I personally think we are all the better as a nation for our Monarchy. They do represent us as a country worldwide and that they’re unelected makes it all the better, they never have to follow party lines, stick to a popular trend or offer bribes to get elected, they just uphold our dignity.
When someone attacks our monarchy they attack us, when they ignore etiquette they are insulting us.
Something we often forget is that the Queen (or King) represents the Commonwealth and not just ‘England’. She is head of state to all of these countries:
Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, Canada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Lucia, Solomon Islands, St Kitts and Nevis, and St Vincent and the Grenadines. Jamaica is considering removing her but it’s by no means certain, Barbados will let her go in November of 2021 (their loss).
Is the Monarch perfect?
No, far from it and this is why they represent us so well. There was a time when suggesting the Monarchy was fallible would have been treason and punished accordingly, thankfully we’ve moved on since then!
In recent years and by that, I mean the last century, we have seen some huge changes. Some for the better, others not so much.
Edward the VIII abdicated the throne in 1936 to marry a divorced woman, an American no less. The Church of England and Parliament made it abundantly clear that such a union was incompatible with the role of Monarch. The new King made his choice to go with love over duty.
In contrast, Prince Charles admitted publicly to an affair with a married woman whilst married himself. Despite both being divorced he married her in 2005 and it remains a controversy to his day with many hoping he too will abdicate and never take the throne. Whist constitutional experts still debate trying to find a way forward it remains a constant that the country is uncomfortable with the union and against her becoming Queen.
Many also believe that his ‘son’, Prince Harry, isn’t actually his at all but rather the son of James Lifford Hewitt who had an affair with Diana, Princess of Wales. Such is the nature of the monarchy this will never be disclosed. Prince Harry himself sparked controversy when he married an American divorcee. She did not conform to establishment expectations and as such, we lost the Prince to populism. The couple left the country to lean more to her persuasion of celebrity.
The Queen once referred to a period in her life as her ‘Horrible Year’ though in line with the educated minority, she said it in Latin ‘Annus horribilis’. Many of our citizens do not understand why an educated elite feel the need to revert to Latin when there are perfectly good English alternatives.
Whilst we will not always agree with the Monarchy they do raise more revenue for the UK than they consume in public funds, they are our long term investment in ourselves and, in what other job is a person still working full time into their 90’s?
