Yeah. Put me in the camp of generally against the idea of there being a separate noble/royal class of people but through a combination of my appreciation of history, the fact that the royalty has no actual power and the Queen’s own behavior I have been kinda ‘Don’t create a problem that doesn’t exist*’. We’ll see if Charles can maintain that kind of respectful apolitically. *I also don’t live there and have only spent one week in Worthing so have no claim on understanding the mindset of a British Citizen. To me it is theoretical. Maybe it is actually oppressive.
This is worth a look. Whatever else you can say about her she did have a good sense of humor. https://twitter.com/davidmackau/status/1567894552744271872
71 years on the throne, 2nd only to the Sun King, Louis XIVth. She meets Liz Truss and dies the next day.
I would venture a guess that the person of Elizabeth II was the largest factor in keeping the monarchy alive in the 21st century, and that attitudes are likely to shift now. There's no universe in which Charles fills her shoes adequately.
Wow. In principal the monarchy absolutely shouldn't exist in this day and age, but the fact it still does, and that many countries including Australia chose to keep it, is all down to how respectfully Elizabeth treated the role.
This. The Toronto Star, a Canadian newspaper, put it best: "The Queen was the last royal to understand that the allure of the monarchy lies in mystique and constancy, not celebrity or trend." Charles is a bumbling fool. Andrew is a pedo, and like Edward and Anne he's thankfully too far down the line of succession to be a threat to the throne. William and Kate give me little hope, as neither has the gravitas that Elizabeth II brought to the role. And, as I've said before, Harry and Meghan can get fucked and should just shut the hell up. In other words, the Royal Family has essentially become a family of cheap reality television stars and should be relegated to the dustbin of history.
To be fair, how much gravitas did Elizabeth have in 1952? She had to earn it over the decades. I don't follow the royals at all, but William and Kate seem like the best bet for continuing Elizabeth's legacy. Charles should just step aside.
While other European Royals were hiding across the ocean, Elizabeth stayed in the UK and trained as an army mechanic. Whatever else one might say about Harry, at least he went to Afghanistan.
Well if he is problematic he isn't going to reign long. He's the oldest monarch ever to ascend the throne at 73. He was Prince of Wales for 64 years!
Call me a Harry Stan but when the shells came down he immediately ran the right direction (to his vehicle not the bunker).
Oh, come on. We all know that was staged. It was Meghan playing with some L2 hand grenades off camera.
Offhand, I wonder how the other surviving European monarchies are reacting and if they're worried writing might start appearing on the walls. While I'm sure the fact they rule over small nations influences how little we hear of them, they either know the balancing act as well as Elizabeth did or know how to keep themselves out of the scandal spotlight.
I'm definitely going to get tired of the blanket coverage and royalist sycophancy quite quickly, mind. They're calling off Premier League games this weekend I hear.
Yeah, but most of your country will be facedown in their own vomit from celebrating her death, so at least this way you won’t miss watching the games as they happen.
If we're to believe the period dramas, most of them are unhappily burdened with their royal duties and would welcome the chance at a normal life.
As someone who lives in a constitutional monarchy, now that Elizabeth II is gone I'm actually fine if Canada were to transition to a republic.
So my insight is 20 years old and EXTREMELY anecdotal but through my friendship with Josh and the couple weeks I spent in the Basque Country the folks there were both pro-independence AND pro-monarchy. On the one hand most folks thought the Basque Country would be better off independent but still recognized/appreciated Juan Carlos voluntarily turning the country into a democracy (remember Franco only died in 1975 - dictatorship isn’t ancient history) not only do many ethnic Spaniards respect him but also many Basques, Valencians, Galicians and other minorities for intentionally making New Spain multi-ethnic. Again, 20 years old and EXTREMELY anecdotal. Take as you will.
Pretty sure @Bailey and his fellow convicts will now be the first Commonwealth country in line for a republic.
Expect the next federal election (probably 2 1/2 years away) will include Labor promising a referendum if reelected.