Given that she rocks tiaras and diamond knuckledusters like nobody's business, flies private jets and has more houses than Oprah, we were quite touched to see that Queen Elizabeth II has decided to cancel her diamond wedding anniversary celebrations as she thought it would be a bit crass considering the rest of Britain is teetering on the brink of recession.

Yes, despite that inscrutable smile and wave combination, and whatever the thinly-veiled truths of The Queen suggested, it appears Liz isn't totally out of touch with her people after all.

Guests at the party, which was due to be held at The Ritz this weekend, would have been served champagne from crystal-studded bottles and dined off tablecloths covered with sparkling jewels.

But with her subjects facing rising bills and falling house prices, and the banking system paralysed by the so-called "credit crunch", the Queen has decided that the celebration would be regarded as insensitive.

Her highlighting of the dire state of the economy will not be welcomed by the Prime Minister, who faces daily reminders from his advisers that the electorate has lost the "feel-good" factor – and is punishing him for it in the opinion polls.

The Queen had been due to mark the 60th anniversary of her marriage to the Duke of Edinburgh in the company of her children and 60 close friends.

We were especially taken by the quote later in the piece, from a "close friend" (we love that the Queen has "close friends"; it's easy to forget that under all the mink and ermine she is still, at least to some degree, a nanna), stating that "The Queen always puts her jollifications after everything else has been considered." We love it!

Try using it in a sentence today: We had quite a few "jollifications" this weekend just past, and are paying for it now.

 

Tags: au | britain | economic woes | girls gone wild | parties | queen elizabeth | royals