Sorry to be late with this, Rod, been out of town. No, Madonna doesn’t have

to curtsey, nor does anyone else. I mean, they don’t cut off your head if

you fail to curtsey. It’s just courtesy (which is what it means, of

course). If my American wife were presented to the Queen, I hope she would

curtsey. If I myself were presented to the Emperor of Japan, I’d bow. It’s

what they’re used to, it’s polite, & it’s not degrading (like the kowtow

Lord MacCartney rightly refused to make before the Chinese Emperor). To

pointedly refuse to do these things would be to make a spectacle of oneself

and cause unnecessary embarrassment to pleasant and harmless people who,

after all, have no political power. Constitutional monarchy is one of the

better, more sensible forms of govt, and we should support and encourage it.