Original title: Queen’s 70th year on the throne | Young people are indifferent, republicans are building momentum, is the British monarchy in danger?
February 6, 2022, marks the 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the throne. A series of festivities is planned for this year in the UK, and at the same time, the British republican faction has also launched a campaign to call for an end to the monarchy.
Polls show that most Britons still want the monarchy to continue, and Elizabeth herself has worked diligently for 70 years and is respected by most Britons. But at the same time, some negative news once put the British royal family into crisis.
“All monarchies depend on continued public support.” Robert Hazell, professor of government and constitution at University College London (UCL), told The Paper (www.thepaper.cn).
“I feel like my grandparents’ generation loved the monarchy. They had pictures of kings or queens on their mantelpieces and would say goodnight to them before going to bed.” Rowena Jones, a British college student in her 20s ) told The Paper. She believes that many people in her parents’ generation may be very opposed to the monarchy because of the social ideology of the 1960s and 1970s. “But in my generation, our view of the royal family has been very disinterested and negative.”
Like Rowena, the thinking of the younger generation in Britain is quietly changing. If the era of Elizabeth II finally comes to an end, where will the future of the British monarchy go?
Why object? Why support?
On January 10 this year, the British royal family announced the specific arrangements for the celebration of the 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the throne in June this year. On the same day, the British anti-monarchy group “Republic” said it would launch a campaign called “Not Another 70 Years”, calling for an end to the British monarchy.
According to Reuters, the group’s chief executive, Graham Smith, said the prospects for Prince Charles (after Elizabeth II) as king were not good, “but there is a good democratic alternative” ( Refers to turn to republic). Smith called for a debate on Britain’s constitution, “as a nation we are fully capable of choosing our head of state.”
The British monarchy has a history of thousands of years, only briefly interrupted by the republic from 1649 to 1660, and the ancestors of today’s Wang Wensha family can even be traced back to William, Duke of Normandy, who conquered England in 1066. The United Kingdom is also the first country in the world to establish a constitutional monarchy. The modern monarch has almost no actual power and mainly assumes symbolic and ceremonial functions.
Why do you want Britain to be a republic? Opponents of the monarchy have put forward many reasons, such as the monarchy is undemocratic, unequal, outdated, and the existence of the royal family wastes the people’s taxes. There are even criticisms that members of the royal family are trapped in various duties and their personal freedoms are restricted.
The Republic wrote on its website that succession to public office “violates every principle of democracy” and that there is no way for the population to vote to prevent the royal family from “abusing privilege and influence and squandering our money”.
On the other hand, the group believes that the monarchy gives the government too much “arrogant power” and that “the queen can only act in the interests of the government at the time and cannot represent ordinary voters”. This refers to the fact that in the British political system, many actions such as enacting laws, dissolving parliament, etc. require the approval of the monarch, but modern monarchs do not interfere in politics and usually only act on the advice of the government and the prime minister.
In a letter to readers of the British left-wing newspaper The Guardian in March last year, a reader named David Head gave the example that German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who also has no real power, could condemn his involvement in corruption scandalous MP, but the British monarch would not take a stance on such an event “because (we were told) she was not allowed to do it”.
Supporters regard the monarchy and constitutional monarchy as a proud British historical tradition, and believe that a monarch without real power will not affect the British democratic system.
Supporters also argue that the royal family is good for the unity and stability of the United Kingdom, and adds attractiveness to the country’s image and tourism. The royal family also plays a certain role in diplomacy. In addition to attending various foreign affairs activities, the British monarch himself is the head of state of 14 countries (such as Canada and Australia) except the United Kingdom, and serves as the head of the British Commonwealth.
Freddie Cloke, a Briton in his 20s who works in education consultancy, opposes a president instead of a monarch. “They (monarchs) do not hold political power, so they will not pose a political threat to society. Political decisions are made through parliament. The royal family is also an important nominal representative of the country internationally.” Ferredi told The Paper. During his study abroad at Wuhan University in 2017, as a representative of international students, he met Princess Anne (Elizabeth’s daughter) who came to China and had dinner with her, “I think it is good for the two countries to send such a high-level figure from the UK to China. countries to develop trade and promote bilateral cooperation.”
