tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/prince-philip-14618/articlesPrince Philip – The Conversation2022-09-09T11:28:41Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1902892022-09-09T11:28:41Z2022-09-09T11:28:41ZIn 1953, ‘Queen-crazy’ American women looked to Elizabeth II as a source of inspiration – that sentiment never faded<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483602/original/file-20220908-4832-gy0ml5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=110%2C44%2C3499%2C2371&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Queen Elizabeth II during a 1983 tour of California.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/queen-elizabeth-ii-departs-hoover-house-following-lunch-at-news-photo/1317022486?adppopup=true">George Rose/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the spring of 1953, women from across the United States traveled to Britain – for many, it was their first time abroad.</p>
<p>The impetus for the trip was <a href="https://www.royal.uk/50-facts-about-queens-coronation-0">Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation</a>, held in Westminster Abbey on a rainy June 2 of that year. Among those making the journey were Peggy Webber, who traveled all the way from Iowa, and Geneva Valentine from Washington, D.C. For both women, whom I learned of while researching the monarchy and gender, the coronation provided an unprecedented opportunity to be part of a momentous occasion in which a woman was at the center of the story.</p>
<p>For almost 70 years, there has been a <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-the-uk-celebrates-queen-elizabeth-iis-platinum-jubilee-why-will-so-many-americans-also-be-cheering-her-on-184283">long-standing affection for Elizabeth</a> from across the Atlantic, especially among women. It may be of a less showy variety than the attention lavished on other, potentially more glamorous female members of the royal family, such as Princess Diana or the Duchesses of Cambridge and Sussex. But it endured. A <a href="https://today.yougov.com/topics/international/articles-reports/2022/02/24/queen-remains-americans-favorite-living-british-ro">Febuary 2022 poll</a> found that more than 60% of American women held a favorable opinion of Elizabeth. The survey found her to be the most popular of all living royals, with women generally holding the royals in greater esteem than men do.</p>
<p>In her own way, the queen quietly captured the imaginations of American women from the very beginning of her reign. As a <a href="https://www.bu.edu/history/profile/arianne-chernock/">historian of the British monarchy</a>, I know part of the interest stemmed from Americans’ abiding <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-the-uk-celebrates-queen-elizabeth-iis-platinum-jubilee-why-will-so-many-americans-also-be-cheering-her-on-184283">affection for the royal family</a> – something that transcended Elizabeth’s reign. </p>
<p>But for many American women, Elizabeth also represented something else. At a time when women were, in many cases, expected to conform to traditional roles of a housewife and homemaker, Elizabeth was ascending the throne of a powerful country. In the words of one psychologist interviewed for <a href="https://journals.dartmouth.edu/cgi-bin/WebObjects/Journals.woa/xmlpage/4/article/449#edn29">a 1953 Los Angeles Times article</a>, for the first time “the women of America have found a heroine who makes them feel superior to men.”</p>
<h2>Long-standing affection</h2>
<p>Just as American women in the 20th century followed Elizabeth’s evolution, from dutiful daughter to young bride and mother to conscientious sovereign, so did earlier generations take interest in Queen Victoria’s coronation, marriage and jubilee celebrations in the 19th century.</p>
<p>For even though Americans chose a different path with independence in 1776, the British royal family has always exerted a strong pull on the American psyche. In fact, that pull is perhaps even greater because it is uncomplicated by politics. It is <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/explainers-57559653">not U.S. tax dollars at work</a>, so Americans can take pleasure in the ceremonial and the romantic without being burdened by questions of what it costs and means to have a monarchy.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="US president Ronald Reagan" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483604/original/file-20220908-27908-ei73cq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483604/original/file-20220908-27908-ei73cq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483604/original/file-20220908-27908-ei73cq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483604/original/file-20220908-27908-ei73cq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483604/original/file-20220908-27908-ei73cq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483604/original/file-20220908-27908-ei73cq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483604/original/file-20220908-27908-ei73cq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Ronald Reagan was one of 14 U.S. presidents who served during Queen Elizabeth II’s reign.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-queen-with-president-reagan-at-a-state-banquet-at-news-photo/52103686?adppopup=true">Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>There is a specifically gendered aspect to America’s love affair with the royals, too. When women traveled to London in 1953 – or, as second best, turned on their newly purchased television sets to <a href="https://www.americanheritage.com/great-coronation-war">tune into the coronation coverage</a> – they were not just interested in what the queen was wearing or the dashing figure cut by Prince Philip.</p>
<p>They were also fixated on the fact that so much fuss was being made over a woman at all, and a powerful one at that. As U.S. ambassador to Italy Clare Boothe Luce <a href="https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30013444360">explained at the time</a>, this was “an assignment made to order for a woman.” Luce used this logic to convince President Dwight Eisenhower to send the journalist Fleur Cowles to the coronation as one of his official representatives.</p>
<p>Indeed, as Luce alluded to, there was something deliciously disruptive about Elizabeth’s reign. Against a postwar backdrop, when many American women were being urged to return to the home and take pride in the efficiency of their kitchens, here was a 25-year-old princess being elevated to a position of head of state, her every step reported and discussed. This was anomalous, and in ways that seemed to augur well for others of her sex.</p>
<p>Reporter John Kord Lagemann, <a href="https://journals.dartmouth.edu/cgi-bin/WebObjects/Journals.woa/1/xmlpage/4/article/449">writing in the Los Angeles Times</a> in 1953, captured this sentiment in a piece on “America’s Queen-Crazy Women.” Elizabeth, Lagemann noted, posed a challenge to patriarchy. Case in point was her marriage. Here, he wrote, the “situation is reversed” and the woman “commands.”</p>
<p>Elizabeth did not need to “play according to a man’s rules by acting demure and helpless.” Rather, she could “be as imperious as she pleases.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Queen Elizabeth II in a yellow and white dress and hat holds a bouquet of flowers while surrounded by well-wishers." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483605/original/file-20220908-22-6hiarz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483605/original/file-20220908-22-6hiarz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483605/original/file-20220908-22-6hiarz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483605/original/file-20220908-22-6hiarz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483605/original/file-20220908-22-6hiarz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483605/original/file-20220908-22-6hiarz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483605/original/file-20220908-22-6hiarz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Queen Elizabeth II during a 1991 visit to Washington.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/queen-elizabeth-ii-makes-a-state-visit-to-the-united-states-news-photo/1041866866?adppopup=true">John Shelley Collection/Avalon/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Lagemann’s observations provide some clues to Elizabeth’s hold on American women. Even as the women’s liberation movement helped shift certain conversations, the queen continued to model an alternative path forward – one in which women could travel without their children, demonstrate their command of policy, be at the center of the photograph, take responsibility and even grow old in the public eye.</p>
<p>Elizabeth II will be mourned by many around the world, including the daughters and granddaughters of those “Queen-Crazy” Americans who traveled to London in 1953 for her coronation but have yet to see a female head of state installed in their own country.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190289/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Arianne Chernock does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The new queen was a subversive model for American women of the 1950s, and many traveled to London for her coronation. Their daughters and granddaughters will be among those mourning the monarch’s death.Arianne Chernock, Professor of History, Boston UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1588732021-06-13T20:06:31Z2021-06-13T20:06:31ZForget Charles — an Australian republic hinges on the model we adopt, not the monarch<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404177/original/file-20210603-23-nghbcf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=28%2C0%2C2308%2C1366&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mark Marlow/ EPA/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Today, many Australians are enjoying a public holiday. For republicans, days off are great, but celebrating the queen’s birthday rather than an Australian achievement is bizarre. Without constitutional change, we will soon be taking a day off in honour of King Charles. </p>
<p>Surely we can find a better reason. </p>
<p>Fortunately, the republic is back on the public agenda. The royal scandals surrounding <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/dec/14/prince-andrew-refuses-to-deny-he-stayed-in-jeffrey-epstein-mansion">Prince Andrew</a>, the <a href="https://aph.org.au/2021/02/qa-with-jenny-hocking-author-of-the-palace-letters/">Palace Letters</a>, and the explosive <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/07/world/europe/oprah-interview-harry-meghan.html">Oprah interview</a> with Harry and Meghan (and <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/lilibet-diana-the-royal-rift-and-audacious-hope-behind-meghan-and-harry-s-baby-name-1.4588429">ongoing fallout</a>) have seen the debate take off anew. </p>
<p>Even the passing of the queen’s husband, Prince Philip has <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/prince-philip-s-passing-could-be-another-step-towards-a-republic-20210411-p57i9y.html">prompted reflection</a> on Australia’s relationship with the monarchy. </p>
<p>We can be sure that when the queen’s long reign comes to an end, it will also spark a new push for an Australian republic. </p>
<h2>The Australian Republic Movement’s new approach</h2>
<p>Since the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/archives/80days/stories/2012/01/19/3423918.htm">defeated referendum in 1999</a>, the Australian Republic Movement has been neutral on what model should be used. Its position has been for a plebiscite asking only if people support a republic, before the exact model is determined. Critics have claimed this is asking for a policy blank cheque. </p>
<p>In a change of policy, the Australian Republic Movement now plans to unveil its <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/mar/11/australian-republican-movement-to-propose-model-for-republic-in-second-half-of-2021">preferred model</a> later this year.</p>
<p>This is significant because it was the model, not the monarch, that sunk the republic in 1999. Some republicans were so opposed to the option on offer they campaigned with the official “no” team. Ultimately, the success of a new republic referendum will depend on the ability of the model to unite republicans, not the popularity of the monarch.</p>
<p>So, what are the options for a republic and what are their pros and cons?</p>
<h2>Another minimal model</h2>
<p>Under the minimal model from the 1999 referendum, the head of state would have been appointed by a two-thirds majority of parliament. </p>
<p>Despite its failure in 1999, many republicans still insist this is the best fit for Australia. The appointment by parliament is similar to the systems used in India, Israel, and Greece, and seeks to ensure a non-partisan appointment and reinforce the titular nature the position. Variations include the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/republic-debate-our-system-of-government-isnt-broken--we-dont-need-to-fix-it-20160128-gmfpu8.html">McGarvie model</a> (proposed by former governor of Victoria, Richard McGarvie), which has a council of former governors to act on the prime minister’s advice and select a worthy candidate. </p>
