70 years after the Queen ascended the throne| when the Queen is old, will the British still support the monarchy?

The Paper's reporter Nan Boyi intern Lin Yuxuan Guo Bei

On February 6, 1952, King George VI of the United Kingdom, suffering from lung cancer, died in his sleep. Princess Elizabeth, who was visiting Kenya at the age of 25, had a new identity when she emerged from the Treetop Hotel in Abdal: Elizabeth II. Seventy years later, she has become Britain's longest-lived and longest-reigning monarch.

On February 5, local time, just one day before the Queen ushered in the 70th anniversary of her accession to the throne, she issued an open letter thanking the British people for their support and love for her, and the Queen also said that after Crown Prince Charles became king in the future, she sincerely hoped that his wife Camilla would receive the title of Queen.

Camilla's previous role in the royal family has been controversial, and British media reported that the Queen used the opportunity of the 70th anniversary of her accession to the throne to explain the issue, which means allowing Camilla to play a mature royal role around Charles.

At the same time, the question of how Britain will accept a new monarch after a hundred years of queenhood is also real. Reuters previously quoted polls showing that the vast majority of British people support the monarchy, the queen herself is also very popular, but not many people support Crown Prince Charles, and more and more young People in the United Kingdom have shown a tendency to support republicanism.

In 2019, after the United Kingdom decided to "leave the European Union", the Queen's decision to close parliament for four weeks at the request of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson caused a discussion in the United Kingdom about whether the monarch could refuse the prime minister's request, and legal experts called for a written constitution to limit the power of the monarch, showing that there is still room for running-in between the ancient tradition of "virtual monarchs" and modern democratic society.

Is Brexit leading to a rise in republicanism?

In 2012, British anti-monarchy activist Graham Smith said in an interview with The Observer that "Britain's centuries-old republican tradition remains"

As the name suggests, republicanism calls for the creation of a republic to replace the monarchy. Between the execution of Charles I in 1649 and the restoration of the Stuart dynasty in 1660, there was a brief emergence of a bourgeois republic in England, but is generally regarded as the period of the military dictatorship of Oliver Cromwell.

On the island of Great Britain, republican sentiment has focused primarily on the abolition of the monarchy, rather than the disintegration of the United Kingdom as a whole and the independence of its constituent states. In Northern Ireland, republican demands include the creation of an independent, unified state across the island of Ireland.

On January 31, 2020, the United Kingdom officially left the European Union. Since the "hard Brexit", a "hard border" separating the EU and the UNITED Kingdom has fallen on the island of Ireland, becoming the first land border between the United Kingdom and other European countries. The demarcation of administrative borders was only the beginning, with economic, trade, political and religious strife ensuing, and the already slow-moving peace process in Northern Ireland seemed to be bluntly broken.

In April 2021, riots continued in Places like Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland, and Londonderry, the second largest city. Previously, the funeral of Bobby Story, the second largest political party in Northern Ireland and the official political organization of the former IRA, seriously exceeded the epidemic prevention regulations, and all walks of life in the United Kingdom generally believed that Sinn Fein should bear the main responsibility, but the Northern Ireland Public Prosecution Service finally made a decision not to prosecute, which became the trigger for the riots.

The deeper cause of the unrest points to the social rift caused by the "Northern Ireland Protocol" in the Brexit negotiations to keep the region in the EU single market. On the face of it, the Northern Ireland Protocol avoided a hard border on the island of Ireland, but since Britain had withdrawn from the single market, this created a de facto border between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, which in the eyes of royal supporters was tantamount to a breach of British sovereignty. In this sense, Brexit and the Northern Ireland Protocol exacerbated the contradictions between local republicans and pro-British factions.

"The Northern Ireland peace process is not yet complete and Brexit has seriously undermined the process in an irresponsible manner. This will not affect the monarchy, but may have an impact on the political stability of the island of Ireland. An anonymous Londoner told The Paper (www.thepaper.cn). He himself was a champion of constitutional monarchy, with a growing public perception of monarchy as the "least bad" option, but he did not like the Windsor royal family.

"Monarchy≠ The Royal Family of Windsor"

On the island of Great Britain, Welsh and Scottish nationalists had as complex attitudes toward queens, royalty, and monarchies as they did about England.

When talking about Prince Charles, some British netizens mentioned the "Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru" (MAC) and its leader John Barnard Jenkins in the 1960s. The group has been suspected of planning multiple bombings before and after the "Prince of Wales" ceremony.

