Light relief

This has been a summer of doom and gloom news-wise what with the problems in Syria and Iraq, continuing unrest in north African countries, wild fires, floods, earthquakes - and Alex Salmond.  It beggars belief how he has managed to hoodwink so many otherwise sane people (despite being Scots) into thinking that Scotland would be better out of the United Kingdom and standing alone as an independent country.  Well, it beggars my belief.

But we have light relief in the form of good news!  The Duchess of Cambridge is pregnant - and the country rejoices.  Some of the country, anyway.  There are, of course, those Eeyore-like people

for whom nothing is good news and who are bound to declare, "A woman of child-bearing age has become pregnant.  Where's the news in that?"  And what's more, she's a woman most of us have never met and most of us never will meet.

But one doesn't have to be a fervent monarchist, collecting tea-towels and mugs celebrating every royalist event, to feel happy about this.  We Brits tend to be a bit on the barmy side about some things - and, according to many folk from other countries - one of those things is our Royal family.  Especially Kate Middleton as was.

Coming from "common" stock, her marriage to Prince William was like a fairy tale come true.  And she has taken to the job - for that's what it is much of the time - as if she was born to it.  It doesn't hurt, either, that she doesn't exactly look like the back of a bus.