The divine right of kings wasn’t ended forever by the guillotine

I WAS at a family wedding in France last week. On the way back to Paris we stayed overnight in Versailles, and spent our last day exploring its magnificent palace, built by Louis XIV.

What, you’re probably wondering, have my holliers got to do with politics or the state of the world, but bear with me for a minute and all will become clear.

When you stand in the king’s bedroom at Versailles, you see that it is positioned exactly in the centre of the palace, with a view down the long boulevard that runs right though the town and points directly all the way to Paris. Apart from the sumptuousness of the room itself (there’s more gold around the walls than you or I are ever likely to see again), this room was designed for a king who was, literally, monarch of all he surveyed.