September 8th, 2022 / Leave Feedback / nezuppal
It was just this morning that I woke to the terrifying news that the Queen is “under medical observation” at her home in Balmoral. She is 96, to be fair, but she has also remained one of the main pillars of British democracy (ironically, as she is technically a monarch). Time to panic.
It has been reported that Prince Charles and the rest of the Royal Family are by her side. Prince William is also travelling up. As is Prince Andrew, although I am not sure whether that’s to see her sick mother or attend a 13 year olds’ party. Who knows with that freak?
What a lot of people do not know is that Queen Elizabeth II was never actually supposed to be Queen. One of the best monarchs the Queen has ever had happened by chance. In fact, if you want a quick history lesson in a paragraph here it comes:
Queen Elizabeth II’s father, King George VI was never even supposed to be King! If anyone has watched “The King’s Speech” (and I thoroughly recommend that you do) we learn that King George VI had to overcome a stammer during his reign between 1938 and 1947. Do those dates sound familiar? World War 2 started in 1939 and ended in 1945 and King George VI was not only thrown into this position, but also had to overcome a stammer to maintain Britain’s morale. That’s a leader. And his daughter has also been a leader.
King George VI was the great-grandson of Queen Victoria. However, he also had an elder brother named Edward VIII. He was King from January 1936 before abdicating the same year. A short, terrible reign in which he wanted to sign a deal with Hitler and saw some benefits of fascism …
However, there soon came a constitutional crisis when he proposed to Wallis Simpson (an American socialite). Although there was nothing technically wrong with this, context is everything. Simpson was already divorced, going through a second divorce and was NOT British. Prime Ministers, the dominions and even members of the Royal family denounced the idea of a King marrying someone with two living ex-husbands. What if she switched her mind again and started spying for them?
Moreover, at the time Edward was the “Head of the Church of England” which did not approve of re-marriage after divorce, What a lot of people do not actually know about Edward VIII and Simpson is that she tried to run away several times, before he abdicated as she did not love him and thought that his royal duties were more important. But she failed and Edward abdicated after 326 days – making him the shortest reigning monach in Britain’s history. All for a woman who didn’t like him.
After this, he and his wife toured Nazi Germany, meeting with numerous members of Nazi high-command. In World War 2 he was stationed in France, but it was revealed and obvious that he was a Nazi-sympathiser and was appointed Governor of the Bahamas – best way to get someone out of the way.
So King George VI became king, when it was not his duty, and Queen Elizabeth II followed. This year we celebrated her Jubilee – 70 years as Queen – the things she’s seen and the way she has carried herself across the globe is nothing short of admirable.
Elizabeth is the longest-lived and longest-reigning British monarch, the oldest and longest-serving incumbent head of state, and the second-longest reigning sovereign monarch in world history.
I could list all the things that the Queen has been through. But if you read the above paragraph and think about all those records. If you then also consider the major events which have occurred over the last 70 years. People will haev different views on what her greatest achievments have been during her life.
But, for me, as a politics graduate; what I respect most about the Queen is that she has constistently remained politically neutral. She does not comment on policies, politicians or the economy. Because that is not her place. Because apparently we live in a functioning “democracy”.
This blog post, coming after the Tory Members elected Liz Truss as “leader”. There’s a saying – it doesn’t rain, it pours. An apt quotation given the current weather in Britain.
But we now face a cost-of-living crisis, homelessness on a scale never before seen, a completely incompetent Prime Minister. Add on to that the fact that Britain is becoming more and more isolated due to strained relations with the USA and the EU – this will be something for Liz Truss to fix (a blog post I will post later) and she will fail.
Another hero we cannot afford to lose is Sir David Attenbrough. If we couple these political and constitutional disasters with the on-going climate crisis. One third of Pakistan is under-water. Britain is facing bizzare weather. Africa is facing a massive drought. Australia is experiencing unprecedented weather patterns. Remember that thing … um … “climate change” (formerly “Global Warming” but now “Global Weirding”) that we have been warned about for the last 20 years.
Evidence was there – but we could not see the actual outcome. For decades scientists warned us that when these weather patterns beging to appear – it is too late. With big companies continually spouting that they are aiming for “Net Zero by 2030”. So that means another 8 years of this level of pollution. And after that, it’s not as if the Amazon will suddenly grow back, the sea levels will decrease and the air quality will become healthy again.
The Queen. Sir David Attentborough – when they go I fear for politics, Britain and the planet.
Ignorantly Ignorant 