When Prince William marries Catherine Middleton on April 29 at Westminster Abbey, the British monarchy will have refreshed itself by welcoming a commoner within its ranks. This new member, it is hoped, will boost British interest in the Crown. But beyond the jolly atmosphere surrounding this royal fairytale, a pressing question remains: should Great Britain maintain its antiquated monarchic system, and under what conditions?
Surveys show that 70 percent of the British public say that they have no interest in the wedding. Where does this indifference come from, given that Queen Elizabeth II has never been so popular and that the republican movement has reached a nadir?
Efforts to modernize the institution, which were launched in the aftermath of Princess Diana’s tragic death on August 31 1997, have only partially borne fruit. Ethnic minorities and most young people do not recognize themselves in this monarchy, even if it is more “middle class’ than noble. People find its lack of interest in meritocracy shocking. The institutions associated with it – aristocracy, the army, the Anglican Church, central power – have far less influence than they once did. The media have efficiently killed most of the deference the monarchy once commanded.
Her Majesty’s subjects are now British and European Union citizens. The Commonwealth – the former overseas family – has become nothing but a relic of the past, under the stronger appeal of the United States, European Union or developing countries.
Her “kingdom” has undergone an incredible transformation since Queen Elizabeth II rose to the throne in 1952, but the monarchy she heads today still embodies a white, Protestant, and imperial United Kingdom. Whereas the country is increasingly multicultural and each day less Christian, Britain’s dynastic system continues to represent an England of the past, an England deeply attached to its conservative values, hierarchy, the division of the classes (or even castes, one might say), and to the privileges enjoyed by the aristocracy.
Thanks to the Windsor family’s incredible capacity to adapt to internal and external changes, their power has been left largely unscathed by the blows dealt during the Thatcher and Blair eras. But, as the Queen’s husband, Prince Philip himself once said, the survival of the monarchy still depends on the approval of its subjects. During the 20th and 21st centuries, a number of royal dynasties have disappeared without a trace (the only restoration was in Spain). The royal race is not eternal.
The institution must today reinvent itself – the fact that the kingdom has had its fair share of drunken, debauched or deranged monarchs without the survival of the system being seriously compromised means nothing today. This is what distinguishes the monarchy system from the republican one.
This is why this transformation needs a deep reform of the country’s institutions, one that brings about greater democracy: a written Constitution, full separation of Church and the State, the abolition of the remnant prohibitions affecting the Catholic minority and direct elections of the members of the House of Lords.
Read the original article in French
photo – (Rob Moment)