The Queen of England

Publishers claim that the moment one of the Royal family appears on the front page of their magazine, the sales go up. So what is the fascination with Royals?
I too watched the Queen on Christmas day. I'm not much listening to what she says, that is about the same every year. But I'm trying to have a peak into the
room, at the photo's behind her. In short I'm trying to get a glimpse of her life. After all, they say she is the richest woman on earth. What is her life really like, I ask myself. Not the person we see in hat and gloves, cutting ribbons. That I see as her work. Many people have to dress up for work after all, although not many get cheered by hundreds of folks who hand them bunches of flowers. Does she get up some mornings and sighs:" I wish I could take the day off, sit around in my pajama all day with a cucumber-mask on my face"?

I bet she does, in silence. But she can't take days off, there is a schedule to keep. Taking sick-days is not for her, only for us. I also wonder if she would like to
go shopping, like we do. Just hop in the car, without a mob of photographers following her, and have a browse in the shops. Have a coffee in a lunchroom afterward with a friend. Tell this friend her thoughts, without the fear that it will be published the next day. I do know she had one, the Dutch Queen Juliana, now long dead.

When we want an overseas holiday, we buy the ticket and we simply go. When it's winter we go to sunny places. There we are, clad in tiny bikinis or sexy bathing suites. Not so the Queen. She has to stay in England, in the mist and the rain. And if she is invited to a warm country, she is still fully dressed, with gloves and hat. You also can't emigrate, when you are a Royal. You are stuck in England, whether you like it or not.

And then there were the family-troubles over the years. When things grow over our heads, we can see a nice therapist, who will sort things out for us. What do you do when you are the Queen? I bet she has solved everything herself. I don't envy her, I think it's a tough job. No, I certainly don't have all the money in the world, but I wouldn't trade places with her. I have one thing she doesn't have: Freedom.