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<img alt="Malcolm Turnbull campaigning for the 'yes' vote in 1999." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404179/original/file-20210603-17-jwdjoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404179/original/file-20210603-17-jwdjoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404179/original/file-20210603-17-jwdjoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404179/original/file-20210603-17-jwdjoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404179/original/file-20210603-17-jwdjoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404179/original/file-20210603-17-jwdjoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404179/original/file-20210603-17-jwdjoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Malcolm Turnbull led the unsuccessful ‘yes’ campaign in the 1999 referendum.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rob Griffith/AP/AAP</span></span>
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<p>For supporters, this model guards against populism, or candidates using their wealth or celebrity to gain the position. However, critics argue a minimal model has already failed the ultimate test. </p>
<p>Malcolm Turnbull, who led the 1999 “yes” campaign, argued at a recent <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AusRepublic/videos/we-demand-change/694799417738810/">Australian Republic Movement event</a> that support for direct election is a “mile wide but an inch deep”. In other words, people instinctively support it but often change their minds when they consider the consequences. </p>
<p>Minimal model supporters insist that the referendum failed because of constitutional ignorance and an effective scare campaign. They suggest a minimal model can succeed with much wider community consultation and public education. </p>
<h2>Direct election</h2>
<p>Direct electionists argue that without a popular vote, Australia would only have a “<a href="https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/political-leaders-must-show-conviction-in-pushing-for-republic,13972">politicians’ republic</a>”. Leading up to the 1999 referendum, former independent MPs Phil Cleary and Ted Mack, and former Brisbane lord mayor Clem Jones, among others, formed the Real Republic, urging people to vote “no”. Now led by chair of the Clem Jones Trust, David Muir, the group is still active on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/RealRepublicAustralia/">Facebook</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/after-oprah-what-will-it-take-to-revive-an-australian-republic-156958">After Oprah: what will it take to revive an Australian republic?</a>
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<p>In theory, direct election means anyone could be the head of state. Critics argue it could actually reduce the pool of candidates. Winning an election generally requires substantial finances and resources. Direct election could mean that only the rich or famous can realistically run. </p>
<p>Supporters counter this by claiming a mature nation can make up its own mind. If the people democratically elect someone like Clive Palmer or Shane Warne, then so be it.</p>
<h2>A hybrid model</h2>
<p>The third option is a hybrid of minimalism and direct-election. Former Western Australia Premier Geoff Gallop put forward the <a href="https://www.themandarin.com.au/97406-where-to-for-an-australian-republic/#fn16">Gallop Model</a> at the Constitutional Convention in 1998. He proposed that the federal parliament select at least three suitable nominees who are then put to a popular vote. </p>
<p>Another hybrid is the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awdOd9zeQDI">50-50 model</a> created by government consultant Anthony Cianflone. Under this model, anyone can nominate. Then there is both a popular vote and a parliamentary vote, each worth 50%.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-oprah-interview-is-a-royal-pr-nightmare-but-republicans-shouldnt-get-their-hopes-up-just-yet-156744">The Oprah interview is a royal PR nightmare, but republicans shouldn't get their hopes up just yet</a>
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<p>Previously, I have <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-model-for-an-australian-republic-that-can-unite-republicans-and-win-a-referendum-89919">proposed a hybrid model</a>, with each state and territory parliament selecting a nominee, and then those eight going to a popular vote. The logic behind this system was that it provided a double hurdle for candidates. Only an exceptional candidate would gain the confidence of both an elected parliament and the people. </p>
<p>Critics of hybrid models say they are not democratic enough. Under a 50-50 model, the problematic situation could arise where the most popular candidate with the people is effectively vetoed by parliament. Critics of the Gallop model or mine could say it is undemocratic to only let people vote from a pre-approved list. </p>
<p>Further, public confidence in our parliaments is at a low point. Explaining my model to a friend recently, he exclaimed, “why let politicians anywhere near it?”</p>
<h2>Other considerations</h2>
<p>The method for choosing the head of state is the most important element in any republican model but there are other considerations. </p>
<p>Should gender equality be written into the constitution? Australian National University professor Kim Rubenstein has <a href="https://law.anu.edu.au/sites/all/files/lrsj/rubenstein_submission_to_inquiry_into_an_australian_republic.pdf">argued</a> the head of state should alternate between women and men. Similarly, Griffith University professor and Waanyi and Jaru man Gregory Phillips has <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rIy59W-AEY">argued</a> for direct election, but every second term the nominees must be Indigenous.</p>
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<img alt="The queen leaves Westminster Abbey, followed by Camilla, Prince Charles and Princess Anne." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404181/original/file-20210603-2387-108hrp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404181/original/file-20210603-2387-108hrp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404181/original/file-20210603-2387-108hrp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404181/original/file-20210603-2387-108hrp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404181/original/file-20210603-2387-108hrp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404181/original/file-20210603-2387-108hrp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404181/original/file-20210603-2387-108hrp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Some Australian republicans argue the republic campaign will only truly begins when Charles takes over from his mother.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP/AAP</span></span>
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<p>As the 1975 <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jul/14/what-we-know-so-far-about-the-palace-letters-and-the-dismissal-of-australian-prime-miister-ough-whitlams-dism">Whitlam dismissal</a> showed, the governor-general has great reserve powers, even if they are rarely used. As a republic, Australia could continue to rely on protocol and trust the head of state to treat the position as titular and ceremonial. </p>
<p>Another option is to codify the head of state’s powers and have strict rules outlining exactly when and how they can be used. Under direct election models especially, this may be an important safeguard. Without it, a head of state may see their election as a popular mandate for political interference. Under any model, only codification can guarantee the dismissal is never repeated. </p>
<h2>A way forward?</h2>
<p>It was only in 1973 with the passage of the <a href="https://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item-sdid-99.html">Royal Style and Titles Act</a> that the queen was given a unique Australian title, the “Queen of Australia”. Without constitutional change, Charles will become the first official “King of Australia”. </p>
<p>When coins bearing Charles’s face come into circulation, we can expect many will question the benefit of a foreign head of state living on the other side of the world. Nevertheless, the fate of an Australian republic does not rest with the next monarch. </p>
<p>Whichever model goes to a vote, the mathematics is simple. Republicans will either unite and probably win or divide and certainly fail.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158873/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Benjamin T. Jones is a life member of the Australian Republic Movement. </span></em></p>As the republic debate ramps up once more, what are the pros and cons of different models for an Australian head of state?Benjamin T. Jones, Lecturer in History, CQUniversity AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1591552021-04-16T16:45:29Z2021-04-16T16:45:29ZPrince Philip’s funeral hearse is a modified Land Rover Defender – symbolic of a pioneering, practical Britain<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395486/original/file-20210416-21-1523y3e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=21%2C14%2C4808%2C3077&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Land Rover Defender is one of the world's most iconic vehicles – as much for its functionality as its style.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/rimington-lancashireuk-may-30th-2020-old-1830883466">Michael J P/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-56694327">ceremonial funeral</a> of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, took place on Saturday April 17 in the chapel at Windsor Castle. But in a break from ceremony – a final quirky flourish from a characterful member of the royal family – the prince’s coffin was transported to the castle chapel by a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/fit-designed-by-prince-philips-land-rover-funeral-hearse-2021-04-15/">bespoke Land Rover Defender TD5 130</a>, partially designed by the duke himself.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-56773204">specially-built hearse</a> was in the works at Land Rover’s Solihull factory since 2003, when the duke first approached Jaguar Land Rover with the idea. Eighteen years later, the vehicle fulfilled its intended function – albeit on a brief drive from the castle’s state entrance to the chapel, with the pandemic having altered original plans for the hearse to be driven to the castle from London.</p>
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<p>The Defender itself has always been designed for functionality. From conflict zones to humanitarian disasters, far-flung research projects to domestic farmsteads, Land Rover’s most recognisable vehicle has touched most corners of the world. Because it was designed to operate in all terrains and all weathers, the “<a href="https://eprints.worc.ac.uk/1838/1/Land_Rover_%26_Sport.pdf">very British SUV</a>” has come to represent a vision of an industrious, intrepid Britain – though its worldwide use also highlights Britain’s legacy of war and colonialism.</p>
<p>A far cry from the sleek beauty of the <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/royalwedding/royal-wedding-electric-jaguar-harry-meghan-e-type-concept-zero-emissions-a8360096.html">Jaguar E-type</a> that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle drove to their wedding reception in 2018, the Land Rover Defender is a stubbornly <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2021/04/15/prince-philips-custom-made-land-rover-hearse-unveiled-first/">utilitarian vehicle</a>. Commentators believe it symbolises Prince Philip’s passion for engineering and practicality – but it’s also a vehicle that belongs to the same era, possessing something of the same aura, as the departing duke.</p>
<h2>Fit for a prince</h2>
<p>The duke saw to it that his funeral hearse would bear several features of his own choosing. Most significantly, he reportedly designed the Defender’s open top rear section, including <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2021/04/15/prince-philips-custom-made-land-rover-hearse-unveiled-first/">the rubber and silver fittings</a> that will secure his coffin on its journey to St George’s Chapel.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/prince-philip-dies-old-school-european-aristocrat-and-dedicated-royal-consort-84737">Prince Philip dies: old-school European aristocrat and dedicated royal consort</a>
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<p><a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/fit-designed-by-prince-philips-land-rover-funeral-hearse-2021-04-15/">Nods to the military</a> also feature: on the duke’s behest, the livery has been changed from the original Belize Green to Dark Bronze Green – the shade of green used by the military. Other details, such as the matching green hubs and black front grille, give the Defender a further stripped-back, martial quality. </p>
<p>The last royal funeral was held for the <a href="https://www.royal.uk/funeral-arrangements-queen-elizabeth-queen-mother">Queen Mother</a> back in 2002, during which a more familiar horse-drawn hearse transported her coffin. So the duke’s funeral will certainly be distinctive, swapping hooves for off-road tyres, and mourning black for military green.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The Queen Mother’s funeral in 2002 saw her coffin transported the traditional way: by horse-drawn carriage.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>An iconic design</h2>
