I read recently in the press that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been criticised as being boring and unexciting. They are currently our best overseas export and create hysteria when they appear in public but obviously not enough for our British journalist.
This has made me think about whether or not we need any more excitement in our lives. Last year has been fraught with news of war, death and mass slaughter. The increasing threat from Muslim extremism has horrified the world and it seems that we have learnt nothing from our history.
From wars in Ukraine, Syria, Iraq, the Gaza strip to the outbreak of a deadly epidemic, Ebola in Africa to the air crashes in Ukraine, and Mali and the ferry capsize in North Korea hundreds have died many of them children.
The horrific rise of Islamic militants from Boko Haram, Isis and the Taliban have massacred and kidnapped too many to contemplate and the millions of homeless and refugees are a human disaster. And the glee of these terrorists in rape and beheadings have led to despair of the human race. This has been an awful year for the world and we can only hope for better things.
Of course, it has not all been bad. We have had some good news, but I am struggling to find something to gladden my heart. So to learn that the seemingly pleasant and family orientated young Royal couple are deemed boring is something I am happy to embrace.
So let hear it for the banal, the humdrum, the everyday and the fact that we need not be shocked or horrified. Bring on more of this ordinary and commonplace, give us safe and predictable and comfortable; we need more of it.
Michael Gardner, Wolverhampton
