IT’S INCREDIBLE how wide of the mark Republicans such as your correspondent Colin S Jeffrey are with their remarks about The Queen and the Royal family (Letters, June 8).

One of the more hackneyed phrases they is “She has never done a proper job”. Obviously, in such eyes, her wartime service doesn’t count.

For Colin S Jeffrey to insult Prince Philip by accusing him of “working a flanker” to get himself put in hospital “until the fuss had died down” is despicable.

One thing Mr Jeffrey can take credit for are his observational skills. “Of course monarchists have had a whale of a time this year,” he wrote. Yes indeed, millions of them with each and every one in awe of an 86-year-old woman who spent hours on her feet during the parade on the Thames. She attended many more events, too, celebrating her wonderful years as out Queen.

The outpouring of affection for Her Majesty may well have convinced the Republican movement that they’d be better off becoming monarchists.

Philip Roe, Roman Avenue South, Stamford Bridge.

• HOW dare Colin S Jeffrey criticise our Queen: work is not always manual or even sitting at a desk. Would he work until he was 86 as has our wonderful monarch?

Eunice Birch, Coombs Close, Sutton-on-Forest, York.

• WHAT a fantastic Diamond Jubilee we have experienced, marred only by the Duke of Edinburgh’s illness; get well soon.

We watched virtually non-stop. The Thames parade with the watching crowds, the Queen and all the royals standing throughout – not wanting to miss a moment, was astounding.

Those two unoccupied thrones on the royal barge looked desolate!

The stamina of all those rowing deserved praise, perhaps the sodden girl singers deserving most of all.

The Gary Barlow, Lloyd Webber concert was brilliant, something for everyone on the menu. The Queen’s lighting of the last beacon stunned everyone.

Prince Charles’ speech to “mummy” delighted us all. I could not believe the crowds. Would they have turned out for a president? I think not.

Her Majesty looked very alone and sad in Westminster Abbey despite her family and loyal subjects around her and in the coaches too.

Long may she reign, with Prince Phillip alongside. Never mind the critics, you cannot please everyone.

Pamela Frankland, Hull Road, Dunnington, York.

• I AM at my computer every morning before breakfast. I put in a seven day week, and have not taken a holiday for six years.

Like HM, I don’t have “a proper job” (Letters, June 8). There the similarity ends. Only a handful of people in the UK value my work. Devoted millions applaud the Queen. Sometimes I think this a little unfair, but fairness, like justice, is a hoped-for attribute of democracy: it is not a definition.

Democracy is defined simply and sufficiently as majority rule. You can count on it: HM wins hands up.

Julian Cole hints that the advent of a less popular Chas III could revive republicanism in the UK (Column, June 7). This might be true if it could be shown that the British think constitutionally. Electoral reform and reform of the Lords interest few. Glitzy drama has mass appeal.

One oddity of the royalist argument I have noted. Given the chance of electing a head of state, it is confidently predicted that the British would inevitably choose somebody unsuitable for the job.

Charles I took this view, and look what a bad press he has had ever since. It’s not fair.

William Dixon Smith, Welland Rise, Acomb, York.

• WHY does David Quarrie (Letters, June 5) assume the only candidates for the presidency of the future republic of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (with or without Scotland) will be superannuated Westminster politicians?

I, too, would recoil from the prospect of a President Blair, Cameron or Clegg, but then I would not vote for any of them.

I recoil equally from the prospect of King Charles III, but I won’t get the chance to vote against a job for life for him, or any of his successors. Does Mr Quarrie really believe that there are no inspiring British citizens who could win a popular mandate to represent the nation as head of state for a fixed term of office? Our neighbours in the Irish Republic have had no such difficulty.

Mark Gladwin, Huntington Road, York.