The Jubilee - A Repub's View.

I once remember walking past the main entrance of London Zoo at Regents Park one afternoon. There were two entrances, the main public gate and a separate one, the Very Important Person or VIP gate. And so, I recall this as we here in the UK are about to celebrate Her Majesty's Platinum Jubilee, marking seventy years on the throne, the longest reign for any monarch in British history.

Meerkats at London Zoo.

Page after page of the right-wing Daily Mail newspaper is splashed with every paraphernalia under the sun about the coming celebrations. The nation is rubbing its hands with excitement, people are preparing for the break from the office, and schools have broken up for the half-term holiday to coincide with the Jubilee. Also, it's now much easier to find a small drawing pin in a giant haystack than to spot a youngster proudly dressed in his school uniform during the holiday break.

I suppose those who believe in Evolution - which, by the way, is the worldview of the vast majority of the British population - are behaving similarly to our cousins, the primates, of which we're supposed to be members. After all, the ape and all its different species have a pecking order when it comes to feeding - with the largest and the strongest taking priority over the choicest portions while the lesser ones have to wait and then be satisfied with what's left. And doesn't that apply to the majority of mammals, especially of the carnivorous kind? Or in the insect world, such as the bee or the ant. The king bee is the only male that can mate and fertilize the queen, who then lay eggs without number, from which both infertile male soldiers and female workers hatch to form a colony. But within each colony, the queen is always treated with greater honour.

And so, each kind and each species of animal gives greater honour to the largest, the strongest, the one which is the leader of the pack, yet, there's no inter-species honour. For example, just as the hyena isn't going to honour or give special treatment to the dominant lion in the pride, nor does the wolf bow in respect to the leader of a troop of monkeys, therefore, our monarch will receive no more attention from any of the caged animals at the zoological gardens in London or from anywhere around the globe.

During opening hours, I can walk through the public entrance gate and buy a ticket at the kiosk, the first structure in view after walking in. But for the Queen or any other VIP, an arrangement is made weeks, even months in advance. Then, on the special day, the park would be closed to the public whilst the Queen and her entourage stroll through the zoo. But as she pauses at each enclosure, would the monkey cease swinging from tree branch to tree branch to bow in obeisance to Her Maj? Or what about the lion, walking frustratingly around in circles with a furrow across its forehead, very much like a man working late into the night on his tax returns? Would it too, bow in honour of our monarch?

Or the fishes in the aquarium? Would they stop swimming around to congregate behind the glass panel? I know that our home pet goldfish does - but not to honour me as its owner and carer, but to be fed. And then the reptile pen. The crocodile remains sedate, sleeping lazily as it normally does in the wild, whilst the Queen pauses to gaze at it. Further on, the snake also sleeps in its coils at a secluded corner of its enclosure, normally hidden from any human eyes, let alone just the monarch's.

But for us humans, maybe we are the end result of Darwinian evolution from molecule to man and from man to a god. After all, no other nation in the world holds such pageantry for our Head of State to such a high calibre that such celebrations can be watched globally. As head also of the Commonwealth, indeed, it's true that her Empire had never seen the sunset. As the sun sets over New Zealand, in Britain, the sun is seen already rising, that is, if it's not raining. And so, the motherland of a one-time Empire metamorphosed into a Commonwealth of former colonies, I wonder whether any of the former colony's indigenous who had never visited the UK had speculated what this great country is really like, especially during the days of the British Empire.

Maybe the motherland is one of glorious beauty, with high, snow-capped mountains, deep forested valleys cut by rivers with frequent waterfalls cascading with a thunderous roar over a high ledge, the frequent warm sunshine reflecting its sunlight off gold-plated palaces and other edifices with beautiful aesthetics delighting the eye of the beholder.

Or, in reality, the dark-brick, soot-covered slum housing in East London, Manchester and many other townships, the derelict redbrick former industries with tall smokestacks that once emitted black, coal-fired smoke into the air, public buildings also covered in black soot, the cool temperate climate bringing dull overcast skies, frequent rain, the pedestrian crouching forward as he's pushing against the cold headwind blowing through the street, back yards crossed with clotheslines with laundry swaying in the breeze as they hang to dry. Gloomy, dark-brick terraced housing with slate rooftops glistening with rainwater and boasting outside TV aerials that tells the world that this family has the latest in black-and-white crackling technology - hence giving a sense of a scientific and cultural superiority over the colonised indigenous.

A derelict factory - the glory of the Motherland.

