Queen Elizabeth Cancels Christmas Party. Royal Scrooge Reigns. What she should have done instead and what every business owner can learn from this

Betty Windsor cancels staff Christmas party. Royal scrooge reigns. What she should have done instead.

by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Yikes!
What can she be thinking of?
It has been announced from Buckingham Palace
(by the Lord Chamberlain Earl Peel) that Her Majesty
the Queen (known to favored intimates as “Betty
Windsor”) has cancelled this year’s staff Christmas
party. Thus are the 600 people who serve her in
myriad capacities deprived of the joy of making
merrie from her privy purse (meaning she pays
for the dainties herself).
Why did she do it?
Lord Peel in his email notification says it’s
because of England’s punk economic condition.
Cynical royal watchers opine that it’s because
the Queen wants to make a point about the
hardships of royal living in advance of
Parliament’s consideration of her civil list,
namely what she gets from the nation for
doing her job. In other words, she’s negotiating
with the government and figures that taking
bon bons from the staff will help achieve her goal
of more money faster.
The reason doesn’t much matter, however. The
plain fact (whatever the reason) is that Her
Royal Majesty is (dare we say it)….  just plain
cheap.
This Christmas season we need MORE parties…
not fewer for the very reason that so many are
suffering and need a good day out. The Queen
should be doing her bit, not showing the Sugar
Plum fairy the door.
Let’s contrast the Queen’s behavior with that
of Mame Dennis in the smash Broadway musical (and
film), “Mame.” In the depth of the depression,
Mame, her family and staff are glum, decidedly
in the dumps. Instead of canceling Christmas
(like you-know-who) Mame sings “We need a
little Christmas now”… and belts out a festive
song while (at least momentarily) lightening
that load for the people she loves, the people
who know and serve her. In short, challenged
though she is, she does what she can.
It’s a far better thing she does than the tight-lipped
and tighter-fisted Betty Windsor, for the royal decision
(calculated though it may be) brings no joy to
anyone… but her, the very antithesis of the purpose
of Christmas.
We can help in at least two ways
First, contact Buckingham Palace at once,
protesting this silly decision. We KNOW she has
the money…. and if she wants to negotiate with
Prime Minister Cameron for more funds for palace upkeep
and maintenance, fair enough. But let’s not take it out
on the staff… who have to feel hurt and disappointed
at this niggardly decision, stiffer upper lip or not.
Indeed, let’s go farther. Let’s all chip in and turn
a bad decision into a terrific pot-luck. Let’s all
offer to supply a favorite Christmas goodie to her larder,
tagged exclusively  for the benefit of her staff. My grandmother’s
Christmas sugar cookies were always a hit back
in Illinois and were shipped to grateful (and expectant)
friends and relatives worldwide; even the crumbs
were treasured. I offer a dozen of these… not least
because my grandmother (born in 1901) was named
after…. you guessed it: Queen Victoria! It seems right
and proper that her cookies go towards helping
Betty out with her difficulties!
Make sure YOU have your own Christmas party…
or invite a few more people to the one you’ve already
scheduled.
Her Majesty’s cancelled Christmas party was budgeted
at 50,000 pounds sterling, about $80,000 USD. That’s
grand indeed. But, remember this about Christmas: it’s
the thought that counts. Rather than cancel the party and
the joy therefrom, Her Majesty should have held it, doing
the best she could with less… just the way the rest of the
world is doing. Just because you can’t have a party with the
grand and imperial flourishes you’d prefer is no reason to (petulantly)
cancel the whole shebang. A party is about the people…
not about whether the champagne is vintage.
Make this Christmas season the one where you discover
the real meaning of the season. It is about sharing… the
good times and the bad… together. It is about offering the
best you can (and can afford) while reaching out to old
friends and new, grateful to see and welcome them, not
to impress, but to re-connect and make it clear that you
care.
Here is where Her Gilded Majesty went right off the rails…
and shows me she needs to have a Tiny Tim remind her
of wherein the true joy and meaning of the season resides:
it is about the  sincerity and affection of the gift, not its
lavishness or cost. We need gifts that show what is in
our heart… not our bank account.
Let’s say that the Queen really couldn’t afford the
cost of her party (she’s worth a billion or more, but
let’s not be petty). Who can doubt that if she had done
anything… but done it with real affection and gratitude..
that the event would still have been the highlight
of the year: a gesture of profound sincerity and
consideration. Yes, it would have been touching and
forever remembered. Even with day old doughnuts.
Thus, our first suggestion (given with the utmost
humility) is this: :Queen of England and dominions
over the seas, reinstate your devoted staff’s Christmas
party and resolve that you will do more with less;
above all that you will use the event to radiate
more joy and more happy memories, rather than
do away with them altogether. Use  your royal
powers for good, to live the true sentiments of
the season.
And as for the rest of us: let us learn from this
imperial error and use it to enhance our own
Christmas, to make this, because of the misery
around us and an economy doing no better than
mediocre, the best Christmas ever… with the
one and  only focus being on how to bring joy
to the most, even if that joy is simply the warmest
and most heartfelt of embraces and the sharing
of yourself. For if you do these things, the true
embodiment of Christmas, you will do more than
a queen…. be she ever so rich and empowered.
About The Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of
Worldprofit, Inc., www.worldprofit.com where
small and home-based businesses learn how to
profit online through automation. Attend Dr. Lant’s
live webcast TODAY and receive 50,000 free guaranteed
visitors to the website of your choice! For details
on Dr. Lant’s 17 best-selling business books,
go to www.jeffreylant.com He is also the author of
“Insubstantial Pageant: Ceremony and Confusion at
Queen Victoria’s Court.”