The Queen is dead
I was surprised to see the reaction from my two daughters, at the news of the Queen’s death. I asked my twenty something year olds why they’d posted, what seemed to me to be tick box condolences? Weren’t they just following a need-to-be-seen-doing-the-right-thing trend?
After all, the only twinge of sadness I’d felt, after being bombarded by the Queen’s image on the many advertising hoardings scattered along the A40, was noticing her birth in 1926 and reflecting on the fact that it neatly split my parents, three years either side - a stark reminder of how many years had already passed since their deaths. They died too young and missed much.
What did they say?
The Queen is apparently a lovely role model, who was doing it for the girls. It’s also a monumental point in history. Anyone talking about ending the monarchy at this point is being rude to the royal family and hugely disrespectful.
They have a point. Her reign was extraordinary and explains the unprecedented global media focus, which has been poised for exactly this moment for years.
Track record
As our longest serving monarch, she has been a constant in everyone’s lives, whatever that might mean. By any standard she was remarkable. She held discussions with 15 successive Prime Ministers, 70 years of Privy Councils and was still taking public engagements, two days before she died at 96 years.
When is a good time?
Equally, there is never a better time to discuss and reflect on what happens next, when the deity has just died? If not now, when?
The news has been anything but impartial. It has been impossible to escape extended, continuous coverage, as I discovered while driving a couple of days after the announcement. Even radio stations like Talk Sport were in reflective mood, presumably because the weekend football programme had been cancelled?
The only dissension I noticed which did cut through, was when a 22-year-old-man was seen being shoved to the ground in Edinburgh, after he heckled Queen Elizabeth II’s middle son. Inappropriate, absolutely. But why was the person in question, then arrested? Freedom of speech is sacrosanct and should be respected regardless.
The British love a queue
I’m intrigued to know why the ever popular light show at Kew Gardens every Christmas, controls queueing with timed tickets as do the ice rinks which pop-up across London in November. Yet if you wanted to pay your respects in Westminster Abbey, you had to join an untimed one. One that extended purposefully across Lambeth Bridge, before stretching 5 miles east. It resulted in tens of thousands of people waiting in line, some for nearly 24 hours. (Hat tip to David Beckham who queued along with everyone else).
The British might be well known for participating in such orderly constructions and enjoy sharing their royal experiences with perfect strangers. But the queue also serves another purpose, doesn’t it?
Aside from the fantastic media spectacle, the inefficiency of it all is a reminder of what has gone before - an echo to our feudal past, paying homage to our deceased monarch. The length of the queue is clear evidence to this kingdom and its colonies, that the monarchy is very much alive and well for our new king.
Is the monarchy relevant?
Only about a quarter of all Britons are republicans. The British Social Attitudes Survey discovered in 2021 that 14% of 18-34 year olds thought it important to have a monarch, compared to 44% of people aged over 55. We care more as we age, even though the same over 55s, are also the middle-aged Britains who enjoyed anti-royal songs by the Sex Pistols, the Smiths and Stone Roses.
Disconnected
Surely the recent out pouring of love and respect for Queen Elizabeth II is just that, a sincere feeling of loss. She tried to preserve the mystique of the Crown, but ended up being loved and revered for the person she was. This has not been a celebration for a new king.
I’m struggling to understand the loss that many others feel. The Queen was an English aristocrat living in a world of horses, dogs, grand houses with a shooting estate attached to at least one of those piles. Disney would be hard pushed to improve on such a perfectly scripted, real-life fantasy.
The pomp, ceremony and pageantry for the funeral was extraordinary. It seems to be the one great thing about Britain today. No other country with a royal family comes close. That is largely because those families have become far more integrated into the countries they nominally preside over.
King Charles III
Will the previously outspoken prince have heated debates with the new prime minister about climate change? Probably not. He’s also unlikely to separate the monarchy from its bizarre financial, legal and constitutional privileges, which include exemption from laws affecting royal income or estates. That I expect will be finally dealt with by his son.
The writer and journalist Laurie Penny sums up well the recent outpouring and spectacle.
Mourning rituals matter and this country has had a lot to mourn for a long time. The royal family makes sense to me as a religion and it’s not my religion, but I do believe in religious tolerance, as long as participation is optional.