THE Queen’s visit to South Lakeland yesterday created a right royal fuss, understandably.

But however popular our monarch is, there will always be those who believe she should do the decent thing and step down like her royal counterparts did in Holland and Belguim recently; either in favour of Charles, the Prince of Wales, or young William - or maybe even to make way for a republic.

Personally, I’d like to her to hang on a while longer. The Queen causes no harm to anyone as far as I can see. Quite the opposite, in fact. She does us all a favour by enhancing the country’s standing in the world.

She certainly could show national politicians a thing or two about how one should conduct oneself in public.

Refreshingly, the Queen is not on an ego trip like many of our elected members (you can interpret the word ‘member’ in any way you like) and she is wealthy enough not to be tempted by bribery.

Wisely, she doesn’t give media interviews, which means she can never be heard talking rubbish. And, perhaps most signicantly, you can rely on her to keep a secret, unlike her great great grandmother Queen Victoria who poured out her every emotion in letters and a daily diary.

Or maybe I’m wrong and Queen Elizabeth II has actually been jotting down her thoughts and feelings every day for the last 60 years. She’s already pulled off one brilliant surprise by starring in her own James Bond scene along with Daniel Craig - goodness knows what other surprises she might have up her sequinned sleeve.

A memoir, maybe - My Family and Other Ascot Winners. Or she might take a leaf out of J K Rowling’s book and adopt a pseudonym - H M Le Boss has a nice ring to it. Perhaps she would hit the bestseller lists with her first crime novel - A Body in the Cabinet: the story of a pesky Prime Minister’s particularly gruesome end.