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Article: The royal appendix; Bagehot; Bagehot: The royals and business.(Britain)(surreptitious interview with the Countess of Wessex published in a tabloid)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- April 14, 2001
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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SINCE now is the time for all good Britons to come to the aid of the tourist industry, Bagehot is delighted to use this space to assure would-be foreign visitors that even if this country's rural footpaths remain closed by foot-and-mouth disease, its royal family remains open-wide open-for business. Though it is no longer British practice to drown its princes in butts of malmsey, the royal pageant marches gaudily on. In the language of the Michelin Guide, the spectacle is well worth a detour. This is no mummified monarchy, to be ogled in wax museums. As in Morocco, or Zululand, royalty is a living institution, part of the form if not quite the substance of government, and ...