Queen Elizabeth 1926-2022. Three years on
Queen Elizabeth 11 died three years ago on 8th September. I am not of course a monarchist but the historical perspective is interesting. I wrote the below at the time. If as my 2022 analysis suggested we are now in the twenty-first century it is one of Trump, Gaza, Ukraine and climate crisis. The current monarch is meeting Trump on a State visit next week and continues to focus on climate.
Andrew Marr (Sunday Times 7th September) argues that the Queen represented a certain national stoicism, a country getting on with living together. That is hardly Britain 2025 but from the 1970s the Monarch did not preside over a nation at ease with itself. In the current moment it’s also true of much of Western Europe and the US.
Adam Tooze writing in the Financial Times (6th September) ponders why given the omni-crisis that currently exists there is no financial reaction, no economic slump. His view is that in a crisis the patient is still alive. They may recover or they may not. The absence of a crisis suggests we may be in the latter state. In that case a ceremonial monarchy to preside over national decline, or something completely different altogether on the left or the right may be the Queen’s legacy three years on
September 2022
Britain is a constitutional monarchy so the role of the Royal Family and the monarch in particular is not just ceremonial but also political. Investigations in recent times by the Guardian and others have underlined that the monarch and also King Charles actively sought to influence political decisions where they have interest or concern.
In that context the death of Queen Elizabeth on 8th September2022 represented a conclusion to the long twentieth century (I have the historian Daryl Leeworthy to thank for this point). The Queen actively ruled over Britain for 70 years. It was not for the most part a nation at ease with itself.
From her early decades when Britain was still extricating itself from direct colonial rule- the first decade of Elizabeth’s reign saw the Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya bloodily dealt with by the British Army and even latterly the Royal Family’s relationship with the slave trade has so far only elicited a ‘sorry’.
In the UK it might be argued that until the late 1960s the Queen did preside over a degree of social peace. The changes in society in that period- the legalisation of abortion and homosexuality, the equal pay act are not in anyway associated with the monarchy.
The point was not lost on many since by the time of the 1977 Jubilee the Sex Pistols irreverent God Save the Queen better fitted a national mood than forelock tugging.
It has been downhill all the way since. The death of Princess Diana, Prince Andrew, the expulsion of Prince Harry and the numerous doubtful dealings of King Charles. Perhaps it could be argued that the Queen rose above all this but she also presided over it all.
It is if course far too soon to draw anything but the most provisional of historical balance sheets, leaving aside numerous media hagiographies. Political decisions can however be made. It’s time to end the constitutional role of the monarchy, disestablish the Church of England, and confine King Charles III to a ceremonial role only
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