tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/queen-elizabeth-ii-2256/articlesQueen Elizabeth II – The Conversation2023-12-20T16:05:50Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2194192023-12-20T16:05:50Z2023-12-20T16:05:50ZHow the Christmas royal broadcast evolved – from the first reluctant monarch to an enduring queen and a new king<p>On Christmas Day, many in the UK will pause their festivities at 3pm to watch King Charles give his Christmas message – his second since his mother, Queen Elizabeth, died in September 2022.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.royal.uk/the-christmas-broadcast">century-long broadcasting tradition</a> has evolved from a broadcast transmitted solely on radio to one carried via television, online (including the royal family’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@royalchannel">official YouTube channel</a>), and on social media platforms. It will be rehearsed and pre-recorded in advance of transmission.</p>
<p>Last year the first speech by King Charles III was watched live by a record audience of <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64094088">10.7 million</a>, the viewing figures reflecting curiosity about how the new king would approach his first Christmas message, and the fact that it was broadcast simultaneously across several television channels. </p>
<p>But over a century ago, the first king to give a personal message to his subjects at Christmas took some persuading to engage with broadcasting to the nation at all.</p>
<p>My work (which appears as a chapter in the <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Reporting-Royalty-Analysing-Media-Monarchy-ebook/dp/B0C6FHWLCT">book</a> Reporting Royalty – Analysing the Media and the Monarchy) looks at the origins of the relationship between royalty and the BBC, and how the establishment of royal media events aligned with the BBC’s aspirations as it grew from a fledgling radio and then television operation to the country’s national broadcaster.</p>
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<h2>The people, the king and the BBC</h2>
<p>The relationship between monarch and subjects had been irrevocably reshaped by technological advancements in film, with Queen Victoria’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTG9NJTZFKk">diamond jubilee procession</a> in 1897 and her <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9yiG3EUz_A">funeral in 1901</a> becoming the first royal events to be filmed and shown in “electric theatres”.</p>
<p>The newsreels showcased the pomp and grandeur associated with the crown and enabled royal events to be shared with a wider audience, marking a significant shift in the crown’s interaction with the public.</p>
<p>Midway through the reign of <a href="https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/life-queen-victoria-her-family">Queen Victoria’s</a> grandson <a href="https://www.rct.uk/collection/people/king-george-v-king-of-the-united-kingdom-1865-1936#/type/subject">George V</a>, broadcasting began in the UK with the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/timelines/1920s#:%7E:text=BBC's%20first%20headquarters.-,January%201927%20%2D%20British%20Broadcasting%20Corporation%20established,BBC's%20objectives%2C%20powers%20and%20obligations.">launch of the British Broadcasting Company</a> in 1922.</p>
<p>The general manager of the BBC, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/research/directors-general/john-reith">John Reith</a> (later to be the first director general) was keen to seek the royal seal of approval for his new broadcasting company. He wrote to the king in 1923 to ask whether he would be interested in “delivering a message to his people” on a significant date such as Christmas, new year or Easter. The king was reluctant and declined this request. </p>
<p>This began a campaign that was to last nine years. The king’s opening address at the <a href="https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20speople-a-vast-window-display-the-british-empire-exhibition-of-1924-5/">1924 British Empire Exhibition</a> was broadcast on the BBC. This was not the only function at which the king’s announcements were transmitted via “the wireless” (radio), but he was still not persuaded to speak directly to listeners on Christmas Day. He lacked confidence that he would make a good broadcaster and did not believe he had the skills to write the message.</p>
<p>Reith noted in his diaries his irritation at the royal reticence. More pressure was gently applied by Prime Minister <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/people/james-ramsay-macdonald">Ramsay MacDonald</a>. He could see the benefits of the king addressing his subjects across the empire, as was, while it was taking its first steps in its political transformation to the commonwealth.</p>
<p>MacDonald reassured the reluctant monarch that simplicity and honesty in his delivery would be more than adequate for the task, adding the suggestion that poet and novelist <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rudyard-Kipling">Rudyard Kipling</a> could write the speech.</p>
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<p>Reith’s diaries show that the combination of the launch of the BBC’s <a href="https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/anniversaries/december/world-service-launch/">Empire Service</a> (later the World Service) in December 1932, plus “a strong recommendation from the prime minster”, finally persuaded the king to give the first Christmas Day address, live from Sandringham.</p>
<p>King George V’s shaking hands caused the papers to rustle into the microphone and he was later to complain that “his nerves in preparation for the event quite ruined his Christmas”. </p>
<p>But the royal message appeared to resonate with his listeners, <a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-gb/A+Social+History+of+British+Broadcasting:+Volume+1+1922+1939,+Serving+the+Nation-p-9780631175438">symbolically binding together</a> “the family audience, the royal family, the nation as family”. An extremely positive public reception had left the king “<a href="https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/anniversaries/december/christmas-message">very pleased and much moved</a>”, convincing him to repeat the exercise.</p>
<p>The king’s broadcasts over the succeeding years focused on basic well-wishes for his subjects. They were effective in bringing the reigning monarch into people’s homes. King George V gave his final Christmas message in 1935, and died a few weeks later. Edward VIII succeeded him, but abdicated on 10 December the same year and never gave a Christmas broadcast.</p>
<p>The annual tradition resumed in 1937 with King George VI, who had been <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKIWhegr_Lk">having speech therapy</a> since 1926 to help with his <a href="https://www.stutteringhelp.org/content/stuttering-and-kings-speech">stammer</a> and public speaking. His struggles were the subject of the award-winning film <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/jan/06/the-kings-speech-review">The King’s Speech</a>, where he is shown being coached for his Christmas broadcast. When his daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, acceded to the throne in 1952, she seamlessly continued the tradition. </p>
<h2>Queen Elizabeth and King Charles</h2>
<p>The queen’s speeches would span every technological innovation in broadcasting over her seven decades as monarch, including the <a href="https://www.royal.uk/the-christmas-broadcast#:%7E:text=The%20first%20televised%20message%20was,many%20homes%20across%20the%20world.">first televised Christmas speech</a> in 1957.</p>
<p>For viewers this established formula confirmed the notion of the queen as a steady presence, while keeping up tradition and a link to the past and providing the comfort of the familiar through times of change and challenge.</p>
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<p>Following in his mother’s footsteps in 2022, King Charles chose to deliver his first Christmas broadcast standing in the quire of St George’s Chapel at Windsor. He retained the crucial elements: expressions of appreciation for his the queen’s service, sympathy with families struggling with the economic crisis, and messages of hope for the future. He is the first male monarch to have delivered a televised address.</p>
<p>The monarch’s Christmas speech symbolises for many a connection with the royal family during the festive season. It has reflected not only technological progress and the development of broadcasting, but also the monarchy’s adaptation to a changing world. King Charles has seven decades of broadcasts by his late mother to learn from, but must now establish his own voice without losing continuity with the past. </p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deborah Wilson David 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>For many people, the royal Christmas broadcast is a festive tradition that brings comfort, reassurance and a connection to the past.Deborah Wilson David, Head of Journalism & Media, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2182612023-12-08T13:03:45Z2023-12-08T13:03:45ZHumiliation and violence in Kenya’s colonial days – when old men were called ‘boy’ and Africans were publicly beaten<p>When King Charles visited Kenya in November 2023, many Kenyans <a href="https://www.citizen.digital/news/khrc-demands-reparations-for-colonial-injustices-ahead-of-king-charles-iiis-visit-n330247">renewed their demands</a> for an official apology for atrocities committed by the British government during the colonial era. The widespread human rights abuses during the <a href="https://theconversation.com/mau-mau-apology-is-a-victory-50-years-in-the-making-14981">Mau Mau rebellion</a> are the best-known of these atrocities. Yet we should not forget more mundane, everyday acts of domination.</p>
<p>I am a social historian who has studied race, violence, colonialism and white settlement in Kenya. From the start of colonialism in 1895 to the drawing down of the Union Jack on 12 December 1963, black Kenyans were constantly subjected to violence and humiliation at the hands of colonial officials, settlers and missionaries alike.</p>
<p>In one book chapter, drawing on a set of political tracts, autobiographies and novels written by Gikuyu men since 1950s, <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-56930-3_10">I demonstrate</a> how humiliation and violence were central to their experience of colonialism. </p>
<p>Because the Mau Mau rebellion largely involved Gikuyu, and the education system favoured boys, Gikuyu men’s reminiscences about the era were more likely to be published than women’s or those of other Kenyans. </p>
<p>These men were well aware of the structural iniquities of British colonialism. But it was also intensely personal. </p>
<p>This drove them to respond. Some went on to join radical politics, others took up arms. </p>
<p>The individual humiliation and violence became for them a basis for collective political action and organised resistance. While we cannot downplay the impact of land alienation, mass incarceration and racial dictatorship, the personal experience played a key role in the dismantling of British rule in Kenya. </p>
<h2>Humiliating words</h2>
<p>Left-wing activist and post-independence martyr <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-31817667">J.M. Kariuki</a> <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Mau_Mau_Detainee.html?id=vjhyAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y">explained</a> how white people could humiliate educated Africans, elder men and Africans of socio-economic means:</p>
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<p>Many Europeans refused to talk to educated Africans in any language but their deplorably bad Swahili; old men were addressed as boys and monkeys; Africans were barred from hotels and clubs.</p>
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<p>Any status that an African man might achieve was denied respect by whites.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/180220">kipande</a> – registration papers kept in a tin canister around the neck when Africans left their “reserves” – was one common humiliation. Another was that of “a European calling a 70-year-old African ‘boy’.” (<a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Child_of_Two_Worlds.html?id=Q8UJAQAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y">Mugo Gatheru</a>). </p>
<p>The words and blows struck these Gikuyu men particularly hard because they had undergone initiation which had transformed them from boys into men who could, Gatheru wrote, “now make our own choices.” They would “walk with great confidence … and take responsibilities that are assumed only by the circumcised ones.” </p>
<p><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Land-sunshine-Scenes-Kenya-before/dp/B0000CJX2C">Muga Gicaru</a>, who in the 1950s tried to alert Britons to the violence and humiliations endemic in their east African colony, explained how initiated men “acquired self-respect” and a sense of self-mastery, maturity and adulthood.</p>
<p>Yet they weren’t granted respect, and they were disregarded as “men”. Radical pamphleteer Gakaara wa Wanjau <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3819874">charged that</a> whites believed that Africans’ “minds are the minds of children and therefore our leaders do not qualify for wise mature leadership.” </p>
<h2>Use of violence</h2>
<p>To the stings of these words and policies were added those of violence. </p>
<p>Charles Muhoro Kareri, who would in 1961 become the first African moderator of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa, <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Life_of_Charles_Muhoro_Kareri.html?id=itCkAAAACAAJ&redir_esc=y">wrote</a> a dozen years after independence that: </p>
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<p>people may fail to comprehend how the whites used to beat black people … missionaries, farmers, or government officers, all whites beat black people.</p>
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<p>The full power of the state stood behind white people, and protesting against this violence could bring yet more violence. </p>
<p>Recalling one brutal assault he witnessed, Kareri and others could only watch “in amazement, for there was nothing for us to do.” This inability to retaliate could be just as painful as the physical blows. </p>
<p>World-famous novelist Ngugi wa Thiong’o <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Dreams_in_a_Time_of_War.html?id=uT2Q4S8VrXsC&redir_esc=y">tells of</a> being struck by a white officer when Ngugi failed to address him as “effendi” (sir). Then he was ordered to utter the word:</p>
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<p>‘Yes, effendi!’ I said, tears at the edges of my eyelids. I was now a man (having been initiated); I was not supposed to cry. But a man is supposed to fight back, to defend himself and his own, but I could not summon even a gesture of self-defence.</p>
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<p>In that moment of humiliation and violence, the pain was personal: Ngugi felt crushed when he could not react as he should. </p>
<p>Before he became a radical trade union activist and advocated for violent anti-colonialism, Bildad Kaggia was a clerk for the colonial state. One day when he <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Roots_of_Freedom_1921_1963.html?id=knWRAAAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y">was yelled at</a> by his white supervisor for not removing his hat, he was “very embarrassed.” Kaggia and the friend he was with did not speak of it, “but I felt very indignant at being humiliated in his presence.” </p>
<p>The spectacle was meant to remind Kaggia of his station in life. Despite being an educated, white-collar employee of the state, Kaggia concluded that “what mattered was colour.” </p>
<p>The examples of white people humiliating and beating Africans are extensive in the writings of these Gikuyu men, as well as in the writings of <a href="https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526106810/">white people</a> who lived in colonial Kenya. </p>
<p>These everyday acts were central to the racial dictatorship. White people were daily reinforcing a hierarchy that allowed one person to abuse another, like a parent scolding and spanking a child.</p>
<h2>From humiliation to political action</h2>
<p>Kaggia, and others, took their personal hurt and used it towards a broader political programme. They sought ways to organise resistance through pamphlets, political parties, and force of arms to end a colonialism that was based on racial hierarchies. </p>
<p>Gakaara <a href="https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/mau-mau-author-in-detention-gakaara-wa-wanjau/TQGyxdcXWWPl4A?hl=en">began writing</a> radical treatises after witnessing Africans suffering “constant physical assaults and verbal abuse by white land owners.” </p>
<p>Gatheru <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4184590">wrote that</a> “Africans were being regarded as small children.” Their treatment in “such humiliating and degrading fashion” led him to organised politics. </p>
<p>Each of these men fought for freedom of their people, their passions raised by experiencing colonialism as a personal attack on their dignity.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218261/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brett Shadle 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>Colonialists daily reinforced a hierarchy that allowed white people to abuse Africans.Brett Shadle, Professor, Virginia TechLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2180292023-11-17T04:34:41Z2023-11-17T04:34:41ZThe Crown season six: an overly detailed, unimaginative soap opera – I needed a martini to get through it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560111/original/file-20231117-29-mms70g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=71%2C26%2C5850%2C2929&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Keith Bernstein/Netflix</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The opening scene of season six of The Crown sees a man walking his dog under the light of the Eiffel Tower. It’s 1997 and a Mercedes car speeds past and ends in a horrendous crash in a Paris tunnel. The man’s dog is being recalcitrant and refusing to take its evening wee.</p>
<p>When The Crown debuted in 2016, the quality of the story lines, acting and impressive production standards were so striking that millions of viewers discovered the addiction of bingeing a television program; episodes would be viewed on a loop and toilet breaks would be delayed. </p>
<p>Unlike the dog in the first episode of season six, however, I suspect I won’t be alone in being one of the viewers who found it quite easy to hop up and make cups of tea and trips to the loo throughout the four episodes of The Crown’s final season.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-the-hidden-agenda-of-royal-experts-circling-the-crown-series-4-151293">Friday essay: the hidden agenda of royal experts circling The Crown series 4</a>
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<h2>All about Diana</h2>
<p>Season six breaks away from The Crown’s formula of royal story lines that depict key moments in the monarchy’s private and public life. Previous seasons followed the same line of representing some aspect of the Windsor’s private upheavals, set alongside the queen’s interactions with her prime minister of the day. Story lines covered decades rather than short time spans; the narrative arc was expansive.</p>
<p>The focus this time round is on Diana’s (Elizabeth Debicki) last summer, a frenzied rush around the south of France and through the streets of Paris with her new paramour, Dodi Fayed (Khalid Abdalla). </p>
<p>The figure of the queen (Imelda Staunton) makes far fewer appearances than in the first five seasons, and by the time we come to 1997, Elizabeth II has all but shrunk into the mist and rain of the Scottish Highlands, outshone by the former daughter-in-law who is living out her last days in the glare of the Mediterranean sun and strobing flashbulbs of the paparazzi press packs.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560112/original/file-20231117-19-qludbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Diana and Dodi" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560112/original/file-20231117-19-qludbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560112/original/file-20231117-19-qludbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560112/original/file-20231117-19-qludbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560112/original/file-20231117-19-qludbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560112/original/file-20231117-19-qludbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560112/original/file-20231117-19-qludbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560112/original/file-20231117-19-qludbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=377&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="caption">We are given a frenzied rush around the south of France and through the streets of Paris.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Daniel Escale/Netflix</span></span>
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<p>Prime Minister Tony Blair (Bertie Carvel) makes a brief appearance, imploring his sovereign to give her former daughter-in-law a royal role on the international stage.</p>
<p>And then it’s back to Diana and Dodi.</p>
<p>Occasionally, there are glimpses of Charles and Camilla’s life. Charles (Dominic West) holds a 50th birthday party for Camilla (Olivia Williams) that the queen refuses to attend. Charles and the queen stage an awkward conversation about the queen’s formal acceptance of Camilla as the most important woman in his life. </p>
<p>Princes William (Rufus Kampa) and Harry (Fflyn Edwards) are the pawns in their parents’ post-divorce jostling for media attention. </p>
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<span class="caption">Princes William and Harry are the pawns in their parents’ divorce.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Keith Bernstein/Netflix</span></span>
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<p>Princess Margaret (Lesley Manville) appears as the only royal to have met some acceptance of her royal lot in life, and Prince Philip (Jonathan Pryce) appears on the sidelines, merely bewildered by the travelling media circus that is Diana’s post-royal life. </p>
<p>And then it’s back to Diana and Dodi.</p>
<h2>A pale comparison</h2>
<p>The switch from public/private Windsor story lines to a focus on Diana makes for far less arresting viewing than previous seasons. The irony is that it is screenwriter – and the show’s creator – Peter Morgan himself who has jeopardised this period of The Crown by already having done it better in The Queen (2006) directed by Stephen Frears.</p>
<p>The Queen, starring Helen Mirren as the queen, is set during the week following Diana’s death in Paris and charts the royal family’s faltering navigation of the Windsor “brand” through the seismic shift in public perceptions of the royals during that week.</p>
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<p>Morgan’s screenplay was made especially effective by having Diana not appear as a fully fleshed character in the film; instead, she is a pixelated, mediated figure glimpsed on television screens and through the zoom lens of a thousand cameras. </p>
<p>In The Queen, Diana is literally a visual representation: an image so large in the public imagination that her likeness eclipses both the figure of the sovereign and the royal institution itself.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-fairytale-to-gothic-ghost-story-how-40-years-of-biopics-showed-princess-diana-on-screen-173648">From fairytale to gothic ghost story: how 40 years of biopics showed Princess Diana on screen</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Having already produced in The Queen an original and complex portrayal of how Diana was instrumental in changing the royal house forever, Morgan had backed himself into a corner. Here there seems apparently little option than to tell the story again in the form of an overly detailed, unimaginative soap opera.</p>
<p>Worse, he chooses to tell the story this time around by having Diana appear as a ghost who has conversations with both Charles and the queen about how much they can learn from her legacy.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560114/original/file-20231117-17-mms70g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Diana in a blue swimsuit." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560114/original/file-20231117-17-mms70g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560114/original/file-20231117-17-mms70g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560114/original/file-20231117-17-mms70g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560114/original/file-20231117-17-mms70g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560114/original/file-20231117-17-mms70g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560114/original/file-20231117-17-mms70g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560114/original/file-20231117-17-mms70g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Elizabeth Debicki does the heavy lifting.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Daniel Escale/Netflix</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>All the actors do their best (Debicki does the heavy lifting) and the costumes are spot on. You just know that the biscuits and tea that the actors are drinking are the real thing, and it’s only the scotch whiskies the characters slug back on luxury yachts and at Balmoral that are substituted by iced tea.</p>
<p>It was, however, by the stage of Diana’s first ghost appearance in the final episode, Aftermath, that my cups of tea had turned into vodka martinis and the trips to the loo were becoming more frequent – even when I didn’t need to go.</p>
<p><em>The Crown season six, part one, is on Netflix now.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218029/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Giselle Bastin 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>When The Crown debuted in 2016, the quality of the story lines, acting and impressive production standards were striking. What happened?Giselle Bastin, Associate Professor of English, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2047562023-05-22T20:05:48Z2023-05-22T20:05:48ZStan Grant’s new book asks: how do we live with the weight of our history?<p>This month, journalist and public intellectual Stan Grant published his fifth book, <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9781460764022/the-queen-is-dead/">The Queen is Dead</a>. And last week, he abruptly stepped away from his career in the public realm, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-19/stan-grant-media-target-racist-abuse-coronation-coverage-enough/102368652">citing</a> toxic racism enabled by social media, and betrayal on the part of his employer, the ABC. </p>
<p>“I was invited to contribute to the ABC’s coverage as part of a discussion about the legacy of the monarchy. I pointed out that the crown represents the invasion and theft of our land,” <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-19/stan-grant-media-target-racist-abuse-coronation-coverage-enough/102368652">he wrote</a> last Friday. “I repeatedly said that these truths are spoken with love for the Australia we have never been.” And yet, “I have seen people in the media lie and distort my words. They have tried to depict me as hate filled”. </p>
<p>Grant has worked as a journalist in Australia for more than three decades: first on commercial current affairs – and until this week, as a main anchor at the ABC, where he was an international affairs analyst and the host of the panel discussion show Q+A. The former role reflects his global work, reporting from conflict zones with esteemed international broadcasters such as CNN. His second book, <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9781460751985/talking-to-my-country/">Talking to my Country</a>, won the Walkley Book Award in 2016.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Review: The Queen is Dead – Stan Grant (HarperCollins)</em></p>
<hr>
<p>In this new book, Grant yearns for a way to comprehend the forces, ideas and history that led to this cultural moment we inhabit. The book, which opens with him grappling with the monarchy and its legacy, is revealing in terms of his decision to step back from public life.</p>
<p>Released to coincide with <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronation-arrests-how-the-new-public-order-law-disrupted-protesters-once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity-205328">the coronation</a> of the new English monarch, Charles III, The Queen is Dead seethes with rage and loathing – hatred even – at the ideas that have informed the logic and structure of modernity. </p>
<p>Grant’s work examines the ideas that explain the West and modernity – and his own place as an Indigenous person of this land, from Wiradjuri, Kamilaroi and Dharawal country. That is: his work explores both who he is in the world and the ideas that tell the story of the modern world. He finds the latter unable to account for him.</p>
<p>“This week, I have been reminded what it is to come from the other side of history,” he writes in the book’s opening pages. “History itself that is written as a hymn to whiteness […] written by the victors and often written in blood.”</p>
<p>He asks “how do we live with the weight of this history?” And he explains the questions that have dominated his thinking: what is <a href="https://theconversation.com/whiteness-is-an-invented-concept-that-has-been-used-as-a-tool-of-oppression-183387">whiteness</a>, and what is it to live with catastrophe?</p>
<h2>The death of the white queen</h2>
<p>In his account, his rage is informed by the observation that the weight of this history was largely unexplored on the occasion of Queen Elizabeth II’s death last September. The death of the white queen is the touchpoint always returned to in this work – and the release of the book coincides with the apparently seamless transition to her heir, now King Charles III. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527406/original/file-20230522-29-dcc0ot.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527406/original/file-20230522-29-dcc0ot.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527406/original/file-20230522-29-dcc0ot.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=917&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527406/original/file-20230522-29-dcc0ot.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=917&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527406/original/file-20230522-29-dcc0ot.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=917&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527406/original/file-20230522-29-dcc0ot.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1152&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527406/original/file-20230522-29-dcc0ot.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1152&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527406/original/file-20230522-29-dcc0ot.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1152&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<p>In the lead-up to the coronation, “long live the king” echoed across the United Kingdom. Its long tentacles reached across the globe where this old empire once ruled, robbing and ruining much that it encountered. The death of the queen and the succession of her heir occurred with ritual and ceremony. </p>
<p>Small tweaks acknowledged the changing world – but for the most part, this coronation occurred without revolution or bloodshed, without condemnation – and without contest of the British monarchs’ role in history and the world they continue to dominate, in one way or another. </p>
<p>Grant argues the end of the 70-year rule of Queen Elizabeth II should mark a turning point: a global reckoning with the race-based order that undergirds empire and colonialism. Whereas the earlier century confidently pronounced the project of <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-power-of-yindyamarra-how-we-can-bring-respect-to-australian-democracy-192164">democracy</a> and liberalism complete, it seems time has marched on. </p>
