Next on stage is...

This Jubilee weekend seems to be going on forever doesn't it?

But, overall the impression I have is that those involved in various events have enjoyed them, and although the weather did its level best to close the country down as usual it seems the train companies as usual outdid themselves - seeming to be surprised the trains into London were busier than usual at the weekend. 

Yes I moan and I am a cynic, but that doesn't make me any more or less patriotic than those waving flags, which is the argument from those on the "Royal" side of the fence. The standard argument goes that if you don't enjoy it and support the Queen you are not "British" and should not have the Bank Holiday off work. This despite the fact it is the Government that declares public holidays not the Queen, and also that many people are working - those shops and pubs aren't run by robots yet.

One comment I kept seeing in the media and on line is that the people moaning should stop, but I saw this far more than I did any moaning. Close second was the ongoing complaints that people were being sarcastic about the River Pageant and even more so the concert on Monday night. This is what confused me slightly, as the ability to be sarcastic and laugh at ourselves is, to me, one of the defining factors of being "British". Very few nations have this as a characteristic, and I feel we should be proud of that, not necessarily proud of what it is we are watching.

The very fact that my twitter feed last night and into this morning is still full of references and jokes to the concert proves that even the most cynical and anti royals were watching it. Being part of the community, being British. Not waving a flag to prove it, but by their very actions being completely part of the hotch-potch of what Britain constitutes. There have been more books, blogs, songs and articles written about what it means to be British and English than you could ever read in a lifetime, and this shows that there isn't actually a single answer. Being British is what you make it yourself, the crucial part of it to me is that it is the differences that we celebrate. We don't and shouldn't all pretend to be the same and fit in the same boxes, the thing that defines us is our differences and having been invaded numerous times over history and always a country of immigration it is that that makes us.

People get behind the football team, even though we know deep down we won't ever win anything, we laugh at the Eurovision Song Contest while the rest of Europe see it as a serious competition, we mock the Torch Relay while tens of thousands line the streets. Neither of these is right or wrong, but having one side without the other would be just a little crap, don't you think?

Just flicking through my music I have loads of songs called Great Britain, New Britain, Real Great Britain and so on, and many more trying to get an idea of what it means to be British. "What could be more British than here's a picture of me bum" as a better writer than me once said, "Gilbert and George are taking the piss aren't they?" just about sums it up for me.

You like the Royals, fair play, I don't. But millions were all taking the piss at the same time out of Elton John - that makes us all British.