Proud, for the first time ever, to put my hand up to being a subject

I HAVE a confession to make. I am a British passport-carrying subject of Her Majesty and, for the first time ever, I am genuinely proud to put my hand up to it.

After a lifetime of apathy towards the Crown, the events of the past few days have convinced me that the Queen really is a national treasure, rather than just a tourist attraction — albeit a highly lucrative one — for the UK plc.

Being of Irish descent, raised in a small town in the West of Scotland, and now living in the Rebel County, it would be fair to say that I am not natural Royalist material.