<p>History has not “ended”, as Francis Fukuyama <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-end-of-history-francis-fukuyamas-controversial-idea-explained-193225">declared</a> in 1989 (claiming liberal democracies had been proved the unsurpassable ideal). Instead, history has entered a ferocious era of uncertainty and volatility. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-end-of-history-francis-fukuyamas-controversial-idea-explained-193225">The End of History: Francis Fukuyama's controversial idea explained</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Grant reminds us that people of colour now dominate the globe. Race, <a href="https://theconversation.com/racism-is-real-race-is-not-a-philosophers-perspective-82504">as we now know</a>, is a flexible and slippery made-up idea, changing opportunistically to include and exclude groups, to dominate and possess. </p>
<p>Grant examines this with great impact as he considers the lived experience of his white grandmother, who was shunned when living with a black man, shared his conditions of poverty with pluck and defiance, then resumed a place in white society without him. </p>
<p>And writing of his mother, the other Elizabeth, Grant elaborates the complexity of identity not confined to the colour of skin, but forged from belonging to people and kinship networks, and to place – which condemns the pseudoscience of <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/about/news/speeches/power-identity-naming-oneself-reclaiming-community-2011">blood quantum</a> that informed the state’s control of Aboriginal lives. This suspect race science has proved enduring.</p>
<p>Grant’s account of the death of the monarch is a genuine engagement with the history of ideas to contemplate the reality of our 21st-century present.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527467/original/file-20230522-27-ts8u8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527467/original/file-20230522-27-ts8u8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527467/original/file-20230522-27-ts8u8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527467/original/file-20230522-27-ts8u8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527467/original/file-20230522-27-ts8u8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527467/original/file-20230522-27-ts8u8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527467/original/file-20230522-27-ts8u8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527467/original/file-20230522-27-ts8u8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Grant argues the end of the queen’s 70-year rule should mark ‘a global reckoning with the race-based order that undergirds empire and colonialism’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Yui Mok/AP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/racism-is-real-race-is-not-a-philosophers-perspective-82504">Racism is real, race is not: a philosopher's perspective</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Liberalism and democracy = tyranny and terror</h2>
<p>In several essays now, Grant has engaged with the ideas of mostly Western philosophers and several conservative thinkers to explain the crisis of liberalism and democracy. Grant argues that, like other -isms, liberalism and democracy have descended into tyranny and terror. </p>
<p>The new world order, dominated by <a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-stan-grant-on-how-tyrants-use-the-language-of-germ-warfare-and-covid-has-enabled-them-204183">China</a> and people of colour, is in dramatic contrast to the continued rule of the white queen and her descendants.</p>
<p>In this, perhaps more than his other books and essays, Grant moves between big ideas in history – the <a href="https://theconversation.com/criticism-of-western-civilisation-isnt-new-it-was-part-of-the-enlightenment-104567">Enlightenment</a>, modernity and democracy – to consider himself, his identity, and his own lived experience of injustice, where race is an undeniable organising feature. </p>
<p>In this story he explains himself, as an Indigenous person, “an outsider, in the middle”; “an exile, living in exile, struggling with belonging”; living with the “very real threat of erasure”. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-power-of-yindyamarra-how-we-can-bring-respect-to-australian-democracy-192164">The power of yindyamarra: how we can bring respect to Australian democracy</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Love, friendships, family, Country</h2>
<p>In the final section of the book, Grant’s focus switches to the theme of “love”, and to friendships, family and Country. He speculates that his focus on these things is perhaps a mark of age. </p>
<p>Now, he accounts for the things in life that are truly valuable – and this includes deep affection for the joy that emanates from Aboriginal families. Being home on his Country, paddling the river, he finds quiet and peace. </p>
<p>The death of the monarch of the British Empire, who ruled for 70 years, should speak to the history of empire and colonial legacy and all its curses – especially in settler colonial Australia. Yet her passing – which coincides with seismic change in the global economic order with China’s ascendance and the decline of the United States and the UK, the global cultural order and the racial order – has been largely unexamined in public discourse in Australia. </p>
<p>The history of colonisation and of ideas that have debated ways to comprehend the past have been a feature of Grant’s intellectual exploration, including on the death of the queen. As he details in his new book, the reaction from some quarters to this conversation has exposed him to unrelenting and racist attack. </p>
<p>In this work and in others, exploration of the world of ideas to understand the past and future sits alongside accounts of the everyday; of the always place-based realities of Aboriginal accounts of self. </p>
<p>The material deprivations and indignities, the closely held humility that comes with poverty and powerlessness - shared socks, a house carelessly demolished, burials tragically abandoned – are countered by another reality: the intimacy of most Aboriginal lives, characterised by deep love, affection, laughter and belonging. These place-based, “small” stories Grant shares sit alongside the bigger themes of modern history, such as democracy and freedom. </p>
<p>In this latest work, Grant details his sense of “betrayal” at the discussion he sought about the monarch’s passing and the discussion that was actually had, the history of ideas and his own place in this. </p>
<p>And now, of course, he has announced his intention to exit the public stage. Racism, we are reminded, is an enduring feature of the modern world – a world yet to allow space for an unbowing, Wiradjuri-Kamilaroi-Dharawal public intellectual.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204756/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Heidi Norman 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>Stan Grant’s new book, The Queen is Dead, is revealing in terms of his decision to step down from public life. ‘I have been reminded what it is to come from the other side of history,’ he writes.Heidi Norman, Professor, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2048982023-05-04T12:13:22Z2023-05-04T12:13:22ZThe coronation of King Charles III: 5 Essential reads on the big royal bash – and what it all means<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524195/original/file-20230503-19-lkmnde.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5559%2C3692&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A yarn of pomp and pageantry</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/king-charles-iii-coronation-knitted-decoration-on-a-post-news-photo/1487129510?adppopup=true">Planet One Images/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The United Kingdom is about to embark on an orgy of flag-waving pomp and pageantry in celebration of <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/coronation-of-king-charles-iii-134594">King Charles III’s coronation</a>.</p>
<p>Charles is already the ruling monarch, having ascended to the throne following the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-61585886">death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II</a> in 2022. So this is more of a chance for him and everyone else to dress up and have a bit of an old-fashioned royal <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/knees-up">knees-up</a>.</p>
<p>Despite events taking place in a relatively small island off the coast of mainland Europe, the footage of King Charles being anointed with oil and accepting the regalia of state will be broadcast across the world. Here is The Conversation’s guide on what to expect.</p>
<h2>1. 3 days of celebration</h2>
<p>Not content with dedicating just one day to the coronation, the Brits are putting on a <a href="https://theconversation.com/king-charles-iii-coronation-what-to-expect-this-coronation-weekend-202183">three-day extravaganza</a> starting May 6, 2023. As <a href="https://pure.royalholloway.ac.uk/en/persons/pauline-maclaran">Pauline Maclaran</a> from the Royal Holloway University of London explained, that Saturday will be dedicated to the actual formal proceedings. Sunday will give way to street parties across the U.K. The final installment takes place on Monday, a day when the British public will be excused from work but encouraged to spend the day volunteering.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A postcard of King Charles III." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524196/original/file-20230503-26-adkpqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524196/original/file-20230503-26-adkpqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524196/original/file-20230503-26-adkpqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524196/original/file-20230503-26-adkpqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524196/original/file-20230503-26-adkpqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524196/original/file-20230503-26-adkpqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524196/original/file-20230503-26-adkpqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A souvenir of the big occasion.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/king-charles-iii-coronation-postcards-on-sale-in-a-souvenir-news-photo/1252040968?adppopup=true">Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But it won’t just be Brits marking the occasion, especially at the central event on Saturday. As Maclaran noted: “In testimony to the monarchy’s ‘soft power,’ foreign dignitaries and world leaders will be among the 2,000 anticipated guests taking their places in the abbey alongside members of the royal family. …” </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/king-charles-iii-coronation-what-to-expect-this-coronation-weekend-202183">King Charles III coronation: what to expect this coronation weekend</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>2. A notable no-show</h2>
<p>There will be one notable absence among the overseas well-wishers at the coronation: President Joe Biden.</p>
<p>The U.S. leader’s decision not to attend has resulted in some U.K. newspapers’ raising a stink over a “royal snub.” Not so, wrote <a href="https://www.bu.edu/history/profile/arianne-chernock/">Arianne Chernock</a>, a royal watcher at Boston University. In fact, <a href="https://theconversation.com/bidens-coronation-no-show-is-no-snub-more-telling-is-whom-he-sends-to-king-charles-big-day-202934">no U.S. president has ever attended</a> a British monarch’s coronation. </p>
<p>But, Chernock notes, what is perhaps of more importance is whom the U.S. leader sends in his stead. Delving through the experiences of Biden’s predecessors, she noted: “If history is a guide, who is sent across the Atlantic will telegraph particular American ideas and aspirations. The delegation will also reflect the president’s own personal agenda.”</p>
<p>In the past, that has meant signaling America’s disgust at the rise of European fascism and recognizing the changing role of women in society.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bidens-coronation-no-show-is-no-snub-more-telling-is-whom-he-sends-to-king-charles-big-day-202934">Biden's coronation no-show is no snub – more telling is whom he sends to King Charles' big day</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>3. But look who is going</h2>
<p>Some have put Biden’s decision not to attend down to a purported animosity “Irish Joe” feels toward the British. That far-fetched theory seems even more so when you look at who is attending. </p>
<p>Michelle O'Neill, president of Sinn Féin – a political party that has as a central aim the end of British rule in Northern Ireland – noted in her response to the invite that while she is an Irish republican, she recognizes “there are many people on our island for whom the coronation is a hugely important occasion.”</p>
<p>As <a href="https://pure.qub.ac.uk/en/persons/peter-mcloughlin">Peter John McLoughlin</a> at Queen’s University Belfast <a href="https://theconversation.com/sinn-fein-at-the-coronation-how-to-understand-michelle-oneills-decision-to-attend-king-charless-big-day-204695">pointed out</a>, in framing language in an all-Ireland context, O'Neill was signaling her refusal to accept Ireland’s partition. But her presence nonetheless points at a meaningful commitment to the Northern Ireland peace process. </p>
<p>“Charles’ invitation to Sinn Féin to attend his coronation is in keeping with this process of reconciliation and the normalization of relations between Britain and Ireland. Sinn Féin’s acceptance of the invitation is part of the same effort, but also has a more political intent,” McLoughlin wrote.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sinn-fein-at-the-coronation-how-to-understand-michelle-oneills-decision-to-attend-king-charless-big-day-204695">Sinn Féin at the coronation: how to understand Michelle O'Neill's decision to attend King Charles's big day</a>
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<h2>4. Charles’ transatlantic cousins</h2>
<p>Most Americans did not got an invite for the coronation. But that shouldn’t stop residents of Buckingham, Virginia, or Westminster, Colorado, from joining in the fun alongside the folk of their place namesakes in the U.K. Indeed, there might be one or two people there who can legitimately lay claim to having a bit of royal blood themselves.</p>
<p><a href="https://le.ac.uk/people/turi-king">Turi King</a>, professor of genetics and public engagement at the University of Leicester in the U.K., did the number crunching and found that for those who claim any British ancestry, “the chances that not one of your 13-times great grandparents was directly descended from Edward III are tiny.” It’s all down to math, you see. </p>
<p>“It’s fair to ask what it really means to say that someone is a direct descendant of royalty,” King pondered. “My experience is that it means something different to each person. As a geneticist I would find it fascinating to know how I’m related to royalty, but I’d be equally interested to know about the lives of my other many ancestors. To me the most thought-provoking aspect is that we’re all related to one another.”</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/raise-a-glass-to-your-cousin-king-charles-iii-204137">Raise a glass to your cousin, King Charles III</a>
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<h2>5. What next for Charles?</h2>
<p>So what comes after the coronation party? For Charles it may be a right-royal hangover – one hundreds of years in the making.</p>
<p><a href="https://search.asu.edu/profile/3326871">Tobias Harper</a> of Arizona State University noted that <a href="https://theconversation.com/charles-iii-faces-challenges-at-home-abroad-and-even-in-defining-what-it-means-to-be-king-190339">Charles faces major challenges</a>. Many countries, including those that are part of the Commonwealth, are reevaluating their colonial past – and that leads to uncomfortable questions about the role of the British monarchy and what role, if any, the current king should have.</p>
<p>Meanwhile at home, he has inherited a United Kingdom that looks decidedly un-united amid the fallout of Brexit and growing fissures between the four nations it represents. And then there is Charles’ own perceived faults – his meddling in politics, which stand in contrast to his mother’s political neutrality.</p>
<p>“If being king in 2022 sounds tricky, it’s because it is,” wrote Harper. “Charles will struggle to serve all his constituencies well. There are many ways he can fail. It’s not even clear what ‘success’ means for a British monarch in the 21st century. Is it influence? Harmony? Reflecting society? Setting a good example? Survival?”</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/charles-iii-faces-challenges-at-home-abroad-and-even-in-defining-what-it-means-to-be-king-190339">Charles III faces challenges at home, abroad – and even in defining what it means to be king</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204898/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
The pageantry of the coronation will be broadcast around the world. Here’s what to expect over the three days of celebrations.Matt Williams, Senior International EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2048362023-05-03T15:07:31Z2023-05-03T15:07:31ZHow King Charles III’s coronation robes – and other historical garments – are conserved<p>Ahead of King Charles III’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/king-charles-iii-coronation-what-to-expect-this-coronation-weekend-202183">coronation</a> on May 6 2023, textile conservators based at <a href="https://www.hrp.org.uk/about-us/conservation-and-collections/conservation-research/#gs.v3t2if">Historic Royal Palaces</a> are hard at work. For the occasion, the sovereign is set to don historic ceremonial robes, heavy with history and symbolism.</p>
<p>The first piece is the <a href="https://www.rct.uk/collection/31793/king-george-vs-coronation-supertunica-also-worn-by-king-george-vi-and-queen">Supertunica</a>, a full-length coat of golden silk, lined with red. It was designed for George V on the occasion of his coronation on June 22 1911 and subsequently worn by George VI in 1937 and Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.</p>
<p>Around his neck, the king will wear the Royal Stole, a thin band of golden silk generously embroidered with heraldry and foliage. And draped over his shoulders will be the <a href="https://www.rct.uk/collection/31794/the-imperial-mantle-worn-by-king-george-iv-king-george-v-king-george-vi-and-queen">Imperial Mantle</a>. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518785/original/file-20230331-28-8u26d4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518785/original/file-20230331-28-8u26d4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518785/original/file-20230331-28-8u26d4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518785/original/file-20230331-28-8u26d4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518785/original/file-20230331-28-8u26d4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518785/original/file-20230331-28-8u26d4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518785/original/file-20230331-28-8u26d4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em>This piece is part of our coverage of <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/coronation-of-king-charles-iii-134594?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Coronation2023&utm_content=InArticleTop">King Charles III’s coronation</a>. The first coronation of a British monarch since 1953 comes at a time of reckoning for the monarchy, the royal family and the Commonwealth.</em></p>
<p><em>For more royal analysis, revisit our coverage of Queen Elizabeth II’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/platinum-jubilee-116056?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Coronation2023&utm_content=InArticleTop">Platinum jubilee</a>, and her <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/death-of-queen-elizabeth-ii-126761?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Coronation2023&utm_content=InArticleTop">death in September 2022</a>.</em></p>
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<p>Created for George IV’s coronation in 1821 and referencing both priestly garments and Tudor designs, the mantel is an opulent cape, also red-lined, that pools on the floor, fringed with gold. It sports a pattern of embroidered crowns, eagles, roses, thistles, shamrock, fleur-de-lis and other foliage. And it fastens on the chest with an eagle-shaped clasp.</p>
<p>If you have ever travelled from afar to the Tower of London to see royal garments or the V&A to see historic fashions, you might have been frustrated at the low lighting, or the barriers in place which make taking a closer look difficult. Conserving textiles is all the more challenging when the textiles in question are not just to be displayed but also worn, as these coronation robes are. Conservators apply tremendous skill and knowledge to keep such items intact. </p>
<h2>Designed to last</h2>
<p>Ahead of <a href="https://theconversation.com/ring-for-the-king-the-long-history-of-englands-bellringing-tradition-203952">the big day</a>, the king will have likely done some fittings. A garment designed for a 46-year-old in 1911 won’t necessarily fit a 75-year-old in 2023. So conservators will have suggested alterations to suit the king’s preferences. In concert with textile specialists, they might have applied hidden loops on the inside of the robes so they do not slip when worn. </p>
<p>When the royal coronation garments are not in active use, they are held in the <a href="https://www.hrp.org.uk/about-us/conservation-and-collections/royal-ceremonial-dress-collection/">Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection</a> at Historical Royal Palaces and Kensington Palace. This archive offers tangible evidence of dress worn by the royal family since the 18th century. </p>
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<p>Conservators there work to identify and protect areas of weakness in the materials the garments are made of. They can be heavy in some areas, which makes the threads more fragile. This can stretch and damage the material, when not supported. Care is taken that elaborate decorations, mostly made with silk and precious-metal thread, like gold and silver, do not snag. </p>
<p>Traditional materials, like the gold silk used to make the coronation robes, are stronger and thus more durable – they can keep their shape and often their colour too. Ensuring this, however, involves thorough environmental monitoring to achieve optimum conditions – regular humidity levels, cool temperatures, low light levels. When transporting or otherwise handling historic textiles, you have to use materials that do not react chemically. </p>
<p>In contrast to these garments designed to last, pop culture treasures like the costumes held among the <a href="https://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/david-bowie#:%7E:text=The%20V%26A%20holds%20a%20unique,influential%20performers%20of%20modern%20times">80,000-piece collection</a> of Bowie memorabilia the V&A recently acquired, present different challenges. </p>
<p>Conservators at the museum <a href="https://theconversation.com/david-bowie-five-must-have-items-for-the-vandas-new-centre-200765">will now be tasked</a> with tending to many of the artist’s memorable costumes: the 1972 Ziggy Stardust ensembles by Freddie Burretti; Kansai Yamamoto’s flamboyant creations for the Aladdin Sane tour in 1973; the Union Jack coat designed by Alexander McQueen for the Earthling album cover in 1997. </p>
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<p>The kinds of modern materials used in these creations often <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/museums-are-race-against-time-keep-plastic-art-falling-apart">degrade</a> sooner rather than later, as amateur trainer collectors and <a href="https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/rise_of_sneaker_culture/">professional trainer conservators</a> alike know. Plastics and rubbers may start to degrade in less than 10 years, depending on when they were made, how they were manufactured and used.</p>
<h2>Textile stories</h2>
<p>Despite this, fashion conservators do not consider modern fabrics of any less value than costly historic textiles. This is because new materials have often inspired designers to create <a href="https://www.designhistorysociety.org/blog/view/report-dhs-conference-bursary-by-leanne-tonkin-postconservation-model-in-contemporary-textile-and-fashion-conservation">new things</a>. Polyurethane, polyvinyl chloride and synthetic rubber, developed in the early 20th century, gave artists different surfaces to work with, allowing for both glossy and matt looks. Bowie’s <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0160ql6/p0160pqf">Kabuki jumpsuit</a>, that Yamamoto designed for the 1973 Aladdin Sane tour, is a prime example. </p>
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<img alt="David Bowie in a black and white striped suit." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524107/original/file-20230503-578-zau23q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524107/original/file-20230503-578-zau23q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=718&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524107/original/file-20230503-578-zau23q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=718&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524107/original/file-20230503-578-zau23q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=718&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524107/original/file-20230503-578-zau23q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=902&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524107/original/file-20230503-578-zau23q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=902&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524107/original/file-20230503-578-zau23q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=902&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">Bowie in Yamamoto’s kabuki jumpsuit.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomronworldwide/49354583116">Ron Frazier/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>Conserving a garment of historical importance isn’t only about the fabric and design, but the occasions when it was used. Conservators will thus also document, and in some cases preserve evidence that Bowie actually wore these clothes – even stains from his sweat. It’s about keeping the essence of Bowie during those iconic moments of his stage performances. </p>
<p>It is also about recording the link between the person who wore the garment and the designers. Yamamoto materialised Bowie’s vision of being, as curators Victoria Broaches and Geoffrey March <a href="https://www.vam.ac.uk/shop/exhibition-ranges/david-bowie-is/david-bowie-is---official-exhibition-book-deluxe-hardback-119209.html">once put it</a>, “an alien rock messiah, leader of a band of space invaders”. </p>
<p>Preserving what conservators term “designer intent”, here, is crucial. Each item bears witness to how its creator’s ideas developed, their material choices and their creative engagement. </p>
<p>Similarly, the royal robes <a href="https://www.royal.uk/news-and-activity/2023-04-29/a-first-glimpse-at-their-majesties-coronation-robes">can show</a> intended social and political changes through the history of how they have been repaired, adjusted or reworked, to suit the taste of each successive royal wearer.</p>
<p>Ensuring the survival of historic textile and dress artefacts allows stories and histories to be shared from generation to generation. As one curator <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvBSESuppgY">has put it</a> of Bowie’s many suits: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>These were used costumes and they absolutely have lived lives, and they’re continuing to do so. </p>
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<p>Bowie’s <a href="https://shapersofthe80s.com/2020/07/28/%E2%9E%A4-farewell-kansai-the-fashion-genius-who-breathed-the-same-colours-as-bowie/">flowing white cape</a> covered in Japanese kanji, also by Yamamoto, helped to stage his creative output. Similarly, the coronation robes mark, and frame, King Charles III as <a href="https://theconversation.com/cosmati-pavement-walk-on-the-755-year-old-floor-where-king-charles-iii-will-be-crowned-but-take-off-your-shoes-first-198194">he embarks</a> on his reign.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204836/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leanne Tonkin 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>From the coronation robes, made of gold to last centuries, to David Bowie’s jumpsuits created from the newest materials, dress archives have stories to tell.Leanne Tonkin, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2045392023-05-02T20:00:06Z2023-05-02T20:00:06ZCoronations – real and imagined – on the screen: the outrageously disrespectful, the controversial and the tasteful<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523596/original/file-20230501-28-ewcv53.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C4%2C3195%2C2117&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alex Bailey/Netflix</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Information about King Charles III’s coronation is coming out bit by bit from who <a href="https://www.royal.uk/news-and-activity/2023-04-27/roles-to-be-performed-at-the-coronation-service-at-westminster-abbey">will do what</a> to the choice of music and the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-10/coronation-king-charles-twitter-emoji-announcement/102204588">coronation emoji design</a>. </p>
<p>One fact was never in doubt: we can watch it on television. </p>
<p>Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953 drew <a href="https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/anniversaries/june/coronation-of-queen-elizabeth-ii/">20 million viewers</a> on the BBC. Behind the scenes there were fierce arguments about televising the service. Prime Minister Winston Churchill <a href="https://winstonchurchill.org/the-life-of-churchill/senior-statesman/coronation-of-queen-elizabeth-ii/">opposed the idea</a>. </p>
<p>The 27-year-old queen insisted there would be cameras inside Westminster Abbey. But one thing was clear: the cameras would avert their gaze at the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-22764987">most sacred</a> moment of the ceremony. </p>
<p>Everyone agreed the <a href="https://www.kcl.ac.uk/consecration-of-the-new-king-what-is-anointing">anointing</a>, the moment the monarch becomes sacred, was too holy for television cameras.</p>
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<p>In 2023, coronation planners feel the same: the cameras will <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/king-charles-coronation-appointment-private-behind-closed-doors-wd26nszn8">again</a> avert their gaze as Archbishop Justin Welby anoints Charles III.</p>
<p>But while this will only be the second British coronation to be televised, popular culture has provided many opportunities to see fictional depictions.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/picking-up-a-king-charles-iii-coronation-commemorative-plate-youre-buying-into-a-centuries-old-tradition-200646">Picking up a King Charles III coronation commemorative plate? You're buying into a centuries-old tradition</a>
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<h2>Coronations on the screen</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0127536/">Elizabeth</a> (1998) about Queen Elizabeth I had a major set piece as the crown was placed on the queen’s head even as there was turmoil in her 16th-century kingdom. </p>
<p>In close-up, Elizabeth closes her eyes and draws on her inner strength as the crown and sceptre are handed to her and her political enemies watch with hostility. </p>
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<p>In <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112964/">England My England</a> (1995) the coronation of Charles II in 1685 is farcical, as the king processes behind an ancient and tottering archbishop. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1504320/">The King’s Speech</a> (2010) showed behind-the-scenes preparation for George VI’s coronation in 1937, including George’s concerns at speaking without a stutter. </p>
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<p>The tasteful planning in 1953 to preserve the holiness of the coronation contrasts with other versions of the coronation on British television. British television’s respect in 1953 has given way to parody, comedy and sensationalism. </p>
