April 5, 2014. Sydney, Australia. A Good Book.

Reading this book reminds me yet again of the foolishness of inherited positions. The book is “The Life of Elizabeth”, written by Alison Weir. It is a personal biography of the Queen. I read pages of the negotiations of marriage, all of which result in failure. She would not marry a Catholic, now would she marry a commoner. In addition, as she was the daughter of King Henry V111, she was fearful of any marriage. The 16th Century held many ideas that would not be accewptable today. There was no free speech., nor of religion. The Catholics and the Protestants seemed to hate each other. The Pope declared it legal to kill the Protentant Queen. In order to marry, the so called Royals needed the permission of the Queen. If you married without permission, you could put into the Tower of London. The concept of Devine Right to being the Queen was accepted. And your position in life depended on your interited title, unless the Queen gave you a title. Reading this book reminds us that we have come a long way indeed.. The real question in my mind is why reasonable people spend so much time paying attention to these inherited titles. It is clearly a ridiculous system.