When the country was about to be engulfed by one the most severe cost-of-living crisis it seems the Queen had picked a bad time to shuffle off her mortal coil, triggered the centuries-old tradition of pomp and ceremony to take place and gave the anti-monarchists more reasons to back up their call for the abolition of the monarchy.
Speaking from a neutral position, I like to point out that, like all the other long-established continuous monarchies, the Royal family of the United Kingdom is a valuable cultural asset of the nation that has evolved with time and has been greatly enhanced by this country's connections made with places around the world during its colonial days whether we like the way those connections were made or not. It has grown beyond politics and because of it, its members have proved themselves to be better ambassadors than the country's official ambassadors over the years. Like all past rulers and their families down the millennia, even as a constitutional monarchy like ours, they are the symbolic core of the nation, an invisible bond that holds together a country's social fabric, even at times when elected parliamentarians are pulling them apart.
That is why most people in countries like America would love to have their own royals, but since they cannot just invent one, they are constantly making films about kings and queens and knights and lords with all the aristocracy trimmings. In China, people on all level of society are often encouraged to learn and research on everything about every emperor or empress of every dynasty in their country's
long history. that's why they too, have never stopped making films about their monarchist past.
The anti-monarchists probably do not realise that the monarchy of this country is something they will definitely miss if it was gone, despite what they are saying now.
Thanks for the considered comment, Rennie Ku - I like the phrase "invisible bond that holds together a country's social fabric", it succinctly describes the common feeling of uncertainty now that the Queen has gone. And with the state funeral taking place during the cost of living crisis, the expense of it makes for a complex mourning and reckoning with the place of the monarchy.
Hi John - apologies you didn't enjoy this piece, we felt it was important to reflect one of the biggest events in recent history and allow some our readers to have a healthy conversation in the comments about their thoughts, feelings and memories about the Queen. Hopefully we can win you over next week..
Must admit, that as I've grown up, my feelings towards the Royal Family have grown more and more ambivalent, I wouldn't quite go so far as to say Anti, or abolitionist, but most definitely those of uninterest, and I think that's resonating throughout society, as we're seeing more and more articles about the rest of the family, as tough to remind us that there's more to it than "just the Queen".
It's almost as if "the estbalishment" are aware and afraid that once the Queen's gone, the magic screen will disappear from people's eyes, and we'll all start questioning things more and more, and demanding answers instead of being "fobbed off with sideshows" and as a result, as though to try and keep us all in thrall to the idea of Royalty, we're seeing more and more features on the rest of them , as if the press and TV have been told "we've got to keep this sideshow going".
Final Thought, if we do have some kind of Monarchy, what's wrong with following the European example, where, other than their title, they are seen & accepted as "ordinary people" Holland, Sweden Luxembourg, Norway, the people seem happy enough with that arrangement, and the family themselves are no less respected. Remember a good few years back, I was invited over to Norway by some friends, and we were visiting Lillehammer, there are various photos around the buildings of Winter Olympic mmoments past & present, one photo caught my eye, it wa a man on packed tram on his way to the Ski Slopes, and he looked to be offering his tram ticket or pass to the Conductor, I asked my mate what it was about & he explained to me that during the 1970's energy crisis, people were encouraged to travel by Public Transport rather than by car. The king, was determined to set an example, and so did as he was asking the public to do, the mooment was captured by a press photographer who was on his way to his newspaper office .
Strikes were called off out of respect. The stock exchange was operating normally. Football matches have been cancelled. Millions face the reality of higher energy bills. The BBC tells us how we must be feeling. A corrupt lying former prime minister tries to steal the limelight.
Thanks Kevin - it would be interesting to know how you feel about the blanket coverage of the Queen's death in the press. I imagine a lot of national news organisations are wondering how extensive their coverage should be, and what tone to strike, considering the fact that public opinion about the monarchy is more split in recent years. I also find the point you raised about cancellations and closures interesting: I wonder what the impact will be on the economy, particularly for independent businesses.