<p>One of the most outrageously disrespectful depictions of a televised coronation is a <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0591023/">1977 episode</a> of the famous comedy series The Goodies. The Goodies made their parody of the coronation in the year of Elizabeth’s silver jubilee in an episode packed with bizarre and disrespectful comedy. </p>
<p>The actual royal family are injured when performing an entertainment routine and so it is up to one of the Goodies, Tim Brooke-Taylor, to impersonate the injured queen in a re-creation of the coronation. </p>
<p>Another Goodie (also a man) takes the place of Princess Anne. Because of budget cuts, everyone at Westminster Abbey is a cardboard cut-out. </p>
<p>In a chase scene between the royal family and the Goodies, the false Princess Anne leaps on the back of the Archbishop of Canterbury and makes him canter around a field. </p>
<p>There was more comedy and more disrespect in King Ralph (1991), which not only showed the death by electrocution of the entire royal family but also the crown placed on the head of a loud-mouthed American slob who was the only surviving heir to the throne. He then promptly wore it in a bubble bath. </p>
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<p>More serious in tone, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5242360/">The Crown</a> in 2016 showed what the BBC’s cameras did not in 1953 with close-up views of the most sacred moments of the ceremony. The high-definition cameras make viewers close and intimate when the 1953 ceremony was veiled and sacred. </p>
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<p>In 2009 the drama series <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1365539/">The Queen</a> showed Elizabeth II’s accession and coronation not as holy but as part of domestic drama and scandal. </p>
<p>Like both the comedy of the Goodies and the drama of The Crown, it showed both a coronation and a royal family that had shifted from the sacred to the profane. Public ritual masked the private dramas in the royal family including Princess Margaret’s liaison with a divorced man. </p>
<p>Most serious of all, the 2017 television film <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6253522/">King Charles III</a> imagined a near future where Charles comes to the throne only to cause political chaos through erratic and unconstitutional acts. </p>
<p>Controversial because it showed Charles’s reign as brief and turbulent, and forced to abdicate by William, the film ends with Charles disgruntled and cast aside, gate-crashing William’s coronation and slamming the crown down on William’s head. </p>
<p>Charles III’s coronation will be a magnificent spectacle. But today’s television viewers will also know the real-life soap opera behind the scenes of today’s royal family. Whether we laugh at comedy or are absorbed by drama, we have seen television as less than respectful of sacred mysteries. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-fairytale-to-gothic-ghost-story-how-40-years-of-biopics-showed-princess-diana-on-screen-173648">From fairytale to gothic ghost story: how 40 years of biopics showed Princess Diana on screen</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204539/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marcus Harmes 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>While this will only be the second British coronation to be televised, popular culture has provided many opportunities to see fictional depictions.Marcus Harmes, Professor in Pathways Education, University of Southern QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2006462023-05-01T20:01:06Z2023-05-01T20:01:06ZPicking up a King Charles III coronation commemorative plate? You’re buying into a centuries-old tradition<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521508/original/file-20230418-26-swntno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C17%2C3982%2C2976&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Dutch delftware with a double portrait of William III and Mary II, ca. 1690.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Metropolitan Museum of Art</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Mugs and plates celebrating the coronations, marriages and deaths of British royalty are not unusual sights in the Australian home. With the forthcoming coronation of King Charles III on May 6, such memorabilia cluttering our cupboards are only likely to increase. </p>
<p>Guides to “<a href="https://www.houseandgarden.co.uk/article/king-charles-coronation-memorabilia-2023">the best King Charles III memorabilia</a>” are already advising what souvenirs to buy, including commemorative coins, biscuit tins, tea towels, plates and, of course, mugs. </p>
<p>Yet the royal souvenir is not a recent invention. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/weve-been-collecting-souvenirs-for-thousands-of-years-they-are-valuable-cultural-artefacts-but-what-does-their-future-hold-189449">We've been collecting souvenirs for thousands of years. They are valuable cultural artefacts – but what does their future hold?</a>
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</em>
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<h2>History of the royal mug</h2>
<p>The tradition of celebrating royal events with a mug or drinking vessel dates to at least the 17th century when the current king’s ancestor and namesake, Charles II, was restored to the English throne in 1660-1. </p>
<p>Several mugs and cups produced at the time have survived and depict the “<a href="https://www.historyextra.com/period/stuart/charles-ii-guide-restoration-why-merry-monarch-how-many-children-rule/">merry monarch</a>”. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521507/original/file-20230418-26-iczhu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521507/original/file-20230418-26-iczhu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521507/original/file-20230418-26-iczhu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=716&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521507/original/file-20230418-26-iczhu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=716&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521507/original/file-20230418-26-iczhu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=716&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521507/original/file-20230418-26-iczhu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521507/original/file-20230418-26-iczhu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521507/original/file-20230418-26-iczhu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cup, tin-glazed earthenware (delftware), with a bust portrait of Charles II, probably Southwark, 1660-1665.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Victoria and Albert Museum</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The restoration of Charles II (after his father Charles I had been executed by order of parliament in 1649) was greeted with rejoicing throughout England, Scotland and Ireland. </p>
<p>The famous social climber and diarist Samuel Pepys embodied the general feeling of this time when he wrote that on the day of Charles II’s coronation he watched the royal procession with wine and cake and all were “<a href="https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1661/04/22/">very merry</a>” and pleased at what they saw. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/beheaded-and-exiled-the-two-previous-king-charleses-bookended-the-abolition-of-the-monarchy-190410">Beheaded and exiled: the two previous King Charleses bookended the abolition of the monarchy</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>Drinking and eating in celebration may account for why mugs and plates were, and remain, such popular forms of royal memorabilia; they were used to <a href="https://stuarts.exeter.ac.uk/education/objects/delftware-cup-c-1661/">drink loyal toasts</a> of good health to the monarch on special days of celebration. </p>
<p>While a strong ale was the preferred liquid for 17th-century toasts, as the British Empire expanded tea drinking became a common pastime. Teacups became popular royal souvenirs during the reign of Queen Victoria in the 19th century. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521513/original/file-20230418-21-mdh86q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521513/original/file-20230418-21-mdh86q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521513/original/file-20230418-21-mdh86q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521513/original/file-20230418-21-mdh86q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521513/original/file-20230418-21-mdh86q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521513/original/file-20230418-21-mdh86q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521513/original/file-20230418-21-mdh86q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521513/original/file-20230418-21-mdh86q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Commemorative teacup for Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee, 1896.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">McCord Stewart Museum</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Fostering support</h2>
<p>The earthenware mugs made for Charles II’s coronation were relatively inexpensive, but not produced on a mass scale. </p>
<p>With the industrial revolution of the 19th century and the rise of souvenir culture, royal memorabilia in all forms became more <a href="https://theconversation.com/royal-family-why-even-a-charles-and-diana-divorce-mug-is-important-for-the-monarchy-176588">popular and widespread</a>. </p>
<p>Since 1900, royal births, deaths, marriages and coronations have been big money for manufacturers of royal memorabilia. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522239/original/file-20230420-20-eguqhs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522239/original/file-20230420-20-eguqhs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522239/original/file-20230420-20-eguqhs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=643&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522239/original/file-20230420-20-eguqhs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=643&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522239/original/file-20230420-20-eguqhs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=643&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522239/original/file-20230420-20-eguqhs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=807&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522239/original/file-20230420-20-eguqhs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=807&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522239/original/file-20230420-20-eguqhs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=807&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mug celebrating the coronation of Edward VII in 1902.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Te Papa (CG000043/B)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The pitfalls of mass production were realised in 1936 when Edward VIII abdicated from the throne just months before his planned coronation in May 1937. Manufacturers were stuck with <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/178313173?searchTerm=%22coronation%20mug%22">thousands of mugs</a>, plates and other items celebrating the coronation of a king that would not happen. </p>
<p>Many of these mugs still made their way out to the market, while other manufacturers such as Royal Doulton <a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_2012-8022-5-a-c">adapted existing designs</a> and used them for the coronation of his brother, George VI.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522238/original/file-20230420-14-55n4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522238/original/file-20230420-14-55n4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522238/original/file-20230420-14-55n4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522238/original/file-20230420-14-55n4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522238/original/file-20230420-14-55n4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522238/original/file-20230420-14-55n4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522238/original/file-20230420-14-55n4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522238/original/file-20230420-14-55n4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mug commemorating the planned coronation of Edward VIII.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Powerhouse collection. Gift of the Royal Australian Historical Society, 1981. Photographed by Bob Barker.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>English monarchs were not the only royals to encourage the use of their image on objects collected, worn or used by their subjects. </p>
<p>Renaissance Italian princes popularised the <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2016/renaissance-portrait-medals/exhibition-themes">portrait medal</a> and the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, Charles V, fostered support in his vast territories using mass-produced medallions <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/197126">bearing his image</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521515/original/file-20230418-24-ua1317.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521515/original/file-20230418-24-ua1317.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521515/original/file-20230418-24-ua1317.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=632&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521515/original/file-20230418-24-ua1317.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=632&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521515/original/file-20230418-24-ua1317.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=632&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521515/original/file-20230418-24-ua1317.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=794&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521515/original/file-20230418-24-ua1317.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=794&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521515/original/file-20230418-24-ua1317.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=794&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An enamel medallion depicting Emperor Charles V (1500–1558), ca. 1518–20.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Metropolitan Museum of Art</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Objects with images of royalty served similar functions in the 20th century. Australian school children were often <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/141777602?searchTerm=%22coronation%20mug%22">given medals</a> to commemorate coronations, while children in England were gifted pottery mugs to drink to the sovereign’s health. </p>
<p>When Elizabeth II was crowned in 1953, <a href="https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/artifact/coronation-of-hm-queen-elizabeth-ii">English children</a> received mugs, tins of chocolate and a spoon or coin. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hkPyG-xbyg8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>Measuring popularity</h2>
<p>Royal memorabilia don’t just foster support but act as a barometer of the popularity of the royal family around the globe. </p>
<p>Coronation mugs became popular in the reign of Charles II in 1661 because these objects captured the joyous feeling of a nation that had endured 20 years of warfare and political chaos. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521518/original/file-20230418-24-d6yi11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521518/original/file-20230418-24-d6yi11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521518/original/file-20230418-24-d6yi11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521518/original/file-20230418-24-d6yi11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521518/original/file-20230418-24-d6yi11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521518/original/file-20230418-24-d6yi11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=654&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521518/original/file-20230418-24-d6yi11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=654&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521518/original/file-20230418-24-d6yi11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=654&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Delftware featuring Charles II and Catherine of Braganza, likely commemorating their wedding. ca. 1662-1685.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Victoria and Albert Museum</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Support for the royal family has often been shown through royal weddings and marriages: plates depicting Charles II and his Portuguese bride, Catherine of Braganza, were made to celebrate their union in 1662.</p>
<p>Recently a <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/metal-detectorist-discovers-rare-gold-pendant-celebrating-henry-viiis-first-marriage-180981557/">gold pendant</a> inscribed with the initials of Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, likely worn by a supporter, was also discovered. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521521/original/file-20230418-26-gm1q8x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521521/original/file-20230418-26-gm1q8x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521521/original/file-20230418-26-gm1q8x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=623&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521521/original/file-20230418-26-gm1q8x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=623&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521521/original/file-20230418-26-gm1q8x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=623&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521521/original/file-20230418-26-gm1q8x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=783&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521521/original/file-20230418-26-gm1q8x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=783&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521521/original/file-20230418-26-gm1q8x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=783&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gold pendant associated with Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, ca. 1509-1530.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Birmingham Museums Trust</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For Prince William and Kate Middleton’s highly anticipated wedding in 2011, thousands of types of mundane and wacky <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/gossip/la-et-royal-wedding-souvenirs-pictures-photogallery.html">souvenirs</a> were produced, such as plates, mugs, magnets, graphic novels, toilet seat covers and PEZ dispensers.</p>
<p>Over 1,600 lines of official merchandise were produced for the marriage of Princes Charles to Lady Diana Spencer in 1981. <a href="https://issuu.com/accpublishinggroup/docs/june_july_2022_mag/s/15960301">Less than 25 lines</a> were produced for Charles’ unpopular second marriage to Camilla Parker Bowles in 2005. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521468/original/file-20230418-24-g103gl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521468/original/file-20230418-24-g103gl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521468/original/file-20230418-24-g103gl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521468/original/file-20230418-24-g103gl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521468/original/file-20230418-24-g103gl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521468/original/file-20230418-24-g103gl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=762&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521468/original/file-20230418-24-g103gl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=762&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521468/original/file-20230418-24-g103gl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=762&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Charles and Diana cup to commemorate their wedding on July 29 1981.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While Charles may not be <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2023/03/01/celebrities-dont-care-to-perform-for-king-charles-iii/?sh=56487b7a20f8">as popular</a> as his mother, coronation fever has most definitely taken hold in the United Kingdom. Royal fans are set to spend £1.4 billion (A$2.6 billion) on <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/money/21911733/shoppers-spend-billion-king-coronation-may/">coronation parties and souvenirs</a>. </p>
<p>The availability of coronation souvenirs and party supplies in Australia is somewhat more limited – perhaps an indicator of Australia’s diminishing appetite for the royal family amid increased calls for another <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-24/king-charles-australias-head-of-state-alternative-republic/101470156">vote on a republic</a>. </p>
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<em>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-king-charles-iiis-coronation-quiche-tells-us-about-the-history-of-british-dining-203362">What King Charles III's coronation quiche tells us about the history of British dining</a>
</strong>
</em>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200646/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Bendall 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>From lockets for Henry VIII’s wedding to tea cups for Charles III’s coronation, there is a long history of royal souvenirs.Sarah Bendall, Research Fellow, Gender and Women's History Research Centre, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1981942023-04-04T15:47:19Z2023-04-04T15:47:19ZCosmati pavement: walk on the 755-year-old floor where King Charles III will be crowned (but take off your shoes first)<p>Westminster Abbey has announced that following the coronation of King Charles III and the Queen Consort, Camilla, in May 2023, the church’s famous <a href="https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-news/special-coronation-events-announced">Cosmati pavement</a> will be opened up to the public. Every news story has been quick to highlight the unusual condition the abbey is imposing on visitors: given that this intricate mosaic was completed in 1268, people will have to remove their shoes to step on it.</p>
<p>Being able to see the floor as it was designed to be seen – underfoot and in motion – is an exciting experience. It goes beyond the visual and engages the senses more broadly. This will place visitors in a chain of tactile encounters that stretches back centuries. Many will relish the idea they are standing in the same spot as rulers past and present.</p>
<p>While the pavement has helped to stage events of national significance throughout its long history, its design and manufacture reflect international connections, especially with Rome. <a href="https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501751127/standing-on-holy-ground-in-the-middle-ages/">As I show</a> in my 2022 book, Standing on Holy Ground in the Middle Ages, floor surfaces such as this took on considerable significance in the medieval period for the staging of ceremonies and to signal identity and connect people across time.</p>
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<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518785/original/file-20230331-28-8u26d4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518785/original/file-20230331-28-8u26d4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518785/original/file-20230331-28-8u26d4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518785/original/file-20230331-28-8u26d4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518785/original/file-20230331-28-8u26d4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518785/original/file-20230331-28-8u26d4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518785/original/file-20230331-28-8u26d4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&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"></span>
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<p><em>This piece is part of our coverage of <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/coronation-of-king-charles-iii-134594?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Coronation2023&utm_content=InArticleTop">King Charles III’s coronation</a>. The first coronation of a British monarch since 1953 comes at a time of reckoning for the monarchy, the royal family and the Commonwealth.</em>
<em>For more royal analysis, revisit our coverage of Queen Elizabeth II’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/platinum-jubilee-116056?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Coronation2023&utm_content=InArticleTop">Platinum jubilee</a>, and her <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/death-of-queen-elizabeth-ii-126761?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Coronation2023&utm_content=InArticleTop">death in September 2022</a>.</em></p>
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<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A painting of Queen Victoria in Westminster Abbey." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519296/original/file-20230404-28-y8wa7l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519296/original/file-20230404-28-y8wa7l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519296/original/file-20230404-28-y8wa7l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519296/original/file-20230404-28-y8wa7l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519296/original/file-20230404-28-y8wa7l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=571&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519296/original/file-20230404-28-y8wa7l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=571&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519296/original/file-20230404-28-y8wa7l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=571&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee Service in Westminster Abbey by William Ewart Lockhart.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_Ewart_Lockhart,_Queen_Victoria%27s_Golden_Jubilee_Service,_Westminster_Abbey,_21_June_1887_(1887%E2%80%931890).jpg">Public domain</a></span>
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<h2>Royal ceremonial</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.westminster-abbey.org/about-the-abbey/history/cosmati-pavement">Cosmati pavement</a> lies in the sanctuary in front of the high altar. It has been part of the ceremonial life of the abbey since it was laid in the 13th century, during the reign of King Henry III. </p>
<p>Even then, coronations had long been held at Westminster and the mosaic was in place for that of Henry’s son, Edward I, in 1274. Physical contact with the pavement during the coronation ritual may have taken several forms. At one point, the king-to-be would lie on the ground in prayer, with precious textiles spread beneath him. </p>
<p>By the mid-19th century, the pavement was in poor condition and it was covered over with linoleum for protection. <a href="https://shop.westminster-abbey.org/the-cosmatesque-mosaics-of-westminster-abbey-vol-1-2">Extensive conservation work</a> was undertaken between 2008 and 2010 to clean and repair it, before restoring it to its place in royal ritual and representation. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two people with tools kneel on a mosaic floor." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519292/original/file-20230404-543-456ic7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519292/original/file-20230404-543-456ic7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519292/original/file-20230404-543-456ic7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519292/original/file-20230404-543-456ic7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519292/original/file-20230404-543-456ic7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519292/original/file-20230404-543-456ic7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519292/original/file-20230404-543-456ic7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Conservators work on restoring the mosaic in 2009.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34049768">Christine Smith</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Prince and Princess of Wales were married on the Cosmati floor in 2011. The portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by London-based Australian painter, Ralph Heimans, painted to mark her Diamond jubilee, <a href="https://www.ralphheimans.com/the-coronation-theatre-her-majesty-queen-elizabeth-ii/">depicts</a> the late monarch standing on the mosaic, close to its central roundel of veined alabaster. </p>
<h2>Westminster and Rome</h2>
<p>The Westminster floor is <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/%7Eucfbrxs/Homepage/WestminsterAbbeyMortars.pdf">the only one of its kind</a> north of the Alps. It was created by marble workers from the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/Cosmati-work">Cosmati workshops</a> in Rome, with stone of various colours imported from Italy and beyond. The design features a series of roundels set within interlaced circles and squares, which in turn encompass a variety of smaller-scale geometric patterns.</p>
<p>The function of the pavement also has a distinctly Roman dimension, referencing <a href="https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Old-Saint-Peters-Rome-by-Rosamond-McKitterick-editor-John-Osborne-editor-Carol-M-Richardson-editor-Joanna-Story-editor/9781139893381">Old St Peter’s Basilica</a>. The pavement of the original church on the site – replaced in the 16th century with the domed basilica – included several large roundels of porphyry. </p>
<p>Porphyry is a dark red stone with imperial associations. The roundels in the St Peter’s mosaic served as liturgical markers in the rituals for the coronation of the Holy Roman Emperor. When <a href="https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/history/students/modules/archive/hi3f9/timetable/europeanempire/24412718.pdf">Emperor Charles V was crowned</a> not in Rome but Bologna, in 1530, roundels were marked out temporarily, by the master of ceremonies, on the floor of the Basilica of San Petronio.</p>
<p>The use and connotations of the pavement at Old St Peter’s will have been well known to both Henry III and <a href="https://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/london/vol1/pp17-76">Richard de Ware</a>, the Abbot of Westminster, who visited Rome and has traditionally been credited with overseeing the laying of the mosaic in the abbey. Art historians Paul Binski and Claudia Bolgia have <a href="https://www.biblhertz.it/3295018/rjbh45_binski_bolgia.pdf">recently demonstrated</a> the role played by the papal legate Ottobuono Fieschi in sourcing the marble and marble workers.</p>
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<p>If the Westminster pavement’s design and use of porphyry expressed a powerful connection with Rome, its status reinforced that of the rulers who came into contact with it (and vice versa). Repeated use of the same spot also forged associations between rulers over time. </p>
<p>My research has shown that such creative use of the floors of important buildings was widespread during the Middle Ages. It often involved images as well as precious materials. And it served to connect members of communities as well as a succession of office holders. </p>
<h2>Standing in socks</h2>
<p>On a practical level, requiring visitors to Westminster to remove their shoes before walking on the pavement is about safeguarding the mosaics. Doing so is, of course, also a way of showing reverence, as visitors to sacred places the world over know. Medieval coronation rituals themselves often involved rulers going unshod as a sign of humility. A list of textiles purchased for the <a href="https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/features/jubilee-kings-golden-celebrations-and-appreciations">coronation of Edward III in 1327</a> includes cloth to be spread under the bare feet of the king as he walked, in a procession, to the abbey. </p>
<p>More fundamentally, though, being unshod makes for a much more vivid encounter with something this ancient. As a PhD student, I worked on the <a href="https://philpapers.org/rec/DONSLT">12th-century floor mosaic</a> of Novara cathedral in Piedmont, Italy. Here roundels depicting the symbols of the four evangelists were used by members of the clergy as markers for reading passages from the gospels during pre-baptismal ceremonies. </p>
