QUEENS

Anyone who knows me, knows I am wild for Royalty. British Royalty, to be exact. I fell in love with its lineage when I was an impressionable 16 year old, after reading my first biography of a monarch. It was all about the love affair between the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Can you imagine anyone TODAY giving up the throne for the love of a woman? NEWS FLASH: No sir, no way.

Instead, toDAY's Royals like to merely set Elizabeth straight, and once doing so, sort of just go about their business. Their mantra is kinda like: UH... YOU DON'T LIKE IT QUEENIE E?? TOO BAD. DEAL WITH IT. Basically, it seems to me, that whether or not she is sold on the idea, it apparently holds little weight when it comes to how the current Princes and Princesses' run their lives . WAY different than in the days of Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson. In THOSE days... you either obeyed or BOOM. You were banished. Should you doubt me, you need only remember this: the Duke and Duchess were never again allowed to be seen as a couple in the halls of any English Palace. Even stepping upon British soil alone, was iffy for them. Regardless, I have since learned more about British Monarchs than almost anyone else you may know. There's not a biography of practically any single English King or Queen, beginning with Victoria, that I haven't read, digested and been able to spit back with tremendous accuracy. Actually, as of late, you can also include King Henry VIII.

Anyway... I had a wonderful conversation with a friend recently, about a completely DIFFerent Queen. As in: Freddie Mercury. Uh... PROMise me know who he is, by the way. On the other hand, if God forbid you DON'T, here's a hint: WE WILLLLLL, WE WILLLLLL... ROOOOOCK YOU! Ring a bell? Okay, Okay. I'll spell it out for you, then. Freddie was the lead singer of the rock group: QUEEN. NOW you know who he was?? Actually, I decided Freddie may have well named the group, considering he's not only a member of Queen, but is also, ahem... a queen, himself.

Sadly, Freddie died many years ago from AIDS. Which is a major loss, since not only was Queen a fabulous rock group, but Freddie was in fact, one HELL of a singer. He was outrageous, definitely out of the closet, had an inCREDible voice and while onstage, often wore REALLY skin tight lycra. Is that a great combo or what!

The entire conversation brought back to mind so many of this group's hits. Granted, I myself am not into promotion of rock groups, but I DO have to suggest you run out and buy a Greatest Hits CD of this group. Yeah, Yeah, you'll have to sit through ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST, but on the other hand, you'll be delighted with the likes of CRAZY LITTLE THING CALLED LOVE, YOU'RE MY BEST FRIEND, SOMEBODY TO LOVE and of course, BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY. Trust me... any one of these are excellent listening.

By the way... should you ever want anOTHER really great CD by an English queen, rush right out and buy George Michael's FAITH. I think that's the one... it's been a long time since I played it, but am so telling you... FAITH, I WANT YOUR SEX and FATHER FIGURE are absolutely outstanding. I remember listening to this tape over and over and over! And, I loved every second of it.

Oh... and in closing... my all time FAVORITE English Queen??? Hands down... Elton John!! Sorry Victoria. You're a close second, though.