Where to start?!!! For some reason I keep thinking about North Korea and Saudi Arabia. A family dynasty invades, murders its opponents, passes power down over centuries, adopts a superstitious cult as a religion and destroys the temples of any dissenters, arrests those who protest against it, flaunts its wealth, exiles family members who damage the image, colonises huge swathes of tribal lands, imports foreign princes to improve the gene pool although these are cousins so the results are questionable, allows a government to assume power but vetoes anything found unsuitable, dominates the media and newspapers and distracts attention from starvation and crimes committed by its followers, bribes those who allege crimes against its members, buys a football club... Oops! Etcetera etcetera etcetera...
The only place any dissent of this North Korean style national grief Olympics is allowed is online. An old lady has died but we’re about to borrow £150 billion to give to energy firms but there’s no magic money tree. Don’t remember Liz speaking out about Hillsborough when the city was grieving and then smeared, or getting justice for those murdered by the Paras in Derry, or any other of the myriad things the British establishment have done and continue to do in her name.
I enjoyed this article, I think the Queen's death has hit people who wouldn't describe themselves as monarchists in a way that they probably didn't expect - Laura who you quote in the article sums it up well.
On a separate note, Birkenhead as a hotbed of QAnon conspiracy theorists - who knew?
Thanks Simon - appreciate the kind words! Laura spoke so articulately and I think it's been cathartic, in an unexpected way, for people to have an opportunity to talk about grief and loss and change.
As for Birkenhead being a hotbed... that might be overkill! But encountering Lisa and Diane was unexpected.
Thanks Ruth - I agree, there's a great quote in a 2021 Guardian piece about the monarchy's place in modern life which says:
"Perhaps the Queen’s greatest strength is the sense of permanence she brings to the job, adapting just enough to appear unchanging. Timeless she may be; immortal she’s not. Thus any grievances about the institution she heads are bound to surface when she dies."
When the country was about to be engulfed by one the most severe cost-of-living crisis it seems the Queen had picked a bad time to shuffle off her mortal coil, triggered the centuries-old tradition of pomp and ceremony to take place and gave the anti-monarchists more reasons to back up their call for the abolition of the monarchy.
Speaking from a neutral position, I like to point out that, like all the other long-established continuous monarchies, the Royal family of the United Kingdom is a valuable cultural asset of the nation that has evolved with time and has been greatly enhanced by this country's connections made with places around the world during its colonial days whether we like the way those connections were made or not. It has grown beyond politics and because of it, its members have proved themselves to be better ambassadors than the country's official ambassadors over the years. Like all past rulers and their families down the millennia, even as a constitutional monarchy like ours, they are the symbolic core of the nation, an invisible bond that holds together a country's social fabric, even at times when elected parliamentarians are pulling them apart.
That is why most people in countries like America would love to have their own royals, but since they cannot just invent one, they are constantly making films about kings and queens and knights and lords with all the aristocracy trimmings. In China, people on all level of society are often encouraged to learn and research on everything about every emperor or empress of every dynasty in their country's
long history. that's why they too, have never stopped making films about their monarchist past.
The anti-monarchists probably do not realise that the monarchy of this country is something they will definitely miss if it was gone, despite what they are saying now.
Thanks for the considered comment, Rennie Ku - I like the phrase "invisible bond that holds together a country's social fabric", it succinctly describes the common feeling of uncertainty now that the Queen has gone. And with the state funeral taking place during the cost of living crisis, the expense of it makes for a complex mourning and reckoning with the place of the monarchy.
Lovely
Thank you Bee!
How tedious. Roll on the Republic.
Hi John - apologies you didn't enjoy this piece, we felt it was important to reflect one of the biggest events in recent history and allow some our readers to have a healthy conversation in the comments about their thoughts, feelings and memories about the Queen. Hopefully we can win you over next week..
Hi Molly, as a republican, any articles extolling that parasitic institution, will not impress me.
But thanks for responding.
John
Must admit, that as I've grown up, my feelings towards the Royal Family have grown more and more ambivalent, I wouldn't quite go so far as to say Anti, or abolitionist, but most definitely those of uninterest, and I think that's resonating throughout society, as we're seeing more and more articles about the rest of the family, as tough to remind us that there's more to it than "just the Queen".