“The current trend is that the internal cohesion of the royal family as a national symbol (which can be compared to the national flag) is weakening, but the attraction to foreign tourists is still very strong. However, after the new crown epidemic, this function is also weakening.” History of Fudan University Zhu Lianbi, associate professor of the department, told The Paper.
Young people’s “insensitivity” and opposition
Among young British people, perceptions of the monarchy are changing.
According to a survey released by YouGov in May 2021, the proportion of respondents in the UK (excluding Northern Ireland) aged 18 to 24 who support the election of a head of state (41 %) over those who wished to maintain the monarchy (31%). Just two years ago, 46 percent of respondents aged 18 to 24 supported the monarchy, compared with just 26 percent who supported an elected head of state.
Why do young people’s opinions change so much? This may be related to two controversies in the royal family in recent years.
In 2018, Prince Charles’ second son, Harry, married African-American actor Meghan Markle. In January 2020, the two unilaterally announced that they would resign as “senior members of the royal family” and stop participating in official royal affairs and performing related duties. Since then, the two have reached an agreement with Queen Elizabeth II and moved to North America. In March 2021, Harry and Meghan received a TV interview in the United States, revealing that “the royal family once discussed how dark the skin of their children might be”. Meghan said that living in the royal family was lonely and unfree, and was treated differently by the media; The British media also reported that some royal staff said they had been bullied by Meghan.
The rift between Harry and Meghan and the royal family also caused a split in the British public. A poll conducted by the public opinion in November 2021 showed that younger groups have more positive views of Harry and Meghan, while older groups have more negative views of them.
Many young people sympathize with Harry and Meghan, believing they have been treated unfairly by the royal family and the media. An article in the UK edition of GQ magazine in March last year pointed out that Harry and Meghan discussed race, sexism, mental health and the role of the media in this sensational interview, which is highly concerned by young British people and possible action on this topic.
Zhu Lianbi told The Paper that judging from the events of Harry and Meghan, there are indeed differences within the royal family. In particular, these differences directly point to the defects and problems of the establishment of the royal family. Therefore, the cohesion within the royal family will indeed change after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. weaken.
What brought more damage to the image of the royal family was the alleged sexual assault of Elizabeth’s second son, Andrew. Andrew had a relationship with Epstein, an American billionaire who was suspected of abducting and sexually assaulting minors. In August last year, a woman filed a civil lawsuit in the United States against Andrew, accusing him of sexually assaulting her when she was a minor. Andrew has consistently denied the allegations of sexual assault and applied to have the lawsuit dismissed by a judge in January.
Andrew has not attended public events for nearly two years. In January this year, he was stripped of his honorary military rank and honorary patron status of various organizations, and he can no longer publicly use the title of “His Royal Highness”. An opinion poll conducted in November last year found Andrew to be the least popular of the major royals, and unlike the generational divide towards Harry and Meghan, negative views of Andrew spanned all age groups.
These two incidents just hit the cusp of social thought. In recent years, anti-sexual harassment and anti-racism campaigns have been launched in many countries around the world, and people, especially young people, have become increasingly intolerant of such behaviors. In November last year, Barbados officially abandoned the Queen of England as the head of state and transformed it into a republic, which once again triggered some media discussions on the monarchy and British colonial history. In January of this year, the words ‘Pedophile’s Home’ were sprayed on the exterior of Edinburgh’s Royal Palace Holyroodhouse, satirizing Andrew’s alleged sexual assault. Under a hashtag titled “Abolish the Monarchy” on the social platform Twitter, users also often cited the events of Andrew and Harry and Meghan as reasons to criticize the royal family.
In fact, many young British people have a more “indifferent” attitude towards the monarchy. Shenju (pseudonym), a college student from London who grew up in an international background, told The Paper that he “doesn’t care” about the monarchy, “I never felt that I had anything to do with it, and I didn’t think deeply about it before. “
Rowena Jones from Manchester told The Paper that she thinks young people will not pay much attention to the royal family unless there is news such as “pedophile Prince Andrew”. “The only thing we have to do with them is that we pay taxes to support their way of life. If they can find a way to support themselves, I think people will be happy to keep the monarchy going.”