<p>The vehicle is also deeply iconic. First launched in 1947, the Land Rover – later <a href="https://www.landrover.co.uk/explore-land-rover/one-life/design/series-one-defender-history.html">renamed the Land Rover Defender</a> – was a product of need and opportunity. At the time, the car manufacturer Rover took inspiration from Jeep to build a functional off-road vehicle that would make use of the <a href="https://www.winwaed.com/landy/history/series1.php">excess aluminium</a>, which had been used for aircraft bodywork, left over after the second world war.</p>
<p>It may have been intended as a production stop-gap, but the original Defender’s designs, which were kept very honest and simple throughout its long production life, now carry a certain mythology among automobile fans.</p>
<p>The Defender’s continued presence in agriculture, construction and the military is a testament to its long-lived durability and adaptability, which has been exploited across the decades by <a href="https://www.adventure-journal.com/2020/07/unintentional-review-land-rover-defender-110/">explorers</a>, researchers, labourers – and dukes.</p>
<p>That adaptability is largely due to the simplicity of the vehicle’s design, which followed the design ethos “<a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/form-follows-function-177237">form flows function</a>” long before it became fashionable. As such, parts and modifications can be swapped in and out across basic horizontal and vertical axes with relative ease.</p>
<p>The overall aesthetics clearly respond to the materials at hand. The exposed hinges, flat glass, upright grille, and off-the-shelf components all communicate the Defender’s inherently utilitarian origins. It all comes together in a form that can be easily sketched with very few lines. For us designers, that’s a sign of <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Land-Rover-Design-years-success/dp/1845849876">truly great design</a>.</p>
<h2>Fond farewell</h2>
<p>Historically, the Defender defined an era shaped by analogue needs, like lumber transport or mountain rescue. But we’re moving into a future that calls for digital designs and eco-friendly vehicles, and so the automobile market now requires a different type of functionality, achieved through very different specifications.</p>
<p>The modified Defender that carried the duke’s coffin speaks once again to the vehicle’s original, purposeful design. Its spartan simplicity and modest livery will allow the focus to be on the occasion. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/prince-philip-dies-his-marriage-to-the-queen-and-their-part-in-1-000-years-of-european-royal-dynastic-history-155696">Prince Philip dies: his marriage to the Queen and their part in 1,000 years of European royal dynastic history</a>
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<p>Both the vehicle and the man it was designed to carry are unashamedly British icons. They both have a globe-trotting history, military affiliations, and a reputation for no-nonsense practicality. But it may also be the case that the duke’s Land Rover hearse ultimately represents an epoch and a Britain that is slipping away into the past – warranting a moment of reflection on the history of motoring and the achievements of the monarchy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159155/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aamer Mahmud does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Defender’s modifications were partially designed by the duke himself.Aamer Mahmud, Associate Professor in Automotive Design, Coventry UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1587662021-04-13T12:41:51Z2021-04-13T12:41:51ZLong live the monarchy! British royals tend to survive a full three decades longer than their subjects<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394615/original/file-20210412-13-uryc36.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C0%2C4827%2C2515&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">He who laughs last, lives longest?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/britains-queen-elizabeth-ii-and-prince-philip-duke-of-news-photo/484054291?adppopup=true">Leon Neal-WPA Pool/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the U.K. it is customary to <a href="https://www.royal.uk/anniversary-messages-0">receive a personalized message from the queen</a> on your 100th birthday – such is the relative rarity of reaching the milestone. </p>
<p>Prince Philip was just a couple months off, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/prince-philip-dead-at-99-0143185dc6ad526d4bb6357034972bb3">dying at the age of 99 years and 10 months</a> on April 9, 2021. The last notable royal death before his was that of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/mar/30/queenmother.monarchy10">queen mother in 2002</a>. She was 101 years old. </p>
<p>Reaching such a ripe old age isn’t uncommon among the British ruling family – in fact, my analysis shows that on average they live an additional 30 years compared with their subjects.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395048/original/file-20210414-19-4qoyzq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A chart showing the life expectancy at birth of British royals, compared to their much longer lives, from Queen Victoria to Prince Philip" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395048/original/file-20210414-19-4qoyzq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395048/original/file-20210414-19-4qoyzq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=289&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395048/original/file-20210414-19-4qoyzq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=289&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395048/original/file-20210414-19-4qoyzq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=289&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395048/original/file-20210414-19-4qoyzq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395048/original/file-20210414-19-4qoyzq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395048/original/file-20210414-19-4qoyzq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.mortality.org/">The Conversation/Data from the Human Mortality Database</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<p>I looked at the duration of life of the last six British monarchs, along with the longevity of their spouses and children – in total 27 royals. What it reveals is a fascinating and familiar story for those of us who study aging and longevity for a living. As a <a href="https://publichealth.uic.edu/profiles/s-jay-olshansky/">professor of epidemiology and biostatistics</a>, I had previously <a href="http://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2011.1786">observed the exact same phenomenon among U.S. presidents</a> – they also tend to live decades longer than the general population they serve.</p>
<h2>An age-old story</h2>
<p>The ruling U.K. monarchs from Queen Victoria onward lived an average of 75 years. And this longevity will continue to rise with each day that Queen Elizabeth II – currently age 95 – lives. Their spouses survived even longer, reaching an average age of 83.5 years. If Victoria’s husband Prince Albert, who <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/156-years-after-prince-alberts-death-we-still-dont-know-exactly-why-he-died">died of suspected typhoid fever</a> at age 42 in 1861, is removed from the equation, the average duration of the life of the spouses of the monarchs was an astonishing 91.7 years.</p>
<p>By contrast, the average life duration of the wider U.K. population for the years the monarchs were born throughout this period was only 46 years, according to figures from the <a href="https://www.mortality.org/">Human Mortality Database</a>. For example, the typical life expectancy at birth for a female in the U.K. in 1819 was just under 41 years. Queen Victoria, also born in 1819, was 81 when she died. By the time Elizabeth II was born in 1926, life expectancy at birth for females in the U.K. had risen to 62 – the queen has already surpassed that by some 33 years.</p>
<p>Such differences in lifespan – with some members of the royal family living to an age double that expected of the general population – are considered in aging circles to be extremely large, but not uncommon.</p>
<p>Lifespan differences of this magnitude are the result of a combination of <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/genetic-factors-associated-with-increased-longevity-identified/">genetic as well as social and behavioral influences</a>.</p>
<p>No one can live long without first having won the genetic lottery at birth. To maximize the chances of achieving exceptional longevity – upward of 85 years old – you must begin by being <a href="https://www.startribune.com/why-your-mother-s-age-may-be-the-key-to-longevity/492666321/">lucky enough to have long-lived parents</a>. But even for those blessed with the gift at birth of the potential for a long life, this is no guarantee you’ll outlive your contemporaries. </p>
<p>The next challenge is to avoid behaviors that shorten life. That list is long – it is a lot easier to shorten life than extend it – but among the most well known are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a009865">smoking, eating in excess and lack of exercise.</a> </p>
<p>And then there is the influence of poverty and privilege. Being <a href="https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.304.6820.165">born into or living in poverty</a> has been shown to be one of the most important factors that shortens lifespan – and it is here that perhaps the royals have the greatest advantage.</p>
<p>Further evidence of privilege being a crucial ingredient in the recipe for exceptional longevity can be seen in the fact that the children of the last six U.K. monarchs that died from natural causes lived an average of 69.7 years. This is some 23 years more than the average age of British subjects over that period. </p>
<h2>A privileged existence</h2>
<p>Put simply, British monarchs and their families live so much longer than their subjects for the same reason other subgroups of the population across the globe live longer than contemporaries born in the same year: privilege over poverty. A famous <a href="http://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X17697701">study conducted in Manchester, England, in 2017</a> demonstrated vast differences in life expectancy depending on the conditions of where people lived. Access to higher education and economic status was directly correlated with longer life, while lower education, income and poverty were linked to shorter lives.</p>
<p>In the U.S., similar <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyl083">studies of life expectancy by county</a>, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Elizabeth-Arias-5/publication/327754862_US_Small-area_Life_Expectancy_Estimates_Project_Methodology_and_Results_Summary/links/5ba28ae3299bf13e603cdab2/US-Small-area-Life-Expectancy-Estimates-Project-Methodology-and-Results-Summary.pdf">census tract</a> and zip code demonstrated the same phenomenon. In fact, there are multiple instances of dramatic differences in longevity among people living as close as across the street from each other – caused by differences in poverty and privilege.</p>
<p>Differences in duration of life are first defined by genetics, but it is then heavily mediated by education, income, health care, clean water, food, indoor living and working environments, and the overall effects of high or low socioeconomic status.</p>
<p>The long life of Prince Philip is a cause for celebrating the progress of medical science in being able to keep people alive for longer. But it is in part the result of a privilege denied to many and a reminder that humanity has a long way to go to equalize the chances of living a long life.</p>
<p>[<em>You need to understand the coronavirus pandemic, and we can help.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=coronavirus-help">Read The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158766/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>S. Jay Olshansky received funding from the National Institute on Aging and the Glenn Foundation, and he serves on the Board of Directors of the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR).</span></em></p>Prince Philip died at 99. Living to such a ripe old age isn’t unusual for UK royals. Nor is it surprising, argues an expert on aging and longevity.S. Jay Olshansky, Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Illinois ChicagoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1587532021-04-12T12:26:50Z2021-04-12T12:26:50ZWrite ill of the dead? Obits rarely cross that taboo as they look for the positive in people’s lives<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394356/original/file-20210410-19-1yhk88f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=126%2C0%2C5154%2C3467&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tributes to Prince Philip have focused on his life of service.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/APTOPIXBritainPrincePhilip/a20194fc75ba4ecb9dde47d81c893048/photo?Query=prince%20philip%20newspapers&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=31&currentItemNo=10">AP Photo/Matt Dunham</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Capturing a life accurately and sympathetically is a challenge, more so if it is one that lasts nearly a century.</p>