<p>During my visit, several carpets had to be rolled up, so that I could see and photograph the floor. I was then allowed to step on to it in my socks – an enticingly thin layer between pavement and body, past and present.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198194/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lucy Donkin 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 Westminster Abbey mosaic is the only surviving one of its kind north of the Alps. Come May, the public will get to see it up close.Lucy Donkin, Senior lecturer in History and History of Art, University of BristolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1979832023-01-24T17:40:35Z2023-01-24T17:40:35ZHarry and William duke it out: Will sticks and stones topple thrones?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505969/original/file-20230123-5967-dlww4p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2296%2C1415&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Prince William and Prince Harry arrive for the statue unveiling of their mother on what would have been Princess Diana's 60th birthday at Kensington Palace in July 2021, a year after Harry departed the U.K. for the United States.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Yui Mok/via AP)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/harry-and-william-duke-it-out--will-sticks-and-stones-topple-thrones" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Brotherly love turned to conflict and estrangement is not an uncommon story in families. That’s why so many people are fascinated with the British Royal Family and the <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/a-royal-rift-how-did-william-and-harrys-relationship-break-down-12780316">current meltdown between Princes Harry and William. </a></p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="A dark haired man frowns standing next to two boys, one a teenager looking down and a smaller boy with red hair staring ahead." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505393/original/file-20230119-16-lpnq6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505393/original/file-20230119-16-lpnq6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1010&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505393/original/file-20230119-16-lpnq6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1010&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505393/original/file-20230119-16-lpnq6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1010&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505393/original/file-20230119-16-lpnq6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1269&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505393/original/file-20230119-16-lpnq6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1269&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505393/original/file-20230119-16-lpnq6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1269&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Prince Charles, now King Charles, and his sons Harry and William stand near Princess Diana’s hearse in London in September 1997.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(John Gaps III/AP)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We want to know what happened. They seemed bonded in the dark days after their mother <a href="https://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/20210521113646/prince-harry-haunting-memory-princess-diana-funeral/">Princess Diana’s untimely death and funeral</a> in 1997.</p>
<p>Would grief not strengthen the ties that bind? Surely they would be inextricably bound for the rest of their lives after the traumatic loss of their beloved mother. </p>
<p>Yet when you consider the patriarchy, racism, misogyny and colonialism so deeply embedded in the British monarchy, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/25/opinion/harry-meghan-tabloids.html">their estrangement starts to make sense.</a> </p>
<h2>The ties that bind — or divide</h2>
<p>But first, what do we know about sibling relationships? They are not well studied but we do know that these relationships <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2015.07.003">can be sources of both risk and resilience.</a></p>
<p>Studies show that <a href="https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/ajp.2007.164.6.949">dysfunctional sibling relationships can result in concerning mental health outcomes — anxiety, depression and substance abuse</a>. Or conversely, they can be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2012.01011.x">great sources of support in healthy psycho-social development</a>, providing strength in the face of adversity.</p>
<p>Siblings can also experience both types of relationships at different times. Even when sibling relationships are fraught with conflict, the very same siblings <a href="https://www.apa.org/monitor/2022/03/feature-sibling-relationships">can display fierce loyalty to each other when criticized or attacked</a>.</p>
<p>Next we need to bring in larger family dynamics and something called <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119085621.wbefs130">family systems theory</a> — the idea that the whole is more powerful than the sum of its parts. Part of this rests on the notion that a deeper examination of what we see on the surface of families reveals what lies beneath. </p>
<p>External forces also operate in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1300/J002v03n01_02">larger ecology of families that play out in everyday life</a>. Knowing the values and belief systems of families, including their cultural influences, helps us understand what bubbles up to the surface of sibling relationships. This seems particularly pertinent to the Harry and William situation.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Various Royal Family members stand on a balcony festooned with red and gold bunting looking out at the crowds. An elderly woman dressed in blue is in the centre." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505970/original/file-20230123-11-454brd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505970/original/file-20230123-11-454brd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505970/original/file-20230123-11-454brd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505970/original/file-20230123-11-454brd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505970/original/file-20230123-11-454brd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505970/original/file-20230123-11-454brd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505970/original/file-20230123-11-454brd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Members of the Royal Family gather on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in July 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Matt Dunham)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Scapegoating a family member</h2>
<p>To better understand their relationship, it’s also helpful to know about triangles. </p>
<p>That means when two family members join forces against one, <a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/science-and-technology/technology/technology-terms-and-concepts/triangulation">resulting in scapegoating</a>. In <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2023/01/13/prince-harrys-spare-breaks-guinness-record-for-fastest-selling-nonfiction-book-and-he-hints-theres-much-more-he-left-out/?sh=44a426a34e6b">his record-breaking memoir, <em>Spare</em>,</a> Harry alleges that King Charles and Prince William have been doing this to him for many years.</p>
<p>Families employ scapegoating when they want to blame a family member for problems or use them to deflect <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119171492.wecad225">from larger, more entrenched issues</a>. Harry is seemingly the Royal Family’s scapegoat for other, more significant problems. </p>
<p>Let’s start with his uncle, <a href="https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/money-and-power/a28339290/royal-family-prince-andrew-jeffrey-epstein-relationship/">Prince Andrew, who had an association with sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein</a> and allegedly sexually abused an underaged girl. The Royal Family paid £12 million, almost $20 million, <a href="https://time.com/6149123/prince-andrew-settlement-virginia-giuffre-royal-finances/">to settle a lawsuit with one of his accusers.</a></p>
<p>Andrew, an accused sex offender, was purportedly Queen Elizabeth’s <a href="https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/film-tv/a34704337/queen-elizabeths-favorite-child-prince-andrew-rumor/">favourite child</a>, and <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/royal-family/prince-harry-meghan-less-popular-prince-andrew-b2260884.html">he’s polling higher than Harry and Meghan in surveys of older British people.</a></p>
<p>Fairness and favouritism are also known <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119171492.wecad225">to undermine sibling relationships</a>. Obviously, the monarchy is literally based on the institutionalized favouritism of lineage. The crown is passed on by birth order and until recently, gender.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman with short blond hair smiles on a boat next to two young boys, one with red hair." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505391/original/file-20230119-20-bwxunx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505391/original/file-20230119-20-bwxunx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505391/original/file-20230119-20-bwxunx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505391/original/file-20230119-20-bwxunx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505391/original/file-20230119-20-bwxunx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505391/original/file-20230119-20-bwxunx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505391/original/file-20230119-20-bwxunx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The late Diana, Princess of Wales, enjoys a ride on the Maid of the Mist in Niagara Falls, Ont., with Prince Harry and Prince William in October 1991.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Hans Deryk</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The impact of birth order</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/does-birth-order-affect-personality/">Birth order is another determining factor</a> in how siblings will or will not get along. William will be king and Harry is now further down the line of succession, and is no longer <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-64185317">“the spare,” as he was callously declared by his father upon his birth</a>.</p>
<p>Spares and women are considered “lesser than” in this patriarchal, colonial system — backups just in case something should happen to the heir. Thankfully, this age-old tradition has changed recently — Prince William’s daughter, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/princess-charlotte-makes-royal-history-in-line-to-the-throne/">Charlotte, will remain behind her older brother George but ahead of her brother, Louis, in the line of succession</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="A woman in red with thick blonde hair smiles while holding an infant swaddled in a white blanket; a dark-haired man next to her looks to the side and is unsmiling." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505957/original/file-20230123-7682-r0chf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505957/original/file-20230123-7682-r0chf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505957/original/file-20230123-7682-r0chf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505957/original/file-20230123-7682-r0chf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505957/original/file-20230123-7682-r0chf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505957/original/file-20230123-7682-r0chf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505957/original/file-20230123-7682-r0chf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In this Sept. 16, 1984 photo, Princess Diana smiles as she holds a newborn Harry alongside her husband, then Prince Charles.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Family systems theory further argues that without intervention, patterns repeat over generations. The Royal Family <a href="https://psychcentral.com/blog/imperfect/2018/07/why-do-we-repeat-the-same-dysfunctional-relationship-patterns#What-fires-together,-wires-together">seems to epitomize this inter-generational repetition of dysfunctional patterns</a>.</p>
<p>Harry’s situation, for example, is similar to his great <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edward-VIII">Uncle Edward’s break from the monarchy</a> when he abdicated the throne to marry American Wallis Simpson decades ago. </p>
<p>Adjectives used to describe Simpson, then and now, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-51567105">drip with misogyny and disdain, including derogatory remarks</a> about her alleged eating disorder (like Diana’s struggles), drinking and divorce status. It seems Harry’s wife is a similar target as she’s been bombarded for years with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/dec/13/harry-and-meghan-are-right-about-racist-britain-in-their-netflix-series">sometimes openly racist remarks</a> and <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/prince-william-accused-racist-tropes-meghan-markle-rude-abrasive-difficult-1771472">described as difficult and abrasive by William</a>, according to Harry.</p>
<h2>Harry takes the heat</h2>
<p>Exiting the Royal Family has come with grave consequences for <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2023/01/prince-harry-spare-memoir-never-though-lose-palace-security-prince-andrew-kept-his-sexual-assault-scandal">Harry and Meghan, including being cut off from security</a> despite the relentless and often <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-64080863">incendiary attacks against them by the British media.</a></p>
<p>British subjects seem to consider their departure, along with Harry’s memoir, as the ultimate betrayal. The British media is currently fixated on Harry and Meghan — not Andrew, and the allegations of sex crimes against him, and not the monarchy itself, its enduring colonial attitudes and the fact that <a href="https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/read-this/commonwealth-queen-king-charles-3840160">several Commonwealth countries want to cut ties.</a></p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1453299362398887943"}"></div></p>
<p>Scapegoats take the heat for a family’s sins and help keep those sins hidden, especially in high-profile families. <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/live-prince-harrys-interview-with-cbs-anderson-cooper-ahead-of-spare-book-release/JDAZJEL56NHNZMMNZW6ZGJGEWM/">“Never complain, never explain” is the Royal Family motto, although Harry alleges his relatives indulge in both regularly</a> by leaking and planting stories about other family members to avoid negative media coverage. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A man in a military uniform and hat stands blurred in the background while a red-haired man with a beard walks beside him in the foreground." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505388/original/file-20230119-21-jvfsds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4075%2C2609&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505388/original/file-20230119-21-jvfsds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505388/original/file-20230119-21-jvfsds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505388/original/file-20230119-21-jvfsds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505388/original/file-20230119-21-jvfsds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505388/original/file-20230119-21-jvfsds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505388/original/file-20230119-21-jvfsds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Prince William and Prince Harry join the procession following the state hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth towards St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, in September 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Justin Setterfield/AP)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Harry has disrupted these tactics, however, by exposing them. His ordeal has also reminded the world of the <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/royal-family-racism-controversy-erupts-as-william-and-kate-visit-boston">racism running through the colonial veins of the British monarchy</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/mar/23/british-royal-family-monarchy-historical-links-to-slavery">its involvement in the enslavement of Africans and the transatlantic slave trade</a>.</p>
<p>The racist attacks on Meghan were Harry’s main stated reason for fleeing — <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/prince-harry-itv-60-minutes-1.6707554">and to protect his wife and their children from the dangers posed to them in the United Kingdom</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/five-ways-the-monarchy-has-benefited-from-colonialism-and-slavery-179911">Five ways the monarchy has benefited from colonialism and slavery</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Olive branch?</h2>
<p>So what will happen with <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/21/uk/king-charles-coronation-details-intl-gbr/index.html">King Charles’s coronation in May</a>? My guess is that an olive branch will be offered to Harry and Meghan, with invitations extended to them, and there may even be some internal pressure to bring them back into the fold. </p>
<p>But if the old family patterns inextricably tied to patriarchy, racism, misogyny and colonialism persist, Harry will almost certainly resist that pressure — and the monarchy will also be forced to either totally reinvent itself or risk being abolished in the years to come. </p>
<p>In other words, this is one sibling feud that could have historical repercussions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197983/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ramona Alaggia receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada. </span></em></p>The relationship between Princes William and Harry is fractured, and can be explained by what’s known as the ‘family systems’ theory. Repairing it will require the Royal Family to change.Ramona Alaggia, Professor, Social Work, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1955752023-01-17T08:51:28Z2023-01-17T08:51:28ZPaparazzi, ‘blooding’ and a body count: hunting and being hunted dominate Prince Harry’s royally discontented memoir<p>Prince Harry’s long-awaited memoir <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/spare-9780857504791">Spare</a> has been published. There’s much to discover in the memoir as a whole, though its key “events” were revealed in the leaked copies that appeared in Spanish bookstores prior to the January 10 official publishing date.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Review: Spare – Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex (Penguin Random House)</em></p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504854/original/file-20230117-18-ad1xyp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504854/original/file-20230117-18-ad1xyp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504854/original/file-20230117-18-ad1xyp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=912&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504854/original/file-20230117-18-ad1xyp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=912&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504854/original/file-20230117-18-ad1xyp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=912&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504854/original/file-20230117-18-ad1xyp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1146&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504854/original/file-20230117-18-ad1xyp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1146&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504854/original/file-20230117-18-ad1xyp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1146&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="caption"></span>
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<p>One of those “events” was Harry’s candid discussion with the late queen about his inability to get his father to understand that his and Meghan’s problems with the press are not the same as the way previous royal “wives” have been objectified and maligned. </p>
<p>At the heart of the Meghan coverage, he tells the queen, have been distinct overtones of racism and misogyny. The queen, on learning more details about commentary on social media and in the hate mail the Sussexes are receiving, says she is “appalled”. </p>
<p>Harry’s thoughts about Camilla marrying Charles (good that you’ve met the woman you love, Pa, but don’t marry her, Harry begged) were also an early leak from the book. </p>
<p>Many of the leaks focused on specific incidents, but the memoir, when read as a whole, does offer some more context for the events and dramas – context that Harry has been asking for in his interviews with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/11/arts/television/stephen-colbert-prince-harry.html">Colbert</a> and America’s <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/prince-harry-interview-transcript-60-minutes-2023-01-08/">60 Minutes</a>. </p>
<p>Harry’s memoir, ably shaped by ghost writer <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64217330">J. R. Moehringer</a>, his “collaborator and friend, confessor and sometimes sparring partner”, tells a story of a troubled young man, traumatised by the death of his mother when he was just 12. </p>
<p>He paints a portrait of a man now closer to his 40s, who remains traumatised, angry and anxious — despite assuring us repeatedly he’s in the happiest place he’s ever been — about the residue of his life as the royal “spare” to William’s “heir”. A life where he was harassed and haunted by the British press, whom he believes killed his mother.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-prince-harrys-memoir-spare-tells-us-about-complicated-grief-and-the-long-term-impact-of-losing-a-mother-so-young-197611">What Prince Harry's memoir Spare tells us about 'complicated grief' and the long-term impact of losing a mother so young</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Hunting and being hunted</h2>
<p>Themes of hunting, fighting and death pervade the narrative.</p>
<p>At a young age (probably around 11 or 12) Harry makes his first kill: a rabbit, whose blood the “nanny” Tiggy smears on the young prince’s face in his first act of being “blooded”. </p>
<p>Later, at Balmoral, he stalks and kills a deer and his guide then shoves Harry’s face inside the carcass, where his mouth is filled with blood and guts; while wiping away the deer’s entrails from his face he’s told to “Let it dry, lad! Let it dry!” Harry’s “blood facial” was, Harry insists, “baptismal”. </p>
<p>Fleet Street continues the “blooding”. A soon-to-be infamous Fleet Street editor whom he refers to as Rehabber Kooks (yes, it’s an anagram) sets her sights on Harry, bombarding him with paparazzi coverage and untrue press reports. “She was hunting the Spare, straight out, and making no apologies for it.” The publication “Kooks” had edited, News of the World, was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/dec/03/prince-harry-phone-hackers-lawsuit">found to have</a> hacked Harry’s phone (after she had left).</p>
<p>While flying an Apache helicopter in Afghanistan, Harry killed 25 members of the Taliban, an admission that has since attracted <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jan/06/army-veterans-criticise-prince-harry-claim-killed-25-taliban-afghanistan">criticism</a> from some members of the military in the UK. Harry is keen, however, to contextualise his war experience in terms of his military training. He’s not, <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/prince-harry-swipe-media-afghan-kills-compares-reporting-spare-book-1772849">he insists</a>, bragging about the number of people he’s killed; rather, he wants to ponder and understand his role in war. </p>
<p>Reflecting on one skirmish, a fellow soldier asks Harry, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Did you factor into your feeling that these killers were on motorbikes? The chosen vehicle of paps all over the world? [Harry reflects:] Could I honestly say that, while chasing a pack of motorbikes, not one particle of me was thinking of the pack of motorbikes that chased one Mercedes into a Paris tunnel?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>At different times during their 20s, and once together, Harry and William both recreated the drive through the Alma Tunnel by asking their drivers to drive at the same speed Diana’s car was travelling on the night she died; neither can fathom how a driver could simply crash their car in this short, safely designed tunnel. Something, someone, the brothers believe, distracted the driver – and that “something” were the press on motorbikes.</p>
<p>There will be blood.</p>
<p>Even his asking the Queen’s permission to marry Meghan takes place during a shoot at Sandringham:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I saw Granny [begin] looking for dead birds, while her dogs hunted […] I walked out to the middle of the stubble field […] began helping. While we scanned the ground for dead birds, I tried to engage her in some light chat to loosen her up. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Harry thinks to pet the hunting dogs, but realises he has “a dead bird in each hand, their limp necks nestled between my fingers, their glazed eyes rolled all the way back”. Yes, the Queen says, I “suppose” you can marry Meghan. </p>
<p>The connection between the dead, hunted birds and his future wife’s treatment down the barrel of the press’s camera lenses seems lost on Harry: it’s implied rather than stated in the text. I suspect it is Moehringer who picks up the hunter/hunted metaphor circulated at the time of Diana’s death and places it at the core of Spare. </p>
<p>I found myself feeling concern for Harry and Meghan’s rescue chickens housed at their Montecito property, given Harry’s repeated references to his and Meghan’s favourite meal of “roast chicken” and the wholesale slaughter of nearly all things with wings throughout this memoir.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504847/original/file-20230117-26-ly2tyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504847/original/file-20230117-26-ly2tyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504847/original/file-20230117-26-ly2tyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504847/original/file-20230117-26-ly2tyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504847/original/file-20230117-26-ly2tyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504847/original/file-20230117-26-ly2tyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504847/original/file-20230117-26-ly2tyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504847/original/file-20230117-26-ly2tyb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Harry writes that his grandmother told him: ‘I suppose’ you can marry Meghan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matt Dunham/AP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Early in the book Harry describes his poor academic performance during his school years at Ludgrove and Eton. He writes, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Study, concentration, requires an alliance with the mind, and in my teen years I was waging all-out war with mine. I was forever fending off its darkest thoughts, its basest fears — its fondest memories […] I’d found strategies for doing this […] For instance, when I was forced to sit quietly with a book — I freaked out […] At all costs, I avoided sitting quietly with a book. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Harry then pours out his heart and soul to Moehringer, and we’re left sitting quietly with a book, watching a person rake over his darkest thoughts and basest fears, about the press, the House of Windsor, the press. And just in case we missed it, the media and the press.</p>
<p>And the press.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/prince-harry-says-his-military-kills-were-like-chess-pieces-the-problem-of-seeing-war-as-a-game-197835">Prince Harry says his military kills were like chess pieces – the problem of seeing war as a game</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Who ‘gets’ Africa?</h2>
<p>Life in Britain in the royal goldfish bowl is torture; calm and harmony are found in frequent visits to Botswana. The only time there is any disharmony about Africa is over his and William’s arguments about who “gets” Africa. </p>
<p>“Africa and Invictus, these had long been the causes closest to my heart”, writes Harry – but William insisted that “Africa was his thing”. Why, friends ask them, “can’t you both work on Africa?”</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Willy had a fit […] Because rhinos, elephants, that’s mine! … I let you have veterans, why can’t you let me have African elephants and rhinos?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Continents, like endangered creatures, wounded veterans and children with AIDS, are commodities to be fought over in the high-stakes battle to retain public prominence and high moral ground.</p>
<p>Harry and William’s mother, too, is a source of competition for the brothers; William may have inherited his mother’s looks (which Harry at one point notes are fading with age), but Harry is the self-appointed keeper of her soul. </p>
<p>He thinks and behaves like her; he feels her presence on more than one occasion. During a visit to their mother’s grave at Althorp, Harry and William seem to clash about who’s feeling Diana’s presence and guidance the most.</p>
<p>Mummy’s mine!</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504845/original/file-20230117-14-ijbkge.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504845/original/file-20230117-14-ijbkge.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504845/original/file-20230117-14-ijbkge.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504845/original/file-20230117-14-ijbkge.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504845/original/file-20230117-14-ijbkge.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504845/original/file-20230117-14-ijbkge.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504845/original/file-20230117-14-ijbkge.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504845/original/file-20230117-14-ijbkge.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=525&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="caption">Princess Diana is a source of competition for Harry and William.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hans Deryk/AP</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Leading up to Harry and Meghan’s wedding in 2018, there’s a series of fracas. Beard-gate (William is furious that Harry is allowed to keep his beard for the wedding despite marrying in military uniform: beards are forbidden in the British army, and Harry writes that his brother “ordered” him to shave it off). Tiara-gate (the Queen’s dresser Angela Kelly is obstructive and does not allow Meghan access to her chosen tiara when Meghan needs it for fittings). </p>
<p>There’s Thomas Markle-gate (Meghan’s dad enters into deals with the paps, has a heart attack and then doesn’t come to the wedding). And Bridesmaids’-dresses-gate (Meghan and Kate argue, and cry, and the press fails to mention that Kate made Meghan cry first, or perhaps it was Meghan who made Kate cry first, or something). </p>
<p>Kate’s knuckles turn white in an exchange with Meghan when the Duchess of Sussex refers to Kate’s suffering from “baby brain” at the time of Meghan’s and Harry’s wedding. A frosty Kate reminds her sister-in-law that she does not know her well enough to discuss her hormones. William points his finger at Meghan and tells her she’s rude. </p>
<p>On another occasion, during a heated argument, William (“Willy”) shouts and knocks Harry into a dog bowl. Meghan tries to hug everyone, including Prince Charles, and the royals recoil from such Californian informality.</p>
<p>And the press are really, really nasty.
