Jayne Dowle: Life may be miserable, but at least we've got the Queen

For once, there was something to smile about on the news. Battered from the recession, ashamed of our performance at the World Cup, and wondering where the austerity axe is going to fall next, we don't have a lot to feel proud of at the moment, do we?

But whatever your views on the monarchy, I think we should all

recognise why the Queen makes our country special.

Her speech at the UN, the first time she has addressed the international organisation for 53 years, was memorable. She spoke clearly and with compassion, urging the General Assembly not to lose sight of "your ongoing work to secure the security, prosperity and dignity of our fellow human beings".

Those three words – "security, prosperity and dignity" – seemed to not only inspire her audience, but to sum up the Queen herself.

We might not be feeling particularly prosperous at the moment, but she has seen it all before, living through the Second World War, the austerity which followed, and the boom and bust years after that. And as for "security" and "dignity", well, she epitomises both.

Why do our young men and women sign up to risk their lives in foreign wars? To protect their Queen and country.

And as for dignity, well, while politicians embarrass themselves over expenses and affairs, and Prime Ministers' wives try too hard to compete, she just carries on, rising above it.

I admire her not in a nostalgic, rose-tinted way, but for her ability as a stateswoman, which is unsurpassed.

But I must admit to treasonable thoughts. When she arrived in Canada with the Duke of Edinburgh before her UN visit, I made some uncharitable comments to my husband about it being all right for her, jetting off round the world while the rest of us are stuck here.

He mumbled something about cuts here, cuts there, but the Royal Family always seem to escape. I'm sure he wasn't the only one of her subjects grumbling about how much she and her family cost.

So I can't help but be slightly cynical about the timing of Buckingham Palace, releasing the annual accounts just as the Queen is jetting off across the Atlantic on taxpayers' money. And the headline news is that the Queen and the Royal Family cost each taxpayer 62p last year, an annual drop of 7p.

The total cost of keeping the monarchy has decreased by almost eight per cent, down to 38.2m. And like the rest of us, the Queen has been dipping into her savings, boosting her Civil List allowance with 6.5m from a reserve fund.

Now think about what else you might get for 62p. A bar of chocolate? A carton of orange juice? It wouldn't even get you on a bus. Put like that, the cost of keeping the Royal Family looks like phenomenal value for money.

But it's that word, "keeping", isn't it, that gets people hot under the collar? It suggests that we are paying for them and they do nothing in return.

Now, I'm the first to wonder what kind of added value some random

member of the Royal Family brings when they turn up to unveil a plaque. I'd definitely look the other way if required to curtsey to some cousin or in-law I didn't recognise or respect. And as for the hangers-on and ex-wives, I have no patience. When the Duchess of York moaned

recently about having no money in the world, I wondered exactly

what "no money" meant to her.

So I definitely don't agree with shoring up her extended family, but when it comes to the Queen and her direct heirs, then you have to admit that as long as they continue to work for it, we're getting plenty of bang for our buck.

At 84, the Queen is still putting in the hours, and both her grandsons are gainfully employed with military commitments and charity work.

Think of the money monarchy tourism brings in from foreign visitors. We might laugh at the wide-eyed tourists outside Buckingham Palace, but without them and their dollars and yen, there would be an even bigger hole in the economy.

Then think of the money we give to the European Union, think of the money other countries spend on Presidents and their entourages, and think of what the alternatives to the monarchy could be.

Think of all the money that over the years has been wasted on whizz-bang government policies that have come to nothing. And I think the conclusion is: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."