Queen Elizabeth II appears on the balcony of Buckingham Palace on crutches in June 2022, with her three heirs to the throne: Charles, William and George.
Elizabeth, who was a slender young woman when she ascended the throne 70 years ago, is now a rickety old woman. If the three successors are connected smoothly, the British Windsor Dynasty will not worry about not having the bloodline to inherit the throne until the second half of the 21st century. Prince George, who is only 8 years old, is full of expressions, and his grimacing and impatient expressions on the balcony have been published in many British newspapers.
The appearance of the Windsor royal family on the balcony seems to be a gesture, announcing to the people that they have a successor and can continue to continue for a long time. In a highly developed capitalist country like the United Kingdom, relying on blood to become the head of state, which seems to be another generational phenomenon, is taken for granted by the British.
The British, who are proud of "having no radical revolution in five centuries", advocate moderate change; the monarch who held real power five hundred years ago is at best a cultural symbol today. Of course, from a broader perspective, Britons who have a positive attitude towards the monarchy will see the royal family as the pinnacle of the British state and national character, and the British private property system that has not been arbitrarily deprived of violent revolution for centuries. symbol.
Queen: Popular Culture Symbol
On the live TV screen of the 70th anniversary of the Queen's accession to the throne, the boulevard in front of Buckingham Palace was blocked by the crowd, which shows the appeal of the British royal family. Although the editorial of the left-wing media "Guardian" on the day was full of sourness, it had to admit: "The republican party failed to come up with an alternative that would make the people feel more happy and happy."
During the four days of the Queen's enthronement celebration, in addition to the huge literary and artistic Gala and equestrian performances, street parties and afternoon tea events all over the country attract an estimated 17 million people.
The wedding of Prince Charles and Diana on July 29, 1981
Crowds gather in front of Buckingham Palace during the Queen's 70th anniversary celebration
At this year's Gala for Queen Elizabeth II's 70th anniversary on the throne, the majority of participating stars belonged to people of color.
In the economic field, the Queen's enthronement celebration has brought a real boost to British businesses: the sour "Guardian" once again admitted that British retail consumption during the four-day celebration was 17% higher than the consumption in the whole of May. %. The British Retail Institute, which is responsible for statistics, believes that under the pressure of inflation that has not been encountered in 40 years, the British retail consumption can be boosted in June.
Indeed, although it is very different from the lives of the people, most of the birth, death, marriage and funeral events of members of the British royal family have become public events that all British citizens can participate in and watch. It has to be said that the ancient system of the British monarchy is extremely adaptable in modern society.
Especially after the emergence of high-tech communication means such as television, radio and the Internet, the spread of royal culture is actually even more powerful. In the 19th century, when photos were not so good, royal ceremonies were only experienced by the upper class. It wasn't until the early 20th century, when coloured pictorials became popular, that royal culture began to become part of popular culture.
Since the Queen's accession to the throne in 1952, which pioneered live TV broadcasts, from the wedding of Charles and Diana to the Queen's tenth ascension celebrations in 1992, 2002, 2012 and 2022, seemingly ancient royal ceremonies have been broadcast live. Celebrities and famous singers from all walks of life join the young people's favorite performance segment, aiming to make British people of all classes, genders and ages take an interest in royal activities.
It must be mentioned that at this year's 70th anniversary party of Queen Elizabeth II's accession to the throne, the participating stars belonging to people of color accounted for the majority. The star of the party was Diana Ross, a veteran black female singer from the United States. Presumably this is also some kind of response to the affirmative-action movement for people of color that has swept Western society for two years.
On June 2, 2022, the Royal Military Parade marking the 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession to the throne was held
British left-wing historian Eric Hobsbawm argues in "The Invented Tradition" that the royal family has completely faded out of real politics and has become a symbol in a purely cultural and social sense, which is actually related to British politics. The elite and the mainstream media have reached a tacit understanding.
In the not-too-distant Victorian era, Queen Victoria, who had just succeeded to the throne, was able to give pointers to the appointment of ministers and officials, but in return, the press criticized her, and the British royal family described by cartoonists was even more ugly; When Victoria completely faded out of real politics in her later years, the constitutional monarch familiar to modern British people finally fully appeared, and British public opinion began to become extremely cautious in the scale of reporting on the royal family.
Questioned royal subsidies
In exchange for the respect of society by surrendering real power, it eventually became a totem and cultural symbol. The British royal family surrendered hard power on the surface, leaving only soft power, but the economic power behind it cannot be ignored.
On the one hand, the British royal family is a public official who performs diplomatic etiquette duties for the country.
In many years of practical operation, the British royal family and the British government have performed their respective responsibilities and cooperated seamlessly. For example, the private properties actually owned by the Queen of England include Balmoral Palace, Windsor Castle and Sandringham House, etc. However, Buckingham Palace, the most important symbol of the British monarchy, does not belong to the Queen's private property, but the British government property.
For another example, the state banquet in the UK to receive foreign guests is an act of cooperation between the British royal family and the government. In fact, the Queen of England's cost of entertaining foreign guests can be found online. Take US President Trump's three-day state visit to the UK in 2019 as an example. The entertainment costs for that time cost British taxpayers £435,000, and the state banquet alone cost £100,000.
At a formal diplomatic state banquet, there are probably no more than 200 guests, including foreign dignitaries. The wine, utensils, and ingredients used by the Queen to entertain foreign guests are all privately kept by the British royal family, but at the same time, the British government pays money to subsidize the British royal family's hospitality expenses.
Open the UK government's annual spending summary, and you will find that the state visit will have an "entertainment": out of the £435,000 Trump spent on the three-day state visit, £100,000 of the expenses included state dinners and various items. "Entertainment" including royal hospitality. In this way, the royal family is more like a high-level outsourcing service provider of the government. Those dignitaries who enjoy the treatment of British state guests are really enjoying the royal reception service paid by the British government.