Really.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/charles-has-been-proclaimed-king-but-who-is-charles-the-man-190342">Charles has been proclaimed king. But who is Charles the man?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Making use of his discontent</h2>
<p>Quoting a line by the character Conrade in Shakespeare’s <a href="https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/shakespedia/shakespeares-plays/much-ado-about-nothing/">Much Ado About Nothing</a>, whom Harry played in his final term at Eton, Harry writes: “Can you make no use of your discontent?” Harry applies Conrade’s advice to his own life narrative. </p>
<p>Spare offers 407 pages of him airing his discontent in the name of, he says, speaking truth to power about the corrupt relationship between the palace and the press.</p>
<p>The book’s ghost writer – a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist and author of <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/144977.The_Tender_Bar">his own memoir</a> – pulls his weight, giving Harry’s commentary a writerly polish. Harry, who claims in the memoir to have never read a book in his life, becomes surprisingly adept with figurative language. </p>
<p>An outback Australian homestead door gives “out a kittenish squeak every time you pulled it open and a loud bang every time you let it fly shut”. The paparazzi are likened to terrorists: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>You could see it in the [paps’] eyes, their body language. They were more emboldened, more radicalized, just as young men in Iraq had been radicalised. Their mullah’s were editors, the same ones who’d vowed to do better after Mummy died.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>He warns Meghan early in their relationship, “We’re going to be hunted. No two ways about it”.</p>
<p>But the press was ruthless in its sexist and racist reporting of Meghan, making Harry “wild with rage. And guilt”, and furious that his royal fame had in turn “infected Meg […] with my contagion”. Images abound of toxicity, disease, “genetic pain and suffering”, a royal institution with blood on its hands for its collusion with the press, and for its failure to protect Harry and his family. </p>
<p>His father’s response to Harry’s trauma is “don’t read [the press coverage], darling boy”. Ignore it. Instead, Harry pores over the tabloid coverage of his life and commentary on social media and rails against being portrayed as the “naughty” one, the “stupid” one. For being, in short, not William.</p>
<p>One suspects that William, Kate, Camilla and Charles will all heed Charles’s advice to not read popular accounts about the royals’ lives such as Spare. Yet, while they will pretend to ignore Spare, I suspect their advisors and private secretaries will parse every line.</p>
<p>Harry and Meghan may well be off the Christmas card list this year and William may be feeling tempted to release a memoir of his own. (I proffer the suggestion that the title of William’s memoir be titled “Roiling”, pun intended.)</p>
<p>By page 310, Harry’s therapist finally tells him what readers of Spare have already started to suspect by page 26: “Harry, I […] fear that part of you is trapped in 1997 […] there’s the truth”. </p>
<p>“Paps here, paps there, paps everywhere. Groundhog Day.” Ostensibly a comment by Harry about his life during his 20s and 30s, but one that could just as easily be about the reader’s experience of trawling through Spare.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195575/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Giselle Bastin 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>Prince Harry’s long-awaited memoir tells a story of a troubled young man, traumatised by the death of his mother when he was just 12. And a man, closer to his 40s, who remains angry and anxious.Giselle Bastin, Associate Professor of English, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1928942023-01-03T06:57:52Z2023-01-03T06:57:52ZThe British monarchy has always controlled how much we see of it, but Charles III could change that<p>The late author Hilary Mantel <a href="https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v35/n04/hilary-mantel/royal-bodies">once wrote</a> of Queen Elizabeth II that she was “a thing that existed to be looked at”. This became even truer in death. </p>
<p>From the moment the sovereign left Balmoral Castle in the back of the glassy hearse on September 8 2022, we could, if we wanted, stare nonstop at her coffin for the eight days that followed. The visibility of the monarchy – of both Elizabeth II and of her successor, Charles III – during that extraordinary period was unprecedented. </p>
<p>Monarchs have not always attended funerals. As historian Matthias Range shows in his book <a href="https://boydellandbrewer.com/9781783270927/british-royal-and-state-funerals/">British Royal and State Funerals</a>, Charles I was chief mourner at James I’s funeral in 1625, but this was unusual. The next incoming heir to be visible at the funeral of his predecessor was William IV in 1830. </p>
<p>By contrast, as Elizabeth II gradually withdrew from the public’s gaze, a grieving King was there to fill the vacuum. This served to ease and legitimise the regime change. And the exposure was, for many, affecting. In my book, The Drama of Coronation: Medieval Ceremony in Early Modern England, I <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/drama-of-coronation/B63DC86C42DC9CB9CD508A0F155BB1CC">show</a> how the emotional bonds between a monarch and their people have long been deliberately nurtured through ceremony. The modern royal family in particular <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvkjb3sr">relies</a> on these bonds to survive. </p>
<p>People were surprised, then, when it was reported that the palace had negotiated with the broadcasters to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/sep/22/royal-family-veto-footage-coverage-queen-elizabeth-ii-funeral">restrict</a> how much footage of the national mourning period they could keep. </p>
<p>This raises questions about what levels of visibility and transparency are appropriate for the slimmed-down monarchy promised by Charles III, and about the purpose of royal ritual and pageantry in a modern world. <a href="https://www.visiblecrown.com/the-queen-in-barbados">As my research</a> on the royal tours shows, visibility has always been risky. But it is also risky to lurch between full-on exposure and selective secrecy.</p>
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<img alt="A coffin draped in the royal standard with a purple cushion, a candle and a crown, and the king seated beside it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499808/original/file-20221208-12646-p3m533.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499808/original/file-20221208-12646-p3m533.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499808/original/file-20221208-12646-p3m533.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499808/original/file-20221208-12646-p3m533.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499808/original/file-20221208-12646-p3m533.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499808/original/file-20221208-12646-p3m533.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499808/original/file-20221208-12646-p3m533.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&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">King Charles III seated in front of the Queen’s coffin in Westminster Abbey.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.alamy.com/king-charles-iii-in-front-of-the-coffin-of-queen-elizabeth-ii-during-her-state-funeral-at-the-abbey-in-london-picture-date-monday-september-19-2022-dominic-lipinskipool-via-reuters-image482946995.html?imageid=FCD43770-54EF-457B-A918-EFA9201DEB41&p=1323335&pn=3&searchId=e7c62ca6a5a1938197af542a85cec3cc&searchtype=0">Reuters | Alamy</a></span>
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<h2>How royal visibility is manufactured</h2>
<p>The nonstop coverage of the period of national mourning showed how there can be unwelcome moments. Video footage of a <a href="https://www.itv.com/news/2022-09-17/man-charged-after-person-rushed-to-queens-coffin-in-westminster-hall">man rushing at the Queen’s coffin</a> as she lay in state in Westminster Hall has, for example, been removed. </p>
<p>After the funeral, it was revealed that the BBC, ITV and Sky had one week in which to make only 60 minutes of the entire ten days’ coverage available. This worried both journalists and historians about the extent of royal control and the censoring of what was a national, historical event. The palace declined to comment. </p>
<p>This is not unusual. We can expect the same at Charles III’s coronation. The royal family’s success rests on the palace’s careful curation of their image and their ongoing battle with the media about what can and cannot be shown. </p>
<p>In 1953, it was agreed that the BBC would not film the moment Elizabeth II was anointed Queen. Charles is unlikely to request this when he is anointed with consecrated oil on May 6 2023, but he could. Either way, whether visible or hidden, this sacred, pivotal moment of the coronation ceremony will cause a stir. It is a rite which worried even medieval commentators for its imitation of God’s anointing of Christ.</p>
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<p>The problem with the retrospective censoring of Elizabeth II’s funeral was that it felt like a betrayal. Her death and the accession of Charles had been so deliberately public, as well as oddly intimate, that we temporarily forgot that access to the royals is always mediated and their visibility manufactured. </p>
<p>The discretion often cited as the key to Elizabeth II’s success as a constitutional monarch suited her - she was a young woman - and her time. Charles, by contrast, is 74 and much more open; we already know what he thinks about a lot of things. The 19th-century constitutional historian Walter Bagehot might have warned about letting in daylight upon magic in his book <a href="https://historyofeconomicthought.mcmaster.ca/bagehot/constitution.pdf">The English Constitution</a>, but the light has been pouring in for ages and the mystery somehow seems to remain. As Mantel <a href="https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v35/n04/hilary-mantel/royal-bodies">put it</a>: “The faculty of awe remains intact.” </p>
<h2>A vocal constitutional monarch</h2>
<p>Much is kept secret, often with good reason, and influence is immeasurable. On the private weekly meetings between sovereign and prime minister, the political theorist Harald Laski wrote in his 1938 book The Monarchy that: “On no element in the Constitution is our knowledge so inexact.”</p>
<p>With death should come some transparency. But the royal archives in Windsor are famously inaccessible and selective. Those <a href="https://www.royal.uk/archives">private papers</a> of Elizabeth II that are no longer required for current royal or governmental use will be transferred there now that she has died, but they are not there yet. </p>
<p>To the government’s (and palace’s?) dismay, Charles III’s famous <a href="https://theconversation.com/dull-content-but-the-release-of-prince-charles-letters-is-a-landmark-moment-41801">“black spider memos”</a>, so-called because of Charles’s distinctive scrawly handwriting, were <a href="https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN05377/SN05377.pdf">brought to light in 2015</a> but in redacted form. These letters to several government departments revealed Charles corresponding with ministers <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/prince-of-wales-correspondence-with-government-departments">on issues</a> that mattered to him, from housing and health to the environment. </p>
<p>The government still maintains that all such correspondence should be private. In early October, the investigative journalism organisation Declassified UK <a href="https://declassifieduk.org/exclusive-hundreds-of-diplomatic-files-on-king-charles-censored/">reported</a> that hundreds of Foreign and Commonwealth Office files in the National Archives relating to overseas visits made by Charles when he was Prince of Wales were being retained. </p>
<p>When he first spoke to the nation as king, Charles <a href="https://www.royal.uk/his-majesty-king%E2%80%99s-address-nation-and-commonwealth">pledged</a> to “uphold the constitutional principles at the heart of our nation”. This referred to his <a href="https://theconversation.com/prince-charles-the-conventions-that-will-stop-him-from-meddling-as-king-106722">former meddling</a> – or as he called it, “motivating”. In a BBC television interview <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0br9x0l">in 2018</a> he rebuffed the accusation that he would continue to speak out:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I’m not that stupid. I do realise it is a separate exercise being sovereign. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>At the end of October, two days into Rishi Sunak’s premiership, the House of Lords <a href="https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/2022-10-27/debates/860DD443-8429-4D81-A024-D3FADD23408C/COP27">debated</a> the UK government’s decision to not heed Cop26 president Alok Sharma’s advice that King Charles should attend Cop27 in Egypt. The King <a href="https://theconversation.com/cop27-how-king-charles-has-demonstrated-his-commitment-to-the-environment-from-afar-194032">hosted a reception</a> at Buckingham Palace instead. </p>
<p>But Charles’s views on climate change are well known. As head of state in 14 other countries as well as the UK, he could, and perhaps should, continue to be vocal about it. To fall silent now would be bizarre. Indeed, there are many other issues which a head of state could usefully address with care. Has the time come for a non-mute constitutional monarch?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192894/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alice Hunt receives funding from The Arts and Humanities Research Council. </span></em></p>Charles’s coronation will be the most constitutionally significant ceremony of his entire reign. It should prompt discussion about what a modern monarchy could be.Alice Hunt, Associate Professor in History, University of SouthamptonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1913062022-12-22T06:56:15Z2022-12-22T06:56:15ZFrom Queen Elizabeth to Sanna Marin, young women in politics have always faced prejudice<p>Two prime ministers meeting to discuss relations between their countries is standard practice in international politics. But New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern and Finland’s Sanna Marin had to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/30/jacinda-ardern-and-sanna-marin-dismiss-suggestion-their-age-and-gender-was-reason-for-meeting">defend a recent summit</a> after a reporter asked whether they met because they are both young, female leaders.</p>
<p>As prime ministers, Ardern and Marin have indeed broken barriers in politics. But the prejudice demonstrated by this question has a long history. Young women have always faced scepticism about their experience and ability to rule.</p>
<p>This was even true of the late Queen Elizabeth II. Questioning 15 prime ministers in weekly private sessions for 70 years surely gave her insight into the challenges of government. But when she first took the throne, Winston Churchill thought she was “just a child” and too inexperienced for the role, according to <a href="https://www.bbcselect.com/watch/the-golden-queens/">historian Kate Williams</a>. We have to wonder whether he would have said that about a 25-year-old king.</p>
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<img alt="Quarter life, a series by The Conversation" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em><strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/quarter-life-117947?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">This article is part of Quarter Life</a></strong>, a series about issues affecting those of us in our twenties and thirties. From the challenges of beginning a career and taking care of our mental health, to the excitement of starting a family, adopting a pet or just making friends as an adult. The articles in this series explore the questions and bring answers as we navigate this turbulent period of life.</em></p>
<p><em>You may be interested in:</em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/elizabeth-ii-took-the-throne-at-age-25-one-of-the-many-young-queens-who-shaped-britains-history-190567?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">Elizabeth II took the throne at age 25 — one of the many young queens who shaped Britain’s history</a></em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/why-youre-less-likely-to-get-rich-these-days-if-your-parents-arent-already-wealthy-194321?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">Why you’re less likely to get rich these days if your parents aren’t already wealthy</a></em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/a-video-of-you-goes-viral-without-your-consent-what-does-the-law-say-193398?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">A video of you goes viral without your consent – what does the law say?</a></em></p>
<hr>
<p>UK society has a complicated relationship with age. Older people are seen as wise and experienced, but also out of touch and mentally and physically in decline. Younger people are seen as inventive but unreliable, or even reckless. </p>
<p>These are <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2015.00120/full">merely generalisations</a>, of course. But they still have an impact on workplaces and political institutions, making it easier for older people to establish themselves as experts. It is partly for this reason that the UK parliament remains dominated by older people.</p>
<p>This is certainly true in the House of Lords, which retains 92 places for hereditary peers. Hereditary political positions are extremely risky and, of course, unfair. They privilege a tiny number of families, and especially the older generation because you only become eligible when the peer before you (usually your parent) dies.</p>
<p>The rest of the peers are appointed after establishing their careers, so the age of the House of Lords is high to begin with. But as people increasingly marry and die later, it is skewed even further – this year, the average age was 71.</p>
<p>The House of Commons is slightly younger – the average age of MPs was 51 in 2019. In the last 50 years, we have seen an increase in the number of MPs aged 60-69 up to 105. Although those aged between 18-29 have also risen, they still only number 21 MPs. </p>
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<h2>Young women in the UK parliament</h2>
<p>The few young people in the House of Commons are patronised, particularly the women. Prejudice is perpetuated by unthinking negligence as much as active hostility. For decades, MPs and peers of colour (especially women) have reported to me over and over again in <a href="https://shows.acast.com/newstatesman/episodes/is-it-time-to-reform-parliaments-arcane-rules-and-rituals-we">interviews</a> that security officers, and even other politicians, assume they are staff or visitors. If you are already struggling with <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-House-of-Commons-An-Anthropology-of-MPs-at-Work/Crewe/p/book/9781474234573">imposter syndrome</a>, which many politicians do, imagine how off-putting it is when people assume you are automatically out of place. </p>
<p>Young women in politics are also frequently targets of horrifying online abuse. In a debate asking the House to consider misogyny a hate crime in 2018, Mhairi Black, the youngest MP ever to be elected aged 20, <a href="https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2018-03-07/debates/92236C51-2340-4D97-92A7-4955B24C2D74/MisogynyAsAHateCrime">explained</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>There is no softening just how sexualised and misogynistic the abuse is … I’ve been assured multiple times that I don’t have to worry because I am so ugly that no one would want to rape me. All of these insults have been tailored to me because I am a woman.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Even when the abuse is patronising rather than violent, it can be seriously undermining. Just months before her meeting with Ardern, Finland’s leader Marin (at 37, one of the world’s youngest heads of state) was criticised over a video showing her <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62679034">dancing and singing</a> during a night out. The international backlash and political pressure led to Marin taking a drugs test (it was negative). Still, her behaviour was associated with the frivolity of youth – all the more so because she was a good dancer rather than a clumsy one.</p>
<p>All politicians are vulnerable to opponents leaking damaging material, but the specificity of this criticism was significantly shaped by her being a young woman. It was presumably designed to chime with the prejudice that young women tend to be fun-loving and unserious. Politics is serious, and still seen as the preserve of men in most countries around the world. </p>
<h2>Prejudice in parliaments</h2>
<p>Sociologist <a href="https://www.bloomsburycollections.com/book/space-invaders-race-gender-and-bodies-out-of-place/acknowledgements">Nirmal Puwar</a> has pointed out that women – especially young, minority ethnic and working-class women – are seen as invaders into political spaces that have been occupied by white men for centuries. </p>
<p>Societal inequalities around age and gender are often amplified in spaces like parliament, where representatives engage in intense power struggles. Prejudice based on these issues is used as a weapon by politicians (and their supporters) against each other to patronise, make allegations and exclude. </p>
<p>But the opposite of prejudice – a sense of common, shared experience – can be an antidote. In solidarity with Marin, women in Finland and Denmark uploaded videos of themselves dancing, a riposte to misogyny and ageism that did no harm to anyone. </p>
<p>At a time when older people are increasingly struggling to keep up with the digital world and lack a sense of urgency about climate change (the effects of which will hardly affect them), they may need to make way for more young people in the political world, whether we like it or not. We just need to figure out a way to make being in the public eye more bearable for these young politicians.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191306/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emma Crewe receives funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AH/W006944/1) and the European Research Council (834986).</span></em></p>Why age and gender are such prominent mechanisms of exclusion in parliaments and governments.Emma Crewe, Professor of Social Anthropology, SOAS, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1921152022-12-22T06:56:05Z2022-12-22T06:56:05ZRoyal warrants are good for business – and benefit the British monarchy too<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500065/original/file-20221209-33857-8rn68c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=52%2C79%2C5813%2C3825&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-uk-may-13th-2021-close-1979256023">Shutterstock/chrisdorney</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-61585886">Queen Elizabeth II died</a> on September 8 2022, so too did 686 royal brand endorsements she had granted over the 70 years of her reign. Famous British products including Colman’s mustard, Twining’s tea and Weetabix all lost a valuable part of their business models.</p>
<p>Those companies now have less than two years to remove a familiar element of their online presence, packaging, shop fronts and advertising: the late Queen’s royal warrant, comprising the former monarch’s coat of arms and the influential words, “By appointment to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II”.</p>
<p>It will be a massive rebranding exercise which touches a surprisingly <a href="https://members.royalwarrant.org/directory">varied directory</a> of the UK’s corporate landscape. Moving services (Abels), car manufacturers (Jaguar Land Rover), food (Fortnum & Mason), fashion (Gieves & Hawks) and even mobile toilets (Event-A-Loo) will be among those having to adjust. And nor is it just British brands: Hardy Brothers jewellers in Australia, Mumm champagne in France and Graham’s Port in Portugal are just some of the international businesses affected. </p>
<p>All these firms have enjoyed being officially associated with a popular monarch as part of a tradition that dates back (in England) to the middle ages. A royal warrant is a show of approval, a mark of trustworthiness. </p>
<p>And although these warrants do not necessarily reflect a monarch’s personal tastes, there are occasions when they do. In the aftermath of the Queen’s death, for example, sales of the French aperitif <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/royal-family/queen-elizabeth-tipple-dubonet-sold-out-b2167596.html">Dubonnet soared</a> as people bought one of her favourite tipples as a tribute. </p>
<p>A royal warrant is essentially treated as a form of brand endorsement from the top of the UK establishment. Such a relationship is mutually beneficial because in many ways, monarchies are <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/bm.2011.21">important corporate brands</a> too – they have logos, financial value, PR teams, and a mission.</p>
<p>The British royal family could (at present) even be seen as one of the country’s most <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-queen-elizabeth-ii-made-the-british-monarchy-into-a-global-brand-190394">successful brands</a>, with millions of devoted “customers” and widespread brand recognition. Its name and association – think Royal College of Art or Regius professors – carry weight and prestige. </p>
<p>And with the demise of so many monarchies, the granting of royal warrants has become rarer – and therefore more valuable. Outside of the UK, royal warrants are now granted by the monarchies of Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Thailand. </p>
<p>London’s Savile Row tailor Henry Poole & Co. is celebrated for <a href="https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/44003eae-7f64-4603-9df2-bee4f17b369c">holding royal warrants</a> not only from the British royal family but also Emperor Napoleon III, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, King Amadeus I of Spain and King Boris of Bulgaria. </p>
<p>The comparative rarity of a royal warrant adds to its potential financial value. In 2017 it was estimated that the monarchy provided a <a href="https://brandfinance.com/wp-content/uploads/1/bf_monarchy_report_2017.pdf">£193.3 million</a> annual uplift to the UK economy, with royal warrants part of this. For smaller companies, a royal warrant can provide a boost in sales <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/britain-royals-warrant-idUKL5N10U3NG20150902">worth 5%</a> per year.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Crowds gather in front of Buckingham Palace." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500069/original/file-20221209-34318-w2nl8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500069/original/file-20221209-34318-w2nl8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500069/original/file-20221209-34318-w2nl8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500069/original/file-20221209-34318-w2nl8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500069/original/file-20221209-34318-w2nl8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500069/original/file-20221209-34318-w2nl8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500069/original/file-20221209-34318-w2nl8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Successful branding.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-uk-june-02-queens-birthday-2163297687">Shutterstock/Watcharisma</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>That said, not all warrant holders decide to give their royal approval prominence. After Eight chocolates and Jacob’s cream crackers no longer display the warrant, while Fairy washing-up liquid and Persil laundry products add it to the side or reverse of their packaging. A more blatant royal warranty display can be seen on the packaging of Bendicks chocolates, Bollinger champagne, Tiptree jam, and at Waitrose supermarkets.</p>
<h2>Royal household goods</h2>
<p>Royal warrants benefit the monarchy too. The royal insignia enters people’s homes as a background reminder of the institution via their kitchen cupboards, bathroom cabinets and wardrobes. They also have egalitarian merit, with the same image and words conferred to both luxury items and everyday groceries. </p>
<p>It will be interesting to see what happens next. The late queen was well known for not expressing views, while King Charles III has been vocal about his support for causes related to the environment and sustainability. Perhaps those strongly held brand values will inform the selection of future holders of his warrant.</p>
<p>The 180 warrants he granted in his <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-62895328">former position</a> as Prince of Wales remain in place, since they are associated with a royal household rather than a particular title. It is likely that those warrant holders will, in due course, go on to carry the warrant of the new King – as may many of those granted by his late mother.</p>
<p>In the years to come, an expansive royal “brandscape” could even emerge with the Queen Consort and new Prince of Wales granting royal warrants too. This would lead to a select group of organisations enjoying the privilege of a double – or even triple – royal endorsement. </p>
<p>Those favoured brands will also hope that King Charles manages to steer the institution in a successful direction – to ensure that both sides of this business arrangement continue to benefit.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192115/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John M.T. Balmer 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>Will King Charles III used brand endorsements to support the causes he holds dear?John M.T. Balmer, Professor of Corporate Marketing, Brunel University LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1934692022-11-17T14:19:14Z2022-11-17T14:19:14ZCivet musk, a precious perfume ingredient, is under threat. Steps to support Ethiopian producers and protect the animals<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493242/original/file-20221103-12-oj8pkh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">African civet</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ondrej Prosicky/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The African civet — an animal closely related to the mongoose and <a href="http://213.55.95.56/bitstream/handle/123456789/19635/Ayalew%20Berhanu%20%202015.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">widely distributed</a> in sub-Saharan Africa — is among four mammals known to secrete scented compounds. Civets produce this “musk” to mark territory and communicate among themselves and other animals. It recently appeared in the news because when the UK’s King Charles III is crowned in 2023 <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11309229/Coronation-oils-traditional-recipe-cruel-cats-suffer-traumatic-painful-process.html">he’ll be anointed</a> with an oil which includes civet musk. This follows a long tradition. When Queen Elizabeth II was crowned in 1953, she was anointed with the same ointment. </p>
