Back in the heady days of youthful British revolt and anarchy-inspired punk, bands like the Sex Pistols railed against the Royal Family with regularity, hurling angry, disaffected insults over chords at the Queen and producing thrashing graphic design works to destroy her image, if only on record sleeves and grungy shows and exhibits.
The era of anger has, in large part, passed, with the world tuning into the spectacle of Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding earlier this month, the gloss of its fairytale connotations and illustrious history transfixing billions. Still waving the anti-Royal flag, though, was famed Smiths frontman Morrissey, who ripped the institution, saying they served no purpose whatsoever.
Now, weeks later, the rocker is truly taking out the proverbial knives; in a new essay for the website Hot Press, he compared Queen Elizabeth to two of the worst Middle Eastern dictators.
After accusing Elizabeth of supporting the death of workers protesting Margaret Thatcher in the 80's, Morrissey wrote:
The very existence of the Queen and her now enormous family - all supported by the British taxpayer whether the British taxpayer likes it or not - is entirely against any notion of democracy, and is against freedom of speech. For a broad historical view of what the Queen is and how she "rules", examine Gaddafi or Mubarak, and see if you can spot any difference.
He continues on to say that the Queen continues to deny Ireland its freedom, a compelling comment for the Manchester-born Morrisey, who once sang the song "Irish Blood, English Heart."
To read the whole essay, click over to Hot Press.