EVERY now and then the British media and public like to make a hullabaloo about the state of the monarchy.

My Mum and Dad’s generation lived through the 1936 abdication crisis, when Edward VIII wanted to marry the double-divorcée Wallis Simpson, who was perceived to be ‘politically, morally and socially unsuitable as a prospective queen consort’.

Matters weren’t helped by the fact that Edward was the nominal head of the Church of England, which at the time did not allow divorced people to remarry if their ex-spouses were still alive.

The story dominated the national and international media for months and rattled those who feared that setting an abdication precedent would be terribly bad for the monarchy.

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But the monarchy rumbled along quite happily afterwards, with a whole host of heirs and spares available in the event that another abdication would prove necessary.

Some thought it would prove so after the British people and media seemingly took Princess Diana to their hearts and wouldn’t hear a bad word about her.

The Queen described 1992 as an ‘annus horribilis’ after Charles separated from Diana, Andrew divorced Sarah Ferguson and Princess Anne divorced Mark........

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