<p>Today, civet musk is highly prized in the perfume industry because its fragrance lasts a long time. And it has great socioeconomic and historical value, particularly in Ethiopia. </p>
<p>Ethiopia has a long history of supplying civet musk to the perfume industry. It was also historically used as a diplomatic gift. </p>
<p>The musk, called “zibad” in Ethiopia, is a pale-yellow paste that has a distinctive smell ascribed to a compound called civetone. When it’s diluted, <a href="https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/5-icky-animal-odors-that-are-prized-by-perfumers">it produces</a> a radiant, velvety, floral scent. One kilogram of civet musk <a href="https://apothecarysgarden.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/47404938-sustainable-utilisation-of-the-african-civet-civettictis-civetta-in-ethiopia-1.pdf">can produce</a> 3,000 litres of perfume. </p>
<p>Ethiopia is the world’s main supplier of civet musk, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237100122_The_African_civet_cat_Viverra_civetta_and_its_life_supporting_role_in_the_livelihood_of_smallholder_farmers_in_Ethiopia">with 90%</a> of the international export share. However, following important concerns raised by <a href="https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/niloethiopian1993/2003/8-9/2003_8-9_35/_pdf/-char/ja">animal rights groups</a> on the mistreatment of captive civets in Ethiopia, musk exportation is an underground industry. This makes it hard to track and trace the market size. </p>
<p>But the demand is there. It’s a popular and sought after ingredient and is used in some of the world’s most <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/99a13235-cdb9-431b-b8f1-e52ce4a10486">famous perfumes</a>. In some parts of Ethiopia, civet musk is traditionally kept in a box alongside clothing, so that the clothes absorb the aroma. </p>
<p>However, the historical, economic and cultural value of civet musk is gradually losing ground in Ethiopia. This is because of poor husbandry practices, natural population declines and a tendency of perfumeries towards the use of synthetic fixatives. There are also serious welfare issues in the production of civet musk. </p>
<p>These issues can be resolved to the benefit of the industry and the animals. I’ve done <a href="https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Conference-on-International-Research-on-Food-and-Taye/00713536a1dbbfd83d1242e8715ce4b180be0f42">various</a> <a href="https://smujo.id/biodiv/article/view/3468">studies</a> of the potential of the civet musk industry. The existing musk production covers only <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237100122_The_African_civet_cat_Viverra_civetta_and_its_life_supporting_role_in_the_livelihood_of_smallholder_farmers_in_Ethiopia">22%</a> of the international demand.</p>
<p>It’s a rare commodity and synthetic products can’t replace the natural musk. Ethiopia civet musk producers could benefit greatly if the industry were properly regulated and commercialised.</p>
<h2>The African civet</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/41695/147992107">IUCN Red List</a> assigns the African civet under the “least concern” category, which shows that its population is not under threat of extinction. </p>
<p>In Ethiopia, civets are found in the wild, then caught and kept in captivity. The musk is collected by squeezing a pair of perineal glands on the civet’s backside. Occasionally musk is collected from signpost where the civet made territorial markings. </p>
<p>Both male and female civets secrete musk. Males are generally preferred to females because they produce larger quantities and better quality civet musk. Because of this, female civets are rarely kept in captivity for musk production. </p>
<p>Civets typically produce 3g to 4g of musk a week, though it can go as high as 15g. Larger animals will produce more musk. </p>
<h2>Challenges encountered</h2>
<p>There are a few major challenges to the industry.</p>
<p>The management of captive civets and production of musk in Ethiopia is highly secretive and shrouded in superstition. For example, keepers believe that if captive civets are seen by people, they’ll produce less musk. Women are also less involved in handling captive civets. </p>
<p>Several serious welfare issues are associated with the production of civet musk. These include the trapping and transportation of wild civets, housing and caging, disease, hygiene and feeding. A significant proportion of newly captured civets die due to aggression because they are stressed by a habitat change.</p>
<p>There are also concerns about the impact of the industry on wild populations. Instead of captive breeding and farming, the civet musk industry in Ethiopia relies on wild populations. This can cause a localised decline in population. Though it’s not of concern yet, wild populations are also <a href="https://smujo.id/biodiv/article/view/3468">declining</a> due to the loss and fragmentation of habitats.</p>
<p>Collecting civet musk from territorial signposts could affect the flow of communication among civets and other wild animals sharing their habitat. Female-biased sex structure could also arise in regions where male civets have been trapped. </p>
<p>A final challenge is that there’s a synthetic compound competing with civet musk on the market. </p>
<p>These factors make the civet musk industry a risky and declining business. There is virtually no financial support for it. </p>
<h2>Areas of intervention</h2>
<p>To manage the industry, and serious welfare issues, it’s imperative to establish an official civet farming centre. This will work on civet breeding and management practices and would help to improve management practices.</p>
<p>Civet farming is an ancient practice in Ethiopia. There’s a wealth of traditional knowledge which can be used to improve management practices.</p>
<p>Attention is needed to improve the animals’ welfare conditions and the quality of civet musk produced. In addition, there’s a need to document the traditional knowledge and customary laws operating in Ethiopia’s civet musk-producing regions. </p>
<p>There also needs to be more networking and awareness creation among smallholder farmers, middlemen and exporters.</p>
<p>Trapping and transport methods and the captive environment — including feeding, housing, caging, healthcare and musk extraction methods — must be improved. </p>
<p>It’s also important to move towards captive breeding and eventually domestication.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193469/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Takele Taye Desta 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>Ethiopia’s civet producers could benefit greatly if the industry were properly regulated and commercialised.Takele Taye Desta, Professor, Department of Biology, Kotebe University of EducationLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1914872022-10-12T12:17:04Z2022-10-12T12:17:04ZPutting King Charles III on British currency bucks a global trend to honor diverse national heroes on coins and bills<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488152/original/file-20221004-18-mpog09.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C4%2C2991%2C1985&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">About 4.5 billion bank notes and more than 27 billion coins featuring the queen's image are now circulating in the U.K.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/photo-illustration-of-the-new-polymer-british-ten-pound-news-photo/866501926?phrase=British%20Pound%20Note&adppopup=true">Daniel Harvey Gonzalez/In Pictures via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For more than 60 years, the image of Queen Elizabeth II <a href="https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/museum/noteworthy-women/the-queen-on-bank-of-england-notes">graced the currencies of the United Kingdom</a> as well as some of the <a href="https://www.royal.uk/commonwealth-and-overseas">Commonwealth nations</a>. During her historic reign she appeared on at least 33 different currencies globally, <a href="https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/most-currencies-featuring-the-same-individual">a Guinness World Record</a>. This includes not only money in the U.K., but also currency in Australia, Belize and some Eastern Caribbean countries, as well as the $20 bill in Canada. </p>
<p>Placing a portrait of a monarch on its money is <a href="https://www.royalmint.com/our-coins/events/british-monarchs/">a long tradition</a> in the U.K. For more than a millennium, beginning with the reign of Alfred the Great, the Royal Mint has been putting kings and queens on coinage. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-61585886">With the passing of Queen Elizabeth II</a>, that tradition will not change. Nor will the tradition of replacing the image of the deceased leader with the royalty ascending to the throne – in this case, the queen’s son, King Charles III – now the face of the monarchy, who will soon appear on new British money. </p>
<p><a href="https://cas.gsu.edu/profile/harcourt-fuller/">I’m a history professor</a> and founder of the <a href="https://www.blackmoneyexhibit.com/">Black Money Exhibit</a>. I’m also a member of the <a href="https://www.ccac.gov/">Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee</a> at the <a href="https://www.usmint.gov/">United States Mint</a>, which advises the secretary of the Treasury on the themes and designs of all U.S. coins and medals. For years I have closely monitored the evolving perspectives worldwide regarding the look of coinage and paper money. Those perspectives focus on the need to present more diverse historical figures on currency. The changing attitudes are affecting not only the U.K. but the United States as well.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AZwrMrCCglw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The new image of King Charles III is the latest in a long line of monarchs depicted on British money.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Rolling out the King Charles money</h2>
<p>Beginning in December 2022, the Royal Mint will <a href="https://www.royalmint.com/">issue the first set of Charles III coins</a>. This includes commemorative coins, which will also bear Queen Elizabeth II’s image on the reverse side. </p>
<p>The new King Charles money will mix in with the old money featuring the queen; more than 27 billion coins bearing her head <a href="https://www.marca.com/en/lifestyle/uk-news/2022/09/28/6334350546163fe82c8b4598.html">still circulate in the U.K.</a>, along with 4.5 billion pound sterling bank notes worth approximately 80 billion pounds – roughly US$90 billion. The full process of issuing the Charles III money will take at least two years. </p>
<p>The first step toward issuing that money has already happened. An independent sculptor commissioned by the Royal Mint has <a href="https://www.royalmint.com/stories/collect/his-majesty-the-kings-official-coinage-portrait/">created the coinage portrait of Charles III</a>, who personally approved it. The portrait, depicting the king in his senior years, will face left, in opposition to the pose of his mother. </p>
<p>This tradition of alternating the direction British monarch’s face on coinage dates to the reign of King Charles II during the 17th century. The reason this is done is shrouded in historical mystery; perhaps because Charles II wanted to figuratively turn his back on Oliver Cromwell, the military leader and statesman <a href="https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Oliver-Cromwell/">who signed the death warrant to execute Charles I</a> during the English Civil War.</p>
<h2>The changing look of currency worldwide</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488185/original/file-20221004-18-vbovtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Swathed in purple tones, a photo of the Canadian $10 bill features the image of a Black woman." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488185/original/file-20221004-18-vbovtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488185/original/file-20221004-18-vbovtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1308&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488185/original/file-20221004-18-vbovtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1308&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488185/original/file-20221004-18-vbovtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1308&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488185/original/file-20221004-18-vbovtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1644&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488185/original/file-20221004-18-vbovtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1644&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488185/original/file-20221004-18-vbovtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1644&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Viola Desmond, a civil rights and women’s rights advocate, is now on the Canadian $10 bill.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.bankofcanada.ca/banknotes/vertical10/">Bank of Canada</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Until recently, the U.S. has predominantly depicted <a href="https://www.usmint.gov/news/inside-the-mint/history-of-women-on-coins#:%7E:">a white male founding father on money</a>. But a major diversification of U.S. currency has been underway since 2017, when the U.S. Mint issued a collectible commemorative gold coin depicting <a href="https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-medal-programs/american-liberty/2017-225th-anniversary-gold-coin">Lady Liberty as an African American woman</a>. Today, the proposed Harriet Tubman $20 bill still seems to be on track, although Americans might not see it in their pockets <a href="https://thegrio.com/2022/02/13/us-treasury-harriet-tubman-20-bill/">for almost another decade</a>. These changes, along with the depiction of writer Maya Angelou and other diverse women through the mint’s <a href="https://www.usmint.gov/learn/coin-and-medal-programs/american-women-quarters">American Women Quarters Program</a>, is a welcome break from the past. </p>
<p>With that in mind, and with a new British monarch in town, what might Commonwealth countries do? Will they go along and mint the likeness of Charles III on their money? Or will they be mindful of the burgeoning sociopolitical movements calling for the dismantling of what many see as <a href="https://time.com/6212772/queen-elizabeth-ii-colonialism-legacy/">long-standing symbols of colonialism and oppression</a>? </p>
<p>Many marginalized groups, such as American women, African Americans, Black people in Canada and Black and Asian groups in Britain, <a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2020/07/27/uk-government-approves-banknote-designs-featuring-ethnic-minority-pioneers">want predominantly white male symbols replaced</a> with a more diverse repertoire of people, places, events and movements that pay homage to addressing past injustices. </p>
<p>That is already happening, albeit slowly. Queen Elizabeth II is depicted on one side of the current Eastern Caribbean $100 banknote. The reverse side, however, depicts <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/1979/lewis/biographical/">Sir Arthur Lewis, the noted 20th-century economist</a>, the first Black person to earn the title of full professor at Princeton University and a Nobel Prize winner.</p>
<p>In 2018, social justice icon Viola Desmond became the first Canadian woman <a href="https://www.bankofcanada.ca/banknotes/vertical10/banknoteable-woman/">to appear on a bank note</a>, the $10 bill. In August 2022, the Royal Canadian Mint <a href="https://jazztimes.com/blog/royal-canadian-mint-issues-a-new-1-oscar-peterson-coin/">began circulating a $1 coin</a> featuring the iconic Black jazz pianist Oscar Peterson.</p>
<p>In Australia, where the queen is depicted on the $5 bill, <a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/money/big-hint-5-note-could-change-after-queen-elizabeth-iis-death/news-story/ddb15b3eed5966c6e3159d88da40bce6">spirited debate continues</a> about whether or not to keep her image, replace it with King Charles or break with tradition and use an image of an indigenous Australian instead. </p>
<p>But what about the U.K.? Already, the country has begun to deal with the lack of ethnic diversity on its currency. </p>
<p>In June 2020, during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement, which also affected Britain, the <a href="https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/news/2020/june/statement-in-relation-to-the-banks-historical-links-to-the-slave-trade">Bank of England acknowledged its role</a> in the <a href="https://slaveryandremembrance.org/articles/article/?id=A0002">trans-Atlantic slave trade</a> and pledged to develop more inclusive policies and practices, particularly with Black, Asian and other minority staff. What’s more, the bank has promised to include <a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2020/07/27/uk-government-approves-banknote-designs-featuring-ethnic-minority-pioneers">more Black people, Asians and other minorities</a> on their bank notes and coins. </p>
<p>Now, with the death of the queen and inauguration of a new king, will the Bank of England honor that commitment? The wind of change – a phrase coined by the British – seems to be blowing in that direction.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191487/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Harcourt Fuller received funding from the Fulbright Global Scholar Award and the Whiting Public Engagement Grant Award. He is affiliated with the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee at the US Mint. He is the founder and director of the Black Money Exhibit. </span></em></p>The new money – featuring the visage of King Charles III – will start rolling out by December 2022.Harcourt Fuller, Associate Professor of History, Georgia State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1912622022-10-12T00:28:00Z2022-10-12T00:28:00ZKing Charles III will be crowned in May. The ritual has ancient origins – here’s what we can expect<p>King Charles III’s coronation will take place at Westminster Abbey on May 6 2023. But what is a coronation, and what can we expect?</p>
<p>A coronation is a ritual act bestowing a crown (or similar decorative head-piece) symbolising royal or imperial power. </p>
<p>It is usually associated with other important political and religious acts, such as oaths, anointing, enthronement, homage, parades, gift-giving or presentation to the people. </p>
<p>These acts will be on display in the coronation of Charles III.</p>
<p>Coronations are not necessarily legally required for the exercise of a monarchical office – Charles is already king. Instead, coronations are fundamentally symbolic and ritual. </p>
<p>They affirm a social and political structure within the larger political theology of a polity.</p>
<p>In Europe, they have played a pivotal function in formalising the acceptance by clergy, nobles and general populace of a monarch’s accession to office. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-to-expect-from-the-reign-of-king-charles-iii-190382">What to expect from the reign of King Charles III</a>
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<h2>A short history</h2>
<p>Crowns and coronations have <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/coronation-ceremony">ancient origins</a> and were popularised in Europe during the early Middle Ages. </p>
<p>In the Roman empire, Constantine the Great <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronation_of_the_Byzantine_emperor">began the practice</a> of wearing a diadem (an ornamental headband), and the emperor Julian was raised up by soldiers on a shield. </p>
<p>Christian coronation rites developed later in the Byzantine empire, and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolingian_Empire">Carolingian Franks</a> in western Europe added the anointing. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489275/original/file-20221011-11-6fmzpi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489275/original/file-20221011-11-6fmzpi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489275/original/file-20221011-11-6fmzpi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489275/original/file-20221011-11-6fmzpi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489275/original/file-20221011-11-6fmzpi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489275/original/file-20221011-11-6fmzpi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489275/original/file-20221011-11-6fmzpi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489275/original/file-20221011-11-6fmzpi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=452&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="caption">This 13th century artwork shows a Byzantine coronation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
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<p>Coronation services were usually performed by a political leader or member of the clergy, such as a prominent local bishop or even the Pope.</p>
<p>Coronations underwent standardisation, development and change across the Middle Ages and gradually declined in the modern period. </p>
<p>The British crown is the only surviving European monarchy that retains a coronation, though there are Asian and African countries that <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z9ng4xs">still practice</a> it. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489276/original/file-20221011-16825-bksbij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489276/original/file-20221011-16825-bksbij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489276/original/file-20221011-16825-bksbij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489276/original/file-20221011-16825-bksbij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489276/original/file-20221011-16825-bksbij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489276/original/file-20221011-16825-bksbij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489276/original/file-20221011-16825-bksbij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489276/original/file-20221011-16825-bksbij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=474&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="caption">Coronation of Emperor Napoleon I, as painted by Jacques-Louis David and Georges Rouget.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
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<p>Other surviving monarchies have enthronement (such as Japan and Luxembourg) or inauguration (such as Spain and Sweden) ceremonies which are secular or religious in form.</p>
<p>Coronations like those still held in England are associated with a biblical theology of kingship. The monarch is given a divine and priestly commissioning like <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/coronation-ceremony">Israelite kings</a> Saul, David and Solomon in the Old Testament.</p>
<p>Over time, European coronations shifted from primarily emphasising divine commissioning to responsibilities before the law and to the people. The British coronation retains all these elements. </p>
<h2>British coronations</h2>
<p>The coronation of the British monarch is a religious event. It presents the political-theological vision of the British state as a union of nations and peoples under God.</p>
<p>This union is celebrated in the coronation ritual, which occurs in the context of a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/liturgy-of-the-Eucharist">Eucharistic liturgy</a>. </p>
<p>Eucharist is about communion. In this case, God bringing together the monarch and people in commemoration of Jesus’ last supper, self-giving death and salvific resurrection. </p>
<p>The liturgy comprises <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/parliamentwork/offices-and-ceremonies/collections/parliament-and-the-queen/coronation-order-of-service-/">six key elements</a>, defined by the Anglican rite as “the recognition, the oath, the anointing, the investiture (which includes the crowning), the enthronement and the homage.” </p>
<p>Special instruments are used to symbolise the monarch’s sacred office. </p>
<p>Saint Edward’s crown and chair (symbolising the monarch’s significance and connection to British and Christian tradition), the sceptre (an ancient biblical symbol of rule), the orb with cross (symbolising the whole world under Christ) and a ring (symbolising the monarch’s “marriage” to his or her people, in a way like Christ is said by St Paul to be married to the Church).</p>
<p>While all these symbols are important, the anointing of the monarch with holy oil (chrism) is perhaps the most significant moment of the liturgy. This was the one moment not televised during Elizabeth II’s coronation service. </p>
<p>Like the Eucharist, anointing is an ancient sacramental practice of Christians used in baptism and confirmation. The anointing by the Archbishop fundamentally marks the body of the monarch as a special sign and for a special purpose.</p>
<p>Under the traditions of the coronation, the anointing is said to bestow God’s grace on the monarch to become a living sign of God’s mercy, justice and love in the world. </p>
<p>In this, the monarch is not divine or absolute in power, but rather relies on the sovereignty and power of God. As such, God enables the monarch to exercise his or her office in selfless service, duty and love in the manner of Jesus Christ and in relationship with him. </p>
<p>Here, the monarch becomes an anointed <em>symbolon</em> (sacrament) who expresses the meaning of life, community and faith in his or her person as a special mediator of Christ. </p>
<p>This symbolic power is deep and primal, as was shown in the reverence for Queen Elizabeth II’s body at her death. </p>
<p>The coronation ritual highlights the Christian-state nexus that remains at the heart of the British polity. </p>
<p>An established church seems anachronistic in a secular age and arguably compromises both the church and politics. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, despite declining in numbers, Anglicanism provides a common, transcendent frame-of-reference for fundamental values and virtues, in an age struggling with individualism, division and fragmentation. </p>
<h2>Charles III’s coronation</h2>
<p>Given the importance of tradition for British society, the establishment position of the Church of England and Charles’ own personal faith, the rite of coronation will remain broadly the same.</p>
<p>As with Elizabeth, the ritual will be Anglican in format, though likely streamlined from what we saw in 1953.</p>
<p>We can also expect it will include <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecumenism">ecumenical</a> (reflecting other Christian churches) and inter-religious elements, to which Charles and recent British monarchs have become more sensitive. </p>
<p>In essence, the coronation will present the vision of a British monarchy representing loving service, loyalty and duty before God, tradition and a diverse people and nation. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/16-visits-over-57-years-reflecting-on-queen-elizabeth-iis-long-relationship-with-australia-170945">16 visits over 57 years: reflecting on Queen Elizabeth II's long relationship with Australia</a>
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<p><em>Correction: an earlier version of this article incorrectly used the verb “coronated”; the correct term is “crowned”.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191262/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joel Hodge 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 British crown is the only surviving European monarchy that retains a coronation.Joel Hodge, Senior lecturer, Australian Catholic UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1907192022-10-07T07:26:15Z2022-10-07T07:26:15ZUganda’s Owen Falls dam: a colonial legacy that still stings, 67 years later<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485174/original/file-20220918-52595-ss59az.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The sluice gates open at the Owen Falls dam across the White Nile in Uganda on 14 October 1962. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-sluice-gates-open-at-the-owen-falls-dam-later-the-news-photo/1365173292?adppopup=true">McCabe/Express/Hulton Archive via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Uganda’s Owen Falls hydropower plant has a rich history that predates the country’s independence in 1962. The plant is located across the White Nile and sits between the towns of Jinja and Njeru on the shores of Lake Victoria. It is about 85 kilometres east of Kampala.</p>
<p>Uganda was a protectorate of the British empire from 1894 to 1962. In 1947, English engineer Charles Redvers Westlake recommended the construction of a hydroelectric dam at Owen Falls that was supposed to be East Africa’s largest power project. </p>
<p>The governor of the Protectorate of Uganda, Sir Andrew Cohen, <a href="https://www.archive.observer.ug/features/spec/spec200805011.php">wrote</a> at the time that the Owen Falls dam would open new horizons of opportunity and prosperity for Uganda and all who lived there. Cohen went on to note: </p>
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<p>Despite its technical complexity and the fact that we have had to draw upon skill and experience from many parts of the world, it belongs to Uganda and to Uganda’s people. The power which the dam will provide and the industries it will make possible will bring solid benefit to everybody in the shape of increased wealth; above all, it will bring new opportunities to Africans.</p>
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<p>At its completion in 1954, the dam <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17531055.2021.1950751">immediately expanded</a> Uganda’s electricity supply capacity from 1MW to 150MW. But the expected boom in electricity consumption didn’t happen. One textile mill and a copper smelter were the only industrial establishments to crop up. </p>
<p>The Uganda Electricity Board (UEB) – which was established on <a href="https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/special-reports/110-years-of-electricity-in-uganda-1751826">15 January 1948</a> – resorted to selling between one third and one half of the electricity generated to Kenya.</p>
