Though he was able to devote less time to it, his failure in the field of politics was every bit as complete and infinitely more humiliating both for him and for his family. My father’s main defect as a politician was that his views corresponded to those of no known political party. They centred on the idea of a semi-hereditary elected monarchy under which kings (there would be no necessity for queens regnant) would be chosen from amongst the bona fide descendants of King Cerdic of Wessex. The electors would consist of a Witan of wise men, of which my father, for some reason, saw himself as a leading member. Though the proposal was, on the face of it, neither more nor less ridiculous than primogeniture, my father experienced some difficulty in persuading the established political parties that the inclusion of an elected monarchy in their manifestos would sway any floating voters. This puzzled him, but he persevered to the extent of joining the local Conservative party and adopting all of their principles unquestioningly, other than loyalty to the House of Windsor.
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