In days of old, the King's whim formed the country's reward: he gave to favored friends a forest, a few hundred serfs and an earldom. The very titles of prized orders (e.g., Knights of the Garter) reflected the cozy household nature of it all. Last week Queen Elizabeth published her Birthday Honors List, rewarding 2,000 British and Commonwealth subjects, but the choice was largely the concern of her elected ministers, who operate on the principle that what is good for the nation is good for the Queen's list. Only in the arts is the carefree caprice of the royal prerogative sometimes...
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