The Divided House of Windsor

It does not matter which side you are on or what is your interpretation of events  either side of the Atlantic. Somehow the House of Windsor has allowed its internal divisions, rows, jealousies and archaic protocols  to erupt into a world class brawl. It has divided opinion all across the world. More especially it has divided opinion within the United Kingdom, which is the opposite of its core mission.

It was Abraham Lincoln who famously declared that a house divided against itself cannot stand. He was of course talking about the USA in the 1850s.  But it is true of most houses and very true of Royal Houses. This is an existential moment for the Windsor dynasty. If it does not in short order get a grip, it will fall. Not now or next week and not while the Queen is alive.

Remember we have had the Saxons, Normans, Plantagenets, Tudors, Stuarts, Hanovers and what became the House of Windsor. The monarchy could certainly survive another transition to a new beginning. Maybe the House of Spencer, in memory of Diana.  William and Kate as the first King and Queen. British, stripped of excess and hangers on, with a clear Constitutional platform as Head of State, with responsibilities, powers and limitations. The rest could scatter to the four winds, like the multitude of other European royals whose time was called.

And Charles? It will be on his head that responsibility for the mess will be poured when his mother is gone. Which is unsurprising, as much, though not all of it, is of his own making. Nobody envies him. For  over seven decades he has been in waiting for the crown which now looks, more than ever, ready to pass him by. All is not lost quite yet, but very nearly.

History in the making for sure. But what sort of history depends on the qualities and perceptions of those making it.