Needless to say, this Yank who’s half-Irish feels a bit strange as I write this post about Queen Elizabeth II. With her death, the era determined by her monarchy ends. Or, did it already end even before? Princess Diana’s untimely death, the many scandals that have rocked the royal family, and the British people and media’s treatment of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex effectively ended that era. The monarchy had already shown its irrelevance in the modern world.

The Realm and Commonwealth will surely continue to suffer as it adjusts to a new prime minister and a new king. Northern Ireland is heating up again, mostly because of the the old PM’s Brexit; and Scotland and Wales also contain strong movements wanting independence, more the first than the second. Many nations in the Commonwealth have republican movements in the true sense of “republicanism,” i.e. that which gave birth to the US and will continue to do so for those who want to free and don’t wish to bow to a monarch.

On the other hand, the UK itself has internally much of the same divisive politics as its old colony, the US. Far-right and far-left extremists foment these divisions, and economic turmoil and failure of leadership is their willing accomplice. Such strife could tear the kingdom apart. Time will tell if democracy survives in the UK, let alone a kingdom.

Of course, Queen Elizabeth wasn’t and won’t be responsible for any of that. (Well, maybe a bit for Diana’s death, although that was more on the new King Charlie and his new Queen Consort.) The queen was everyone’s nana! When one’s nana passes on, one mourns and celebrates her life and the wisdom she offered to others, whether this occurs in a royal family or a working-class one. That’s what we do as human beings.

Rest in peace, Queen Elizabeth!

This entry was posted on Monday, September 19th, 2022 at 5:56 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.