American royalty

Re “Your majesty? Not in the U.S.A.,” Opinion, May 5

As a British permanent resident, I hoped that Americans were as amused as I was with Kitty Kelley’s retelling of the antics of the Oxford Union and bemused by her logic: Apparently the difference between British and Americans is that the former bow to the queen out of obligation, the latter out of respect. In reality, no British citizen is any more obliged to bow to the queen than any American. So I suppose that makes Americans and British identical.

The fact that heredity is a major source of wealth in Britain doesn’t differentiate it from the U.S. either. Most wealth in the U.S. is also inherited.

HOWARD LEWIS

Hermosa Beach

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Yes, Kitty Kelley, you are correct: You don’t have to say “your majesty” because there is no royalty in the U.S., even though some like to pretend that there was a Camelot here once upon a time during the reign of a legendary “King” Kennedy. Even today, you have pretenders to that wished-for throne by the name of Bush. But go ahead, keep on wishing for what can never be.

CURT THIELE DE LEON

Pacific Palisades