<p>The institutional arrangements for constructing the dam left a damaging legacy that is still felt today. The British established governance arrangements for Nile waters that effectively granted Egypt veto power over all construction projects on the Nile. This legal regime continues to cause conflict between Nile riparian states to this day.</p>
<p>Owen Falls’ construction has to be seen as part of a racist colonial project, the sole objective of which was the exploitation of peoples and their resources to maximise British interests. </p>
<h2>Empire’s twisted logic</h2>
<p>At the end of World War II there were protests throughout the British empire as demands for independence began picking up pace. </p>
<p>In Uganda, the country’s new colonial governor, <a href="https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/magazines/people-power/building-of-owen-falls-dam-begins-in-jinja-1636524">Sir John Hathorn Hall</a>, was forced to take action. Some of the steps he took were informed by the need for the colonial government to show restless and poverty-stricken Ugandans that it was interested in promoting economic growth, industrialisation and development.</p>
<p>The dam was supposed to help Ugandans utilise their own natural resource – the water in Lake Victoria – to provide themselves with a significant level of energy independence.</p>
<p>But, in the twisted logic of the empire, achieving this goal was constrained by London trying to achieve interests elsewhere. In this case, British agricultural interests in Egypt. </p>
<p>In 1929, Egypt and Britain had signed the <a href="https://treaties.fcdo.gov.uk/awweb/pdfopener?md=1&did=64266">Anglo-Egyptian Treaty</a>, which was designed to harness the waters of the Nile River and its tributaries to produce raw materials, notably cotton, for British industries.</p>
<p>The treaty, which created what are today known as historically acquired rights, was concluded without input from Uganda or other <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2015/04/28/the-limits-of-the-new-nile-agreement/#:%7E:text=%5B2%5D%20The%20Nile%20River%20riparian,Sudan%20are%20downstream%20riparian%20states">Nile riparian states</a>. </p>
<p>These rights allocate virtually all Nile waters to Egypt and Sudan. They also grant Egypt veto power over all construction projects on the Nile River and its tributaries.</p>
<p>As Ugandans would later find out, the British had, without their permission, placed Egyptian officials in a position to <a href="https://theconversation.com/colonial-era-treaties-are-to-blame-for-the-unresolved-dispute-over-ethiopias-dam-133538">veto</a> development projects in Uganda and other upstream Nile Basin states.</p>
<p><strong>The Nile Basin states</strong></p>
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<p>Despite the fact that the Owen Falls dam was to be constructed on the White Nile in Uganda, Uganda was forced to obtain permission for its construction from <a href="https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/magazines/people-power/building-of-owen-falls-dam-begins-in-jinja-1636524">Egypt</a>. </p>
<h2>Source of tension and conflict</h2>
<p>The 1929 Anglo-Egyptian Treaty and the <a href="https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%20453/volume-453-I-6519-English.pdf">1959 Nile Treaty</a> – which was a bilateral agreement between Egypt and Sudan – continue to fuel conflict between the downstream and upstream states in the Nile Basin. </p>
<p>In fact, Ethiopia’s refusal to abide by and be bounded by these colonial anachronisms has forced officials in Cairo to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hacked-stratfor-emails-egypt-could-take-military-action-to-protect-its-stake-in-the-nile-2012-10">threaten to go to war</a> to maintain Egypt’s acquired rights. </p>
<p>In accordance with the spirit of the 1929 Anglo-Egyptian Treaty, colonial Uganda was forced to submit the documents for constructing the Owen Falls dam to Cairo for approval.</p>
<p>The construction of the dam would be the responsibility of the UEB, which was also to administer and maintain the project. However, the interests of Egypt were to be represented at the construction site by an Egyptian resident engineer, who would instruct the UEB on the discharges to be passed through the dam.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nile-basin-at-a-turning-point-as-ethiopian-dam-starts-operations-178267">Nile basin at a turning point as Ethiopian dam starts operations</a>
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<p>It is no wonder that when Ethiopia announced its intention in 2011 to construct a <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2020/08/05/the-controversy-over-the-grand-ethiopian-renaissance-dam/">dam on the Blue Nile</a>, Egypt sought similar concessions. Just as it had demanded of colonial Uganda, Egypt sought to maintain technical staff at the site of Ethiopia’s dam to monitor its operations.</p>
<h2>Racism on site</h2>
<p>The racist foundations of colonialism were quite evident at the Owen Falls dam site. For example, after estimating that the job would require a labour force of 2,000, the UEB built labour quarters for Europeans and Asians, complete with a club, community centre and swimming pool, at the Amberly Estate north of Jinja. </p>
<p>But it chose to house all African staff in quarters located across the bridge in Njeru. </p>
<p>These discriminatory economic and social policies would spill into the post-independence period and be exploited by dictator <a href="https://theconversation.com/thousands-of-recently-discovered-photographs-document-life-in-uganda-during-idi-amins-reign-119131">Idi Amin</a> for his personal interests.</p>
<p>When <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-61585886">she died on 8 September 2022</a>, some Ugandans remembered Queen Elizabeth II as the young monarch who, in 1954, inaugurated the Owen Falls dam as a symbol of energy independence and ushered in a new era of industrialisation and economic development in Uganda. </p>
<p>But others remember her as the person who, over 70 years, presided over a country that reminds them of brutal exploitation, including the theft of their resources.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190719/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Mukum Mbaku is affiliated with Weber State University (Ogden, Utah, USA) and The Brookings Institution (Washington, D.C.)</span></em></p>The mega dam in Jinja was meant to give Uganda energy independence, but this was constrained by Britain’s agricultural interests in Egypt.John Mukum Mbaku, Professor, Weber State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1907422022-10-02T11:38:20Z2022-10-02T11:38:20ZTo foster real change universities need to stand beside Black professors, not condemn them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486647/original/file-20220926-6718-aldpae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C739%2C2637%2C1734&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Carnegie Mellon University's denouncing of Uju Anya's tweet about the Queen shows that universities need to do much more the support racialized faculty.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The past couple of weeks have seen wall to wall coverage of Queen Elizabeth’s death. Many media outlets took to eulogizing the Queen with effusive praise of her service and duty. But not everyone saw her and the insitution she headed in the same light. </p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/ztsamudzi/status/1568556995808055298">Many</a> took to <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/why-black-twitter-fire-after-queen-elizabeth-second-death-1741410">social media</a> to discuss the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/10/britain-colonial-brutalities-queen-elizabeth-death-commentary/">Queen’s role in Britain’s imperial project</a>, which includes profiting from and remaining silent on the violence of British colonialism and slavery. Uju Anya, a Nigerian linguistics researcher at Carnegie Mellon University was only one of the public figures who expressed her lack of pity for the Queen’s passing. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486621/original/file-20220926-23-w3fie6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A screenshot of Jeff Bezos’ retweet of Uju Anya’s tweet." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486621/original/file-20220926-23-w3fie6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486621/original/file-20220926-23-w3fie6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486621/original/file-20220926-23-w3fie6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486621/original/file-20220926-23-w3fie6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486621/original/file-20220926-23-w3fie6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=797&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486621/original/file-20220926-23-w3fie6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=797&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486621/original/file-20220926-23-w3fie6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=797&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="caption">Amazon’s Jeff Bezos was among those to respond to Uju Anya’s tweet.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Twitter)</span></span>
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<p>In a tweet, she wrote: “I heard the chief monarch of a thieving raping genocidal empire is finally dying. May her pain be excruciating.” </p>
<p>In another tweet removed by Twitter, <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/carnegie-mellon-refuse-condone-uju-anya-over-queens-death-remarks-1741404">she also wrote</a>: “That wretched woman and her bloodthirsty throne have f***** generations of my ancestors on both sides of the family, and she supervised a government that sponsored the genocide my parents and siblings survived. May she die in agony.”</p>
<p>Twitter eventually deleted her other post, but not before it was met with backlash from many including Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. Bezos’s public admonition brought global attention — negative and positive — to Anya’s remarks. But in light of the <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/tucker-carlson-queen-elizabeth-attacked-some-she-lived-better-time">criticism</a> and <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11197879/Vile-trolls-smear-late-queen-woke-hate-GRACE-CURLEY.html">harassment</a> that she began to receive, her employer, Carnegie Mellon University, chose to denounce her comments. </p>
<h2>Legacy of colonialism still resonates</h2>
<p>“My experience of who she was, and the British government she supervised, is a very painful one,” Anya <a href="https://www.thecut.com/2022/09/uju-anya-on-her-tweet-about-queen-elizabeth-ii.html?utm_source=tw&utm_campaign=nym&utm_medium=s1">said in an interview</a>. “The harm shaped my entire life and continues to be my story and that of the people she harmed — that her government harmed, that her kingdom harmed, however you want to frame it.” </p>
<p>“The genocide of the Biafra killed 3 million Igbo people,” she said, referring to the Nigerian Civil War, “and the British government wasn’t just in political support of the people who perpetrated this massacre; they directly funded it. They gave it political cover and legitimacy.”</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1567975991330615297"}"></div></p>
<p>As much as the university’s statement went on to laud “free expression,” their condemnation of their professor rings clear. The university’s refusal to defend Anya is emblematic of the lack of protection provided to Black women in academic institutions.</p>
<h2>Supporting BIPOC faculty</h2>
<p>The fact that Carnegie Mellon chose to distance itself from Anya’s comments is not surprising to scholars who have been tracking the increasing neoliberalization of higher education. It’s not a coincidence that Anya’s university chose to placate Jeff Bezos, one of <a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2022/09/13/pwge-s13.html">its corporate donors</a>. </p>
<p>According to <a href="https://truthout.org/articles/henry-a-giroux-on-developing-a-language-of-liberation-for-radical-transformation/">scholar and cultural critic Henry Giroux</a>, American universities have long been buckling under the weight of corporate culture. As universities prioritize the needs of corporate sponsors and economic interests, they jeopardize the ability of academic institutions to foster knowledge production and critical thinking. </p>
<p>“The ideals of higher education as a place to think,” <a href="https://truthout.org/articles/henry-a-giroux-on-developing-a-language-of-liberation-for-radical-transformation/">Giroux says</a>, “to promote critical dialogue and teach students to cultivate their ethical relation with others are viewed as a threat to neoliberal modes of governance. At the same time, education is seen by the apostles of market fundamentalism as a space for producing profits and educating a supine and fearful labor force that will exhibit the obedience demanded by the corporate order.” </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486624/original/file-20220926-13-amyw0i.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Nikole Hannah-Jones poses for a photo sitting in front of a window." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486624/original/file-20220926-13-amyw0i.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486624/original/file-20220926-13-amyw0i.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486624/original/file-20220926-13-amyw0i.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486624/original/file-20220926-13-amyw0i.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486624/original/file-20220926-13-amyw0i.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486624/original/file-20220926-13-amyw0i.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486624/original/file-20220926-13-amyw0i.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&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="caption">Nikole Hannah-Jones was denied tenure at the University of North Carolina.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Robert Bumsted, File)</span></span>
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<p>On the front lines of the battle to keep education’s connection to democracy are those marginalized professors who continue to use their work to challenge that trend. And unfortunately, many Black professors find themselves at odds with their universities because of their academic work and their desire to speak truth to power. </p>
<p>The University of North Carolina <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/19/business/media/nikole-hannah-jones-unc.html">denied Nikole Hannah-Jones tenure amid conservative backlash to her 1619 Project</a>. Cornel West, famous for his work in African-American studies at Yale and Princeton, left Harvard because the university denied him tenure review. He suggested that Harvard’s decision may have stemmed from his pro-Palestinian stance. “I just want to make sure that each and every one of the universities have a fundamental commitment to intellectual freedom.” </p>
<p>In Canada, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/anti-black-racism-campus-university-1.5924548">Aimé Avolonto</a>, a French studies professor at York University launched a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal because of the systemic anti-Black racism experienced on campus. He received backlash for speaking out. At other universities students <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1CQRi76nho">have protested the racist language</a> of certain white professors who at times receive support from their institutions.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8ya1ISUqkeA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Professor Cornel West on why he left Harvard over tenure dispute.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Inclusion needs action</h2>
<p>During the height of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020, <a href="https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20200612085957122">many universities</a> circulated statements about their commitment to diversity and fostering anti-racist mindsets. Several Canadian post-secondary institutions have <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/post-secondary-scarborough-charter-1.6254377">set out anti-racist principles</a> that show their dedication to supporting Black inclusion. </p>
<p>But those statements mean very little unless universities actively create spaces for their BIPOC faculty, staff and students to speak and act for social change. </p>
<p>Words must be met with action. Universities must work to produce spaces of learning where social justice is lauded, not admonished. Where the needs of students and their democratic futures are put ahead of corporate sponsors. </p>
<p>Universities must look to their faculty not simply as workers but as respected social agents as higher education struggles to reclaim its connection with democracy.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah R. Olutola 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>Reaction to criticism of the monarchy shows that universities need to do much more to support racialized faculty and staff.Sarah R. Olutola, Assistant Professor, Department of English, Lakehead UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1916662022-09-30T04:20:18Z2022-09-30T04:20:18ZThe queen’s death certificate says she died of ‘old age’. But what does that really mean?<p>Queen Elizabeth’s <a href="https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/news/2022/registrar-general-releases-extract-of-death-entry-for-hm-the-queen">newly released</a> death certificate contains just two curious words under her cause of death – old age.</p>
<p>We might talk about people dying of old age in everyday speech. But who actually dies of old age, medically speaking, in the 21st century?</p>
<p>Such a vague cause of death not only raises questions about how someone died, it can also be hard on family and loved ones left behind.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-we-mourn-people-we-dont-know-190331">Why do we mourn people we don't know?</a>
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<h2>The many ways people die</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsregistrationsummarytables/latest#leading-causes-of-death">leading causes of death</a> in England and Wales are dementia and Alzheimer’s disease; heart disease; cerebrovascular diseases (such as stroke); cancer; and COVID. Other notable causes include chronic lower respiratory diseases (such as asthma); influenza; and pneumonia.</p>
<p>In fact, “old age” as a cause of death – alongside the vague description of “frailty” – is <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/monthlymortalityanalysisenglandandwales/august2022">often categorised</a> under “symptoms, signs, and ill-defined conditions”.</p>
<p>This latter category is in the top ten causes of death. But this currently trails well below COVID, and on average over a five year period, below influenza and pneumonia.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-australians-die-cause-3-dementia-alzheimers-57341">How Australians Die: cause #3 – dementia (Alzheimer's)</a>
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<h2>An interesting history</h2>
<p>Old age, as a category for causing death, has a <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/misc/classification_diseases2011.pdf">long history</a>. It was a leading cause of death in the 19th century, alongside the vague description of “found dead”.</p>
<p>In the mid-19th century, <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/private-lives/death-dying/dying-and-death/registeringdeath/">registering someone’s death</a> moved from clerical to secular, with the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1836 (UK).</p>
<p>There was then the landmark publication, the <a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Bertillon-Classification-Causes-Death/dp/1360651454">Bertillon Classification of Causes of Death</a>, written by French statistician and demographer Jacques Bertillon.</p>
<p>Canadian philosopher Ian Hacking <a href="https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/The_Taming_of_Chance/ud7EzIBwQBwC?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover">wrote</a> that dying of anything other than what was on the official list was “illegal, for example, to die of old age”.</p>
<p>We may say this is a bit hyperbolic. Surely, by the end of the 19th century, it was not illegal to die of old age?</p>
<p>What this suggests is that providing a precise cause of death is important because it’s a valuable tool for tracking mortality trends at different levels of the population.</p>
<p>Eventually, “old age” became a last resort phrase to describe an unknown cause of death. Or it became useful where a person may have died from a number of complications, but where it was not practical or ethical to order an autopsy to find the precise underlying cause of death.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/died-from-or-died-with-covid-19-we-need-a-transparent-approach-to-counting-coronavirus-deaths-145438">'Died from' or 'died with' COVID-19? We need a transparent approach to counting coronavirus deaths</a>
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<h2>There’s no closure</h2>
<p>The other reason why “old age” has been seldom used as the cause of death in the 20th and 21st centuries was that it doesn’t provide any closure to families of the deceased. </p>
<p><a href="https://eprints.qut.edu.au/221012/">Research</a> shows families want information about how their loved one died, not only because it can be useful for managing their own health concerns, but also because it provides a resolution to their loved one’s death.</p>
<p>An unknown cause of death can exacerbate grief and trauma, particularly if the death was sudden or unexpected. Researchers <a href="https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Continuing_Bonds/e8a7NjkzsbsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover">have long argued</a> families form continuing relationships with their loved one after they die. Ascertaining how they died is one part of how the family members left behind manage their grief and memorialise the deceased.</p>
<h2>A good death</h2>
<p>We may decide that asking for more information about how the queen died at the age of 96 is just macabre titillation. We may decide the royal family deserves privacy surrounding intimate details of the queen’s death.</p>
<p>However, a specific cause of death of someone who lived a privileged life and who died at an old age, for instance, can tell us much about how to lead a healthy life and plan for a good death.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-on-reckoning-with-the-fact-of-ones-death-143822">Friday essay: on reckoning with the fact of one's death</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191666/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marc Trabsky receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>In the 19th century, ‘old age’ was once a leading cause of death, alongside the vague description ‘found dead’.Marc Trabsky, Senior research fellow, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1909992022-09-26T16:29:53Z2022-09-26T16:29:53ZHow the Queen’s queue can be seen as a modern form of pilgrimage<p>On Friday, September 16 2022, the day the queue to see Queen Elizabeth II lying in state in Westminster Hall first reached its ten-mile capacity and had to be closed to new entrants, one social media commentator <a href="https://twitter.com/NickEquipeChass/status/1570896651518365696">tweeted</a> that it was “our 21st-century pilgrimage”.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/news/lying-in-state-queue-like-a-pilgrimage/">idea</a> that these crowds of mourners waiting <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/fights-freezing-and-fainting-what-it-was-like-queuing-through-the-night-to-see-the-queen-e2-80-99s-coffin/ar-AA11W57j">through the night</a> to view the Queen’s coffin were <a href="https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/45519">pilgrims</a> was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/sep/19/queue-pilgrimage-peoples-quest-historic-day-queen">subsequently</a> promoted <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/e15202cd-02a8-43b4-a9ba-5675cb212854">by</a> the <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/fights-freezing-and-fainting-what-it-was-like-queuing-through-the-night-to-see-the-queen-e2-80-99s-coffin/ar-AA11W57j">press</a>. It was also enthusiastically taken up by the public. </p>
<p>“We were coming slowly down the Mall and, because you’re with thousands of others all making the same journey, it almost felt like a pilgrimage,” an IT engineer <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/queen-death-buckingham-palace-queues-b2164886.html">told the Independent</a>. Even the Bishop of Southwark <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001c600">agreed</a>, which is remarkable given that, until relatively recently, pilgrimage in Protestant Britain was considered a Catholic aberration. </p>
<p><a href="https://arrow.tudublin.ie/ijrtp/vol10/iss1/16/">I have spent</a> 20 years <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/13/7/665/htm">researching</a> contemporary and secular <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-you-might-want-to-consider-a-pilgrimage-for-your-next-holiday-or-day-trip-174208">pilgrimage phenomena</a> and participating in many pilgrimages. Three aspects of the queue chime with my research: the sense of camaraderie felt by participants, the valorisation of physical hardship, and the idea that the journey is just as important as the destination. </p>
<h2>Why people waited in line</h2>
<p>To understand how so many Britons came to perceive what was ostensibly a mourning event in this way, I joined the queue on September 15 2022. I also spent four days analysing newspaper and social media comments. </p>
<p>For many participants, the queue’s most noteworthy feature was the sense of <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/queen-lying-in-state-in-the-queue-for-the-queue-people-bring-their-own-stories-and-a-flask-cqxqsmtqp?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1663434608">camaraderie</a> it inspired. It brought together, <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/queen-lying-in-state-in-the-queue-for-the-queue-people-bring-their-own-stories-and-a-flask-cqxqsmtqp?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1663434608">according to one journalist</a>, “people of all ages, backgrounds and places across the land”. </p>
<p>Pilgrimage scholars know this phenomenon as “communitas”. Coined by the anthropologist Victor Turner in his 1969 book, The Ritual Process, this term describes the egalitarian fellowship people walking a route together feel. </p>
<p>It was in this spirit that David Beckham and other celebrities were <a href="https://uk.news.yahoo.com/celebrities-queued-see-queen-david-beckham-susanna-reid-071816754.html?src=rss">lauded</a> for putting aside their celebrity status and joining the common crowd. Conversely, two television presenters were <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/sep/21/holly-willoughby-and-phillip-schofield-would-never-jump-a-queue-to-see-queen-lying-in-state">vilified</a> when they appeared to be flouting the unspoken rule of communitas by <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-gb/entertainment/news/huw-edwards-and-susanna-reid-in-apparent-phillip-schofield-and-holly-willoughby-queue-jumping-swipes/ar-AA12003A">jumping the queue</a>. Such was the public outrage that a petition was started to <a href="https://uk.news.yahoo.com/axe-holly-willoughby-phillip-schofield-tv-petition-085134548.html">axe</a> their jobs. </p>
<p>Another celebrity, the broadcaster and academic Alice Roberts, also provoked a social media backlash by suggesting that the long wait <a href="https://twitter.com/theAliceRoberts/status/1571083487595343872">might be avoided</a> with tickets and timed slots. The response was unanimous and reflected a commonly held belief about pilgrimage: that physical discomfort was an important element of the experience. As one person tweeted, </p>
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<p>This was a typical comment. <a href="https://twitter.com/mickmuldoon/status/1570894423298543617">People</a> on <a href="https://twitter.com/MeadeNewman/status/1571183711441358849">social media</a> compared the experience to other well-known pilgrimages: the Irish Catholic route at <a href="https://www.loughderg.org/">Lough Derg</a>, or <a href="https://www.yourirish.com/traditions/pilgrimage-croagh-patrick">Croagh Patrick</a>, which require penitential practices such as barefoot walking and all-night vigil; the <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9781315709147/camino-de-santiago-21st-century-samuel-s%C3%A1nchez-s%C3%A1nchez-annie-hesp">Camino de Santiago</a> in Spain, renowned for its arduous, footsore walk. Other comparisons were made to the <a href="https://twitter.com/Mauricedrei/status/1571117803209633792">medieval</a> pilgrimage of <a href="https://twitter.com/stmaryseco/status/1570843269676007424">Chaucer</a>’s Canterbury <a href="https://twitter.com/AnnieW8944/status/1571095674946736129">Tales</a>.</p>
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<p>For many, it was the protracted nature of <a href="https://twitter.com/Aamin_Marritza/status/1570891185295855616">the queue</a> which turned it into a pilgrimage. It was not about the destination as much as it was, as one person <a href="https://twitter.com/SocialistNProud/status/1571080688820166656">put it on Twitter</a>, about “the journey filled with hardships, sacrifices and time for contemplation. ‘The Queue’ is an important part of the homage and short cuts do not show the proper flagellation of a committed mourner!”</p>
<h2>Modern pilgrims</h2>
<p>Resemblances to traditional pilgrimage are of course wide of the mark. The shared suffering and physical hardship experienced were only the result of the time it took <a href="https://www.itv.com/news/2022-09-14/official-queen-lying-in-state-queue-tracker-shows-length-and-end-of-line-live">an estimated 250,000 people</a> to walk the relatively short distance to Westminster by way of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/sep/14/queen-coffin-queues-30-hours-london">strict security</a> to be expected for a royal vigil in the Houses of Parliament. It was the inevitable consequence of a logistical challenge, not an intentional penitential practice.</p>
