Mourning a Monarch
The death of Queen Elizabeth II could lead to a cultural change in the monarchy — and raise questions over how it needs to change
The death of Queen Elizabeth II has sent shock waves across the country and around the world.
The death of someone is never nice, and I for one feel the personal gloating at her passing is several steps too far, for I’ve got nothing against her as a person but rather what she stands for.
The Royal Family is a symbol of oppression, a regime which oversaw so much suffering around the world.
Although much of this happened under the watch of previous Royals, their ‘pomp and circumstance’ is woefully archaic in the modern age and serve to remind us why, rightly, Britain is despised by so many around the world.
This is countered by many people who adore the Royal Family and what it represents, but that’s something I personally can’t fathom or comment on.
The wealth of the Royal Family, at a time of economic crisis where millions of people will be forced to choose between heating their homes and feeding themselves and their families, is unsettling.
Ordinary, working class people face the prospect of a Dickenzian-style winter which will follow what is sure to be an example of wealth and grandeur of a funeral.
The send off for another extremely wealthy monarch who hasn’t had to worry about personal finances will be of little concern to people struggling to make ends meet during one of the toughest financial periods in recent history.
There has been a lot of talk about how the Royal Family needs to get with the times, but in reality the rigid and stifling protocol of the monarchy just doesn’t belong in 2022.
This for me is primarily through the insane amounts of wealth and authority which has been given to people purely for who they are and the family they happened to be born into.
The power of the monarchy has diminished over the years, with the brunt of the everyday running of the country in the hands of MP’s, who are themselves rightly criticised for their leadership.
However, they are seen as a status symbol both in this country and around the world and an example of how one family had have a god given right to hold power and wealth without earning it.
The new monarch has also added fuel to the fire in Wales of why the need for a Prince of Wales.
Those in Wales who oppose the monarchy do not believe Wales needs a prince, and a petition was set up to end the title.
The argument for this is strong — Wales has not had a native Prince of Wales since Llywelyn the Last, who was killed by English soldiers in 1282 and had his head paraded through London.
The anti-royalist sentiment is clearly strong in most corners of the UK, but of course there is still a lot of support for the royals which is of course fine — after all we are supposed to be a nation built on free speech.
From a personal perspective, the points mentioned here surmount to good enough reason to ask questions about the monarchy and what it should become in 2022 onwards.
We will soon see what kind of King Charles will be, and as he has been waiting in the wings for many years it may be sooner than we think that we see the direction he wants to take the monarchy in.