It's almost as if "the estbalishment" are aware and afraid that once the Queen's gone, the magic screen will disappear from people's eyes, and we'll all start questioning things more and more, and demanding answers instead of being "fobbed off with sideshows" and as a result, as though to try and keep us all in thrall to the idea of Royalty, we're seeing more and more features on the rest of them , as if the press and TV have been told "we've got to keep this sideshow going".
Final Thought, if we do have some kind of Monarchy, what's wrong with following the European example, where, other than their title, they are seen & accepted as "ordinary people" Holland, Sweden Luxembourg, Norway, the people seem happy enough with that arrangement, and the family themselves are no less respected. Remember a good few years back, I was invited over to Norway by some friends, and we were visiting Lillehammer, there are various photos around the buildings of Winter Olympic mmoments past & present, one photo caught my eye, it wa a man on packed tram on his way to the Ski Slopes, and he looked to be offering his tram ticket or pass to the Conductor, I asked my mate what it was about & he explained to me that during the 1970's energy crisis, people were encouraged to travel by Public Transport rather than by car. The king, was determined to set an example, and so did as he was asking the public to do, the mooment was captured by a press photographer who was on his way to his newspaper office .
Strikes were called off out of respect. The stock exchange was operating normally. Football matches have been cancelled. Millions face the reality of higher energy bills. The BBC tells us how we must be feeling. A corrupt lying former prime minister tries to steal the limelight.
Thanks Kevin - it would be interesting to know how you feel about the blanket coverage of the Queen's death in the press. I imagine a lot of national news organisations are wondering how extensive their coverage should be, and what tone to strike, considering the fact that public opinion about the monarchy is more split in recent years. I also find the point you raised about cancellations and closures interesting: I wonder what the impact will be on the economy, particularly for independent businesses.
Where to start?!!! For some reason I keep thinking about North Korea and Saudi Arabia. A family dynasty invades, murders its opponents, passes power down over centuries, adopts a superstitious cult as a religion and destroys the temples of any dissenters, arrests those who protest against it, flaunts its wealth, exiles family members who damage the image, colonises huge swathes of tribal lands, imports foreign princes to improve the gene pool although these are cousins so the results are questionable, allows a government to assume power but vetoes anything found unsuitable, dominates the media and newspapers and distracts attention from starvation and crimes committed by its followers, bribes those who allege crimes against its members, buys a football club... Oops! Etcetera etcetera etcetera...
The only place any dissent of this North Korean style national grief Olympics is allowed is online. An old lady has died but we’re about to borrow £150 billion to give to energy firms but there’s no magic money tree. Don’t remember Liz speaking out about Hillsborough when the city was grieving and then smeared, or getting justice for those murdered by the Paras in Derry, or any other of the myriad things the British establishment have done and continue to do in her name.
Jeffery is EITHER on Bold Street, OR outside Primark.
Even gay men can't be TWO places at the same time - Primark is on Church St!!!
Thanks for the correction Paul - we apologise for the error, this has now been amended.
I'm full of surprises...
I enjoyed this article, I think the Queen's death has hit people who wouldn't describe themselves as monarchists in a way that they probably didn't expect - Laura who you quote in the article sums it up well.
On a separate note, Birkenhead as a hotbed of QAnon conspiracy theorists - who knew?
Thanks Simon - appreciate the kind words! Laura spoke so articulately and I think it's been cathartic, in an unexpected way, for people to have an opportunity to talk about grief and loss and change.
As for Birkenhead being a hotbed... that might be overkill! But encountering Lisa and Diane was unexpected.
If Diane and Lisa were on the stage, part of a comedy act, their comments would be hilarious. But they are actually rather ridiculous, and alarming.
While I am not a royalist I am also concerned that the alternatives would be even worse.
King Charles has to prove that the monarchy are still relevant in the 21st century.
Thanks Ruth - I agree, there's a great quote in a 2021 Guardian piece about the monarchy's place in modern life which says:
"Perhaps the Queen’s greatest strength is the sense of permanence she brings to the job, adapting just enough to appear unchanging. Timeless she may be; immortal she’s not. Thus any grievances about the institution she heads are bound to surface when she dies."
Ihttps://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/mar/14/harry-meghan-royal-family-monarchy-what-are-they-for
It will be fascinating, ultimately, to see how it changes.