The advanced politics of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign and dying
The Queen is lifeless. Crowds collect in mourning, paying their respects to the lack of a determine so outstanding not solely in Britain however internationally. Nevertheless, amid the grieving, teams throughout the globe see her dying as a motive to have a good time. Individuals in Eire, India and members of the African diaspora both meet the information with glee or full indifference. They don’t contemplate the previous Queen’s dying an occasion value grieving, and so they don’t have any motive to.
Queen Elizabeth II was topped queen in 1952 on the age of 25. By the point of her dying, her reign had overseen the Malayan emergency, through which British authorities established focus camps and starved out communities rebelling in opposition to British authority; the bloodbath of the anti-colonial Mau Mau revolt by British forces in Kenya, leading to over 200,000 lifeless, maimed or in focus camps; and Bloody Sunday, the place British forces fired right into a crowd of Northern Irish residents marching in opposition to British insurance policies calling for the internment of any suspected Irish nationalists. These are simply three of the extra overt examples.
Perhaps all that is true, however the British monarchy is only a figurehead, proper? The precise decision-making energy that might have resolved these conflicts has rested within the palms of the Parliament for tons of of years, so why place all of the blame on the monarchy?
Firstly, the results of a number of centuries of imperialism don’t vanish in a single day. The British Empire extracted mounds of financial and cultural assets from their colonies, and the monarchy nonetheless largely advantages from this appropriated wealth: crowns and different jewellery worn by the royal household are adorned with valuable stones stolen from India and South Africa. These symbols of conquest stay embedded in British tradition as shows of wealth, simply as a brutal historical past of looting and enslaving stays embedded within the monarchy’s very existence.
Moreover, the queen — together with the remainder of the royal household — has an unquestionable prominence within the public eye. Their combined superstar and political standing give them energy over the ideas and progress of a nation.
Regardless of this, Queen Elizabeth remained silent throughout her reign. As a substitute of responding to criticisms of the monarchy, Queen Elizabeth II stored up the charade of a benevolent England needing to fix damaged relations. She threw a “Silver Jubilee,” visiting nations world wide and internet hosting events and balls within the identify of unity whereas individuals worldwide fought in opposition to British rule.
The persistence of the British monarchy, regardless of its position in imperialism, reveals a extra insidious sample within the U.Ok.: quiet racism. England likes to contemplate itself a post-race society, superior to many different “developed” Western nations. Nevertheless, in sustaining this way of thinking, they conveniently ignore the numerous statistics and conflicts that counsel in any other case, together with the continued existence of a monarchy and the long-term results of colonialism.
British colonialism has actual penalties for minority communities — particularly Black communities — immediately, as concepts of British superiority grew to become institutionalized. Within the UK, they’ve much less entry to healthcare, battle extra with housing and have fewer alternatives on the job market, all whereas faculties conveniently pass over the historical past of British involvement in Africa from their curriculum. Even Meghan Markle, now a part of the royal household, has confronted intense scrutiny and criticism merely for being half-Black. British individuals proceed to supply the royal household awe and assist with out acknowledging their position in imperialism or the influence it has on individuals immediately. Actually, as not too long ago as 2020, over a fourth of Britons need the British Empire again.
It’s straightforward to be carried away by the glitz and glamour of the monarchy. Nevertheless, the general public fascination with the queen on the expense of acknowledging the royal household’s hand within the racial and social stratification we see immediately has actual, insidious penalties — and never simply in England. It maintains a precedent the place horrible truths are pushed apart in favor of what’s simpler to swallow. We will ooh and ahh on the royal household all we wish, however we’ve got to keep in mind that it can’t be entangled with a bloody, brutal historical past that has actively formed — and can proceed to form — the inequalities that hurt individuals immediately.
