A letter to eurofacts which was published on 11th October 1996.

One appreciates the general drift of John Murray’s article eurofacts (13th September) refuting allegations of English xenophobia, but to do this it is not necessary to assert tht “Our present Queen, like Victoria, has no trace of English blood”.

After the Norman conquest, the direct English royal line was re-established by Henry II, grandson of Henry I and of Matilda, daughter of St Margaret, Queen of Scotland.  St Margaret was great grand-daughter of Ethelred II (the unready), the great grandson of Alfred the Great.  Likewise, while Henry VII was indeed grandson of Owen Tudor, his mother was the great great grand-daughter of Edward III, direct descendent of Henry II.

Finally, to complete the line to our present monarch, George I (of Hanover) was the great grandson of James I, who was great grandson of Henry VII.

Our present Queen is in fact the great (34 times) grand-daughter of Alfred the Great, which works out at an average of exactly 30 years per generation.

A letter to the Daily Telegraph which was published on 28th October 1995.

It is certainly a novel idea of John Russell that the word “Britain” refers to Wales and England only (letter, Oct. 24th)

The official handbook of our country published by HMSO starts off: “Britain comprises Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland) and Northern Ireland.”

Britain is, in fact, a political not a geographical description and things pertaining to it are British: thus, unsurprisingly, British citizens are citizens of Britain.

Great Britain, a term first adopted by James I to describe the union of the Crowns of England and Scotland in 1603, was commonly used at the time to distinguish the largest of the British Isles from Brittany.

At present times, American politicians such as Bill Clinton continue to use the incorrect term, Great Britain, to describe our country for fear of offending the Irish Republican lobby in the United States, which understands perfectly well that the correct term, Britain, includes Northern Ireland.