<p>No one expected <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1291860?origin=crossref#metadata_info_tab_contents">miracles</a> or inner transformations to occur. And, although the desire to give thanks was a strong motivating factor, <a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/235442523.pdf">gratitude</a> was directed not to a saint with access to heaven but to an earthly monarch in return for her 70 years of service. It was, as the Times leader <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-times-view-on-the-queue-for-the-queens-coffin-a-long-line-of-gratitude-kmtw20chp">put it</a>, “a long line of gratitude”. </p>
<p><a href="https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/news/latent-spirituality-revealed-in-mourning-for-the-queen/">Some scholars</a>, however, have attempted to explain the ritualised responses to the Queen’s death as a product of Britain’s latent spirituality. This resonates with the rise, in today’s rapidly secularising society, of a new kind of pilgrimage. The Camino has become a model here, with people walking it for <a href="https://arrow.tudublin.ie/ijrtp/vol7/iss5/4/">spiritual</a>, as <a href="https://theconversation.com/skateboardings-spiritual-side-skaters-find-meaning-in-falls-and-breaking-the-monotony-of-urban-life-177021">distinct</a> from religious reasons. On the Camino, the journey is valued over the destination. Undertaking it is seen as a rewarding physical challenge. One that is ideally experienced on foot. </p>
<p>Other recently rejuvenated routes include the <a href="https://www.viefrancigene.org/it/">Via Francigena</a>, which runs from Canterbury to Rome, and the <a href="https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2022/16-september/news/uk/medieval-pilgrimage-route-reopens">Walsingham Way</a> in Norfolk. The rise in popularity of these new pilgrimages has prompted the idea that we are living in a <a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/301313786.pdf">post-secular age</a> with many people searching for meaning through alternatives to institutional religion. </p>
<p>The queue to file past Queen Elizabeth’s coffin is not a new phenomenon. In 1952 the public reacted in a similar way to the death of George VI. </p>
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<p>Today, the revival of the ancient descriptor “pilgrim” – and a British public ready to describe themselves as such – can help us better understand this deeply felt moment in history and shared human experience.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190999/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anne Bailey 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>Waiting in line to see the Queen lying in state resonates with other contemporary, post-secular forms of pilgrimage.Anne Bailey, Associate Member of the History Faculty, University of Oxford, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1912572022-09-23T04:25:26Z2022-09-23T04:25:26ZVIDEO: Albanese to attend Abe funeral; integrity legislation to go to parliament<p>University of Canberra Professorial Fellow Michelle Grattan and University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Paddy Nixon discuss the week in politics.</p>
<p>While the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II and a memorial service in Canberra dominated the news this week, Vladamir Putin’s partial military mobilisation and his latest threat to use nuclear weapons escalated the Ukraine conflict and added to the insecurity in Europe.</p>
<p>Anthony Albanese will be away again next week at another funeral, this time that of Japan’s former prime minister Shinzo Abe, who was killed by an assassin. At home, parliament will be meeting, with the legislation for a national integrity body the most anticipated item on its agenda. </p>
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<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>University of Canberra Professorial Fellow Michelle Grattan and University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Paddy Nixon discuss the week in politics.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1911412022-09-22T19:22:14Z2022-09-22T19:22:14ZAbout the Queen and the Crown’s crimes (or how to talk about the unmourned) — Podcast<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485973/original/file-20220921-24-oq5uau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=25%2C79%2C1871%2C1601&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">After the death of Queen Elizabeth, questions arise about whose life gets mourned and who does not. Here is the Queen with the Guards of Honour in Nigeria, Dec. 3, 2003, for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Ben Curtis)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe height="480px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/fb609e39-d729-4a54-860a-8a411be157ae?dark=false&show=true"></iframe>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-572" class="tc-infographic" height="100" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/572/661898416fdc21fc4fdef6a5379efd7cac19d9d5/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>At <a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com/"><em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em></a>, we’ve been busy planning season 4 of the podcast, which starts to roll out in November. We’re even starting to think about season 5. But we decided to stop production to talk about something we felt we couldn’t ignore.</p>
<p>We’ve watched this incredible spectacle around the Queen’s death and public outpouring of support and love for the British monarchy. </p>
<p>Here in Canada, Queen Elizabeth was the official head of state and her funeral this week was made a federal holiday. In Ontario, the Minister of Education directed schools to conduct a moment of silence “to recognize the profound impact of Queen Elizabeth II’s lifelong and unwavering devotion to public service.”</p>
<p>And yet next week, those same children will be exploring the history of Indian Residential Schools and the immense ongoing damage of that system — started and long supported by the Crown.</p>
<p>In the middle of this outpouring of love and grief for the Queen — and the monarchy she represented — not everyone is feeling it. Not everyone wants to mourn or honour her or what she represents. </p>
<p>And there are a lot of reasons why. </p>
<p>For example, the head of the Assembly of First Nations, RoseAnne Archibald <a href="https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/i-can-t-feel-mournful-indigenous-leaders-reflect-on-colonialism-after-death-of-queen-elizabeth-ii-1.6062822">told CTV News</a> that the Royal Family should apologize for the failures of the Crown …“particularly for the destructiveness of colonization on First Nations people.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485969/original/file-20220921-15413-dd64gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485969/original/file-20220921-15413-dd64gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485969/original/file-20220921-15413-dd64gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485969/original/file-20220921-15413-dd64gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485969/original/file-20220921-15413-dd64gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485969/original/file-20220921-15413-dd64gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485969/original/file-20220921-15413-dd64gx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In this July 3, 1973 photo, Chief Frank Pelletier sits with Queen Elizabeth II in Thunder Bay, Ontario, as they view a display of Appaloosa horses and dancing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another example came from Uju Anya, professor at Carnegie Mellon University, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/09/world/africa/queen-africa-british-empire.html">who posted a tweet</a> in which she identified the Queen as overseeing a “thieving raping genocidal empire.”</p>
<p>To explore these ideas further, we reached out to two scholars who are regular contributors to <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em>. Both say that the Queen’s death could be a uniting moment of dissent for people from current and former colonies.</p>
<p>Veldon Coburn is Assistant Professor at the Institute of Indigenous Research and Studies at the University of Ottawa where he teaches a class called Colonialism, Territory & Treaties. He is Anishinaabe, Algonquin from Pikwàkanagàn First Nation and the co-editor of <em>Capitalism and Dispossession</em>.</p>
<p>Cheryl Thompson is Assistant Professor of media and culture at the School of Performance and the Director of the Laboratory for Black Creativity at Toronto Metropolitan University. She is the author of <em>Uncle: Race, Nostalgia, and the Politics of Loyalty</em>.</p>
<h2>Listen and Follow</h2>
<p>You can listen to or follow <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em> on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/dont-call-me-resilient/id1549798876">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9qZFg0Ql9DOA">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/37tK4zmjWvq2Sh6jLIpzp7">Spotify</a> or <a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com">wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts</a>. <a href="mailto:theculturedesk@theconversation.com">We’d love to hear from you</a>, including any ideas for future episodes. Join The Conversation on <a href="https://twitter.com/ConversationCA">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheConversationCanada">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/theconversationdotcom/">Instagram</a> and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@theconversation">TikTok</a> and use #DontCallMeResilient.</p>
<h2>In the Conversation</h2>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/queen-elizabeth-ii-the-politics-of-national-mourning-left-no-space-for-dissenting-voices-190591">Queen Elizabeth II: the politics of national mourning left no space for dissenting voices</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/decolonize-the-queens-funeral-why-it-shouldnt-be-a-national-holiday-in-canada-190727">Decolonize the Queen’s funeral: Why it shouldn’t be a national holiday in Canada
</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/colonialism-was-a-disaster-and-the-facts-prove-it-84496">Colonialism was a disaster and the facts prove it
</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/cutting-ties-to-the-monarchy-could-loom-on-the-horizon-in-canada-190894">Cutting ties to the monarchy could loom on the horizon in Canada
</a></p>
<h2>Additional Sources</h2>
<p>“<a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/star-columnists/2022/09/14/no-i-do-not-mourn-the-queen.html?rf">No, I do not mourn the Queen,</a>” <em>Toronto Star</em> by Shree Paradkar</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485966/original/file-20220921-26-qbtdiv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485966/original/file-20220921-26-qbtdiv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485966/original/file-20220921-26-qbtdiv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485966/original/file-20220921-26-qbtdiv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485966/original/file-20220921-26-qbtdiv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485966/original/file-20220921-26-qbtdiv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485966/original/file-20220921-26-qbtdiv.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Will Prince Charles apologize for the wrongs of the Crown? Here he stands with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, second from right, looking at a display of traditional hunting tools in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, during the Royal Tour of Canada, May 19, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>The series is produced and hosted by me, Vinita Srivastava. Our senior producer is: Lygia Navarro and Jennifer Moroz is consulting producer. Shout out to our newest staff members: Dannielle Piper is a producer. Rukhsar Ali is an assistant producer. Rehmatullah Sheikh is our sound mixer. Ateqah Khaki is helping out with marketing and visual innovation. And Scott White is the CEO of The Conversation Canada.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191141/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
In the middle of the tremendous outpouring of love and grief for the Queen and the monarchy she represented, not everyone wants to take a moment of silence. And there are a lot of reasons why.Vinita Srivastava, Host + Producer, Don't Call Me ResilientLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1908942022-09-22T19:09:23Z2022-09-22T19:09:23ZWill Canada cut ties to the monarchy under King Charles? It’s possible<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485931/original/file-20220921-9210-mal6o3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C4%2C2807%2C1845&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">King Charles and Prince William arrive for Queen Elizabeth's committal service at Windsor Castle on Sept. 19, 2022. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, Pool)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The death of Queen Elizabeth, the reigning monarch of the British Empire, the Commonwealth and therefore Canada, does not create a constitutional crisis in our system of government. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/08/world/europe/charles-king-uk.html">It automatically triggered the ascension of King Charles</a>. </p>
<p>Canada, ostensibly an independent country since 1867, now has its first new monarch since 1952. But a lot has changed since then. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A black and white photo shows a bald man in a suit holding up the design of the new Canadian flag." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485929/original/file-20220921-14-1muoda.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485929/original/file-20220921-14-1muoda.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485929/original/file-20220921-14-1muoda.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485929/original/file-20220921-14-1muoda.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485929/original/file-20220921-14-1muoda.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485929/original/file-20220921-14-1muoda.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485929/original/file-20220921-14-1muoda.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The chairman of the House of Commons flag committee displays the single maple leaf flag design chosen by the committee in October 1964. THE CANADIAN PRESS.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 1982, <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/constitution-act-1982">Canada adopted a newly written Constitution</a> that included the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the recognition of <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/transparency/committees/inan-jan-28-2021/inan-section-35-consitution-act-1982-background-jan-28-2021.html">aboriginal treaty rights</a> and a home-grown means of amending the Constitution in Canada without the involvement of British parliament.</p>
<p>Canada also retired the old red ensign that included the Union Jack and <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/flag-canada-history.html">raised the red-and-white flag featuring the maple leaf in 1965</a>. Nonetheless, Canada remains a constitutional monarchy and not a constitutional republic despite these American-style moves toward independence.</p>
<h2>Loyal to the British monarchy</h2>
<p>Canada’s evolution as a modern state centred on its <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/crown">loyalty to the British Crown</a>, a clear alternative to the American experiment as a democratic republic nearly a century earlier. </p>
<p>The American Revolution was premised on an explicit, violent rejection of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/American-Revolution">Crown in favour of a presidential form of government</a>. Whatever its problems and failings, it was a great moment of human innovation.</p>
<p>But despite staying loyal to the Crown, Canada would begin to drift away from the old British model 100 years later.</p>
<p>The year 2022 is a possible inflection point as the long reigning and personally popular Queen Elizabeth is succeeded by her less popular eldest son.</p>
<p>For Americans, this may be a celebrity story first and foremost. But for Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders and other citizens of Commonwealth countries, the monarchy is tied to their system of government, symbolic representation and identity. </p>
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<h2>Cutting ties in the Caribbean</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-59470843">The recent decision by the Caribbean island of Barbados</a> to abandon the monarchy and become a republic likely portends similar outcomes in <a href="https://www.thenational.scot/news/20198822.jamaica-british-monarchy-ditched-2025-marlene-malahoo-forte-says/">Jamaica</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/11/antigua-and-barbuda-republic-referendum-within-three-years-pm-queen-death">Antigua and Barbuda</a> and <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/us-politics/article-queen-commonwealth-carribbean-monarchy/">elsewhere in the region</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/sep/10/king-charles-britain-republicans-queen-death-ending-monarchy">Even in the U.K.,</a> support for the monarchy has been declining for decades, although the majority still support it. According to some sources, younger Britons in particular are <a href="https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2021/05/21/young-britons-are-turning-their-backs-monarchy">losing faith in the monarchy and leaning toward republicanism</a>. </p>
<p>Some commentators suggest with good reason that abandoning the monarchy in Canada would be <a href="https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/2022/09/16/so-you-want-canada-to-abolish-the-monarchy-heres-why-thats-basically-impossible.html">all but impossible as a constitutional question, though all bets would obviously be off if the U.K. dumped the monarchy first</a>.</p>
<p>While the United States comes to grips with its authoritarian tendencies and the rise of white nationalism, Canada and other Commonwealth countries are increasingly focused on race relations, in particular the role of the Crown in relation to the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/mar/23/british-royal-family-monarchy-historical-links-to-slavery">transatlantic slave trade</a>, imperialism and <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/indigenous-leaders-call-on-king-charles-iii-to-renounce-doctrine-of-discovery-1.6064497">the treatment of Indigenous Peoples</a>. </p>
<p>These issues all pertain to the historical role of the Crown and the British monarch in the fundamental legitimacy of our states and legal orders. Although Canada didn’t fight a revolutionary war for a republican form of government like the U.S. did, it’s moved closer to an American, republican model of government and further from the British one over the course of its legal, political and constitutional history.</p>
<h2>Breaks from the Crown</h2>
<p>Canada’s first break with the Crown occurred in 1867 when it became an independent dominion and adopted a division of powers between the founding provinces and the federal Parliament in Ottawa. The second major break was almost 100 years later, when it patriated <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/const/page-13.html#h-57">the Constitution</a> in 1982.</p>
<p>While it’s true Canada retained the British hereditary monarch as its head of state in both 1867 and 1982, that doesn’t mean it has to do the same in the 21st century.</p>
<p>Granted, Canada has not held a referendum on transitioning to a constitutional republic as <a href="https://www.aec.gov.au/elections/referendums/1999_referendum_reports_statistics/index.htm">Australia did in 1999</a> when citizens opted to maintain ties to the Crown. But the recent decision by Barbados to ditch the monarchy suggests that the global decolonization process is ongoing and that anti-imperial ideology has teeth across the region. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1506583120728018948"}"></div></p>
<p>Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders who are the descendants of slaves or Indigenous Peoples have likely been inspired by these developments. Those sentiments <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/queens-death-shines-spotlight-wrongs-suffered-by-indigenous-people-2022-09-18/">will only intensify now</a> that the popular Queen has died.</p>
<p>Canada’s particular reckoning with the role of the Catholic Church, the Church of England and the Crown itself <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9126671/king-charles-iii-responsibility-crown-role-residential-schools/">in residential schools and colonial genocide</a> makes the Royal Family’s attributes of continuity and tradition seem like strange reasons to keep them around.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/not-in-the-past-colonialism-is-rooted-in-the-present-157395">Not in the past: Colonialism is rooted in the present</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Time to reflect on Canada’s future</h2>
<p>The death of Queen Elizabeth and the ascension of King Charles should present a moment of reflection for Canada, especially as Caribbean Commonwealth nations begin to abandon the monarchy.</p>
<p>The world admired the Queen. But whatever her personal qualities, it’s time to determine how the monarchy aligns with Canada’s current situation as an independent country and its aspirations for the future, especially if it wants to take itself seriously as a modern, 21st century nation focused on reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples.</p>
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<img alt="An elderly woman in a pink hat and floral dress, holding flowers, smiles as she boards a plane and is saluted by an RCMP officer." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485950/original/file-20220921-15425-cyzxmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485950/original/file-20220921-15425-cyzxmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485950/original/file-20220921-15425-cyzxmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485950/original/file-20220921-15425-cyzxmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485950/original/file-20220921-15425-cyzxmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485950/original/file-20220921-15425-cyzxmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485950/original/file-20220921-15425-cyzxmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=520&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 is saluted by an RCMP officer as she leaves Canada after her final visit to the country in July 2010.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese</span></span>
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<p>As a matter of constitutional law, unanimity of all provincial legislatures and both houses of federal Parliament would be required to remove the monarchy from its place at the heart of our formal and symbolic constitutional order.</p>
<p>It would also likely require a referendum in each province before any of the provincial legislatures or Parliament would take such a vote. </p>
<p>That would be difficult, and probably wouldn’t succeed on the first or even second try, but it’s hardly impossible. Opinion polls suggest that <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8774026/canada-royals-monarchy-queen-support-poll/">although a majority of Canadians admired the Queen, only about half are in any way committed to the monarchy as an institution</a>. </p>
<p>Younger, more diverse and Indigenous citizens may begin demanding a country in their own image, a country that belongs not only to those who settled it but to those there long before then — and those choosing to make it their home today.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190894/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeffrey B. Meyers 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>Whatever Queen Elizabeth’s personal qualities, it’s time to determine how the monarchy fits Canada’s current situation as an independent country and its aspirations for the future.Jeffrey B. Meyers, Instructor, Criminology, Kwantlen Polytechnic UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1909972022-09-21T10:53:15Z2022-09-21T10:53:15ZFrom Queen Elizabeth to King Charles: how Northern Ireland’s unionists feel about the monarchy<p>Monarchism is embedded in Northern Ireland’s Ulster unionist identity. There is probably no such thing as a “republican unionist”. Many unionists descend from <a href="https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/troubledgeogs/chap2.htm">Protestant settlers from Britain</a> who colonised Ireland four centuries ago. Loyalty to the monarch was an essential qualification for those making the journey, and the basis of that loyalty was the Protestantism of the crown, which provided a bulwark against the Catholicism of the Irish and much of Europe.</p>
<p>As Britain’s global reach grew, Protestants in Ireland shared in what was believed to be the God-ordained prosperity and power of the empire. As Irish nationalism grew in the late 19th century, Protestants clung to the union with Britain to avoid absorption into what they feared would be a hostile all-Ireland state.</p>
<p>To this day, unlike the many people around the world who see the British monarchy as a symbol of oppression, unionists view it as the embodiment of their political and religious liberty.</p>
<p>After the partition of Ireland in 1921, as <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-british-studies/article/abs/james-loughlin-the-british-monarchy-and-ireland-1800-to-the-present-cambridge-cambridge-university-press-2007-pp-xv398-10200-cloth/5EE2FEB771B5796807DEBFBFBC9C629D">James Loughlin</a> writes in his history of the British crown in Ireland, “continued Unionist anxieties about constitutional security put a primacy on an enhanced identity with the monarchy”. Royal visits were used by the unionist government to legitimise their regime and affirm, for people at home and in Britain, their rightful place in the UK.</p>
<p>In Queen Elizabeth, unionists found a strong supporter. At her coronation in 1952, apparently at her wishes, war-time generals, aristocrats and politicians from Ulster held prominent ceremonial functions. Royal honours were bestowed on Northern Ireland subjects. Two swans were donated to Portadown.</p>
<p>But as Loughlin argues, royal endorsement merely stoked unionists’ complacency about their unjust practice of government. That practice was unsustainable and ultimately disintegrated amid the violence of the Troubles which began at the end of the 1960s.</p>
<p>In that conflict, unionist or “loyalist” paramilitaries were imprisoned in droves by the very state for which they were fighting. Their fidelity to the Queen but not her government led to them being described, in the title of a classic 1977 book on Ulster loyalism, as <a href="https://www.ucdpress.ie/display.asp?isbn=9781904558880&">Queen’s Rebels</a>. “Their only crime was loyalty,” went a loyalist slogan.</p>
<h2>After the Troubles</h2>
<p>In the peace process era, royal paraphernalia was inevitably drawn into Northern Ireland’s cultural battles. Unionists believed that republicans and nationalists wanted to eliminate all monarchical trappings, as had happened in the Republic of Ireland. </p>
<p>The proposal made in 1999 by the <a href="https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/issues/police/patten/patten99.pdf">Patten Commission</a> on police reform to remove the title “Royal Ulster Constabulary” from the police and the crown symbol from the police badge met with universal unionist anger. Nationalists countered that the equality mandated by the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-belfast-agreement">1998 Good Friday Agreement</a> meant that British cultural ascendancy had to end.</p>
<p>Today, few unionists would point to the Protestantism of the monarchy as the foundation of their political allegiance. That said, Queen Elizabeth’s Christian faith, expressed especially in her Christmas speeches, enhanced her personal appeal within the unionist community where there remains an affinity with Protestant evangelicalism and a respect for public piety.</p>
<p>While the Queen’s death has been deeply felt in unionist areas, Northern Ireland’s royalists and loyalists will be reassured by King Charles’s promises of continuity with his mother’s approach to the role. The Queen will remain in the unionist imagination, along with other figures from the past, as an exemplar and beacon of their Britishness.</p>
<p>But rather than being an unyielding symbol of continuity, the monarchy will reflect changing political circumstances. King Charles is at ease in the Republic of Ireland and appears unperturbed by the rise of Sinn Féin in the North (he actually seemed to <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-62878272">congratulate Sinn Féin</a> on becoming the largest party when he visited Northern Ireland in the days following the Queen’s death).</p>
<p>While footage of <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-62849205">the Queen’s historic 2011</a> visit to Ireland has been replayed again and again, a less remembered but just as potent episode was the visit of the then-Prince Charles <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-32811732">to Mullaghmore in County Sligo</a> in 2015. He attended a service of reconciliation, shook hands with Irish republican leader Gerry Adams, and went to the location where his great uncle <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/from-the-archive-blog/2015/may/19/mountbatten-lord-prince-charles-ira-1979">Lord Mountbatten</a>, with whom he was close, was killed by the IRA in 1979. His visits to the Republic have become routine.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, unionists are reluctant to recognise the Irish identity of nationalists in Northern Ireland and to act as deputy to a Sinn Féin first minister since republicans’ success in May’s Assembly election. Their attitudes towards the Irish government have hardened since Brexit. </p>
<p>In a future referendum on Irish unity, unionists must maximise the electorate’s identification with the UK. This suggests that emulating the generosity towards traditional enemies shown by their revered late queen and her successor would be unionists’ most effective political strategy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190997/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Mitchell 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 death of Queen Elizabeth will not weaken the attachment of Northern Ireland’s unionists to Britain. But it is a morale blow at a time of political uncertainty.David Mitchell, Assistant Professor in Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation, Trinity College DublinLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.