In today's society, a stereotypical eighteen-year-old would be clubbing and raving to the latest tunes until the early hours with a bottle of beer in hand.
Whereas I love sitting down at 7.30pm and watching the latest Coronation Street with a hot brew and a biscuit.
And from one extremely British tradition to another, I am an unashamed admirer of the Queen, despite the age gap of 77 years (though she looks tremendously good for 95 years young).
The wonderful woman is still working, which is remarkable considering some of the Prime Ministers she’s had to put up with. I was delighted to see her back to full health and out on royal duties at the recent double christening.
Even though I know my admiration for Her Majesty definitely puts me in the minority for people of my age - and from the North of England - it does not mean I like her any the less because of other people's opinions. In fact, I use my teenage stubbornness to my benefit and defend her honour as if she was my grandmother that I visit every Monday after school.
I would go as far as to call myself a royalist, whose love for the royal family does not stop with the Sovereign (but does not extend to all members of the family, I’ll give you that). I remember when the Duchess of Cambridge was in labour expecting her first born, Prince George, and my family were glued to the news channel awaiting the arrival of His Royal Highness as if it was a new superstar striker joining your team on Deadline Day ready to fire you to promotion.
Funnily enough, that carried on for all three of Prince William's children, and will no doubt carry on in the future. We never were risky enough to put a bet on their names, but it was a sure thing they weren’t going to be Steve or John.
Megxit may have had public opinion more divided than it’s been since the late 1990s, but I wasn’t afraid to back my Queen’s corner. Using my youth to my advantage once more, I took to social media to voice my displeasure with the anti-royals. I might have got into a few disagreements with others about their opinions on the establishment, outraged by comments such as “The Queen’s old fashioned so should be binned off”.
How can anyone dislike The Queen? She’s an absolute icon! Just like Phil Mitchell and Gail Platt. And if EastEnders has a pub with a Queen’s name, then the monarchy is in good company.
Ultimately, the Queen is about as British as you can get these days. The Queen. Coronation Street. And a cup of tea.
