Dave Mollard's Change is Constant: Hindsight sheds new light on our monarch's supposed life of privilege

The Queen can't spill hotdog sauce on her top or even eat one in public. Photo / AP

OPINION:

Many of us had Monday off to celebrate our Queen's birthday, despite the fact it's not her birthday and to a lot of us she is not really our queen.

Of all our country's holidays, apart from Wellington Anniversary Day, Queen's Birthday is the lamest. Back when I was younger and before climate change was a thing, this holiday meant the start of the ski season, but now all it means to me is a chance to prepare the māra kai (food garden) for the spring crops.

I abhor privilege through birthright. People should be treated equally despite who their parents are. I know there is a massive hypocrisy in what I say as I was born into a middle-class Kiwi family with all the privileges that entails. We had a nice home, food in the fridge, good schools and went on great holidays exploring this wonderful country, things many other Kiwis could only dream of. But this column is about the Queen, not me.

On the surface, Elizabeth Regina has had an easy ride, never having to worry about the power bill or getting a doctor's appointment. She didn't have to work a nine-hour shift in a factory and probably has never used a vacuum cleaner in her life. Her Majesty has never run out of petrol, paid a mortgage or mowed the lawns, but she has presided over our Commonwealth for 70 years.

Our Commonwealth started as an empire where the sun never set. It spanned the entire globe and was run by a group of self-entitled bureaucrats in London who divided and conquered half the world.

It started slowly but during our current monarch's reign the empire shrunk by more than 60 countries from Botswana to Zimbabwe and this list includes Aotearoa New Zealand. Not only was the Queen powerless to stop her inheritance from defecting, she was also unable to control the changing attitudes of her own subjects who used to worship royalty to the point now where we can read about their scandals in the magazines while queuing at the supermarket checkout.

The other night I went to the speedway, spilled my hotdog sauce on my top and then popped into the pub for a beer - three of the many things I can do that our Queen can't! So in hindsight, I don't think she has had a privileged life.

Keep up the good work Liz, sorry but not sorry for voting against your flag! As the sun sets on her reign are we ready to start taking the last steps to proclaim we are truly an independent nation?

• Dave Mollard is a Palmerston North community worker and social commentator.