Prince Edward Down Under

Australia is to play host to yet another Royal fop. Prince Edward, the third son and fourth offspring of Queen Elizabeth II is to do us colonials the honour of landing on our shores. To do what, you may ask.

It seems that Ed is to grace us with his presence for a couple of days in order to present a few awards to some worthy young people, have tea with the Governor General, then issue a few more awards. And who is footing the bill for this little jaunt? The Australian taxpayer of course. I do not have an official estimate of just how much this is going to cost but judging by previous royal visits there won't be much change from $100,000.

Surely we have our own dignitaries that are capable of giving out a few awards and having tiffin with the GG. I reckon Dame Edna Everage would be more than happy to do the honours and at a fraction of the cost. We may even be able to coax Norman Gunstan "The Little Aussie Bleeder" out of retirement for such an occasion.

So why do we need to bring the 7th in line to the English throne to our shores on such occasions. Perhaps our illustrious leaders are still feeling the need to repay our Paul's little indiscretion back in 1992, when he had the temerity to touch the royal back. Maybe the royalist lobby, which is quite strong in this country, need to show our link to the Monarchy is strong and healthy by having this royal personage here. I do not know the reason and to be honest I don't particularly care, all I know is he is coming, my taxes are paying for him to come (it is my choice to continue paying tax even though I am retired) and I have no say in the matter.