British TV over Christmas

From the BBC website, Christmas TV viewing figures.

I am not a royalist at heart but cannot think of a president who would do as well as our current queen. At 90 years old she does a remarkable job. Her husband Philip is 95! Charles will have a hard act to follow.

1. The Queen at 3pm - BBC One and ITV - 7.7m
2. Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special - BBC One - 7.2m
3. The Great Christmas Bake Off - BBC One - 6.3m
4. Mrs Brown's Boys Christmas Special - BBC One - 6.1m
5. Call The Midwife - BBC One - 6.1m
6. EastEnders - BBC One - 5.9m
7. Coronation Street - ITV - 5.8m (not including ITV +1)
8. Doctor Who - BBC One - 5.7m
9. Frozen - BBC One - 4.7m
10. Emmerdale - ITV - 4.2m

The UK Queen at 90

Although not a royalist, I think the UK queen has done very well over her long reign. The very survival of the institute of monarchy is in no small part due to her. The money that royalty brings in must more than make up for the expense of the royal household.

Ours is a constitutional monarchy: although the queen has weekly discussions with the Prime Minister of the day, she in no way influences the day-to-day running of the nation. She does open Parliamentary sessions in her "official" capacity as head of state (The State Opening of Parliament)

I cannot imagine us as a republic with a president. We are lacking people that we could all look up to and respect. Somehow I cannot imagine the monarchy after Elizabeth dies. It is bound to happen sooner rather than later. Will we still have a monarchy 50 years from now?

Egypt's disgrace?

A replica of a world famous statue of Queen Nefertiti of Egypt has (rightly) caused outcry. The locals think it  is amateurist and downright ugly.  Even I could have done better. The statue has now been removed. I hope they manage to replace it with something decent.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-33411219 .