Two Queens - one in power.......

What a muckle about Markle! (Lovely word, not used much in this neck of the woods. Mainly Scotland, to mean a whole load of). A bonnie lass to be sure (further slipping, for no conscious reason, into the Scottish vernacular) and let's face it, supremely well-trained to be taking on the role of princess/duchess on the celebrity stage of royalty. No shrinking violet-chomping nursery assistant, emerging shyly from obscurity. On the contrary, this Meghan, a successful actor, is well-used to creating her own limelight. And has her own voice. Independent means. Yes, no mere puppet. Good. Good for her and good for Harry. I wish them all the very best.
But do let them get on with it. Even The Times which one would like to believe was above that sort of thing, produces front page pictures of the happy couple on their hand-shaking pre-nuptial tour of the British isles. And has started on the insidious journey of itemising every handbag, pair of shoes, outfit Ms Markle has worn. I was whipped up into a frenzy by hearing she buys her knickers in Marks and Spencer. So do I, Meghan, so do I!  I don't mean to sound world-weary, but we've seen it happen before. The manufacture of a princess into an icon. And it didn't end well.

It didn't end too well for Mary Stuart either. We had the pleasure of seeing Mary Stuart  at the Duke of York theatre on Saturday night. The play written in 1880 by Freidrich Schiller, has been adapted and staged by the  innovative young director Robert Icke. Sheer delight. Lia Williams and Juliet Stevenson play Mary and Elizabeth. They toss a coin each night on stage to determine who will play which role. Fresh charge of electricity every time, I'd imagine. So we saw Lia Williams as Elizabeth. I have to confess that she is my absolute favourite. On television and on stage.
The play is wordy, I grant you, but riveting. The audience quietly listened without a whoop or hurrah. Thank the good Lord. A history play where both queens plot and counter-plot, engage in deceit and lies.  A time when a queen had the power to remove the head of another.

On a simpler and more mundane level, I hope that the British public do not lose theirs over Meghan Markle.

It's all in the execution...