by Alan Watkins

It can't be 59 years since the coronation – I remember it as though it was yesterday, for goodness’ sake.

It was a sunny day. The road was full of bunting and flags, and our council house was covered in St George’s flags. The local paper came along and took a photo of our house.

Dad had the day off and we had a new addition to the lounge – the first TV in the street. It had a 9in screen enclosed in a massive wooden cabinet, and all the furniture was re-arranged so that we sat with our backs to the window.

Well, we sat there for a short time, until the neighbours began to arrive. They all pushed their way into the house and sat on the seats until there were no spares. Then they sat on the arms of chairs, the floor, or simply stood as the TV flickered into life.

The curtains quickly had to be closed: you couldn’t see the blue and grey picture of the carriage as it made its way towards the Abbey. The sun burned the picture, which was full of snow from the poor reception from an aerial about 100 miles away in Wenvoe, near Cardiff.

The sandwiches and cakes, biscuits and drinks were soon being picked over, and just as quickly my friends and I became bored with the pretty young queen and the droning of the Archbishop, Dr Geoffrey Fisher.

Lots of shushes greeted protests about comfort (or lack of it), boredom and wasted opportunities. In fact we were turned off. We went into the back garden for a kickaround to the echoes of “Vivat! Vivat!”

It was much better to climb the wall, ride a bike, fight over the game rules, throw stones, and do what kids do when they are five and six years old.

Yet if we thought that was it, we were sadly mistaken.

Some time later – it may have been days or weeks, but it was certainly another sunny summer day – we all flocked to the city park. That was because our Queen and her handsome Duke were visiting us.

Most of my chums were in the park, but mum and dad opted to wait outside so we could see them when they arrived and left. We might have done – I don’t remember anything but flags. There were swings on the far side of the park.

I wasn’t allowed to go there, and instead was stuck in a crowd of sweaty people.

At last the coronation was over… or so I thought. Back at school in September we were suddenly ushered into the hall with our parents as guests, the curtains once more closed on a perfect Indian summer’s day, and we sat on unyielding benches to watch the coronation repeated.

It was enough to turn toddlers to republicanism! At least the film was in colour, but it went on, and on, and on.

Was it almost 60 years ago? Where have the boys in their thick woollen shorts and buttoned-up shirts gone? Those that scrapped in the sun – Ronnie and the two Peters, Alistair, Clive and the brainy brat across the road? Several are dead, the rest scattered to the winds.

I shall celebrate the Diamond Jubilee in the garden. I’ve seen too much pomp and majesty to thrill over it.

But, God Bless Her, she’s not been a bad monarch.

Since 23rd April 1661, the day Charles II became King and Monarchy was restored in England, have republicans felt ever so lonely. This will be quite the forlorn post filled with deep regret and sadness at the Royal Wedding.

I'm quite glad Kent has the lowest registered street parties tomorrow, thus my faith in humanity has been slightly restored, and we haven't gone over the top in plastic patriotism. The Union Flag (it is only called a 'Jack' when flown at sea) is a beautiful symbol and should be raised all the time, not just for the Monarchy.

But alas, Friday will be a depressing day for us republicans.

Tomorrow when the nations erupts into depressing exhilaration over the wedding, I shall ponder what Cromwell would've made of all this pomp and ceremony; as the Royal carriage passes his statue outside Parliament

It is cool to be British again.

Hollywood has hailed the stiff up lip by bestowing four Oscars on The King's Speech at last night's Academy Awards ceremony in Hollywood.

Even though the nods for Best Director for Tom Hooper, Best Picture, Best Actor for Colin Firth and Best Original Screenplay for David Seidler were all entirely deserved, there were fears the academy might not want to reward a Brit flick too much.

This fear was made all the more strong by the fact The King's Speech had such huge competition from an equally deserving film: The Social Network.

In many less fruitful years for quality movies, The Social Network would have cleaned up. The story of how Mark Zuckerberg developed social networking site Facebook and the lawsuits which followed amounted to an instant classic in my book.

It was the story of a phenomenon which has grown to affect so many people's lives. If you do not have a Facebook account yourself I bet you know at least five people who have one.

Also, I felt a particular fascination with the film as it begins at exactly the time I went to university myself. The online revolution which spread through the halls of Harvard University spread through the student digs of myself and my peers. When I joined Facebook you HAD to be a university student. Only after a few years (and the realisation from the board they could make a heck of a lot of money) was membership opened to the whole world.

In short, the story was captivating because of the relationship I had with the film. Yet equally many stammerers would have had the same relationship with The King's Speech.

Ultimately the lead character appeals more in the latter. The audience were willing Colin Firth's King George VI through every word of his address to the nation whereas the dubious motivations of Jesse Eisenberg's Mark Zuckerberg make him a difficult character to relate to. The audience feel more of a fascination than an affinity with him.

These factors all add up to make The King's Speech the marginally better film and thus deserving of the awards. Yet it must have been tempting for the academy to reward a film which recognises an American institution, rather than a British one.

With the royal wedding around the corner, the fact the royal family are very 'in' at the moment may have been a factor.

