COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN THE GUARDIAN
These are tough but accurate words about the Monarchy from
Polly Toynbee.
As someone who has always enjoyed British history and
tradition, I nevertheless think Polly Toynbee's final words are wise ones:
"…let Elizabeth be the last."
The days of monarchs reigning are in fact well over. We now
only maintain the empty appearance of things without any meaning.
It was around the time of the Great Elizabeth, daughter of a
fearful tyrant and herself one of the most successful monarchs in history, that
Parliament already was beginning to encroach on the power of the Monarch, and
that development continued inexorably, resulting in a monarchy, say, by Victoria’s
day which was largely symbolic. Today, even the awarding of honors is nothing
more than signing papers put before the Monarch and reflecting the government’s
political desires.
The Monarch as a branch of government, a kind of check
against government excess, has become a badly faded fantasy. The Monarch today
wouldn't dare oppose an elected government on anything. There was never a peep
over all Tony Blair’s lies and horrors, and that was about as deadly consequential
as any government behavior is ever likely to be.
Everyone instinctively understands these things, so it
really is a kind of dumb show we go through. And the system is subject to all
kinds of awkward and embarrassing happenings – eg. The whole gigantic Diana fiasco,
and yet today we have her one son, Harry, displaying some extremely
unattractive traits and signs of her instability.
Science and ordinary experience tell us that even the basic
assumption of aristocracy and monarchy is a false one: a superior father or
mother is little guarantee against mediocre grandchildren.