The future of the monarchy
Despite a growing disinterest in, or even opposition to, the monarchy among young people, opinion polls in May last year showed that a majority of Britons still supported the monarchy’s continued existence. Of all respondents, 61% supported the monarchy, compared with just 24% supporting the election of a head of state. Across the four age groups surveyed, the older you were, the higher the support for the monarchy.
Shenju told The Paper that his grandmother from a former British colony still supports the monarchy, “because she associates part of her identity with the royal family.” Shenju believes that this has something to do with encouraging support for the royal family in the past.
But what cannot be ignored is the trend of changing public opinion. Public opinion polls show that from 2019 to 2021, among all respondents, support for the monarchy fell by 4 percentage points, while support for electing a head of state rose by 5 percentage points. In addition to the reversal in the 18- to 24-year-old group, the percentage of respondents in the 25- to 49-year-old age group who supported the monarchy also fell from 58% to 53%.
If this trend continues, will more Britons want to say goodbye to the monarch in the future? Will Britain become a republic?
Although Elizabeth II herself still maintains a high prestige, other members of the royal family are not as loved as she is, and many people are reluctant to see Prince Charles ascending the throne. Apart from the extramarital affair turmoil that year, Charles has publicly expressed his views many times, which is very different from the prudent and cautious Elizabeth.
On the possibility of Charles becoming king, Margaux Butler, a 20-year-old British university student, told Reuters, “I despise the idea. I don’t mind the royal family in general, but I think He (Charles) is a bit controversial, and I think a lot of young people feel the same way.”
A poll conducted by Yuguan in November 2021 showed that 83% of respondents had a positive opinion of Elizabeth II, while only 60% had a positive opinion of Charles.
“For most people, the monarchy and the queen are synonymous,” Smith, chief executive of The Republic, told Reuters, arguing that public opinion on the monarchy would be unpredictable after Elizabeth’s death.
Historically, the British royal family has encountered many crises. In the 1930s, King Edward VIII wanted to marry the divorced Wallis Simpson, which was widely opposed, triggered a constitutional crisis, and eventually he chose to abdicate. During Elizabeth’s reign, three of her children divorced in the 1990s; the royal family was criticized for its slow response to the death of Charles’s beloved ex-wife Diana in a car accident in 1997.
The royal family is also “advancing with the times”. Using various social platforms, more young members were invited to attend events, voiced for climate and environmental issues, and divorced and African-Americans were accepted into royal marriages… In recent years, the weddings of royal family members and the birth of new members have brought the royal family a new A wave of exposure and support. Charles’ eldest son William and his wife Kate are also quite positive among the public.
Robert Hazel told The Paper that all monarchies depend on continued public support. The monarchy will come to an end if it loses support, such as in Greece and Italy in the 20th century, when the people voted to make the country a republic.
Hazel said that in the major constitutional monarchy countries in Western Europe, the public’s support rate for the monarchy is between 60% and 80%. interval. “I expect this to continue into the era of the next monarch.”
“Abolishing the monarchy” does not simply change the way the head of state is created. In addition to the royal family, there are a large number of nobles in the UK, and the British royal family is not only a political symbol, they also own a lot of land and property. The monarchy is also part of the UK’s unwritten constitution, and changing it will be a matter of ramifications.
Reuters analysis believes that British Prime Minister Johnson has been deeply involved in multiple scandals recently, coupled with a series of “chaos” caused by the election of former US President Trump, making some Britons reluctant to have an elected head of state. In addition, even among the Scottish independents, a considerable number of people hope that after independence, Scotland will still have the British monarch as the head of state and remain in the Commonwealth.
Although not too interested in the royal family, Rowena Jones also did not understand the republican organization. “The opposition to the monarchy is not very popular, nor does it seem like a contemporary (viable) political option,” she felt.
“Except for the royal family’s ‘die loyal fans’, a large number of (British) people are indifferent to the royal family, and the more educated people are, the less interested they are in the royal family.” Zhu Lianbi analyzed The Paper, “The royal family At present, it is still an inseparable part of the British constitutional system, but it is not an inseparable part, because the symbolic function can easily be replaced by others. What the royal family has to do now is not to expose too much to provoke the public. Disgusting scandals, from time to time, can bring out some positive news and maintain the public’s recognition of the royal family.”
“As long as there is a new suitable candidate, the royal family will continue to operate according to the existing functions.” Zhu Lianbi said.