The plot of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe, or the Peer and the Peri turns on a clause in the fairy constitution which states that “any fairy shall die who doth marry a mortal.”  At the end of the second and final act of this masterpiece of English sarcasm, however, the Lord Chancellor, who has declared himself an old hand at all matters legislatorial, proposes a small change that will allow members of the House of Lords to intermarry with fairies.  This the constitutional guardian achieves by changing the word “doth” to the word “don’t,” so the problematic clause now says...

I recalled the episode, and the man, while perusing the British papers overflowing with the Royal Family scandal of the moment.  Briefly, this centers on the person of the American mulatta C-list actress who has married the younger son of Prince Charles and is now blackmailing the Queen into releasing her and her husband from Royal duties