Rare Glimpse of Royal Life,......Obama's royal visit, Face time with queen,........a Brexit disaster, David Cameron could avoid
Who knew that Queen Elizabeth II,
one of the most photographed women in the world, was an avid
photographer herself? The queen was given a home movie camera as a young
girl and ever since has been taking photos and home movies of her
family and life.
That is just one detail of the royal family revealed in the new BBC documentary, "Elizabeth at 90: A Family Tribute." Queen Elizabeth Celebrates 90th Birthday With Gun Salute, Cheering Crowds
President Obama Has Lunch With Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle
While the British people celebrated Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth's 90th birthday Thursday, she gave a gift to them with the peek inside her home movie collection. Even members of the royal family watched the films for the first time during the documentary.
"The whole collection provides a wonderful insight into mama's long life," said Prince Charles, who narrates the documentary and sat down with the queen to reminisce about her life on film.
The queen's grandsons, Prince William and Prince Harry, watched in awe of the queen's 1953 coronation.
"God, she's stunning. She's beautiful," Prince William exclaimed.
"Those jewels sparkling, wow," Prince Harry marveled.
The never-before-seen footage of the royal family also includes scenes of the royal family at the beach, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip playing with their children on a wagon, the queen speaking about her late father, King George, and even movies of a young Princess Elizabeth.
"Look how good looking grandpa is there. He’s an absolute stud. Those glasses, slicked back hair," Harry remarked as he watched video of Philip playing with a young Charles in the garden.
William reflected in the documentary on his grandparents' loving marriage.
"I hope Catherine and I have the same sort of future ahead of us where we can be as happily married as they are for 68 years," he said.
William and Harry shared a bittersweet moment while watching their late mother, Princess Diana, at Harry's 1984 christening.
"Mummy looks great in blue but I'm still not convinced about that dress I'm in," Harry joked to William. "Do you remember your little brother being born?"
William teased his brother, saying, "I must have been 2. It's hard to see if you are a boy or a girl in that dress."
"Thank you for that," Prince Harry laughed.
The queen was also seen in the BBC documentary reminiscing with her son and successor, Prince Charles, about her long life.
"Do you remember doing this," she asked Charles while watching films of a beach holiday.
"Yes, vividly," Charles replied. "Always such fun playing hide-and-seek in the..."
"In the dunes," the queen added, finishing Charles' sentence.
Prince William spoke to the poignant memories and love between the Windsor family.
"She has just been the most incredible grandmother to me," he said of Queen Elizabeth. "I wish her a very, very happy birthday. I hope she knows how dear and fond everyone is of her."
The queen
marked her 90th birthday Thursday by greeting fans outside of Windsor
Castle and later celebrating with family and friends at a private
dinner. Her majesty's busy schedule continued today as she and Philip
welcomed First Lady Michelle Obama and President Obama as guests at Windsor Castle for a private lunch.
World
Obama's royal visit, Face time with queen
Chicago Tribune 9 hours agoa Brexit disaster, David Cameron could avoid
Jonathan Story,Quartz 13 hours ago
US president Barack Obama has touched down in London.
He is presumably going to use his visit to tell prime minister David
Cameron why it is in the best interests of both the US and the West for the UK to stay in the European Union.The problem is that the EU has fallen out of favor many of its most ardent supporters: Martin Schulz, president of the European Parliament, recently described the EU as a “Frankenstein,” sucking democracy out of the member states.
What Schulz wants is a fully-fledged United States of Europe. He wants the dividing of power between executive, legislature, and judiciary branches. He wants one sovereign federation, with a large internal market, a single currency, a charter of fundamental rights, and a single defense policy.
Obama is unlikely to make this particular case to Cameron. The debate is far too contentious at the moment, across the EU. Voters remain overwhelmingly loyal to their own constitutional states; they do not want “more Europe.”
They may get it, nonetheless. Brussels has a habit of asking countries to vote until they give the right answer, sacking governments who disagree with it, all the while lecturing member states about democracy and human rights. The latest example is the Dutch vote against the EU-Ukrainian association agreement, which will go ahead regardless.
The “special relationship”
Obama is much too canny to wade in too deep. He knows very well that the EU is far from popular in Europe and has ambitions far beyond its reach. Obama is much more likely to make his case using historical precedents. After two US military interventions in Europe’s wars, the US has a vital interest in the European project, just as it does in Japan’s future, and the prosperity of Southeast Asia. A rising China and an unpredictable Russia are challenging enough. Few will benefit if the UK is allowed to create further disunion in Europe.The official UK position on the EU is in more agreement with Schulz. In the 1972 Act of Accession, the conservative government of the time signed up to a supranational vision of Europe’s future. A European union would be the second pillar of a strengthened Atlantic alliance. This is still Whitehall’s position.
Echoes of 1776
There is a problem, though. Whitehall has never managed to sell its European vision to a skeptical public. The centuries-old UK tradition is to vote the rascals in who make the laws, and kick them out if they do not match expectations. They frequently do not.This popular frustration has lead to the high rate of political turnover. Political parties run the country for a while, but soon enough the electorate sends them packing. The problem with this system, at least from a civilian perspective, is that Brussels is the source of growing volumes of laws, which the UK electorate cannot sanction. The EU is an unelected dictatorship.
Not surprisingly, the British Social Attitudes Survey of 2014 records that only 15% of the UK public backs the Whitehall/Schulz view. In the survey, 25% of respondents want to leave, 15% want EU powers to stay the same, and 38% want the EU’s powers to be reduced. At best, it seems Brits are ready to accept a minimalist EU. And they certainly don’t want to be part of anything they don’t have control over.
Obama’s dilemma
Presumably, president Obama has already recognized this problem. After all, concerns over representation inspired the American colonists in 1776. This puts Obama in a tight spot. He must continue to advocate for what has been a central plank of US foreign policy since the days of Harry Truman. For all the talk of the US “pivot” towards Asia, Europe remains vital to the US world position.On the other hand, if Obama openly endorses the Schulz/Whitehall vision of a supranational Europe, he is in effect telling the UK electorate that their concerns about representation don’t really matter and they may have to live with a neutered parliament. This is an impossible demand to make of a country. No friendly ally could ever possibly propose that a country abandon its sovereignty for the benefit of the alliance.
I doubt very much that the US president would advocate such a thing. What he can say, however, is that the EU must be founded on the constitutional states of Europe in order to be sustainable.
The best-case scenario
This compromise may have a chance if two things happen. The first is the death of Schulz’ dreams of a European great power, centered in Berlin and Brussels. The other is that Cameron must find a way to rewrite the 1972 Accession Act. References to the EU as a supranational body should be substituted for a reassertion of UK sovereignty.The UK could then stay in the EU, but with clear discretionary powers to analyze, amend, and reject any proposal emanating from the EU institutions. We’re not talking about automatic rejection, of course. There would simply need to be a mechanism allowing the UK to reserve the right to make its own laws—while listening to good ideas, wherever they may come from.
If this all sounds a little too good to be true, that’s probably because right now, it is. Schulz won’t bury his dream, and Cameron won’t have the 1972 Act revised. Apparently, the prime minister does not want to win a massive majority in the referendum.
If the prime minister were to change his mind, he would pave the way for the a landslide victory while cementing the UK’s status as a champion of a Europe of cooperating states—and a key player in the US global alliance system. Ultimately, the June 23 referendum is Cameron’s to lose.
An edited version of this piece originally appeared on the INSEAD blog. We welcome your comments at ideas@qz.com.
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