The Myth of the Steady Hand of the Monarchy
Has Elizabeth II really had a calming effect, a steady hand, on the United Kingdom?
Mark Easton, the Home Editor of BBC News, has penned an article (After a week of profound change, our unsettled kingdom seeks a steady hand) about the challenges facing King Charles III and his Prime Minister Liz Truss.
He talks about how the queen encouraged us to be calm and carry on, and that she said, “Goodwill is better than resentment, tolerance is better than revenge, compassion is better than anger, above all a lively concern for the interests of others as well as our own.”
It is this idea, an old idea, that the monarchy, ever since we became a parliamentary democracy and castrated the monarchy’s power, has had some kind of almost godly influence over us; that without their “steady hand,” we would have long since withered and died.
But is any of this true?
No. Not a word of it.
When I look back at my own sixty-plus years, I see none of it. I hear plenty of words, and moments (a day or two long at best?) when the nation took a breath, then fell straight back into the pit from whence it came.
Riots, violence, poverty, lost opportunity; the Queen has had no influence over any of those. Indeed, her son, now a king himself, has probably had more with his various organisations like the Prince’s Trust.
For Charles, words were never enough — actions were better.
But the Queen, and now the King, does not have that power. They cannot make actions. They can only use words, and those must be approved.
Nice words they may be, and the Queen and her staff were rather good at them, but they never changed anything.
An example in point: Royal Mail workers have put their strike on hold during this bizarre “Period of National Mourning.” But it is only a postponement. Once it is over, it will be, “Right, lads, get the placards out!”
Liz Truss and Keir Starmer will be whetting their political swords and dualling pointlessly once more.
We will still be in a mess over Northern Ireland, over Ukraine, over power prices, inflation, rising mortgages, sewer leaks, protests, strikes, and everything else that is the backbone of a country.
Because the head of state never is. Especially if they are just a figurehead and have no backbone.
The monarchy is a useful flag to wave at other countries and at ourselves, but in reality, it is window dressing; useful in itself, but neither calming nor a “Steady Hand.”
It cannot be. We took that power away from it and left it only with platitudes and fine speeches.
And right that is. For it is the people of the country (not the “citizens” nor the “subjects” but just the people here) who should have the true final say and influence.
Saint Elizabeth
In the meantime, since her sad death, the media has launched and encourage a kind of deification of Elizabeth II. It is very similar to what the Roman Catholic church is currently about with the late Pope John Paul. They are turning him into a saint based on some supposed miracle. It has been a long process!
With Elizabeth, it has been considerably faster. Just a couple of days. She might not have been given a religious beatification, and most may not be suddenly praying to her (there will be some), but the music and the dance moves are the same.
The new god Elizabeth will be heralded for centuries as the person who shaped the New Elizabethan age.
It is a pity she didn’t, then.
So where do we get our National Identity?
The Beatles and the Rolling Stones, Punk Rock, and sexual liberation have shaped us far more, given us our identity, and in a direction that she has been less than happy with. We are very much a liberal society now, while the monarchy has remained staunchly conservative under Elizabeth. It is her son and grandson, Charles and Harry, who have been the libertarians, looking for equality, and standing up for causes.
But sadly, in becoming a king, Charles has been gagged. And Harry is no longer a royal in the working sense.
And we are now in a period of aged monarchy too. Charles is in his seventies. If he lives as long as Mama, William will be in his sixties when he gets the crown. Likewise, his son.
We will not see another Platinum or Diamond or Golden Jubilee. Silver will be the most.
And we will not have another young monarch. Elizabeth was 25 when George VI died. So the chances of relating to the young future, are problematical.
But it doesn’t matter. Because the true influence, and rightly so, is in our parliament and on our streets. Once we have managed to shake free the shackles of National Mourning, we will then focus once more on the Commons and the voices, happy and sad, calling out from around the country.
It will be business as usual very quickly.
