Issue No.589
Culture
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6 - 12 June 2002 Issue No.589 Culture |
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Plain Talk
It is simply because I lived through the early days of her reign. I queued near Westminister Abbey with hundreds of thousands to watch her wedding procession on 20 November 1947. I was there in 1952 when King George VI died and Elizabeth became queen, and, yes, I was there on her coronation day: 2 June 1953.
During my long stay in London I often wondered how the monarchy had endured for so long. Churchill was defeated by a Labour landslide and Attlee became prime minister. The Labour government nationalised the heavy industries and introduced a welfare state, but it never touched the monarchy. The queen, like her father and forefathers, was treated with a respect nearing reverence, love close to adoration.
In his book Hope and Glory, Peter Clarke tried to explain this, writing about historic British institutions that were always held in esteem. "Does not a consolidational monarchy hold together the British Commonwealth, which, alone had defied Nazi Germany?" he writes. "The king (George VI) was a family man with his own ration book... The Royal Family stayed in London during the Blitz and visited the bombed-out residents of the working class East End; when the opulent West End was eventually bombed too, and Buckingham Palace itself hit, the Luftwaffe unwittingly reinforced the social solidarity of the capital and completed the rehabilitation of the British Monarchy."
The Independent Review of 31 May published a special report entitled "50 years, 50 voices (1952-2002)" asking 50 people about their views of the queen. The interviewees include Amy, a girl of 10, as well as journalists, novelists, artists, singers, professors. Amy says: "Yes, I like the Royal Family a lot. I'd like them to stay forever. I was really upset when the Queen Mum died. My favourite member of the Royal Family is the Queen. I am really looking forward to her golden jubilee."
Some of the interviewees thought that the queen had done her best in difficult circumstances to maintain the traditions of monarchy in an elected democracy; the inference being that monarchy and democracy cannot go hand in hand. A historian remarked that the "Queen's strong sense of duty has always led her to follow change, not precede it." "The Monarchy," he goes on to say, "is a symbol of stability in a changing world." While he concedes that the monarchy is in no position to impede necessary change, even if it wanted to, "yet it still remains a last line of defence against dangerous extremism and corruption, something that a presidential system cannot offer".
Rosie Boycott, a journalist, has a different point of view. She is "a republican at heart, but it's very unlikely that we'll abolish them overnight." She calls for a fantastically curtailed monarchy based on the Danish model, which would include the queen and her close family -- the others would all be cut loose.
Sir Terence Conran, the design guru, believes that "being the head of state with very little power in a democratic society with increasingly inquisitive media, is not an easy task and, under these circumstances, I think the Queen has succeeded quite well."
While some expressed the opinion that the monarchy will end with Charles, Sir Terence thinks that whether or not the monarchy has a future really depends on the future monarch.
The voices go on describing the queen as "faultless", as "showing outstanding devotion to her country, her people and the wider Commonwealth", "conducting herself with dignity, decency and honour".
Of course, there were other voices expressing strong opposition not only to Queen Elizabeth, but to the monarchy at large. But the golden jubilee is hardly the time to air such views.
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