There'll always be an England.

A FEW YEARS AGO, in a television interview, Harold Macmillan brushed away criticism of African tribal behavior by reminding his interlocutor that the British were not all that far removed from, "for instance, packaging our young princes in the walls of the Tower of London." In a way, it hasn't changed all that much: The British are determined to have fun, and, really, they insist on civilized protocols only at coronations and in the royal enclosure at Ascot.

A single days news, as reported in the Daily Telegraph, reminds us of the irrepressibility of the British spirit. The day began when Oxford dons denied an honorary doctorate to Mrs. Thatcher because somebody somewhere cut ten shillings from a scientific subsidy. "The vote rejecting the award of an honorary doctorate in civil law, announced by Mr. Geoffrey Warnock, Oxford's Vice Chancellor, was greeted with applause from academics who packed the building." One notes that academic free-dom survives in England. One "senior" professor denounced the gesture as "mean, ineffectual, and humiliating." There are always the spoilsports.

It wasn't only Oxford dons who were having fun that day. So were their students, a team of which traveled to Cambridge to debate the motion, "Resolved, This house reigns supreme." There were problems. "The four-strong Oxford team and about eighty supporters were more than an hour late in arriving, and most were drunk when they left the coach, according to Cambridge students." One of those Cambridge students." One of those Cambridge students, Mr. Ainsfield, was more specific: "They marched in singing a rude song about Cambridge, an adapted rugby song. They lifted their president onto their shoulders and tried to storm the Chamber." That was too much for a Cambridge speaker, Mr. (hold your breath) Simon Sebag-Montefiore, who described the visitors as "ugly, drunken, boring, spotty twerps." Just typical Oxford students, they are saying today in Cambridge.

Mrs. Thatcher's troubles were not confined to Oxford. The leader of the Opposition was in full throat. Parliament reporter Godfrey Barker had the story:

"Mr. Kinnock flung down a censure motion on the economy yesterday. Was he grave? Was he outraged? No, just mighty happy. At 3:30 P.M. Neil jumped up like a punter who had just spotted a gap in the field, consulted his pal, marched up to the tote window, and gambled his shirt on a sprinter. [Mrs. Thatcher] roared up in her usual fiery mood. She faced an authentic Welsh wind across the Despatch Box [who had spoken of] 'panic and paralysis,' 'chaos,' 'coming apart at the seams,' etc. This sort of foam, being a substitute for ordered thought by Mr. Kinnock, usually gives the PM no trouble. Yesterday was different"--because the prime minister was not at liberty to disclose fiscal decisions lest the speculators go wild.

Defenders of Mrs. Thatcher aren't by any means silent, and Anthony Lejeune, on the editorial page, undertook to suggest ways by which people who were always saying that other people had no objections to increased largesse for this or that group might take concrete action. "Whenever nurses or schoolmasters demand more pay, union spokesmen always claim that the public is on their side, thinks they deserve the money, and would happily provide it. To which the obvious answer is: 'All right. Let these willing givers give. Establish a Nurses' or Schoolmasters' or Coalminers' More Pay Fund and see what happens.' Similarly, when there's a railway strike, somebody always says that most passengers would prefer to see fares rise a little in order to settle the dispute. To which again there's an easy answer: Put a fare supplement box in every station. That would produce the money, wouldn't it?" Waall . . . But of course that is Mr. Lejeune's point.

BUT, IN England, life must absolutely go on, and the Court Circular reminds us that it does. During all these frolics, at least one couple was taking life & duty seriously. "The Prince and Princess of Wales arrived at Bridgend Station in the Royal Train this morning. Their Royal Highnesses subsequently visited Align-Rite Ltd. at the Mid Glamorgan High Tech Science Park, Bridgend, and afterwards visited the Bridgend College of Technology, Cowbridge Road.

"The Prince of Wales, President, the Royal Jubilee and Prince's Trusts, accompanied by the Princess of Wales, this afternoon visited the premises of recipients of Youth Business Initiative, bursaries in Mid and South Glamorgan."

But is there a Third Act? Yes! "Their Royal Highnesses, attended by Mr. David Roycroft and Mrs. George West, returned to London in an aircraft of the Queen's Flight."