The Queen is Dead. Long Live the King.
Sep. 8th, 2022 09:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerQueen Elizabeth II of England passed away today. At age 96 she reigned for a record setting 70 years. She will be succeeded by her son, Charles, who will take the title King Charles III.
How much does it matter that there's a change in the UK's monarch? Not as much as some in the media portray. I remember asking British colleagues years ago what they thought about some particular scandal or another involving the royal family at the time. "A lot of us Brits really don't care," they said. They explained that the kind of people who follow news about the royals in the UK are the same kind of people who obsess over Hollywood celebrity gossip in the US.
Part of the insignificance IMO is that Elizabeth II was a carefully nonpolitical queen. Put another way, she really didn't do anything. She rarely made her opinion known on anything. Will Charles III follow in her anodyne footsteps? As prince he's spoken out forcefully on certain issues such as acting to stem climate change; but he's also indicated (in the past) that he would cease such advocacy if and when he became king. That's a shame.
How much does it matter that there's a change in the UK's monarch? Not as much as some in the media portray. I remember asking British colleagues years ago what they thought about some particular scandal or another involving the royal family at the time. "A lot of us Brits really don't care," they said. They explained that the kind of people who follow news about the royals in the UK are the same kind of people who obsess over Hollywood celebrity gossip in the US.
Part of the insignificance IMO is that Elizabeth II was a carefully nonpolitical queen. Put another way, she really didn't do anything. She rarely made her opinion known on anything. Will Charles III follow in her anodyne footsteps? As prince he's spoken out forcefully on certain issues such as acting to stem climate change; but he's also indicated (in the past) that he would cease such advocacy if and when he became king. That's a shame.
