Yesterday, on the anniversary of the execution of Anne Boleyn in 1536, the second son of Prince Charles married his duchess - an American, a Catholic, and a divorcee.482Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd8A6XOlVIk
You'd have to be insane not to draw comparison between Meghan and Wallis Simpson; not even a century ago, Edward VIII set in motion a series of events that led to the wedding in Windsor yesterday. Had Edward not been determined to marry Wallis - an American, a divorcee - and had he been permitted to marry her in the first place, the crown would never have passed to his brother, poor George VI, whose stammer prompted him to receive speech therapy, and whose daughter witnessed the effect that wearing the crown had on her father, and who swore herself that when the crown fell to her, she would never abdicate, to spare her heir from ever having to suffer what her father did. She still wears that crown today. And yesterday, the Queen witnessed Meghan Markle welcomed into the royal family with her blessing.
The example of Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson shows just how much the monarchy has evolved as an institution over the past hundred years. There are those that will proclaim loudly from the rooftops that the monarchy is an archaic, dated institution that has no place in the modern world. And yet here we have the most perfect example of how much the crown has modernised. The Queen has recently appeared on not one, but two, programmes where she appears unscripted - something that we have never seen before. We can see her wit, her humour. These programmes are not royal appointments, not events - but glimpses into her world for a society that is growing disillusioned. Glimpses into who Elizabeth II really is. Elizabeth's coronation was the first to be televised. Her coronation single-handedly gave the fledgling domestic television industry a boost; for the first time ever the working class were owning televisions; for the first time, a TV was in almost every sitting room - and all because the Queen allowed cameras in Westminster Abbey when she was being crowned. All because the nation wanted to see their princess become queen. And yesterday, a woman with African descent married into the most premier family in the world. The Windsors welcomed her genuinely - Charles offered her mother his arm, the Queen rode in the car with Meghan's dog, Meghan even asked Charles to walk her down the last half of the isle and he was honoured. Even Prince Philip - who we all know has made plenty of racist remarks in the past - looked thoughtful as the archbishop spoke about slavery, and grinned as he waved his grandson and granddaughter-in-law off as they set off on their journey around Windsor in the carriage. This wedding has shown just how much has changed, and shows how much something like this can unite not just all of England, but the whole world.
When somebody expresses a wish to abolish the monarchy, I can't help but want to shake them. The phrase "What have the Romans ever done for us?" springs to mind - because most don't realise what exactly the royals do. For a start, a myriad of charities simply wouldn't exist without royal patronage. The Heads Together campaign for the mental health charity Mind was the brain child of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry (or, the Duke of Sussex as he is now!); the Queen's Commonwealth Canopy was created by Her Majesty to help the environment. Camilla, duchess of Cornwall is the patron for Battersea Dogs and Cats home. And that's not even the tip of the iceberg; the sheer number of charities receiving royal grants and visits is astronomical. Never mind the humanitarian visits, and the armed service Harry has put in, or William's tenure in the Navy, the air force and with the air ambulance.
The tourism the royal family brings in is simply not up for debate. This weekend, the streets of Windsor have been teeming with tourists - from the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Europe etc - and I have no doubt that the local businesses in Windsor have generated enough income this weekend alone to keep their businesses going for the rest of the year. Local hotels, local B&B's, local pubs, local shops, have all benefitted from this wedding (so there's one answer for the question: 'What are we getting out of this wedding?'). And the tourists won't just stop at Windsor - London, too. Maybe even elsewhere in the country. They're funnelling money into this country, and I would venture that the money brought in this weekend was far more than what the wedding cost - that is, if the tax payer had even paid for any of it, which we have not. We. Have. Not. I'll say it again for the people in the back: The royal wedding has cost the tax payer nothing, save the security costs - which is as much to protect the people of Windsor as the royals, and only like the tax-payer funded security at football matches.
I've seen several posts over the past few weeks about how the wedding is a waste of money (again - we've not paid for it); how Meghan's dress has cost £300K (It was £200K) and how we've paid for the dress (No, we haven't), and that with the money that we have spent on Meghan's dress (which would be £0.00) high rise flats in London could have been covered with a different material than that which made Grenfell go up in smoke (£250,000 it was estimated). I've seen posts about how nobody cares - and yet the wedding pulled in the highest ratings on TV by miles, and that over 100,000 people descended on Windsor alone. But no one cares, right?
There were posts that the royals do nothing (see above to why that's a load of bullshit); posts that they are scroungers, (Charles voluntarily pays taxes even though as part of the royal family he is exempt) living off state handouts (the Sovereign Grant is used primarily for the upkeep and restoration of places like Buckingham Palace, which has a backlog of repairs that need doing. The queen requested a larger amount due to the number of repairs, and parliament refused. So where, exactly, is the huge handout?). That it's not true that the royal family bring in huge amounts of revenue from tourism (I read that they bring in 1.8million a year in tourism).
I get that having a monarchy is dated - but why is that a bad thing? We have a physical, actual tangible, blood link to our history. Our actual past is embodied by that family - their bloodline is a direct line from Queen Victoria. From George I. They're linked through blood (though not directly) to Charles I. Again, not directly, they're related to Elizabeth I. To Henry VIII. Through the Tudors, they're linked to the Plantagenets. Through the Plantagenets, they're linked to the Conquerer. You could trace back their heritage - not directly, I'll admit. The crown was passed to them through a series of cousins - right back to the 1060s. And you want to throw away a thousand years of our heritage? You want to disregard that blood link to every fucking thing that has ever happened in our history? Seriously?
In all the shit that goes on in this country - nay, in this whole world - on a daily basis, can we just have one institution that doesn't have a political agenda. That has neutrality as one of its core values. That is there just in case things get bad enough with the prime minister - I do believe Elizabeth II stepped in with Winston Churchill. The world's a dark enough place as it is. If people want to feel part of something bigger, part of the gilded world of the Windsors, then fucking let them. At the end of the day, the royals are an intrinsic part of the English national identity, and if people - no matter what country they're from - want to take part, want to celebrate, want something nice to be excited over, then who has the right to tell them they're wrong? Because without the royals, what would we have instead? The Kardashians? Celebrities filling the places of the dukes and duchesses? Somehow I don't think it will have the same effect. Something like a royal wedding and a royal baby brings joy to the people of this country that is unlike anything else - and I just don't see how something that makes so many people so happy, that generates money, and that serves as an icon for the country, could ever be so terrible as people make out.
The royals are part of our identity, like it or not. They do a bloody lot for this country, and whether you see it or not makes no difference. The wedding of yesterday was, at its most fundamental level, about a couple getting married and inviting the world to witness. Funny how it's the same people, who for the last six weeks have been lamenting to anyone who will fucking listen about how much they 'don't care' about the royal wedding, that haven't shut up about it since. Yeah sure, other countries are doing just fine without a monarchy, but in this country we tried it once before. We abolished the monarchy and ten years later invited them back, because the English love a monarchy, and that's just the way it is. Rant over.
Congratulations to the new Duke and Duchess of Sussex!!!
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