Politics: the British Royals, part 1

Self-tutoring about an institution whose importance seems questionable: the tutor begins.

The following is according to my understanding.

I recall in the summer of ’81, my grandmother’s anticipation of the wedding between (then) Prince Charles and Lady Diana. As I remember, she got up early in the morning to watch it – a lot of people did. The media discussed the wedding throughout the next few days.

Of course I didn’t get up to watch the wedding – I was a pre-teen anyway. My grandmother, however, seemed quite impressed by it when she talked about it later. I think somehow she could read that the importance of the ceremony escaped me. “I think royalty is really something special,” my grandmother observed. I realized a lot of people seemed to agree, given how much that wedding was talked about afterwards.

Queen Elizabeth II’s picture was in all my elementary school classrooms, as I recall. The Prime Minister’s was as well. (The US President – Ronald Reagan – was also on the wall in some of the classrooms.) Nobody questioned the reason the portraits were there, although I don’t recall them being on the walls of my university classrooms. Perhaps they were, but by then I was so used to them I no longer noticed.

As a Canadian, one was meant to accept the authority of the British monarch. After all, we were a former colony of Great Britain. Yet, during the 80s, murmurings that questioned the validity of the monarchy reached my ears. I developed the opinion, as a young teen, that the monarchy’s presence in government seemed due to legacy rather than functionality.

Today, it seems some people wonder if the British monarchy, as an institution, might possibly collapse under the weight of a scandal. Yet, apparently, the monarchy remains important to many Brits, and even others outside the British Isles, including President Trump!

It seems elusive to me, why people are so impressed by the monarchy, since it’s based on birthright. Perhaps it’s because their presence somehow legitimizes – even showcases – the idea that so much of life isn’t necessarily democratic or meritocratic.

Source:

YouTube: Times Radio: Andrew’s scandal pushes William towards revolutionising the monarchy

bbc.com