<p>So when a notable person like the Duke of Edinburgh dies, obituary writers face a quandary: What should be highlighted, softened or even ignored?</p>
<p>News organizations were quick to remember Prince Philip’s <a href="https://www.today.com/popculture/look-back-prince-philip-queen-elizabeth-s-73-year-love-t214423">long marriage to Queen Elizabeth II</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-56692483">decades of public service</a>. But any character flaws or mistakes, including past public racist comments, were diminished. CNN’s <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/09/uk/prince-philip-dies-gbr-intl/index.html">coverage on April 9</a> provides a good example of this softened approach. “The duke,” it noted, “was known for off-the-cuff remarks that often displayed a quick wit but occasionally missed the mark, sometimes in spectacular fashion.”</p>
<p>The Associated Press made more direct mention of <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2017/8/13/the-priceless-racism-of-the-duke-of-edinburgh">Philip’s racist comments</a> – but found itself <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/ap-obit-prince-philip-hits-racist-remarks">under attack online and from other parts of the media</a> as a result. It later modified the language in the obit, changing “<a href="https://abc7.com/prince-philip-dies-death-queen-elizabeth/10501140/">occasionally racist and sexist remarks</a>” to “<a href="https://apnews.com/article/prince-philip-dead-at-99-0143185dc6ad526d4bb6357034972bb3">occasionally deeply offensive remarks</a>.”</p>
<p>Obituaries for <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/archives/la-me-nixon-obituary-23apr94-story.html">former presidents</a>, entertainers and <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/media/2020/01/kobe-bryant-death-obituaries/">athletes</a> offer example after example of <a href="http://doi.org/10.1080/15358591003632563">selective memory</a>. Negativity is taboo, even in obits written by journalists about public figures. Most people don’t like to speak ill of the dead. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://grady.uga.edu/faculty/janice-hume/">scholar of journalism history and public memory</a>, I <a href="https://www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/O/Obituaries-in-American-Culture">examined more than 8,000 newspaper obituaries from 1818 to 1930</a> to see what they reveal about American culture. An obit is a news report of a death, but it also offers a tiny summary of what people want to remember about a life. </p>
<p>For most of us that memory usually represents an ideal – we tend to filter out unpleasant aspects or episodes. Taken collectively and over time, obituaries tell us much about what – and who – society values.</p>
<h2>A life in print</h2>
<p>Occasionally one can be brutally honest, such as the obituary published in 2018 in the Redwood Falls Gazette for a Minnesota woman who evidently was not well loved by members of her own family. According to the memorial, the woman would “<a href="https://twitter.com/RandBallsStu/status/1003817212283686914?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1003817212283686914%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2018%2F06%2F07%2F617948070%2Fshe-will-not-be-missed-children-deliver-harsh-send-off-in-mother-s-obituary">face judgment” for abandoning her children</a>. The newspaper <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/06/07/617948070/she-will-not-be-missed-children-deliver-harsh-send-off-in-mother-s-obituary">removed the obituary</a> from its website after public criticism that it went too far.</p>
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<p>But for the most part, they focus on the positive.</p>
<p>Nineteenth-century obituaries <a href="https://www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/O/Obituaries-in-American-Culture">celebrated people for attributes of character</a>. Men were remembered for patriotism, gallantry, vigilance, boldness and honesty. Women’s obits recorded entirely different qualities: patience, resignation, obedience, affection, amiability and piety. </p>
<p>Sarah English, a wife and mother who died in 1818, was “as intelligent as she was good.” “Not at all ambitious of worldly show, she chose to be useful rather than gay. Her domestic concerns were managed with the most admirable economy exhibiting at the same time a degree of comfort and neatness not to be surpassed,” according to 19th-century newspaper The National Intelligencer.</p>
<p>The 1838 obituary for 50-year-old Virginian William P. Custis told readers of the same newspaper, “There is in the life of a noble, independent and honest man, something so worthy of imitation, something that so strongly commends itself to the approbation of a virtuous mind, that his name should not be left in oblivion, nor his influence be lost.”</p>
<p>Not everyone was remembered. Silences on obituary pages can be as telling as what was published. The few obituaries for African Americans or Native Americans in the obits I looked at were included mostly when they died in an unusual or mysterious way, lived to be 100 or served the dominant culture. </p>
<p>For example, “a respectable colored man named Thomas Henry Songan,” a 32-year-old ship steward, “fell to the floor a corpse,” the New York Daily Times wrote in 1855. The obit for Chocktaw Chief Minto Mushulatubbee, who died in 1838, assured readers that “he was a strong friend of the whites until the day of his death.”</p>
<p>Obituaries in the early 20th century tended not to focus on attributes of character. Rather, they <a href="https://www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/O/Obituaries-in-American-Culture">reflected an industrial society that valued profit and production</a>. Men were noted for professional accomplishments, wealth, long years at work, university education or being well known and prominent. Women were remembered for their associations with successful men, social prominence and wealth.</p>
<p>The New York Times in 1910 <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=FO14DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA161&lpg=PA161&dq=Mrs.+Albert+E.+Plant,+whose+husband+is+the+first+cousin+of+the+late+Henry+B.+Plant">recorded one woman’s death this way</a>: “Mrs. Albert E. Plant, whose husband is the first cousin of the late Henry B. Plant, the railroad and steamship owner, was killed this morning by the express train from New York City.” Headline after headline in news reports of someone’s death and in the obituary pages mourned a man’s “Career Cut Short,” even for deceased male children. </p>
<h2>Portraits of grief</h2>
<p>Obituaries also revealed what Americans thought about death. In the early 19th century, illnesses were “endured with Christian patience,” the deceased “ready and willing to obey the summons of her God.” </p>
<p>By the 1850s, the language became more sensational. The deceased were “removed by the Omnipotent Author,” “scathed by the wing of the destroying angel,” or “paled by the mighty Death King.” That language all but disappeared after the Civil War. After so much death, it became unpatriotic to dwell on it.</p>
<p>[<em>Over 100,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletter to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=100Ksignup">Sign up today</a>.\</p>
<p>Obituaries offer a window into what we value. The New York Times’ beautiful “<a href="https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/pages/national/portraits/index.html">Portraits of Grief</a>” tribute to the victims of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, portrayed active people in the prime of life, with robust careers and family lives. </p>
<p>COVID-19 brings a new collective focus on death, and obituaries for its victims, I believe, will be just as revealing. But be it a royal dying of old age or a grocery worker whose life was cut short by disease, one thing is likely: The words accompanying the death will focus more on the positive.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158753/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Janice Hume does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Obituaries tend to play down any negative aspects of character. Over time, they reveal what we value in life.Janice Hume, Professor of Journalism, University of GeorgiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1556962021-04-09T11:26:36Z2021-04-09T11:26:36ZPrince Philip dies: his marriage to the Queen and their part in 1,000 years of European royal dynastic history<p>In November 1947, a <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/the-royal-wedding-1947/zhxnqp3">dynastic union</a> was forged between the royal houses of Greece and Great Britain. It would be one of the last of this kind of royal marriages in history – a type of union that had knitted together the continent for 1,000 years. When Philip, prince of Greece and Denmark married Elizabeth, princess of Great Britain, they reconnected two bloodlines descended from Queen Victoria. But they also renewed a kinship tie between Britain and Denmark that had been joined together numerous times, from Canute and Aelfgifu in 1015 to Edward VII and Alexandra in 1863. </p>
<p>For centuries, almost every European monarchy maintained diplomatic relationships with its neighbours through <a href="http://ieg-ego.eu/en/threads/european-networks/dynastic-networks/heinz-duchhardt-the-dynastic-marriage#section_10">dynastic marriages</a>, in a system that persisted all the way up to the 1930s, then rapidly faded away in the post-war era. </p>
<p>In stark contrast, before the second world war this practice was the absolute norm – particularly seen in the dense web of <a href="https://royalcentral.co.uk/europe/norway/royal-wedding-rewind-olav-of-norway-and-martha-of-sweden-118163/">intermarriages</a> between the royal families of Sweden, Denmark and Norway in the earlier decades of the 20th century. </p>
<p>One of the great dreams of Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert – themselves the product of <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20782442">close dynastic union</a>, as first cousins – was to unite the continent of Europe through kinship relations, hoping that close cousins would be less likely to go to war with one another. This proved to be politically naive – disastrously so. The Great War that followed not long after Victoria’s death pitted the forces of “Cousin Nicky” (Tsar Nicholas of Russia) and “Cousin Georgie” (King George V of Great Britain) against those of “Cousin Willy” (Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany), <a href="https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v31/n20/christopher-clark/nicky-willy-and-george">close kinship</a> notwithstanding. By 1914, Britain, Russia and Germany had evolved as nation states, with modern governments, beyond the control of princely dynasticism as a political or diplomatic force.</p>
<p>Prince Philip’s marriage to Princess Elizabeth in 1947 thus represented one of the last iterations of this Queen Victoria’s dream. It reunited two of her descendants: Elizabeth through her father’s line, and Philip through the line of his mother, <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2020/06/10/who-was-prince-philip-mother-princess-alice-of-battenberg-12827618/">Princess Alice of Battenberg</a>, a great-grand-daughter of Victoria. Indeed, in the previous decade, three of Philip’s four sisters had <a href="https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1206110/prince-philip-news-royal-family-news-the-crown-queen-elizabeth-ii-world-war-2-spt">married other descendants of Victoria</a>.</p>
<p>But in 1947, times had changed, and post-war Britain was not so keen to see the heir to the throne married to a foreign royal. <a href="https://www.express.co.uk/news/history/593700/The-royal-wedding-that-almost-never-happened-Prince-Phillip-The-Plot-To-Make-A-King">Particularly not one</a> whose sisters had married prominent German officers and whose family had an extremely fragile position on its throne in Greece, with a dynastic history full of abdications, military coups and plebiscites. Prince Philip was therefore “rebranded” before his marriage as Philip Mountbatten, lieutenant in the Royal Navy, naturalised British subject. But where did the name Mountbatten come from? And why before he changed his name was he called “Prince of Greece and Denmark”?</p>
<h2>Community of nations</h2>
<p>It is an important question for understanding the identity of the Duke of Edinburgh – and by extension, the identity of the British royal family and even Britain’s position within the wider European community of nations. It is all very intertwined. Philip himself said <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/a-strange-life-profile-of-prince-philip-1563268.html">in an interview in 2014</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>If anything, I’ve thought of myself as Scandinavian. Particularly, Danish. We spoke English at home … The others learned Greek. I could understand a certain amount of it. But then the (conversation) would go into French. Then it went into German, on occasion, because we had German cousins. If you couldn’t think of a word in one language, you tended to go off in another.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>His experience is a perfect expression of the extraordinary cosmopolitan environment of the royal courts of Europe a century ago, when royal princes in Prussia and Russia <a href="http://ww1centenary.oucs.ox.ac.uk/memoryofwar/british-nannies-and-the-first-world-war/">almost always had English nannies</a>, and adults conversed in polished French. Queen Elizabeth II is the product of this same nursery environment and also has very good French.</p>
