When the likes of gloating, arrogant Robbie Williams and his awful posing wife see themselves as royal celebrities and their little daughter attends a princess, ends up sitting in a Windsor Castle room with the reigning monarch and future king of England, we know the monarchy is on the way out. I imagine the Queen and DOE are now of an age where they don't rant much any longer, but if they did they'd be spitting feathers.
I know the old guard is being eclipsed by the younger, modern royals who have Williams and Beckham and Jamie Rednap, James Corden and Kate Moss and Demi Moore as their 'friends' (cannot be more than acquaintances, surely?) but the worship of celebrity has always made me feel uncomfortable. They are the new royals and now a ticket to a Windsor bash is confirmation they have reached society's upper echelons.
We do need to whittle down the whole royal shebang. It is long overdue. If we worry about wealth and class divides, here is a demonstration of the 'poor people'/also rans looking on and wanting the same fame and status. Burst the bubble, soon please.
The mystique has gone.