Thursday, September 8, 2022

What lies ahead in this post-Elizabethan era?

I was planning to blog today about Liz Truss' surprisingly assured performance at her first PMQs, and how in a perverse way it gave me heart for the cause of independence.  But I suspect it will now be practically illegal to talk about anything that doesn't involve the Royal Family for at least the next six months.  That being the case, let's briefly consider what the political implications of today's events could be.  (And if you think it's too soon for that, remember we live in a choice-rich multi-media environment and the BBC is there for those who prefer 12,748 uninterrupted hours of state-directed mass grief.)

The future of the monarchy: It's long been speculated that the accession to the throne of King Charles could be the natural moment for some of the remaining Commonwealth Realms to replace the monarchy with a homegrown Head of State, as Barbados did very recently.  The monarchy is much more firmly entrenched in the UK itself, although it's conceivable that a less popular Head of State and a relatively unpopular Queen Consort could increase the size of the minority who favour a republic, and that could prove to be of some significance in the very long term.  But on the other hand, Charles as King brings the undoubted glamour of William and Kate one step closer to the throne.

Liz Truss: If the new Prime Minister has some hardbitten and cynical advisers (as all Prime Ministers seem to), they're bound to be telling themselves that this is the most extraordinary, unique opportunity for Truss to connect immediately with the British public and to establish herself on the world stage, if she can just find the right words.  The obvious comparison is with Tony Blair, who eulogised Princess Diana as "the People's Princess" just a few months after taking office.  (The Quintessential Queen?  The Most Matriarchal of Monarchs?  Legendary Lillibet?)

Independence for Scotland: We always knew this moment would arrive, and we always knew it would be challenging for the independence movement, because events like this push Britishness to the fore.  However, the death of Princess Diana in 1997 was an event of almost the same magnitude as far as the public were concerned, and it didn't stop Scotland voting overwhelmingly in favour of having its own parliament in a referendum held just ten days later.  The difference here may be that there isn't going to be any natural closure after the funeral is over - there'll still be a sense of transition until the Coronation, which I presume could be a whole year away and will be the focal point for unprecedented media hysteria that will surpass any Royal Wedding.  (And will there also be an investiture ceremony for William as Prince of Wales at Caernarfon Castle?)  In the long run, though, an unappealing King Charles and Queen Camilla could diminish the value of the UK 'brand' and make independence seem less unthinkable for some.

The BBC: I just have this very slight feeling the BBC may over-reach themselves over the coming weeks, because their protocols for royal deaths seem to be permanently stuck in the 1950s.  I believe comedy and light entertainment programmes will be completely dropped for a prolonged period.  The BBC may be capturing the mood of Britain tonight, but after a few weeks of this will people start saying "yeah, Nick Witchell is great, but could we watch Mock the Week now?"

14 comments:

  1. I had nothing against Elizabeth as Queen - but I've long been of the opinion that her passing should mark a re-examination point about the validity of the monarchy in the 21st century.

    As a mark of respect, it shouldn't be a rushed process, but equally it shouldn't be allowed to drift into a situation whereby the question just isn't asked.

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  2. Nobody will ever say "Nick Witchell is great".

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    1. Certainly not the new King, who said of him: "I can't bear that man. He's ghastly, he really is."

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  3. Does anyone remember when Nicholas Witchell sat on a lesbian who broke into the BBC studios in London in a protest while I was reading the news? I remember the wardrobe manager expressing his surprise at "Nicky the Witch" getting so phyiscal with a woman.

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  4. I'm no royalist myself but found myself surprisingly sad and emotional at the news of the queen's death. That said, the coverage yesterday evening was massive overkill, with the BBC running the SAME programming on BBC 1 & 2, and probably other channels too, I didn't check. Very sad for the family, but she was 96, and for the rest of us life must go on. There's important stuff to deal with, wars, energy crisis, cost of living, climate. Oh, but if it means no Eastender on TV for a while, then "thanks ma'am" .

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  5. Never mind the BBC over-reaching.... did anyone else catch the CH4 NEWS interview with a woman who actually suggested ' The Canny Queen' planned her own passing at Balmoral? Gobsmackingly crass politicising of a monarchs death (See Phantom Power vid)..

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    1. The lady in the video is Tessa Dunlop, an excellent oral historian and a unionist with possible identity angst - if I recall, one of the examples she gave of her mother's toughness was that she lived in rural Perthshire despite having an English accent, which I thought revealing of her mindset.

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  6. Rural Perthshire is awash with English accents, some belonging to posh Scots!

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    1. You'd probably need to be tougher to survive with a Scottish accent in rural Perthshire.

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    2. That's what makes it such a revealing comment.

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  7. I remember living and working in rural Perthshire in the 80s, and talking to friends who were brought up there. Lovely place and Perthshire people are very nice, but some of the newer residents!? I can jnderstand why Kenyans turned to the Mau Mau.

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  8. There’s a fascinating poll of 8004 UK adults that you might be interested in James (see “The Kids Aren’t Alright” here: https://www.jlpartners.co.uk/polling-results). In particular there’s a question on whether it would be a good or bad thing for the UK to have “a strong leader that didn’t have to bother with parliament/elections”. The numbers in favour are fairly terrifying, although thankfully considerably lower in Scotland.

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  9. "And will there also be an investiture ceremony for William as Prince of Wales at Caernarfon Castle?" If they try to repeat that calculated historical insult, it will be resisted to the extreme. 38% of our population (by their own definition) are not Welsh, but there are plenty of us who will die in the ditch before that happens again.

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  10. Mad British/Irish liar Skier has been dying in a ditch for years along with the rest of the WGD numpties,

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