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<p>But why would a Greek prince consider himself Scandinavian? In the mid-19th century, when the crumbling Ottoman Empire was giving birth to newly independent states such as Bulgaria and Greece, the Great Powers of Europe determined that it was in the best interests of stability in the region to select junior members of the major royal dynasties to found <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Balkans/Formation-of-nation-states">new monarchies</a>. </p>
<p>Greece, independent since 1832, had first been governed by a Bavarian prince, Otto, but in 1863, he was deposed, and the 17-year-old Prince William of Denmark chosen instead. Denmark’s <a href="https://www.kongehuset.dk/en/the-monarchy-in-denmark/the-royal-lineage">ruling family</a>, the <a href="https://dukesandprinces.org/2020/12/21/dukes-of-oldenburg-and-schleswig-holstein/">House of Oldenburg</a>, one of the oldest in Europe, was known for its liberal views, and it was hoped that a young prince from such a family would help the Greeks establish a democratic monarchy along the lines of Denmark, or its closely related ally, England. </p>
<p>The reign of Prince William, as King George I of Greece, was long and fairly calm. His son, Constantine I, was another matter, and after a disastrous war with Turkey (1919-1922) he was forced to abdicate. His younger brother, Prince Andrew, had fought in the war, and was sent into exile, along with his infant son, Prince Philip.</p>
<p>Philip was thus raised as an exile, first in Paris, then in England, where he boarded at Cheam School in Hampshire. He began a career in the British navy in 1939, served with distinction during WWII, then retired from active service once his wife became the Queen in 1952. He had been naturalised as a British subject in the summer of 1947, a few months before his wedding, and assumed <a href="https://www.royal.uk/royal-family-name#:%7E:text=In%201947%2C%20when%20Prince%20Philip,have%20the%20surname%20Mountbatten%2DWindsor.">a version of his mother’s name</a>, Battenberg – itself anglicised to Mountbatten at the height of anti-German sentiment in England in 1917.</p>
<p>The Battenbergs were also from an <a href="https://dukesandprinces.org/2020/11/16/princes-of-battenberg/">ancient ruling family</a>, the House of Hesse, territorial princes in the heart of Germany since the 13th century. Philip wasn’t alone in representing the Greek royal family in Britain: a decade before, his cousin Princess Marina had married the youngest son of George V, the Duke of Kent, and had <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvkjb3sr.7?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">charmed the nation</a> with her elegance and cosmopolitan style.</p>
<p>Philip was firmly tied to the UK through his uncle, Earl Mountbatten, a British naval hero during the war – but, at the same time, he remained closely linked to the old continental system. One of his aunts, Mountbatten’s sister, was <a href="https://www.kungahuset.se/royalcourt/royalfamily/thebernadottedynasty/louisemountbatten.4.164e81b015607465dc12f0a.html">Queen Louise of Sweden</a>. </p>
<p>Louise Mountbatten died in 1965, and Marina of Greece in 1968 and, by the 1970s, royal marriages were seen as affairs of the heart, not affairs of state – or indeed as points of reunion and reconnection for these ancient royal dynasties. </p>
<p>With the passing of the Duke of Edinburgh, one of the last representatives of a system that had endured for a millennium passes into history.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155696/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonathan Spangler is affiliated with the Society for Court Studies and editor of its journal, The Court Historian.</span></em></p>The marriage of the future British queen and her consort was part of an ancient tapestry of royal intermarriage in Europe.Jonathan Spangler, Senior Lecturer in History, Manchester Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/847372021-04-09T11:21:49Z2021-04-09T11:21:49ZPrince Philip dies: old-school European aristocrat and dedicated royal consort<p>The death of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh marks the end of a chapter not just for the British royal family – but for European monarchy itself. Philip belonged to that cosmopolitan world of interrelated royals that had ruled Europe before the first world war that has been largely swept away by time, war or revolution. </p>
<p>Born on Corfu to the Greek-Danish Prince Andrew and the English-German Princess Alice of Battenberg, he might have lived as an obscure European prince had his family not been caught up in the revolutionary politics of the post-WWI era and banished from their homeland. Philip remained bitter throughout his life that his Romanov relatives had been murdered by the Bolsheviks: in 1993, his DNA was used to identify their bodies. </p>
<p>Moving first to Paris and then to London, Philip was educated in England, Germany and finally <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35603975">at Gordonstoun School</a>, established by the German Jewish refugee Kurt Hahn. It was to the tough character-building regime at Gordonstoun that Philip always attributed his pragmatic, unsentimental approach to life, but which sometimes struck others as harsh or unfeeling.</p>
<p>In the second world war he served with distinction in the Royal Navy, but it was after the war that he was projected into the royal role that defined his life. Having fallen in love with his distant relative, Princess Elizabeth, he married her in 1947 in the first of a series of high-profile royal weddings that were to punctuate postwar British history. </p>
<p>To mark the wedding, Philip, who had given up his foreign titles when taking British nationality, was given the title Duke of Edinburgh. To his intense irritation, however, his wife retained her royal surname of Windsor for herself and their first two children rather than taking her husband’s name, Mountbatten. Eventually a constitutional compromise was reached whereby Prince Andrew and Prince Edward were <a href="https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/776626/royal-house-of-windsor-prince-philip-mountbatten-change-family-name">given the surname Mountbatten-Windsor</a>.</p>
<h2>Fresh air</h2>
<p>Philip seemed an invigorating breath of fresh air, striding into Buckingham Palace in slacks and open-necked shirt, in a monarchy that was in danger of appearing stuffy and out of touch. But when Princess Elizabeth succeeded to the throne in 1952, he discovered the ambiguities and frustrations of the role of consort to the British monarch. Unlike Prince Albert, he was not given the formal title of Prince Consort, though in 1957 he was given the courtesy title Prince Philip.</p>
<p>Like his Victorian forebear, he threw himself into charitable, scientific, sporting and educational schemes, most notably heading the National Playing Fields Association and the Worldwide Fund for Nature. Perhaps his most lasting legacy is the <a href="https://www.dofe.org/">Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme</a>, a graded programme of outdoor adventure and endeavour for young people based on the same principles as Gordonstoun.</p>
<h2>‘Dentopedology’ problem</h2>
<p>Philip quickly developed a reputation for what he once defined, to the General Dental Council, as “dentopedology – the science of opening your mouth and putting your foot in it”. His “gaffes” were typical of the clubbish humour of the officer class – though less appreciated, sometimes even offensive, to other ears. </p>
<p>His remarking to the president of Nigeria, who was wearing national dress, “You look like you’re ready for bed”, or advising British students in China not to stay too long or they would end up with “slitty eyes”, is probably best written off as ill-judged humour. Telling a photographer to “just take the fucking picture” or declaring “this thing open, whatever it is”, were expressions of exasperation or weariness with which anyone might sympathise.</p>
<p>He was also capable of genuine if earthy wit, saying of his horse-loving daughter Princess Anne: “If it doesn’t fart or eat hay she isn’t interested.” Many people might have thought it but few dared say it. If Prince Philip’s famous gaffes provoked as much amusement as anger, it was precisely because they seem to give voice to the bewilderment and pent-up frustrations with which many people viewed the ever-changing modern world.</p>
<h2>My husband and I</h2>
<p>It was in his family role that Philip came in for most criticism. The Queen never failed to pay tribute to his support – for many years she would begin her public utterances with the words “My husband and I”. And their children appeared to outward appearances to be balanced and happy. Yet the string of scandals and divorces that engulfed the younger royals in the 1980s increasingly seemed to point to inadequate parenting.</p>
<p>In particular, Prince Charles, a more sensitive figure than his father but whom Philip had nevertheless put through the rigours of Gordonstoun and the Navy, suffered from his father’s no-nonsense approach. It was Philip who <a href="https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/928112/prince-charles-princess-diana-camilla-parker-bowles-biography">forced Charles</a> to end public speculation and marry Lady Diana Spencer in 1981 and, when the marriage ended in divorce, much blame was attached to the exacting way in which the Duke had brought up his eldest son. The crisis provoked by Diana’s death in 1997 brought <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/9709/04/diana.royals.under.fire/">criticism of the monarchy</a> out into the open, but the Duke played an important part in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/sep/20/adamboulton.media1">planning the funeral</a> that went a long way towards rebuilding public trust.</p>
<h2>Public servant</h2>
<p>In his later years, the Duke of Edinburgh began to step down from his <a href="https://www.royal.uk/the-duke-of-edinburgh">huge range of public roles</a> – he held more than 800 presidencies and patronages – including the chancellorship of the universities of Cambridge, Salford, Wales and, fittingly, Edinburgh.</p>
<p>He received wide praise in 2012 when he stood for three hours in the rain beside the Queen at her Diamond Jubilee river pageant, and then <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/jun/04/prince-philip-duke-edinburgh-hospital">suffered a bladder infection</a>. However, his insistence on continuing to drive <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6607639/Should-Prince-Philip-driving-97-Palace-insist-Dukes-licence-date.html">attracted criticism</a> when, in 2019, he was in collision with another car near the Sandringham estate. </p>
<p>As his health deteriorated, he nevertheless kept up his schedule of public duties, only finally stepping down in 2017, at the age of 96. </p>
<p>Fittingly for a naval-military man, his <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-asia-china-53498877">last public duty</a> was when he transferred his role as colonel-in-chief of The Rifles to his daughter-in-law Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall in July 2020.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84737/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sean Lang does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Born into post-World War I European royalty, the Duke of Edinburgh came to represent the archetypal English aristocrat. Along with those ‘gaffes’.Sean Lang, Senior Lecturer in History, Anglia Ruskin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1115962019-02-19T11:33:55Z2019-02-19T11:33:55ZHow old is too old to drive?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/259063/original/file-20190214-1751-n0lgww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II at a horse show in 2018. On Jan. 17, 2019, Prince Philip crashed his Land Rover into another vehicle. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Elizabeth-and-Philip-71st-Wedding-Anniversary-/dd796b4ba1704af1b3ee84e86529c5cf/71/0">22/KGC-178-STAR MAX/IPx 2018/AP Photo</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When Britain’s Prince Philip <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-47236607">crashed his Land Rover</a> into another vehicle on Jan. 17, 2019, many people were surprised that he was still driving at age 97. Many thought that surely someone – the queen perhaps? – would have persuaded him to give it up, or would have “taken away” the keys. </p>
<p>Older unsafe drivers are a growing problem, thanks to the baby boom generation. In the U.S., <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/older_adult_drivers/">42 million</a> adults 65 and older were licensed to drive in 2016, an <a href="https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/infographics/concerned-about-driving-safety">increase of 15 million</a> from 20 years ago.</p>
<p>Yet who wants to stop driving? It is not only a major symbol of independence but also a needed activity for older people to be able to shop, go to the doctor and maintain social connections.</p>
