Royal Mess: Not So Messy Today
The On-Going Saga of Queen Elizabeth's Funeral
A few years ago, I developed an unusual interest in the British Royal Family. From time to time, I do a brain-dump and write blog posts about them. I’ve written several posts about them this week. Given the global interest in the Queen, I am republishing the last four installments in this saga. For the whole series of blog posts about the Royal Family, tag: royal mess. To start from the beginning, start here.
This essay was originally published on my blog on September 13th.
Three days after Elizabeth’s passing, you would expect the public would lose interest in her and the royal family. You might expect the op-ed writers, looking for angles, to start writing “the evil monarchy throughout the ages” articles. But, for the most part, interest is still high and mostly positive, and thanks to amazing images, like the one of Elizabeth’s four children standing vigil around her coffin.
Wow.
This funeral has been planned out for years with Elizabeth herself signing off on the details. The symbolism, pomp, rituals are all orchestrated to remind everyone that the monarchy is serious business in Britain. It goes beyond the tabloid headlines and the foibles of the family. The monarchy is an institution.
And the people are responding. Thousands are still lining up to leave flowers
for her at the gates of one of her castles. People are crying in the streets in Edinburgh. Even the Northern Irish are greeting Prince Charles with deference and respect. Strange times.
A million people might show up to London for the funeral, which will cause no end of problems for the city. Some have already started camping out there to reserve a good spot on the street.
People who bet on Harry and Meghan over the royal family are regretting those choices. Oprah is trying to walk back her part in that interview with them where the couple accused family of being racists and then just lied about a bunch of stuff. But it’s not working. Oprah is now saying that she had no clue what they were going to say. #Oprahisaliar is trending on twitter.
Remember just two weeks ago, Meghan Markle said that the UK Press called her N-word. That never happened, btw. She said she was happy to leave the royal family. And now she’s there! Ugh! Can you imagine? But they don’t seem to be backing down. There are stories that Harry wants to bump up the publication of his memoir to November, but his publisher is worried about releasing such a negative book at this time.
Bonus links: Check out Queen Margrethe of Denmark. She’s a character.
Disclaimer: Entertainment only.