRH on his milestone birthday and his richly deserved new honour of Lord High Admiral. Additionally, the Canadian government has appointed HRH an honorary admiral and general in Her Majesty’s Canadian Armed Forces.

The Duke has been a fixture in British public life for so long (since his engagement to then-Princess Elizabeth in July 1947) that many people probably do not realize that he was born a member of the Greek royal family, the youngest child and only son of Prince Andrew of Greece (1882-1944) and Princess Alice of Battenberg (1885-1969). At Andrew & Alice's 1903 wedding the guests included her aunt and uncle Empress Alexandra and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, providing a startlingly close connection between present British and long-gone Russian royalty. Contrary to the stereotype of royalty having "privileged" childhoods, Prince Philip had to be smuggled out of Greece in an orange crate as a baby due to political instability affecting his father and grew up moving from place to place relying on various relatives without a true home of his own, his parents estranged and his mother suffering from deafness and mental illness. Being born a Prince of Greece in the 20th century was no guarantee of safety, let alone privilege, but as a member of first the Royal Navy and then the British royal family Prince Philip has made his own mark on the world, to the benefit of countless people affected by the causes he's championed.

Encouraging Signs?

Restorationist monarchists don't often have cause for optimism (especially when even generally popular and stable existing monarchies like Sweden's are currently having a rough time). Yet recent articles report growing support for restoration of monarchies in both Serbia and Libya. Could one or both of these nations enjoy the Return of the King in the not too distant future? Let's hope so; a restoration anywhere in the second decade of the 21st century would do wonders for the monarchist cause worldwide, proving that monarchy does not belong only to the past but also to the future, and even providing cause for hope that this century might be an improvement upon its horrid predecessor.

Choirs and the Crown

Earlier this year I agreed to donate a lecture on the British Monarchy for the Church of the Incarnation Chancel Choir's fundraising auction. My friend Ann Peak, also a member of the choir, bid on the item and won it; we agreed to narrow down the topic to the relationship between the Monarchy and the Anglican Choral Tradition. On May 23, she hosted my lecture at her mother's house for an appreciative group of friends. A complete transcript is available at my website, which I hope readers will enjoy.