The Royal Family is as relevant today as Mrs. Beeton's book on household management. What the Royals did not understand in the last century, and during Diana's tenure at the palace, and what they fail to understand today, is that they don't matter in a modern world, that they are useless and unnecessary appendages. If they were no more, the United Kingdom would not cease to exist. But everyone needs a fantasy. And traditions are traditions. The Royals live and die by them. That's the first rule of their club. And so it was for Diana, an unhappy woman who wanted a family and a warm embrace. She got a corporation and a handshake instead. In this episode of "Keeping Up Appearances," Prince Philip tells her all about loyalty to "the system," as he calls his beloved family. This is a man who must have understood what it felt like to be unloved, yet who seems to have more horse sense than common sense. He found outlets for his depression over the years married to the boss (driving a horse-drawn carriage is his latest outlet). Perhaps it's his sense of entitlement that makes him think he can handle Diana like the reins of a horse. Sadly, he and everyone in the system cannot comprehend what Diana could, that people matter more than rituals and loyalties, more than appearances. One ongoing ritual in this series finds the royal family always checking to see how they're doing in the morning paper. That's how the Queen managed her life, her entire life. There is something depressing about that. Yes, it's not easy being Queen. Diana quickly knew that job would never be hers; that is, not without shaking up the system.
Review of The System
