The search for patriotism leads to the Queen

12 April 2012

Diplomacy demands an instinct for the soft centre. President Obama was initially fastidious about tummy-tickling foreign policy but he is making up for it now. In Ireland, he shares ancestry; for Britain, he praises the Queen. Let us see how he handles France after the arrest of their likely future president Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

Obama's description of the Queen was significant as well as heart-melting. "I think what the Queen symbolises, not just to Great Britain but to the entire Commonwealth and obviously the entire world, is the best of England. "

The slight of the discarded bust of Churchill at the White House is forgotten at a stroke. One columnist put down the off-handedness towards Churchill to relative youth. I think this is putting a gloss on the matter. Cameron is younger than President Obama but still found Churchill an invaluable ally in his anti- Alternative Vote campaign.

Interestingly, Obama has evoked an equally nostalgic name, the Commonwealth. His biographers have speculated that his strong childhood associations with Africa and Asia make him indifferent to the UK and Europe. Yet Obama understands another relationship, that between Britain and the Commonwealth countries. It is a subtle rejection by Obama of the bitterness attributed to him over the suffering of his Kenyan ancestors at the hands of the British.

The ripple effect of the royal wedding is ardently felt through the Commonwealth. Much has been made of William and Catherine's visit to Hollywood, but it is the tail end of a tour of Canada.

The Commonwealth gets very little political attention - it was deliberately ignored by New Labour, yet it has more shared history and values than an artificial institution such as the EU. Every Brit trusts a New Zealander or Canadian or South African. When I edited Reader's Digest, I uncovered a wealth of untapped patriotism among immigrant Indian doctors. A cover story on Edmund Hillary touched a G spot of Commonwealth warmth and solidarity.

By "giving permission" for a celebration of Queen and Commonwealth, President Obama has assisted David Cameron's adviser Steve Hilton in his search for national pride and patriotism. The Commonwealth is far more diverse and entrepreneurial than Europe. It embraces the new world order - the rise of India and hope for Africa.

The Millennium Dome was the symbol of New Labour's patriotism. It was Britain as a children's television show, warm and fuzzy and multicoloured and devoid of serious discussion or content. It takes an American President to remind us of what we do well. Obama rightly recognised the extraordinary potency of the Queen. The lesson of the royal wedding is simple. The future is built on the past.

A vain brush with my lashes

Michelle Obama's hair may be blown about by the winds but her eyelashes are firmly fixed. I salute her stoicism. Do you have any idea how painful eyelash extensions can be? Post-Cheryl Cole, they are now mainstream and multi-generational.

You can pick them up with a manicure, which is what I did during a girly mother-daughter afternoon outing.

"They look so natural," beamed the therapist, as I blinked through my transvestite cabaret artiste fringe. "You won't even notice they are there," she said, as I felt them dig into my eyes like crab claws.

Sleepless nights later, I am taking antibiotic drops to soothe my swollen red eyes. Less "hot rabbit" than myxomatosis. Meanwhile, the lashes are hoovering up pollen and insects. In the high winds, I am a magnet for London's detritus. Nothing to be done, until the lashes are loosened from the invisible glue and fall out. Oh, the vanity of a foolish woman!

Better schools are the future for education

At a celebratory lunch for Rachel Johnson the other day, her father, Stanley Johnson, was in a reflective mood. He wondered whether his need to pay school fees for his children had held him back as a public figure. Yet he had no regrets.

His faith in the competitive advantage of top private schools and universities was absolute. The rest of the world seems to have come round to his point of view. Everyone is trying to squeeze through the eye of the needle.

Which is why David Willetts was skinned alive for suggesting more British students could get into Oxbridge by paying unaffordable foreign student tuition fees. We will surrender anything before our children's educational future. Michael Portillo's mists of time boast that we did not sell qualifications, as other countries did, suddenly looked grimly prophetic. Will we have to now?

The answer should not lie in degrees for sale but in better British schools. Michael Gove's education revolution is capturing the imagination across the political divide. The latest idea is a top academy for children whose parents earn less than £25,000. This is marvellous. We may see the happy day when the education offered by top private schools is available to everyone and rueful Stanley Johnson need not be excluded from public office because his children sucked him dry.

The dream that is home

On a park bench in St James's the other day was a homeless man, in what Kenneth Clarke might describe as the "classic" category. Wild matted hair and beard, a shabby coat and black fingernails. He also had a sheet of paper and draughtsman's pen and was drawing, with all the detail and attention of an architect, a large house with a conservatory. We all share the same dreams.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in