But in this instance perhaps we just have to give the royal seal of approval to the academy. They gave the awards to the tale of the stammering king's triumph over adversity, without hesitation.

I cannot contain the excitement of the news I heard yesterday – quite ecstatic. Seriously cannot wait for the prospect of the glamour, joy and romance of the event. And even more fantastic, the whole country is united in the glorious comradeship and enthusiasm of the British people. Even the world has been discussing the announcement too.

Many hours of preparation will have to go into organising, arranging transport and dialogue with government. Even The Crown will have to be consulted. This is before we talk about the crowds of people, who will want to be apart of a historic event.

I have started my planning now – will, hopefully, be central part of the operations on the very special day.

After all, it is not every year we get to partake in a referendum on changing the voting system and your favourite blogger has been put forward to lead the local campaign. Here, right in Kent. Excited, yes?

Oh...did you all think I was refering to the Royal engagement? Alas, one is a passionate and fearless republican.

This week's interview was in an unorthodox surrounding as I questioned David Bernard Crittenden, 21 from Maidstone in his garage!

Whether he chose this venue because he was apprehensive of the questions that were going to be asked of him in front of his cousins or purely because it was the best place in the house, I don't know but either way it was a good interview.

Dave attends Brunel University, Uxbridge and is currently on a year's work placement at a graphic design organisation.

In his free time, he enjoys to play guitar along with a round a golf when he can fit it in and is currently running a five a side team in the Maidstone Area named "No Name."

For a team that plays in all black, I thought it would be appropriately named "The Dark Knights" but it was turned down.  You can only offer these things!

Moving on swiftly, I asked Dave what he liked about Kent to which he responded "I don't really venture out of Maidstone much but Kent has some great public parks and countryside.  I like the fact that it is so close to London and has a good night life for young people."

Despite not leaving his hometown often, Dave still knows where he can get some of the best grub in Kent.

"My favourite eating spot has to be The Lord Raglan at Staplehurst.  The homemade Cadbury's Crunchie ice cream is the best!"

While he is at home, he likes to watch The Office & Extras, The Apprentice and The Inbetweeners.  When it comes to movies, he highly recommends the newly release 'DEVIL' along with Me, Myself and Irene, The Naked Gun Trilogy and The Bourne Trilogy.

Looking at Dave's list of comedy movies, I think Leslie Nielsen would be proud that Lt Frank Drebin is so well thought of from a younger persons perspective, which has to rate a 9 out of 10 on my comedy scale.

Now Dave has a story which is a perfect example of what he can get himself into when with the wrong people.

When Dave was younger, his mother sent him and one of his cousins down to the newsagents on the corner of his street to pick up some jelly.

When they arrived, they asked the sales assistant where the jelly was.  Unfortunately for them, he was a foreign assistant who had trouble understanding English and responding with "You want some Chilies?"

Shaking their heads, they said "No Jelly." but the assistant persisted to ask them "You want some Chilies?"

After a long back and forth conversation, Dave and his cousin decided to use a bit of reverse psychology and when he asked them "You want some Chilies?" they said "Yes, Chilies."

Returning back to Dave's house, they presented his Mum with a box. Instead of being Rowntree's Jelly, the box contained Mexican Chilies.

To this day Dave is constantly reminded of his error as is his cousin.  Another unfortunate thing regarding this issue is that Dave's cousin was older.  He should have known better.

Dave's cousin was ME!  It makes me laugh everytime we re-tell it and it is just a funny story.

I asked Dave if there was anything in Kent he would change to make it better to which he responded "I think the facilities are great for sports like tennis but the prices to hire and use them are far from in keeping with value for money.  In the current economic climate, I would reduce the rates to draw more people in."

It is good to hear that Dave has little to criticise about the county and I think he is right in thinking that by reducing costs to use facilities such as tennis courts will benefit the company in the long term and will attract more customers who are looking for cheaper alternatives due to the economic climate.

Additionally, Dave mentioned, like a few other interviewees have, that opportunties for youngsters are far and few between and there should be more programmes to encourage youngsters to get invovled in different activities.

By this stage my toes were growing numb in the cold autumn weather so i thought I would wrap the interview up (no pun intended) and asked him this week's random question of the week:

You have a dinner party planned and can invite 3 celebrities / famous people to dine with.  Who would they be and why?

"Well the first has got to be Sir David Attenborough because he has seen so much of the natural world and I am sure he has a bundle of stories to tell.  Secondly I would pick Rob Brydon to lighten the mood and to crack me up.  And thirdly, I would pick Wayne Rooney at this moment in time to just find out what is going on in his life because I am sure there is plenty more to know than what has been released to the public."

I think Dave has a good mix of guests in there: a well respected presenter, a comedian and a sport personality.

Thanks again to Dave for his time and all the best with his University Degree.

If you live in Kent, let's talk!

If you would like to appear on my blog, all I ask is that you live in Kent and that you are willing to talk to me for 10 - 15 minutes about yourself.

If you think you'd like to give it a try, drop me an email on millendauthor@gmail.com and we will see what we can do!

The Countess of Wessex opening Grange Park School in Wrotham, by MATTHEW READING.

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