Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor
April 21, 1926 - September 8, 2022
One of the first things I do every morning is turn my computer on and log in to Facebook. And so it was on Friday, September 9, 2022. I immediately saw a post from one FB friend that said “London Bridge has fallen.” No photo, but I immediately suspected it meant that Queen Elizabeth had died. Without pausing to read posts from other FB friends that might have appeared during the night, I immediately checked my news feed and confirmed it. It is a day that we always knew in our heads would come, but which nevertheless leaves us with a heavy sadness.
I habitually buy and read the morning English-language Japan Times print newspaper. But news of the Queen’s passing came so late that it missed the print newspaper’s print deadline for Friday 9th. That means there was nothing at all about Elizabeth in the Friday, September 9th print newspaper. The online edition of the paper bore the news, but I don’t habitually use the online edition. I had to wait until the Saturday, September 10th morning print newspaper to read in-depth reports of all the events taking place in the U.K. Then, Monday, September 12th was a “newspaper holiday” in Japan, delaying my ability to read the news in print, at my leisure, and forcing me to turn to the internet instead. (In Japan, there is no newspaper on the middle Monday of every month, in order to give newspaper staff a “rest.” I don’t like it, but … )
The sovereign’s death unleased a media bonanza.
I was unsurprised, impressed, and interested by how quickly things happened: the succession of the King (automatic), the announcement of the succession, family arrangements for travel, audiences with the Privy Council, politicians and the press, a quick tour of the Union nations, lying in state, and funeral, etc. Uniforms, ceremony, music, military units, legal documentation. As we come to terms with the death of the Queen who occupied the throne for 70 years, who could fail to be impressed by how smoothly and efficiently the royal family handled the succession from mother to son? Of course, these things were all meticulously planned long ago. Many of the arrangements had been in place for years, with no detail overlooked. Planned by the U.K. government, planned by the Royal Family Agency, and planned by the media as well. The media were prepared, and the sovereign’s death merely unleased a media bonanza that was loaded and ready to fire. Charles comes to the throne amid both praise and critical scrutiny. That doesn’t mean anything to me, as I am not disposed to criticize him from day one over frivolous things. Instead, I’ll wait for some important misstep before I become critical.
It has been 70 years since we’ve seen a royal succession in the U.K. and the Commonwealth, and many of us are just unfamiliar with it. We’ve seen royal ceremonies - weddings and funerals, parades and parliamentary speeches, walkabouts, visits, and ceremonial inaugurations - but nothing like this in our lifetime. The endurance of the pageantry and the history that explains it are certainly interesting. Every little thing is invested with meaning.
Who could fail to be impressed by how smoothly and efficiently the royal family handled the succession from mother to son?
I’m not impressed with idiotic anti-royal (even republican) news stories about how the Queen was an evil symbol of white privilege, white racism and white colonialism; how the new King needs to apologize for British colonialism; how the succession is a good time for Commonwealth Dominions to reconsider republicanism; how the succession is a good time for Scotland to reconsider its place in the Union; how some people in the world are demanding the U.K. return some supposedly stolen treasures (the Kohinoor and the Great Star of Africa diamonds); how Charles has already got off to a bad start; how it would be better to skip Charles and go directly to William; how some members of the English public are still obsessed with that fabulous twit, Dianna Spencer, and persisting in somehow holding Princess Di against the new King and his Queen Consort. I don’t care for gossipy tabloid stories about the royal family. I don’t care for talk of an “end of an era.” Instead, I like the appearance of continuity. That preservation of continuity was always the great justification for monarchy. I don’t see the death of the Queen (the only monarch I’ve ever known in my Canadian life) as an opportunity to make big changes - like moves to declare Canada a republic, for example.
I am biased on this point, because my ancestors on my mother’s side were United Empire Loyalists (residents of the American New England colonies who were loyal to the Crown and who, after the Revolutionary War [1775 – 1783] deliberately migrated north into British North America [eastern Ontario] in order to continue living under British Dominion). In keeping with my family’s heritage, I am unsympathetic to republicanism. (My paternal ancestors, by comparison, did not arrive in BNA until the mid-1800s, fleeing famine. My maternal ancestors were town people while my paternal ancestors were rural people, seeking land in southwestern Ontario from the Upper Canada Company, founded by the Scotsman John Galt who, incidentally, founded my hometown in 1827 at the confluence of the Speed and Eramosa Rivers, part of the Grand River watershed in southwestern Ontario.)
Charles comes to the throne amid both praise and critical scrutiny.
I don’t care for news of people bitching about who will pay for the elaborate state funeral. I quickly grew tired of reading celebrity-type news stories about the Royal Family’s grief, repeating the same sentences day after day without reporting any factual information. I disliked Princess Diana who was an uneducated, self-centered, manipulating whiner. And, her son, Harry, is cut from a similar cloth. He and his celebrity American wife … Bah!
I stayed up late to watch the Queen’s funeral live on Youtube. I didn’t go to sleep until about 1:30 a.m., and I had to be up at 5:00 to get ready for a full day of work. As the State Hearse made its way on public streets and highways from Westminster Abbey to Windsor Castle, I kept hoping that no one lobbed a home-made bomb, or fired a weapon either at the motorcade or into the crowd. It was the largest domestic security operation of all time for the English. I’m thankful that it all went to plan.
I have heard talk of re-branding Elizabeth II as “Elizabeth the Great.” Not because of any great accomplishments of her reign, but simply because of her longevity and the gooey feelings people imagine about her. In reality, the UK experienced continuous decline during her reign. I mean, the loss of empire, international status, influence, and relevance. It had The Beatles and David Beckham, and little else. Oh, well.