For a British perspective on the monarchy today, TIME asked the views of one of that institution's most seasoned, if skeptical observers, whose notable career as a journalist, author and television pundit has been punctuated by stints in government service and as editor of Punch.
In the somewhat seedy bar of the Exiled Monarchs' Club—always assuming that such a club exists, in Lisbon, say, or Monaco, or even Florida—they must surely be raising a glass this week to drink the health of Prince Charles and his bride, Lady Diana, and marveling how, alone of the larger monarchies, the British model should have...