Plus, I've totally seen a bunch of members of the royal family!

Now that I have a bit of spare time, I'm finally tackling the backlog on my DVR. Which means that I just got around to watching Monarchy: The Royal Family at Work. (It aired originally in November. My DVR backlog is nothing to my Netflix queue--290 and counting!) It reminded me, not surprisingly, of Windsor Castle: A Royal Year, which premiered not long before Monarchy started filming. One thing I realized was that I could never be a royal, because I am far too lazy. These folks are crazy busy. I imagine it's part of a PR campaign for the monarchy...though, have these aired in Britain, too? Because otherwise, there's no point, other than to satiate Americans' curiousity about the monarchy. In one part of Monarchy, it addresses the anti-monarchy sentiment, and one guy talks about how Americans like the queen, but (paraphrasing) when he asks whether we'd want to take her back with us, we're all, "No! But we like her. It's so quaint!" and Britain isn't "quaint," it's a powerful nation and even spending 60 pence a person per year on the monarchy is too much.

OK, I cop to traveling around England and thinking that towns are cute. (Because they are!) But I don't really think that the monarchy is "quaint." The negative reaction of Americans toward bringing home a queen quite possibly has something to do with our country's history and less about being "quaint." And some of the money being spent on the monarchy is going to be spent even if there is no royalty--there will still be state dinners and stuff that need to be paid for. Plus, there is something to be said for having separate heads of state and heads of government.

What I found particularly interesting was how people reacted to meeting the Queen. A typical interaction would have the Queen ask a few question and the person answer. Afterward, they would invariably say that she seemed incredibly interested. There was even a point where she had dinner, and the chef was all, "She loved it! Enjoyed every bite!" There seems to be quite a bit of projection going on, but at the same time, this is a woman who clearly is very good at her job. It's impressive.

And yes, clearly, I'm pro-monarchy. This is possibly my Anglophilia rearing its head. But still. The entire family came across as very likable, and I can't help but wish good things for them.