<p>I’m a geriatrics specialist physician, a daughter of parents who had to stop driving. I live in <a href="http://safemobilityfl.com/index.htm">Florida,</a> where <a href="http://elderaffairs.state.fl.us/doea/pubs/stats/County_2017_projections/Counties/Florida.pdf">29 percent</a> of our drivers are older adults, which everywhere else in the U.S. will experience about 10 years from now. I also serve as editorial board chair of the <a href="https://geriatricscareonline.org/ProductAbstract/clinicians-guide-to-assessing-and-counseling-older-drivers-3rd-edition/B022">Clinician’s Guide to Assessing and Counseling Older Drivers</a>, a collaborative project between the American Geriatrics Society and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA. I have spent a great deal of time training clinicians how to detect and treat factors leading to the loss of driving skills early enough to prevent crashes and the loss of independent mobility. </p>
<h2>Older drivers by the numbers</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/259065/original/file-20190214-1742-1xitnto.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/259065/original/file-20190214-1742-1xitnto.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259065/original/file-20190214-1742-1xitnto.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259065/original/file-20190214-1742-1xitnto.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259065/original/file-20190214-1742-1xitnto.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259065/original/file-20190214-1742-1xitnto.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259065/original/file-20190214-1742-1xitnto.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Older drivers are typically good drivers, but they can have impairments they may not recognize.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cheerful-senior-woman-driving-car-283367063?src=N-6WiVFkh0IXoCrbnZjVaA-1-3">Photobac/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By 2030, NHTSA estimates that 1 of out of every 4 drivers will be an older adult. </p>
<p>About 7,400 adults ages 65 and older were killed, and more than 290,000 were treated for motor vehicle crash injuries in 2016 alone. </p>
<p>Males 85 years and older and 20-24 years of age have the <a href="https://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/t/general-statistics/fatalityfacts/overview-of-fatality-facts/2017">highest crash rates</a>. Age and experience may be a factor here, but far and away the greatest number of vehicular deaths are still from <a href="https://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/t/alcohol-and-drugs/fatalityfacts/alcohol-and-drugs/2017">substance abuse-related crashes,</a> accounting for 23,611 out of a total 37,133 deaths in 2017. </p>
<p>According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/Injury/wisqars/pdf/ICARIS2-PublicUse-DataSet-Documentation.pdf">data</a>, most older drivers have good driving habits. The CDC reports that many self-restrict their driving to conditions where they feel safe and confident, such as avoiding high-speed roads, nighttime driving, bad weather or high-congestion times of day. </p>
<h2>Know the stop signs</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/259067/original/file-20190214-1726-e9nvhc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/259067/original/file-20190214-1726-e9nvhc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259067/original/file-20190214-1726-e9nvhc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259067/original/file-20190214-1726-e9nvhc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259067/original/file-20190214-1726-e9nvhc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259067/original/file-20190214-1726-e9nvhc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259067/original/file-20190214-1726-e9nvhc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Good driving skills, such as having good vision and range of motion, are more important than age.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/senior-man-driver-car-emotional-portrait-1142205050?src=N-6WiVFkh0IXoCrbnZjVaA-2-13">Nikolai Kazakov/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Prince Philip announced on Feb. 9, 2019 that he would <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/09/prince-philip-97-gives-up-drivers-license-after-crash.html">give up his driver’s license</a>, but only after he and others had suffered serious consequences.</p>
<p>So how can others know when it’s time to get help or stop driving, for ourselves or for our parents, friends and neighbors?</p>
<p>It is all about the skills, not the age.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.healthinaging.org/files/documents/HIA-Tip-When_to_Stop_Driving_2017-1.pdf">Key warning signs</a> that it may be time to stop include getting lost, failing to obey traffic signals, reacting slowly to emergencies, using poor judgment, or forgetting to use common safety strategies, such as checking for blind spots. </p>
<p>Vision, cognition and the physical ability to manage the controls to the vehicle are critical functions that we must be able to perform, whether we are young or old in order to drive safely and effectively. <a href="https://seniordriving.aaa.com/understanding-mind-body-changes/vision/">Vision</a> is well-recognized as the single most important source of information we use when navigating and making judgments.</p>
<p>Having difficulty with daytime sun glare, as was reported in Prince Philip’s crash, or nighttime headlights, brushing into objects on one side, or having to brake suddenly may be signs that something is impairing our ability to perceive road hazards accurately. Regular vision checkups are important to assure that we keep optimal vision for driving. </p>
<p><a href="https://seniordriving.aaa.com/understanding-mind-body-changes/mind-cognition/">Cognition</a> is essential to processing all the information we receive, ignoring distractions, remembering our route, responding to traffic signals and making good decisions. Medications and medical conditions such as sleep apnea, Parkinson’s disease or dementia can stop us from being able to think and respond well enough to keep ourselves or others safe while driving. Getting a good <a href="https://www.healthinaging.org/files/documents/HIA-Tip-Testing-Driver-Safety-1.pdf">evaluation</a> from your health care provider can help to minimize these risks and flag situations.</p>
<p>Physical abilities such as turning the steering wheel, neck flexibility and detecting where the pedals are correctly are important for operating the vehicle smoothly. Many of the same conditions associated with <a href="https://aaafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/SeniorsAndFalls.pdf">falls</a> are also related to motor vehicle crashes. </p>
<h2>Possible solutions</h2>
<p>People can take brief <a href="https://seniordriving.aaa.com/evaluate-your-driving-ability/self-rating-tool/">self-assessments</a> to get an idea of how they are doing, or ask a trusted individual to rate their driving using a <a href="http://fitnesstodrive.phhp.ufl.edu/us/">tool</a> validated by on-road testing, and discuss the results. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.aota.org/Practice/Productive-Aging/Driving.aspx">driving rehabilitation specialist</a> may be helpful in identifying problem areas, learning strategies for improvement and rehabilitating rusty or lost driving skills. You can find one using national databases on the <a href="https://myaota.aota.org/driver_search/index.aspx?_ga=2.58743725.1873797895.1550097523-1139337833.1545343923">America Occupational Therapy Association</a> or the <a href="https://www.aded.net/page/230">Association for Driver Rehabilitation Specialists</a> websites. </p>
<p>It may be tempting to get a new vehicle featuring the latest safety features such as collision avoidance sensors, but these are not a substitute for a driver’s own skills. And, sometimes changing vehicles may even create mild confusion in a driver accustomed to a certain vehicle.</p>
<h2>‘Mom, can I take away the keys?’</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/259069/original/file-20190214-1745-13c06xq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/259069/original/file-20190214-1745-13c06xq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259069/original/file-20190214-1745-13c06xq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259069/original/file-20190214-1745-13c06xq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259069/original/file-20190214-1745-13c06xq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259069/original/file-20190214-1745-13c06xq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/259069/original/file-20190214-1745-13c06xq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Taking away the car keys could be avoided with earlier discussions about safety and cognition.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hand-business-man-gives-car-key-714680170?src=yLdpfnm-A6dsBXzzIMil2Q-1-2">fatir29/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Adult children often want to protect their parents if they notice impairment. It’s important to have open, respectful communication to establish that maintaining mobility and finding alternative means of transportation are key to retiring from driving. These discussions should occur long before there’s a crisis.</p>
<p>Being willing and able to stop driving requires having a realistic <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/pdf/older_adult_drivers/CDC-AdultMobilityTool-9.27.pdf">mobility plan</a>. National and local <a href="https://www.healthinaging.org/files/documents/HIA-Tip-Non-Driver2017-1.pdf">transportation resources</a> can help people get around without driving, but it does take some effort to get used to planning activities well in advance. New skills may be needed, such as learning how to access ride-hailing services like Uber or Lyft, or someday, managing an autonomous vehicle.</p>
<p>Until then, following basic <a href="https://www.healthinaging.org/files/documents/HIA-Tip-Safety_Older_Drivers2017-1.pdf">driving safety</a> strategies and keeping as mentally and physically fit as possible is the best way to help us help ourselves to keep driving for longer.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/111596/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alice Pomidor is affiliated with the American Geriatrics Society and editorial board chair for the Clinician's Guide to Assessing and Counseling Older Drivers, a free resource for health care providers.</span></em></p>Britain’s Prince Philip recently announced he will stop driving, in the aftermath of a crash he caused after being blinded by sunlight. The crash raises a question: When should people stop driving?Alice Pomidor, Professor of Geriatrics and Researcher, The Institute for Successful Longevity, Florida State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/772082017-05-04T14:43:15Z2017-05-04T14:43:15ZPrince Philip retires … with a final masterclass in media manipulation<p>Buckingham Palace’s announcement that Prince Philip is retiring in the autumn is a masterclass in triggering media spectacle. Media industries around the world instantly went into meltdown over what is actually a fairly minor revelation: a 96-year-old man will retire. But following the event as it unfolded on May 4 was deeply revealing of the way in which the British monarchy operates in the 21st century – and the power it still holds over popular opinion.</p>
<p>News <a href="https://twitter.com/theroyaleditor/status/860017126152835073">started to break</a> around 3am that all of the Queen’s staff had been asked to travel to London for an “emergency” meeting. Within minutes, rumours were flying on social media that either the Queen or Prince Philip had died. These were later picked up by The Sun, <a href="https://politicalscrapbook.net/2017/05/sun-right-royal-mess-after-reporting-death/#more-63510">who ran with the story before having confirmation</a>.</p>
<p>Speculation continued on Twitter on the #BuckinghamPalace hashtag, while TV and radio reports remained silent. Finally, at 10am, Buckingham Palace released a press announcement stating Prince Philip’s intention to retire in the autumn. That was immediately released as breaking news in all major newspapers. The BBC News channel ran non-stop coverage of the event for the next two hours.</p>
<p>The embargo on the announcement triggered a whirlwind of anticipation; because it was so secretive, people assumed something major had happened. The monarchy is perhaps one of the only institutions that doesn’t abide by the 24-hour news cycle. As leaked <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/mar/16/what-happens-when-queen-elizabeth-dies-london-bridge">plans for the Queen’s death have revealed</a>, a newsflash will go out to the Press Association at the exact moment a footman in mourning clothes pins a notice to the gates of Buckingham Palace. The implication here is that this news is so momentous, a breaking news tweet would be discourteous.</p>
<p>What happened with the announcement of Philip’s retirement is the exact same sentiment: Buckingham Palace manipulated the news cycle by making everyone wait until it was ready to announce it. The monarchy doesn’t need to comply with the norms of news in the 21st century because it’s the monarchy. It’s above the necessity of timing news to fit with news cycles. News cycles come to it.</p>
