Monarchy

I have been waiting to catch an Outside the Beltway Traffic Jam Linkfest to do this post about the true Monarch of Great Britain. Just because I want people to know about this, because it's cool.
I saw this show on Channel 4 narrated by Tony Robinson (Baldrick in Blackadder and the presenter of Time Team.) The website has the amazing genealogy that he created to track down who is the real successor to the throne, if his theory that Edward III was illegitimate is correct, and if all other "rules" about succession were followed. The most amazing thing about it is who the true monarch turns out to be: a very personable Earl who lives in Australia and is called "the Pom" rather than the Earl of Loudon.
"In 1969, he married the red-headed Noelene McCormick, and together they had five children, who in turn have given them five grandchildren (Noelene has since died). When Michael's mother died in October 2000, he inherited the earldom (if not the British throne). His heir is his eldest son Simon, the present Lord Mauchline.
"When Tony Robinson told Michael that, according to the research, he should be the king of England, he accepted the news calmly, then said: 'I believe that Australia should be a republic. I'm not a mad monarchist.' "
Along the way a lot of fascinating stuff was brought out: reference was made to the still controversial possibility that Richard III did not kill "the princes in the tower", a claim that was examined in Josephine Tey's novel The Daughter of Time, a personal favourite of mine. Also the story of the Hastings family's interaction with the recognised royal family, and the story of how they lost their fortune (twice). Fascinating stuff.
Meanwhile, the Guardian comes out with these wonderful well-reasoned screeds every now and then about the lingering anachronism that appears to be the real monarchy, like this one, which asks, why can't we have a grown-up discussion about this topic, for once?