Clinging onto power?
Some thoughts on the occasion of the Queen’s 90th birthday.
It is true: To lots of British people the current female King of England means the world, or should one say: the British Empire? But there are indeed some who do not care as much or, more extraordinarily, despise the British Royals and see monarchy as a flaw in the British system. However the case, that very horsey assemblage of blue-blooded received enunciators is a big topic in the yellow press and sometimes also in the ordinary coloured papers. For example on the occasion of the Queen’s 90th birthday. Yippie! Another year closer to the end of an era some would say as the polls in favour of climate-enthusiastic Charles as King have a way of not reaching particularly high peaks. (Guardian 2016) One can hardly imagine the British being as passionate about a new monarch as they are about their beloved Elizabeth.
On the hegemonial side, there is definitely some fighting going on against the obsoleteness of monarchy as a model. They are clearly trying to do their best to keep the boat afloat, for example by commissioning portraits of their two very popular princes depicting brotherly love. (not to mention the strategically placed (?) paintings in the background of one of the founders of the British labour party (!) and another one by a known homosexual Bloomsbury painter) (National Portrait Gallery 2010) There is to show that these waxy figures of pride and dignity are exactly like you and me, people leading normal lives, having jobs, pets and sudden urges to eat chocolate ice cream at two o’clock in the morning. They are also trying to be self-reflexive as shown in the Queens participation in the opening of the 2012 Olympic Games in London where she sympathetically appears side by side with James Bond. On the other hand, grand parades are being held for the Queens special anniversary and the one who does not put up a flag of the beloved home country on that important day is sure to get a wry look next time at the self checkout at Sainsbury’s. There is a balance to be held between demonstrating power and an illusion of normality to keep up the fascination. Buchsteiner (FAZ 2016) calls that a cultural charisma, a “soft power”, which the Queen is expressing just through her personality. But can that still be kept up, when she is no longer there? One is intrigued to find out.
http://www.npg.org.uk/about/press/prince-william-and-prince-harry.php
