This blog is replete with my anti-monarchist views. But those views date back to my childhood. That’s when I developed an innate sense of resentment at seeing my compatriots take greater pride in the “Queen’s Honours” (like knighthoods and OBEs) than in our national independence.
But I am heartened that Barbados is leading “Commonwealth countries” in finally replacing the British monarch as their head of state and ridding themselves of the last vestiges of colonialism. And so, while the British will be hailing the accession of Charles to the throne on Saturday, I suspect other countries will be heralding his dethroning in due course.
Yet I have always respected and admired Queen Elizabeth’s commitment to duty and public service. This is why posts hailing her milestone birthdays and jubilees are interspersed throughout this blog.
Of course, I am acutely aware that, for many people, there’s no reconciling (or explaining) this apparent inconsistency. But it’s in this spirit of respect and admiration that I join others in paying my respects today.
Queen Elizabeth II, the UK’s longest-serving monarch, has died at Balmoral aged 96, after reigning for 70 years. Her family gathered at her Scottish estate after concerns grew about her health earlier on Thursday.
The Queen came to the throne in 1952 and witnessed enormous social change.
With her death, her eldest son Charles, the former Prince of Wales, will lead the country in mourning as the new King and head of state for 14 Commonwealth realms.
(The BBC, September 8, 2022)
King Charles III..?
Prince Charles once famously decreed that modern architecture is an eyesore on the skyline of London, which needs to be demolished. But I submit that royalty is an eyesore on the landscape of democracy, which needs to be abolished!
The simple fact is that royalty is anathema to the universal principle that all people are created equal. So any democracy that institutionalizes royalty in the twenty-first century is almost as cancerous (and oxymoronic) as any that institutionalized slavery in the nineteenth.
But, to understand why his reign is doomed, the title to my most recent post on the British royals really says it all:
- “London Times Confirms My Take: Prince Charles Is a Royal Grifter,” June 28, 2022
Enough said…?
Media coverage
I’d be remiss not to express a little resentment at the media for the hours of repetitive and speculative vigil they are providing. Not least because this is coming at the expense of barely mentioning other important news.
Nothing was more egregious, if not disrespectful, in this respect than the way CNN snubbed Bernard Shaw, its own pioneering anchor. Because CNN clearly decided that saying the same things over and over again about the queen was more important than paying tribute to Shaw – who also died today.
The irony is that Shaw was arguably as significant a figure in the annals of cable news television as this queen was in the annals of British royalty…
So he clearly deserved at least a 10-15 minute retrospective – complete with colleagues singing his praises. (And not just on CNN, but on all cable news channels!) Instead, all he got was Anderson Cooper blurting out a 10-second announcement of his death before returning to idle speculation about “the deep concern” everyone had for the queen’s health…
But thank you for your pioneering reporting, Bernie: most notably for moderating the decisive presidential debate between George H. W. Bush and Michael Dukakis in 1988, reporting while under fire during the Gulf War in 1991, and showing that a black man can anchor the news with as much authority and assurance as Walter Cronkite.
May both she and he rest in peace, and may their memories be a blessing.