“Why have a monarchy in this day and age?”
I’d say that’s the Brits problem not ours. European culture may not be what it once was but courtesy is everyone’s problem and the comments here and elsewhere show a distinct lack of.
If one can’t put aside their negativity for a few moments when meeting a head of state then we’re a sorry lot indeed.
Wait a minute. Everyone who was to meet the Queen was perfectly willing and able to be courteous and hospitable to her - unlike when Bush visits other countries, no one here did anything that any one of us common folk would have found the least bit offputting. So why did Buckingham Palace feel the need to send over “protocol advisors” to make sure we treat her as something that she is not in THIS country - our sovereign? So what if President Bush stumbled over his prepared remarks and a phrase came out wrong - he tends to do that. Why did she have that puss on? I submit that WE Americans were very gracious to her and SHE put on airs of superiority and looked down her nose at us. So who is the sorry lot here? I don’t think it’s the Americans she interacted with.
Great Britain would lose 90% of its tourist trade and billions in revenue if they got rid of the monarchy. Tourists love all that pomp and circumstance, changing of the guard, castles, etc.