We Celebrate the Royal Family Because it Symbolises Our Liberty

[cinrit]

'Félicitations, monsieur!" boomed my normally morose Brussels newsagent.

Eh? What had I done? "The baby, the prince: you must be delighted!"  Oh, rather, yes, quite. Decent of you to mention it: très gentil.

He beamed at me all the way out of his shop. The birth was almost as big an event in the Belgian media as in our own and, like many Bruxellois, the newsagent believed that a little smudge of the happiness that must adhere to every Briton had rubbed off on him through our exchange.

The night before, within an hour of the prince's arrival being announced, an American news channel had interviewed me. The universal assumption – from the studio presenter to the sound engineer who tested the volume – was that I had surely stepped away from a street party, to which I'd return, pint in hand, the moment the interview was over.

Ask a friend overseas what he or she associates with Britain and the chances are that the monarchy will come up within seconds. The Crown defines our brand, in the sense that it is thought to say something about the rest of us. Foreign coverage over the past week has been less about the baby than about the way the British are perceived: as traditional, formal, hierarchical, tied to ancient institutions.

We celebrate the Royal family because it symbolises our liberty - Telegraph

Cindy

[Limabeany]

 :shrug: Ok... :hmm: