Hilary Mantel on the royals

Friday funnies:  Hilary Mantel applies her quirky intelligence and lively prose to the monarchy:

I used to think that the interesting issue was whether we should have a monarchy or not. But now I think that question is rather like, should we have pandas or not? Our current royal family doesn’t have the difficulties in breeding that pandas do, but pandas and royal persons alike are expensive to conserve and ill-adapted to any modern environment. But aren’t they interesting? Aren’t they nice to look at? Some people find them endearing; some pity them for their precarious situation; everybody stares at them, and however airy the enclosure they inhabit, it’s still a cage.

Update, February 20:  Who knew?  From the reptile press to the prime ministers, Britain has gone all crazy over this article.