It isn't surprising that the British monarchy is being discussed as obsolete or harmful. The purpose of the monarchy has been a question that has been asked for decades, and was even posed by Queen Elizabeth II in 1992.
The Queen had been scaling back her public duties in the last few years due to her declining health, but she met with the new Prime Minister just two days before she died.
Queen Elizabeth II was easy to answer the question to. The magazine said that respect for the crown bound the Commonwealth nations together.
The new Queen, young and popular, bore a proud name and the promise of a new era. In an age which prides itself on practicality, dismisses pomp as pretension, and regards royalty as an empty anachronism, the meaning of the Crown seemed suddenly clearer. Respect, earned and freely given, is its strength. Tyrants might demand but could not command loyalty so spontaneously offered. At a precarious moment in Britain’s history, the passing of George VI and the accession of Elizabeth II strengthened the one tie that still binds the Commonwealth to the mother island—fealty to the Crown.
She was named Time's Woman of the Year and that reasoning was expanded. Military men ruled the world in that year. Queen Elizabeth was the epitome of unity.
She was queen according to Time. Many royals from many nations have failed to unite their people. Her throne has been without political power for a long time. Tradition alone was not enough to power her. Her significance was dependent on who she was, a fresh young blossom on roots that had weathered many a season of wintry doubt.
The British, as weary and discouraged as the rest of the world in 1952, saw in their new young Queen a reminder of a great past when they had carved out empires under Elizabeth I and Victoria, and dared to hope that she might be an omen of a great future. Her dramatic flight from a vacation in Kenya at George VI’s death to take her place at the head of the royal family beside the Queen Mother and revered Queen Mary gave the British spirit a lift even in the midst of their bereavement.
She combined personal charisma and professional distance to make sure that the monarchy remained. She undertook an attempt to seem more accessible as a result of the signs of apathy towards the crown. It worked despite the fact that accessibility never translated to informality.
In 2007, TIME included her on its annual list of the most influential people in the world, for being reason enough to dismiss any chatter about the monarchy ending.
It should have been obvious. She began the years of grooming that would make her a woman worthy of the throne when she was only a girl.
Her mother told her that she was not a fairy-tale princess.
You can write tolily.rothman at time.com.
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