Queen Elizabeth II died September 8th, 2022, on her estate, Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is such an interesting time to go to England as the country goes through a state of mourning. I almost wished that she would have died a little later, so I would be in England already to experience everything in person, but alas it was her time to go.
And yes, I know how contentious the title of this blog post is. And yes, I mean every word of it.
Monarchies are bad, and I believe that everyone should be as free as possible without restricting the freedom of others. Democracy is the best way to do that, and my opinions on monarchies should not be surprising. Monarchies have a lot of political power centralized to just one person, who isn't even selected by the people in the case of a hereditary monarchy. While admittedly the Queen didn’t have that much political power, acting more as a Head of State, but she did have social power on the way her country runs. The Church of England, a branch of Christianity, endorses royal supremacy. According to the Canon of the Church of England, “[they] acknowledge that the Queen's excellent Majesty, acting according to the laws of the realm, is the highest power under God in this kingdom, and has supreme authority over all persons in all causes, as well ecclesiastical as civil” (“Section A”). To them, God destined her rule just as her son Charles III’s rule as her successor. The monarchs of England function as Supreme governor of the Church of England, adding to her religious and social influence. Don’t even get me started on how everyone is fascinated by British royalties, even Americans especially after Meghan Markle's introduction to the family. And what does the Queen do with her overwhelming amount of influence? Uphold the status quo and be racist
Many countries that Americans like me think of as independent are under England’s thumb during Queen Elizabeth II’s lifetime as a part of the British Empire like for example India, Jamaica, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and so much more. Many of those countries have currency that features her face on them! If that isn’t influence, I don’t know what is, and she did absolutely nothing to prevent or lessen British colonialism during her rule with that influence.
As for the claim of racism, we can take a look at how the royal family treated Meghan Markle. If you don’t remember Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's interview with Oprah Winfrey, I can bring you up to speed. They had done the interview because Meghan and Prince Harry felt the need to distance themselves from the royal family, considering how they treated Meghan. She told Oprah that her son, Archie, wouldn’t “be given security, [nor] a title.” There were also “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he's born” because Meghan is mixed-raced. This was horrifying to hear. And what did the Queen and royal family have to say about it? They were “‘saddened to learn’ how challenging things had been” for the couple and will discuss these issues privately (Friel et al.) as if they hadn’t known already. The instances of racism don't start or end with Meghan. Before her death, the Queen had never apologized for the country's racist past, which she had contributed to, like their involvement in the Slave Trade or British colonialism.
The events that have occurred in the week after her death validates my dislike of the Queen and the British Monarchy. Recently, British police have arrested peaceful protestors for anti-monarchy sentiments following the Queen’s death. To Americans, this sounds outlandish and a clear violation of freedom of speech because it is. England has less freedom of speech; for example, it is easier to sue someone for defamation there than it is in the United States, but even this seems excessive for them. If you want to hear more about the specific arrests, check out this article. I consider this to be especially important because I’m going to a country in which I have less freedom of speech, and the police would arrest me for protesting against the monarchy. Believe me when I say that I have no interest in being arrested anytime soon, especially not in a foreign country!
I don’t understand how defensive people can get about the British monarchy. They are horrible people, who do horrible things, but get a free pass because they are monarchs.
UNRELATED NOTE: By next week, I will be on a flight to Manchester. I’ll have the next blog scheduled to post while I’m on the plane.
Work Cited
Friel, Mikhaila, et al. “The British Royal Family Has Turned a Blind Eye to Its Racist Past.”
Insider, Insider, 8 Sept. 2022, https://www.insider.com/british-royal-family-racist-
history-black-lives-matter-2020-8.
“Section A.” The Church of England, https://www.churchofengland.org/about/leadership-
and-governance/legal-services/canons-church-england/section#b7.
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