In December 2020, Hollywood actor Mike Sheen announced the return of the British Empire Medal from the Queen. According to the BBC, he was honoured in 2009 for outstanding performances in theatre performances, and the decision to return the medal was made after a speech in 2017 on the history of his hometown of Wales. Mike Sheen said he did not have any disrespect for the Queen and the honour, but only because only then was he free to express his views on the monarchy and his dissatisfaction with the history of oppression in England. For example, giving the male heir of the British monarch the title of "Prince of Wales" was a custom that began when England annexed Wales.

According to the Scottish Daily Record, a march 2021 poll showed that if the United Kingdom disintegrated, 39% of the Scottish people would support the preservation of the royal family, and another 39% said that the Republic of Scotland should be established. At that time, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan left the United Kingdom and were interviewed by the talk show host Oprah Show, which brought instability to the image of the British royal family. In May 2021, Scottish newspaper The Nation published a reader's article calling on those who oppose the Windsor royal family not to rush to repudiate the monarchy: "Don't judge all the royal families by the Windsor royal family. Scotland is the oldest monarchy in Europe and there is no reason to change that. ”

Misconceptions and facts

The dispute between monarchy and republic in Britain has a long history, and both sides have their own opinions. Republicans often criticize the monarchy for its huge financial expenses, oppose unequal hereditary system, and seize on the moral flaws of members of the royal family (such as the Prince Andrew sexual assault scandal) to attack. Proponents of the monarchy claim that the royal family and its estates bring considerable revenue to Britain every year, boosting tourism, and some have pointed out that the royal family spends "no more than the presidential system". Most agree that the monarch, as the national symbol of the United Kingdom, is rooted in a long tradition of constitutional government.

When the paper interviewed some British people, it found that in fact, the reasons held by some people who oppose the monarchy stem from misunderstanding or "ignorance" of the royal family. Some see royals as "parasites" who should "learn to earn their own money instead of spending taxpayers' money."

"Huge taxpayer burden? Hearing this tea in my mouth is spitting out! Many netizens on the social networking site Reddit told the surging news that the tax paid by each person for the royal family is only 2.7 pounds (about 23 yuan), which is the price of a cup of coffee.

In addition, with the influence of Elizabeth II around the world over the past 70 years, many people believe that the "soft power" brought by the Queen to Britain is priceless.

In discussions about monarchy, topics such as royal expenses and royal property are often mentioned. According to the 2020-21 annual accounts released by the British Royal Family, Elizabeth II's personal net worth is 600 million US dollars, which is mainly divided into the following categories: (1) Real estate. In addition to Buckingham Palace in the heart of London, the Queen's real estate also includes the 8,000-hectare Fairy Ham Manor, the 2,000-hectare Balmoral Resort, the 10,000-hectare Royal Sanctuary and a number of private castles. Of these, private estates in the Duchy of Lancaster cover an area of more than 18,000 hectares and provide the Queen with an income of around 23 million pounds in 2020, and Xianling Ham can bring the Queen a net income of £500,000 per year. (2) Jewelry and old famous cars. The Queen has a wealth of valuable and exquisite jewellery, as well as 14 crowns for ceremonial occasions. In addition, the Royal Automobile Museum in Fairy Ham houses most of the cars owned by the Queen, including a 1950s Warkshall Christa brand sedan and a Land Rover. (3) Art collections and precious furniture. Many of the queen's collection of expensive stamps are unique in the world and are among the most perfect private collections in the world. In addition to this, the deceased Queen Queen left almost all of her possessions to Queen Elizabeth II, including art, antiques and priceless horse racing, worth nearly £70 million.

"ElderScrollsBjorn_", a netizen from the United States, believes that the queen brings much more income to the British than she brings for herself. "More importantly, there are intangible benefits to owning a royal family that makes taxpayers worth the money they pay."

"Unlike the American political system, British citizens can still have a sense of solidarity under common sovereignty, even if they belong to a completely hostile party." An army fighting for Her Majesty the Queen is more likely to fight for one man than for an impersonal parliament. The monarchy provides a rich expression of British culture, heritage and history, helping locals and foreigners to take root in this land and its legends. Elder Scrolls Bjorn said.

Responsible editor: Zhang Wuwei Photo editor: Li Jingyun

Proofreader: Ding Xiao