As a national symbol, the British government invites foreign heads of state in her name. This is a diplomatic activity purely serving the national interest. However, some activities of royal family members that spend public money do not necessarily have any direct connection with national interests and social welfare.
Security costs and commuting costs for the royals to travel are the biggest points of contention. Just as Prince Harry and his wife Meghan "break" with the royal family in 2021, their couple's security costs were announced: Before they were relieved of royal duties, Harry and Meghan's security costs were as high as 500 a year. Ten thousand U.S. dollars.
On June 3, 2019, then US President Donald Trump visited Buckingham Palace accompanied by Queen Elizabeth II
The dignitaries who enjoy the treatment of British state guests are really enjoying the royal reception service paid by the British government.
Prince Harry, who is sixth on the succession list, has already done so, so you can imagine other more senior members of the royal family. A scandal that has embarrassed the British royal family has continued to create dark clouds over the palace while the Harry/Meghan incident is fermenting. That is, the Queen's second son, Prince Andrew, was involved in the sex scandal of Epstein, a wealthy American businessman.
With the wall falling and everyone pushing, Andrew's lavish life in the past has entered the field of vision of the paparazzi. In 2019, before being stripped of all public office, Andrew was revealed to have used a helicopter on a trip to a golf tournament in Northern Ireland that cost taxpayers £16,000.
That's a paltry sum compared to the £219,000 that Prince Charles paid for his private jet from the UK to Oman in the Gulf state to attend Sudan's funeral in the same year. However, in the context of Andrew's Epstein scandal, his government subsidies and private property status are naturally closely watched by the British paparazzi.
How long can the gray area last?
At this year's 70th anniversary of the Queen's accession to the throne, Harry's figure appeared very low-key, while Andrew almost disappeared.
The official explanation from the royal family is that Prince Andrew has contracted the new crown virus and therefore missed all activities for four days of the celebration. But the British public opinion questioned this. After all, Andrew's reputation had fallen to the bottom, and the royal family who cherished feathers had to reluctantly cut their seats in the face of social pressure.
Over the decade from 2012 to 2022, although British respondents still largely support the monarchy, this support has generally declined.
When the Queen celebrated her 60th year on the throne in 2012, support for the monarchy was still at 73%; by 2022, when the Queen celebrated her 70th year on the throne, support had fallen to 62%. In contemporary Britain, where public opinion is becoming more and more important, how to maintain a noble attitude while catering to public opinion has become an issue for the royal family to maintain the monarchy.
British society experienced a transition from aristocratic democracy to universal democracy in the 20th century. The royal family has endured multiple crises in the turbulent past 100 years, but in the end it has stood firm. In the words of Harold Macmillan, the Prime Minister of the Conservative Party in the 1960s, the forward speed of the British is to use the brakes and accelerators alternately, stop and go forward. The British monarchy is like a slow-moving Rolls-Royce, always maintaining its own speed.
How to maintain a noble attitude while catering to public opinion has become an issue for the royal family to maintain the monarchy.
The Queen's 70th year on the throne is celebrated with the flag flying in Regent Street, London, June 2, 2022
This careful method of social improvement has also allowed many traditional social structures to be preserved, many of which have become an important source of the Queen's "money bag". For example, the Crown Estate, which was established in 1760, can be said to be a unique phenomenon in the UK: it is neither a pure royal private enterprise nor a pure government public enterprise, but both the government and the royal family have shares. And the "Royal Family Public Assets" divided.
This "Royal Property Office" is today one of the five largest real estate companies in Europe, with many residential properties and commercial shopping plazas in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. How much expensive land does this real estate company with direct access to the Queen's purse occupy in the UK?
First of all, the most prosperous shopping street in central London, Regent Street, the properties on both sides are all the assets of the "Royal Property Agency"; secondly, the seabed within the British territorial waters belongs to the "Royal Property Agency" assets. As the UK has turned to renewable energy sources such as wind power in recent years, the "Royal Property Agency" has made huge profits by auctioning multiple seabeds to wind power companies. The Guardian revealed that the "Royal Property Agency" makes an annual profit of 879 million pounds through six wind farms on the seabed of the United Kingdom, of which 25% of the profit will be sent directly to the Queen's pocketbook.
These gray areas between the British royal family and the British government between public and private should not be broken while the Queen of England is still on the throne. After all, once these accounts are calculated seriously, both the royal family and the public will be hurt. This may be attributed to the personal charm and demeanor of the Queen of England, which made the British public opinion and ordinary people have an "open eyes and closed eyes" attitude towards her purse. But her sons, who are far less attractive in personality, have to face a lot more critical people.
After Prince Andrew's reputation was ruined, some media that originally supported the British royal family also began to question the various titles and positions of the royal family. During the still active period, one of Andrew's social titles was British International Trade Representative. But the "Mirror" questioned, how many orders did Andrew "draw" for British international trade on the international stage with the identity of the prince? Can the pampered members of the royal family be assessed by quantitative standards like ordinary people when performing their social title duties?
The 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, almost all the activities are scenic. But the dark clouds of uncertainty are slowly approaching the sky.
In the history of British monarchs, all monarchs named "Charles" ("Charles", also translated as "Charles") did not end well. After the end of the last Elizabethan period, the successor Charles I finally ushered in the ending of being pushed to the guillotine. Then after the end of the second Elizabethan period, perhaps the successor will be Charles III (Charles III). Many Britons believe that this will be a monarch facing doom. In the face of these strange and familiar faces, will the British still show the enthusiasm they cheered for Queen Elizabeth II to welcome the new king?
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