Can Blackadder save the Royals?

The death of Princess Margaret was a turning point for the Royals. Without fuss, the flag was flown at half-mast, Prince Charles made a touching (if somewhat awkward) tribute to his "darling aunt" and we saw pictures of the Queen wiping away a tear as she bade farewell to her sister after the private ceremony. It was a triumph of understatement, tradition and ceremony. Exactly the brand values the Royal Family should be trying to reinforce.

But just when it seemed to be getting things right, could the Royal Family have once again blundered into another PR embarrassment? In an attempt to excite interest in the Queen's Golden Jubilee, Buckingham Palace has enlisted the talents of comedian Rowan Atkinson to make a one-minute television commercial as Blackadder promoting a series of Jubilee celebratory concerts.

By making fun of itself, royal advisers clearly believe they can convince us that the Jubilee is cool and witty, and that by association the Royal Family is also cool and witty.

Let's run through this. You take the unfunniest of institutions, apply a tired, old comedy formula (which may have cult status, but is certainly not cool), give it a minute of airtime and, hey presto, millions think the Royals are cool? New Labour admits to few mistakes, but the ill-conceived Cool Britannia initiative was one of its greatest. Like anything fashionable, it ceased to be cool almost the moment it was conceived. In the process, it alienated the British people. So why has an institution such as the monarchy, defined by its history, aligned itself with values that are by definition transitory?

Apart from which, how on earth do you set about making someone who insists on wearing the same frocks for half a century seem cool? What next in this quest for the holy cool? Prince Philip on the Ali G show discussing his royal jewels? Sophie and Edward Wessex telling Graham Norton what they think about the other Royals? Prince Andrew having us all in stitches on Have I Got News For You? And all this when the Queen was doing so well.

As it redefines itself, the Royal Family should be dignifying up, not dumbing down. And it should have learned by now that only tragedy and ceremony works for it on television. In one moment of madness, It's a Royal Knockout exposed the young Royals to lasting ridicule. Prince Edward has never recovered.

Both Princess Diana and Prince Charles came to regard their "per-sonal repositioning" interviews with Martin Bashir and Jonathan Dimbleby respectively as among the biggest mistakes of their lives. Even an hour of primetime television is not enough for successful brand adjustment.

As the Queen Mother came to understand during the Blitz, the survival of the Monarchy is dependent upon the people of the East End believing the Royal Family watches over them and shares their destiny. It is not about the Royals appearing on EastEnders.

There is a latent and powerful conservatism in the British people. Polls consistently show upward of a 70 per cent approval rating for the monarchy.

The Royal Family may not have a special place in all our hearts, but it does have a special place in our history and that is what should be reinforced during the Golden Jubilee. It is a unique part of the fabric of our nation, not a passing fad.

The more the veil has been drawn back from the Royal Family the less it has been loved, so if anything it is time to restore some mystique. Like Princess Margaret's funeral, our relationship with the Royals should be a part-public, part-private partnership.

Any attempts to reposition the royal brand as cool and witty will not make them appear fun, simply figures of fun. The Palace ought to learn the difference between being populist and being popular.