A few words about the British monarchy
I've never been much of a Royals watcher, but Diana's death hit me hard for some reason.
A friend I used to have had been a fan and follower and anglophile for many years. I said to her once, about 20 years ago, that I didn't see why Elizabeth didn't just retire and let Charles have the throne. She said, "Oh, no!! She would never do that." She went on to explain that the abdication of King Edward VIII, which left her father on the throne, had deeply affected the country and Elizabeth would never step down. Never. She saw it as her duty to stay on the throne.
I found that very odd, but accepted her explanation. I still find it a bit odd, but have learned a little more in the meantime.
Downton Abbey was one source for that learning. As most of you probably know, it was a fictional series about an aristocratic family in the early 20th Century. There too I learned a little about the sense of "duty" that these aristocrats felt toward the town that relied on them. It was economic duty, but more than that. They were looked upon as leaders and had to live up to that and fulfill those obligations. For example, they had periodic events at the Abbey where they invited the townspeople and surrounding area folks to join them.
Yes, yes, yes, I know all about wealth and class inequality and how shameful that all is, and so on and so forth. This isn't an argument against that. MY POINT is that there's yet another dimension to this whole royalty and aristocracy thing than a lot of people understand, certainly than I understood.
The final part of the lesson for me was from Elizabeth herself. I saw a film clip of her at age 21 giving an address to the people of the U.K. (by radio) pledging that whether her life would be long or short, she would devote all of it to serving them. Again, I thought it odd that she or any royal felt she was serving them, but -- that's the way it is, and was, and it wasn't just something they made up, or lip service. I think we need to honor that (even if I can't quite understand it!).
She also served in the military, btw -- learned to drive and repair jeeps!
She became queen suddenly at age 25 when her father died unexpectedly in his sleep, and frankly has done a masterful job of reigning for these 60 odd years -- the longest reigning monarch in British history.
The people of the United Kingdom love their monarchy. They have the ability to end if if and when they please. They so far have chosen not to. I think their choice should be honored. They're doing just fine with their monarchy, and based on this past weekend's events, even have a beautiful lesson or two or ten to share with the rest of the world.
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Thank you too for articulating the noblesse oblige concept. That makes total sense and another thing or two clicks into place.
