Goodbye, Queen Elizabeth II
And thank you for your service
--
I’m British. I have, until now, only ever known one monarch on the throne my entire life. And today was her state funeral as she was laid to rest at the grand age of 96.
Now, I’m not exactly a Royal supporter, nor am I against the monarchy either. I don’t think it’s right to blame the current monarchy for any atrocities that previous monarchs have committed. It’s not like they have any control over the past, nor do they have a time machine.
I also don’t think it’s right to blame the monarchy for the state of the country. People have been whinging for years about how much money the royal family makes when there are large numbers of people living in poverty in the same country. Blame the government, not the Royal family, who have no control over these things. The head of state is a figurehead and not much else.
Whether the Royal family bring in a large amount of money via tourism is argued a lot. I couldn’t tell you the figures but what I do know is that a lot of the Royals do a heck of a lot of charity work. It’s a sad world that we live in where we have to rely on charity to make the world a better place (again, blame the government for their failings), and the charity work the Royals do is absolutely vital through awareness and raising the profile of charities.
I expect a lot of people will scoff at the idea of a Royal doing ‘work’, but yes, they do work. It’s just that their work is a little different to other kinds of work.
The thing that people forget when they start bitterly moaning about how members of the Royal family have it easy is that despite all the glamour, huge residences and large numbers of servants, it is a life that most people would rather not have.
There are strict rules and protocols that Royals have drilled into them from an early age. They have to speak a certain way, behave a certain way and pretty much live a life being told what to do. There’s no ‘normal’ life if you’re in line to the throne.
You will always be recognised wherever you go, and you will have any behaviour scrutinised by the media, more so if you’re high up the line of succession. And this scrutiny starts from a young age — good luck to anyone born into the…