The worship of the monarch is certainly not new. The ancient Egyptians deified their Pharaohs to the extent of building huge pyramids to serve as their tombs. As divine, after death, the king passes into the heavenly afterlife through the pyramid where his mummified body remains entombed - although whether the three Pyramids of Giza have an astronomical meaning remain the opinion of the experts. After all, not only each of them is aligned with the four cardinal points, but they were also built to align perfectly with the three stars making up the belt of the constellation of Orion. Furthermore, American clairvoyant Edgar Cayce believed that the missing capstone of the Great Pyramid was made of crystal and radiated some form of energy. By heck, if true, then those ancient Egyptians were clever!

I can see a parallel between the ancient Egyptian Pyramid and the pyramidal structure of our British social class system. Starting at the bottom are the underclass - the homeless and the unemployed. Next is the working class, followed by the lower middle, the middle management class, the upper middle, the aristocracy, the smaller group of cross-party MPs, the Government ministers, and finally the Queen as the capstone of the social pyramid. And just like the crystalline pinnacle of the Great Pyramid of old, if such ever existed, she too radiates energy capable of enhancing such loyalty from the majority of our nation to such a high calibre, that such Royal pageantry wouldn't be out of place.

However, I do believe that the love and loyalty the nation bestows on her is well and truly deserved. For seven decades, she has served her country with unwavering loyalty to her duties. And that, despite how providence had at times been unkind. The fire at Windsor Castle in November 1992, the marriage separations experienced by both her sons. First by Andrew from Sarah Ferguson, then Charles from Diana Spencer, and the latter's interview with Martin Bashir that was broadcast on the BBC Panorama in 1995. Then her sudden death in a car accident in Paris, the betrayal by Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, and the recent death of her husband Philip, the lone figure of the Queen at St George Chapel in Windsor tell of her sadness. Yet, despite all that, she stuck well with her duties.

For me, living in a country under a monarchial Head of State is more politically stable than under a President. And that was made more aware after Donald Trump was elected President of the USA in 2016, and more recently, President Vladimir Putin of Russia invaded Ukraine. Here, Putin presents a case in point. Under a presidency, our Head of State might have decided to go to war, but unlike Tony Blair's involvement in the Iraq, Kosovo, Sierra Leone and Afghanistan wars, where only fully trained professionals were dispatched, a president might have introduced mandatory conscription. That means both you and I having to leave our homes, families, and our jobs to go out and fight, even without proper or adequate training. 

Therefore, I can ask: What is my opinion on our monarchial system? Unlike my late father who was a strong Republican and a Socialist, I take a more moderate Republican stand. That is, I have a leaning towards Republicanism without having any hostility towards the Queen or towards other members of the Royal Family, and also, recognising that, as a monarch, she had done an excellent job. Therefore, I can say that it's not the Queen nor the institution that I have any issues with, but to be referred to as a subject of the Queen rather than a citizen of the UK.

The word, subject suggests inferiority. That is, I am an underling to the Head of State, while the word citizen depicts equality. That is, although the President has legal authority over me, nevertheless, he can be voted out of power and replaced with another. By contrast, a Monarch receives his or her power through family heritage, and can only abdicate out of personal choice or be overthrown by a national revolution.

It's this status of a subject that gets to me. I much prefer to be referred to as a citizen of the UK, indicating equality. Maybe it's this status as a subject, depicting inferiority to the Queen, that has a psychological or a subconscious impact on the general mentality towards the Royal Family, which leads to worship. And let's face it, the pageantries I had watched in the past, as well as this one starting in a few days, are all glorified worship, exalting the Queen to divinity whether consciously or subconsciously. And at this point, I'm wondering whether there's a link between these pageantries and the desire for Brexit, along with a desire for a revival of the Empire.

Queen Elizabeth II.

Perhaps it was this lack of desire to worship the Queen that had also made me wonder how I would feel with Jesus Christ as King. Do I imagine him as a stern rule-maker who knows all my thoughts and feelings and who is ready to punish? Or a benevolent, loving God who will purify my heart from all traces of sin and therefore can't help but love me to bits and accept me as I am?

No doubt, it will be the latter option. With my heart purified, all I can do is fearlessly love him to bits. This is quite contrary to an unregenerate, sinful heart. As he dreads judgement and punishment, such a heart would rebel against any form of divine kingship - and would go for someone who would never judge or punish, but has a mother-like attitude who allows her subjects to live the way they want to, providing each remain within the law of the land. Hence the pageantry.

Jesus Christ will one day reign over the whole earth from Jerusalem. And every one of us who will be his subjects will live in love and peace under his banner.