<p>However, this is definitely not to say that the monarchy is above the news cycle itself. It has an experienced PR team, most of whom have worked in various media corporations before. This demonstrates a recognition of the importance of the media for running an institution successfully.</p>
<p>The people working in Buckingham Palace will know exactly how to package royal news in digestible ways. Their manipulation of the news media in this instance reveals that they know how to whip up a frenzy of speculation – and they know how to create a media spectacle which could easily have continued for hours. Buckingham Palace has shaped the story exactly as it wanted.</p>
<h2>Smooth operators</h2>
<p>The fact that mere rumours became a media spectacle is also revealing of how the public sees the monarchy. People awaiting the announcement and “praying” it wasn’t a death demonstrates how British attitudes towards the monarchy are so much more complicated than them just “being good for tourism”. There are deep, emotional and affective connections which operate in intimate ways.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/167909/original/file-20170504-27085-w8mk5u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/167909/original/file-20170504-27085-w8mk5u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/167909/original/file-20170504-27085-w8mk5u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167909/original/file-20170504-27085-w8mk5u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167909/original/file-20170504-27085-w8mk5u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167909/original/file-20170504-27085-w8mk5u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167909/original/file-20170504-27085-w8mk5u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167909/original/file-20170504-27085-w8mk5u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Preemptive show of emotion.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Twitter</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We saw this come into play just a few days before the Prince Philip announcement, when Kensington Palace released a new photograph of Princess Charlotte for her second birthday. What is ostensibly a nice picture of a little girl was published on most major news sites, and <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/living/3469922/princess-charlottes-cute-john-lewis-yellow-cardigan-is-sold-out-but-going-on-ebay-for-three-times-its-value/">led to John Lewis selling out</a> of the cardigan she was wearing in the image within two days of its release.</p>
<p>We can also see it in the way republican Jeremy Corbyn is treated by the mainstream media when he <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/nov/11/jeremy-corbyn-did-not-kneel-for-the-queen">demonstrates the slightest sniff of anti-monarchy sentiment</a>. People who actively oppose the monarchy in a political context are, for the most part, marginalised by the establishment. Even though people <a href="https://twitter.com/ZoeParamour/status/860058706674888705">demonstrated annoyance</a> once the Prince Philip news turned out to be minor, it doesn’t alter the frenzy which was taking place minutes earlier over the possibility someone had died. What people say and how they feel and act is, in this case, very different.</p>
<p>This event has demonstrated, perceptibly, the ways in which the monarchy still retains the power to manipulate both news media cycles and public opinion. The fact the Royal family managed to embargo a news story for hours, with most mainstream media sources not even speculating on what was happening, shows a notable level of influence and power, as does the usual lack in BBC coverage of any anti-monarchy commentary. Yes, it turned out to be a minor news story, but what it revealed about royal media power is fascinating.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/77208/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laura Clancy receives funding from the ESRC and the AHRC. This article does not represent the views of the research councils. </span></em></p>It turned out to be a fairly minor announcement, but the palace knows how to work the news cycle.Laura Clancy, PhD Candidate, Lancaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/368922015-01-29T19:34:31Z2015-01-29T19:34:31ZGrattan on Friday: Tony Abbott faces battle to avoid self-destruction<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70540/original/image-20150129-22317-1vkxq14.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Prime Minister Tony Abbott has become a national laughing stock after knighting Prince Philip.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Wayne King</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>If Tony Abbott were risk-averse, he wouldn’t have scheduled a National Press Club appearance for Monday. Or perhaps it was just another Abbott blind spot.</p>
<p>Of course when Abbott signed up to turning up, he hadn’t become a national laughing stock via Prince Philip’s knighthood. But he did know he’d be appearing two days after an expected big anti-Liberal swing in Queensland.</p>
<p>Thanks to Abbott’s crazy self-indulgence, and the backlash from colleagues and community, Monday’s stakes have been raised dramatically. He’ll have to perform extremely well to get back to any sort of even keel before parliament starts – and that will take a minor miracle.</p>
<p>Abbott needs what the political trade calls an “announceable”, although it’s not likely it would change the conversation. He must give a convincing account of his 2015 plans. But while he can talk about jobs and families, he doesn’t yet have a detailed policy. He can’t guarantee to deliver his universities policy. And what can he say about the (next) budget, or tax?</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Abbott will be copping a blast from Queensland (where on Thursday Labor seemed confident of taking Premier Campbell Newman’s seat), and he’ll face tough questions. Such as: how much will he campaign in NSW? Liberal polling shows he’s a negative there but he can’t and won’t be banned, as he was in Queensland.</p>
<p>One seasoned Liberal observer predicts that on Monday Abbott will be “chewed up”. We’ll see.</p>
<p>Among those monitoring his performance will be some harsh judges at News Corp. Abbott this week received a massive bruising from his closest media allies in that organisation, which the Coalition regards as part of its “tribe”.</p>
<p>News Corp papers – The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph and The Australian – have been constantly “fed” the news breaks by the government, briefed from the Prime Minister’s Office. Rupert Murdoch has been treated as a revered figure.</p>
<p>From the other side of the relationship, Abbott was a News Corp project, the leader to whom support was given and in whom high hopes were invested, the prime minister expected to prosecute a certain agenda.</p>
<p>But deep dismay has set in as the government flounders, Abbott struggles and becomes more unpopular, and the possibility looms that he could lose in 2016. Nor is there a prospect that he can or will deliver the desired, but politically impractical, agenda.</p>
<p>Abbott’s blunder over the knighthood has proved the last straw.</p>
<p>Murdoch this week called for Abbott’s chief of staff, Peta Credlin, to quit (one political observer suggested it would have been better if Rupert had “made her an offer she couldn’t refuse”).</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"560236375912742912"}"></div></p>
<p>News Corp’s most influential conservative columnists have been feral. Such attacks are especially harmful because they’re from within the tribe. When Andrew Bolt <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-29/ministers-back-pm-in-wake-of-andrew-bolts-knighthood-criticism/6053446">said</a> on Wednesday the Philip decision was “so damaging that it could be fatal”, his comments were treated by other media as a major news item.</p>
<p>Ministers have had to defend Abbott over the indefensible (while distancing themselves from the knighthood decision) as well as elevate the beleaguered Credlin to near political sainthood.</p>
<p>The week’s most innovative line <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2015/s4170842.htm">came from Barnaby Joyce</a>, who declared that “sometimes it’s the mistakes that prove the authenticity of the person”. That’s a hell of a stretch to find a silver lining.</p>
<p>Education Minister Christopher Pyne <a href="http://www.skynews.com.au/news/top-stories/2015/01/28/abbott-opens-door-to-consult-more.html">insisted</a> the Coalition couldn’t have made it into government without Credlin, who “is absolutely intrinsic to our success” – which doesn’t say much for the efforts of the rest of them.</p>
<p>The fevered atmosphere makes it hard to know precisely where Abbott will be left when the story moves on. He’s lost an enormous amount of skin in a startling act of self-harm.</p>
<p>Talk is easy and there’s much of that. One Liberal MP says: “There’s a lot of undirected frustration and anger and disillusionment but it’s not heading in a particular direction.”</p>
<p>A party man observes: “No-one is out to knife him – there is no program to kill him,” adding that Abbott is “his own worst enemy”.</p>
<p>Just how bad an enemy to himself will Abbott prove to be? Before Christmas, he promised a better government this year. In the new year he’s been ringing around listening to backbenchers. But now once again he’s shown a lack of judgement and discipline, to say nothing of an instinct for self-preservation.</p>
<p>A Tuesday ReachTEL poll <a href="https://theconversation.com/abbotts-ratings-slump-following-knightmare-affair-36840">found</a> 72% opposed the knighting of Prince Philip, and showed a dive in Abbott’s approval. That’s likely to be just the start of a polling nightmare.</p>
<p>The risk for Abbott is that he is dragged into a downward spiral from which he can’t recover. Some Liberals are saying his leadership is terminal.</p>
<p>It would be a huge thing for the Liberals to replace him. There’d be a big question around process – would there be a knock-down Labor-style fight? Not many leaders depart in the gentlemanly style of Ted Baillieu. </p>
<p>And the party would have to be pretty confident it would get the successor who could deliver the goods. Funny things can happen in Liberal ballots if there are multiple contenders.</p>
<p>There is chatter about Malcolm Turnbull and Julie Bishop, who enjoy good polling support. They have grown closer recently. But if they teamed up, would it be Turnbull-Bishop or Bishop-Turnbull?</p>
<p>This week you have to wonder whether what’s happening in the government is real life or the plot for another Jessica Rudd novel.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/36892/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>If Tony Abbott were risk-averse, he wouldn’t have scheduled a National Press Club appearance for Monday. Or perhaps it was just another Abbott blind spot. Of course when Abbott signed up to turning up…Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/368242015-01-28T02:08:43Z2015-01-28T02:08:43ZExplainer: how are Australia’s ‘knights and dames’ appointed?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70218/original/image-20150128-12445-t0senz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">If Prince Philip’s knighthood was not an honorary appointment, it has taken the award away from an Australian.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Karel Prinsloo</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Prime Minister Tony Abbott caused quite a stir when he <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/comment/prime-minister-tony-abbott-exercises-his-prerogative-over-knights-and-dames-20140401-zqpae.html">re-established</a> the appointment of knights and dames under the Order of Australia early in 2014. For this to occur, no law needed to be passed. Instead, Her Majesty The Queen, on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, amended the <a href="http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2014G00635">Letters Patent</a> for the Order of Australia awards.</p>
<p>In 2015, it was the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/doubts-over-tony-abbotts-justification-for-prince-philip-knighthood-20150127-12yzc2.html">knighthood</a> given to the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, that proved for many to be the Australia Day barbecue stopper. But how is it that Prince Philip – someone who is not an Australian citizen – is awarded a knighthood? Can foreigners even be awarded honours under the Order of Australia? </p>
<p>To answer these questions, it is necessary to delve into the language of the Letters Patent.</p>
<h2>What are Letters Patent?</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.comlaw.gov.au/content/whatisit">Letters Patent</a> are a legal document signed by the Monarch (or the Governor-General) that grants some sort of right, status or title.</p>
<p>When a royal commission is established, the appointment of the royal commissioner is done so by Letters Patent. One <a href="http://www.attorneygeneral.gov.au/Mediareleases/Documents/TradeUnionGovernanceandCorruptionRoyalCommission-LettersPatent-SignedScanned.pdf">recent example</a> is the appointment of former High Court judge Dyson Heydon as the royal commissioner to investigate alleged corruption within trade unions. Some not-so-recent examples are the <a href="http://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/">letters patent</a> signed by the monarch establishing each of the Australian colonies during the 1800s.</p>
