On the 8th September 2022, it was announced that Queen Elizabeth II had died. Queen Elizabeth II was the UK’s longest-serving monarch, and had reigned for 70 years, serving our country as the Sovereign Head of State. When it was announced that she had died, the country went into shock.
For anyone under the age of 70, the Queen was the only monarch we had known. When people visit London, they go to Buckingham Palace just to see ‘where the Queen lives’ and when they go into tourist souvenir shops, her face is plastered everywhere. She was a British Icon and royal figurehead – what happens when that is taken away?
Well, the death of Queen Elizabeth II had mixed reactions. While many people were upset and mourning, sharing ‘RIP Queen Elizabeth II’ or retweeting poems and pictures in tribute to the Queen, some people just didn’t care. And not only that, the death of Queen Elizabeth II has stirred up controversial conversations about the problematic nature of the monarchy, especially regarding Prince Andrew and the treatment of Meghan Markle.
But why was there such a mixed reaction? Well, we live in a country that is very much divided in politics, and I’d argue that this contributes to people’s opinions on the monarchy. Some people, namely royalists, who love and feel connected to the royal family will feel that the monarchy is still important and powerful in 2022. For those who aren’t a royalist, or may be anti-monarchists, would argue that the monarchy is not as significant as people make out and that we shouldn’t praise them as much as the media often does.
But what the monarchy can often provide is a sense of community. Think back to the royal wedding of 2011, and then again to the Jubilee this year. We might not have high regards for the royal family and they may not impact our daily lives, but the celebratory events related to them are lapped up by families and communities wanting to celebrate.
After sending out a tweet asking for anonymous opinions on the matter, I received a numerous range of different responses. One anonymous source from Twitter said: ‘We live in an ever more polarized world, with varied religious beliefs, ideologies and political viewpoints. The monarchy brings stability and unity which is now needed more than ever.’ The Queen was this stable figure of our country and even though she is gone, the unity of members of the public, particularly regarding the queue, is very present still.
So, what is the role of the monarchy today? While the monarch is Head of State, the ability to make and pass legislation actually resides with the elected Parliament. However, the monarch still manages constitutional and representational duties. Queen Elizabeth II would have had many meetings with the prime ministers she worked with, appointed many ministers and partook in countless other unseen jobs, but she would have had no say in anything that really mattered in Parliament.
On the official Royal website, it says that the monarch acts as ‘a focus for national identity, unity and pride and gives a sense of stability and continuity.’ For royalists, who heavily supported the Queen as Head of State, this statement is very much true. They view the monarchy as part of our national identity and someone who keeps us all together, in the past and still in 2022. Yet, for others, this is far from what the monarchy means.
While I’ve heard of some people not caring for the death of the Queen due to other important matters in the world such as the Cost-of-Living crisis, the death of Chris Kaba and the Ukrainian war, for some people it stems from a hatred of the monarchy in relation to the Commonwealth.
A second anonymous Twitter user wrote to me about how they felt about the monarchy as a citizen of Canada which is a commonwealth country now under Charles III. They said the monarchy’s ‘esoteric rituals and state-funded displays of devotion are out of touch and out of line with democracy and we should leave it behind.’
‘To say nothing of the way it represents as the authority, a family who benefitted and continues to benefit from the pillaging of the global south, the annihilation of cultures and peoples in my own country. Every praise of the monarchy is an implicit acceptance for those evils’, they heavily argued.
Another anonymous Twitter user suggested that ‘for some countries it might be any symbol but for third world countries she’s a symbol of colonialism, she’s responsible for the great distraction of world.’
Here, we can see that the monarch can mean a symbol of colonialism for many in 2022. But even with the growing controversy and strong views against the monarchy, dismantling the monarchy would not be an easy task – it would be almost an impossible one. The monarchy is still powerful as a figurehead, but it is clear to see their popularity is not as strong as it was once, and perhaps we could be journeying into a new age of the monarchy with King Charles III. Will respect for the monarchy wilt? Will King Charles III uphold the love and community that Queen Elizabeth II symbolised? We shall have to wait and see what the monarchy will mean in years to come.
Words by Cara-Louise Scott
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