One report analyzes how the 96-year-old monarch has become a solid piece in the face of the country’s radical transformations over these seven decades.
This week, the UK celebrates Queen Elizabeth II, who, with broad popular support, has become the cornerstone of the nation by resisting the radical transformations the country has undergone over the past seven decades. Celebrating 70 years of Elizabeth’s reign.
“Change has become constant, managing it has become an expanding discipline,” said the monarch in a speech to mark the Golden Jubilee celebrations in 2002, when he admitted that he saw himself as the country’s guide in turbulent times.
II. What were these transformations that Elizabeth faced and managed to overcome during her long reign?
Image: Getty Images
1. The end of the empire
In 1953, when he was only 27 years old, the monarch was crowned and told the world that his empire was World War II.
“We are no longer an imperial power, we have accepted what this means for us and for our relations with the rest of the world,” he admitted, while advocating the consolidation of the Commonwealth, a group that brought it together. United Kingdom and its former colonies.
“The Commonwealth is not like the empires of the past,” the Queen said in her 1953 Christmas message.
“An entirely new concept built on the highest qualities of the human spirit: friendship, loyalty and the desire for freedom and peace.”
With these words II. Elizabeth recognized that the monarchy and the country needed to adapt to post-war sensibilities and accept the decline of colonialism.
Although there were those in his day who saw the certainty of the decline of British influence in the world in the organization, the monarch remained enthusiastic for this international forum.
“I will give my body and soul all the days of my life to this new understanding of an egalitarian union of nations and races,” he promised.
However, his early years also coincided with social tensions caused by the arrival of immigrants from former colonies in the UK.
2. Crisis at home
In the 1970s, the Queen, in addition to being head of state and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, took on the role of “chief comforter” in the face of the problems faced by the British.
Image: Getty Images
In 1974 alone, the United Kingdom plunged into an inflationary wave during a period of political instability that led to two general elections, while also suffering a bloody offensive campaign by the extremist Irish Republican Army (IRA).
“We hear a lot about our problems, our disagreements, and the uncertainties about our future,” he said. “My message today is encouragement and hope.”
Faced with a polarized and fragmented society with violence and economic crisis, the sovereign wanted his words and actions to be seen by the British as neutral and impartial, but he used his Christian faith to encourage his subjects to find solace.
“Good will is better than resentment, tolerance is better than revenge, mercy is better than anger,” he said.
With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, World War II Elizabeth thought it appropriate to remind her subjects of their responsibilities to these historic changes and to warn them of the dangers of intoxication with victory.
“Those of us who claim to be from the free world must examine what we really mean by freedom and how, once established, we can help it stay,” he said in a speech that year.
3. Scandals and tragedies
In 1992, II. After months of enduring the embarrassment of seeing cheating scandals published by British tabloids, Elizabeth saw how her forty-year anniversary on the throne was marred by the failing marriages of her two children.
And as if that wasn’t enough, he also had to face the fire that burned part of his usual residence, Windsor Castle, on the outskirts of London.
Image: AFP
It is not surprising, therefore, that the monarch described this period as “annus horribilis”. However, II. Elizabeth tried to stay out of events and ignore the headlines.
“Distance,” thought the queen, “can give judgment an extra dimension, a spark of restraint and compassion, even the wisdom sometimes lacking in the reactions of those whose mission in life is to offer glimpses.”
However, his biggest challenge was yet to come. The death of Princess Diana, wife of Charles’ eldest son and heir to the throne, in a car accident in Paris in 1997 triggered a wave of criticism for the royal family’s silence and inaction.
Many of these attacks were directed against the Queen personally, as large sections of British society demanded that the Queen join in the suffering that swept the country.
Initially, the monarch and his close associates remained in the Scottish residence at Balmoral, where he traditionally spent his summers.
II. Elizabeth ignored calls, some of which were asking the government of then-Prime Minister Tony Blair to leave the country. Six days after the death of the so-called “people’s princess”, she returned to London and spoke live to the nation at her black funeral.
“As Queen and Grandmother, I say this from the heart… This week at Balmoral we all tried to help[Princes]William and Harry come to terms with the devastating loss they and the rest of us have suffered,” she said. For the first time in her reign she was allowed to combine her two roles: the public role of the monarch and the private role of the grandmother.
Image: BBC
But even in that rare speech, which received wide media coverage and drew thousands in London on the eve of Diana’s funeral, the Queen remained emotionally distant, staying true to her belief in how a monarch should behave.
The decision was a risk, because cold-blooded British society increasingly equated authenticity with expression of emotion.
However, the sovereign seems to have won the bet, as it occupied an undisputed position in the heart of the nation at its Diamond Jubilee (60-year reign) in 2012, something that hasn’t changed in recent years.
According to Yougov’s latest poll, 81% of Britons today are in World War II. He supports Elizabeth.
Despite the changes and scandals that permeated the institution, at no point in its long reign did republicanism attract significant popular support in the United Kingdom.
The Crown’s future looks assured, as the same polls reveal that six out of ten Brits (62%) view monarchy as the best form of government.
*This text was originally published on BBC News Brazil..
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source: Noticias
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