<p>The Order of Australia – our system for recognising the achievements of outstanding Australians – was established by Letters Patent in 1975. Letters Patent are unique in that the document is approved without reference to parliament. This is how knighthoods and damehoods were re-established without the involvement of parliament. Abbott simply instructed the Queen to amend the letters patent.</p>
<h2>How are knights and dames appointed?</h2>
<p>Knights and dames are essentially <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-26/abbott-defends-knighthood-for-prince-philip/6046380">“captain’s picks”</a> of the prime minister. Abbott said he “consulted with the chairman of the [Australia Day] Council for the Order of Australia and … with the Governor-General”. </p>
<p>Appointments <a href="http://www.gg.gov.au/sites/default/files/files/honours/Order%20of%20Australia%20Booklet%202014.pdf">are made</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… with the approval of the Sovereign on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, by Instrument signed by the Governor-General. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>To understand the appointment process it is necessary to have a close look at the clauses in the current Letters Patent.</p>
<p>Clause 11 of the Letters Patent states that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Australian citizens … are eligible to be appointed to the Order. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>It also allows non-citizens to be “appointed to the Order as honorary members”. In short, it establishes two categories of eligibility.</p>
<p>There are also important clauses that relate specifically to appointing knights and dames. Clause 11A(1) states that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Appointments as Knights or Dames, or honorary Knights or Dames, in the General Division shall be made for extraordinary and pre-eminent achievement and merit in service to Australia or to humanity at large. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The other important clause is 11A(2), which deals with non-citizens. It qualifies the previous clause by stating that: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Notwithstanding subsection (1), a distinguished person who is not an Australian citizen may be appointed as an honorary Knight or Dame … where it is desirable that the person be honoured by Australia.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>What is unclear from the wording of these clauses is whether non-Australian citizens can only be given honorary knighthoods. On one reading of the clauses, non-citizens can only be given honorary knighthoods. An alternative view is that while this may be the sense of the clause, it is not mandatory: that is, non-citizens may also be awarded the “ordinary” knighthood or damehood.</p>
<p>There is no mention that Prince Philip’s award is an honorary appointment. This raises the question of whether Prince Philip’s award should be viewed solely as “honorary”. However, the distinction is important.</p>
<h2>The distinction of “honorary” knights and dames</h2>
<p>Why does it matter whether Prince Philip’s award was “honorary” or not? Only four knights and dames can be appointed each year. However, this limitation of four per year does not include “honorary” knights and dames.</p>
<p>If Prince Philip’s award was not an honorary appointment, it has taken the award away from an Australian. If Prince Philip’s was an honorary appointment – and this fact was omitted from the <a href="http://www.gg.gov.au/sites/default/files/files/honours/ad/ad2015/1_%20O%20of%20A%20gazette.pdf">list released on Australia Day</a> – it highlights that while only four Australians can receive knighthoods or damehoods, there is no limit on the number of appointments that the prime minister could make to people who are not Australian citizens. The prime minister could start handing out honorary knighthoods or damehoods to foreign leaders left, right and centre.</p>
<p>The 2015 Australia Day honours may be remembered for many reasons. However, the show-stopper was the decision to add a knighthood to Prince Philip’s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_titles_and_honours_of_Prince_Philip,_Duke_of_Edinburgh">long list of titles</a>. We can hardly wait for the Queen’s Birthday honours list.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/36824/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Williams receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adam Webster does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Prime Minister Tony Abbott caused quite a stir when he re-established the appointment of knights and dames under the Order of Australia early in 2014. For this to occur, no law needed to be passed. Instead…Adam Webster, Lecturer, Adelaide Law School, University of AdelaideJohn Williams, Dean of Law, Adelaide Law School, University of AdelaideLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/367102015-01-27T04:44:25Z2015-01-27T04:44:25ZThe central question this political year will be whether Abbott is up to the prime minister’s job<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/69978/original/image-20150126-24510-1od4dm5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Prime Minister Tony Abbott has started 2015 in a worse state than he ended 2014.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Wayne King</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Tony Abbott’s “captain’s pick” of <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-26/abbott-defends-knighthood-for-prince-philip/6046380">Prince Philip for a knighthood</a> – on Australia Day, and when he says the government should consult more – suggests the prime minister’s head is in some very strange place.</p>
<p>There is no credible, rational explanation. If Abbott was travelling strongly, one might write it off as some monarchist/anglophile indulgence. But with his standing so low that he’s being asked in the media about the future of his leadership, and remembering the bollocking he received over his “knights and dames” initiative, why would he deliberately attract a beating and, worse, widespread ridicule?</p>
<p>Announcing the new honour last year, Abbott highlighted it being for “Australians of ‘extraordinary and pre-eminent achievement and merit’ in their service to Australia or to humanity at large”. How Philip fits is a mystery. One government man described the appointment as a “barbecue stopper on a day when everyone is having a barbecue”.</p>
<p>Abbott has started 2015 in a worse state than he ended 2014, when he was trying to remove the barnacles.</p>
<p>Abbott should, as much as possible, have kept out of the limelight over January. Instead, despite taking some holidays, he seemed to be much in the public eye and ear.</p>
<p>Yes, Abbott had to inspect the bushfire areas. But did he need to go to Iraq, a trip involving a stoush with media that had been left behind? And was it essential to do radio interviews that simply invited leadership questioning?</p>
<p>Among the government’s woes has been January’s backflip on December’s Medicare compromise. The December changes included slashing the rebate for very short consultations from mid-January. When it seemed clear this cut would be disallowed as soon as parliament resumed, and, under fire from doctors and backbenchers, Abbott abandoned the measure. He was further embarrassed by a leak that Treasurer Joe Hockey and then-Health Minister Peter Dutton had advised against the December changes.</p>
<p>In education, another compromise has been flagged this month to the universities deregulation package. It would further reduce the savings, but the detail and the package’s fate remain up in the air.</p>
<p>Over the summer backbenchers have become more agitated after copping their voters’ views.</p>
<p>No-one thinks Abbott’s leadership is in short-term danger. But memory of the Labor Rudd-Gillard-Rudd fiasco doesn’t provide him with automatic protection in the longer term. If his office thought that, it wouldn’t be so paranoid about Malcolm Turnbull.</p>
<p>There is some safety, perhaps, in the fact there is not a single alternative, if it came to that, but several who balance each other off. Apart from Turnbull, forced by his past to step carefully, there’s the indefatigable Julie Bishop; Joe Hockey, seriously down but he hopes not out forever; and the ambitious Scott Morrison, who this year in his new Social Services job – which covers families policy – will try to graft a more human face onto his hard-man persona.</p>
<p>Governments in trouble blame messaging and the Abbott office’s communications team has been revamped. Previous press office director Jane McMillan was chopped unceremoniously from that position just before Christmas. Andrew Hirst, Abbott’s main spokesman in opposition who has been deputy chief of staff in government, will again head the communications effort.</p>
<p>But Abbott’s problems run far deeper than poor and muddled spin. They are fundamentally about product, including policy and personnel. They embrace the past and the present, but have now become a serious constraint on what can be done in the future.</p>
<p>The budget proved an indigestible disaster, now privately regretted at senior levels as the bitter dregs linger. Looking ahead, the government does not have the political capital to take robust outcomes from its current reviews of taxation, industrial relations and federalism to the 2016 election. And Abbott, never popular personally, has become deeply distrusted in the electorate, with his broken promises adding mightily to the voter cynicism he fanned with his attacks on Julia Gillard.</p>
<p>On Saturday the Liberals will get a rebuff at the Queensland election, from which Abbott has been conspicuously absent. While state issues are dominating, Labor is seeking to capitalise on Abbott’s unpopularity. An expected big swing against the Newman government will be read as having some federal implications, whatever its cause. More to the point, some of Newman’s perceived faults – arrogance, seeming to be out of touch – are Abbott’s problems.</p>
<p>On Monday, Abbott faces the rigours of an address to the National Press Club. His MPs don’t return for the start of the parliamentary year until the following week, but his performance will be important for their mood. He needs something to say, and no missteps in what can be a testing forum.</p>
<p>The coming few weeks will be dominated by the struggle to get the university changes through the Senate; the continuing row about what’s left of the Medicare reforms; and Hockey’s release of the tax discussion paper and the latest intergenerational report. Hockey hopes the latter will help convince people of the case for budget and tax reforms. National security will also be in the early weeks’ mix, with reporting on the Sydney siege and security co-ordination arrangements, and the proposed metadata retention regime still a challenge.</p>
<p>Abbott said on Monday that “we probably need to be a more consultative and collegial government in the 12 months ahead” and “I think we need to be more conscious of the realities in the parliament”.</p>
<p>True but obvious. And this is not the first time Abbott has expressed such sentiments. There are a few other things needed. For starters: a saleable May budget; realism in the reform agenda; and a better performance by Abbott himself (and his office, which always gets down to a discussion about chief of staff Peta Credlin). Each is hard, maybe impossible, to achieve.</p>
<p>Given the numbers and last year’s legacy, how does the government produce an acceptable budget?</p>
<p>With inquiries underway, what can it say to reassure people on tax and industrial relations, especially when it is caught between a resistant electorate and a baying business sector?</p>
<p>And how can Abbott repair an image now as bad as that of Gillard when she was prime minister?</p>
<p>Despite the fashionability of the idea of “rebooting”, there is no one reset button. Abbott has had his ministerial reshuffle, which strengthened the team, but that can only bring limited benefit.</p>
<p>In the first half of the year Abbott’ll launch his families package, which will cut his planned paid parental leave scheme (his “signature policy” and lengthy farce) and recalibrate child care. In theory it’s a chance to do something positive, but can he get it right?</p>
<p>In politics lots can change very quickly, and everything is comparative. Bill Shorten has been doing well largely because Abbott has been looking bad.</p>
<p>Shorten will be under more scrutiny this year. Eventually voters will face the question of whether Labor is up to the task of governing again.</p>
<p>But it’s Abbott who is under the most intense and immediate pressure. As the 2015 political year gears up, the central question will be whether Abbott is up to the job of being prime minister. So far, he has not shown that he is.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/36710/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Tony Abbott’s “captain’s pick” of Prince Philip for a knighthood – on Australia Day, and when he says the government should consult more – suggests the prime minister’s head is in some very strange place…Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.