When I worked the overnight shift on Friday night, there was a movie station on and playing some movies. But as it got close to the end of the shift, we had to switch it to the news channels for the next shift. It just looks more professional that way, even though they also seem to switch it to more entertaining stuff, like movies or sports, when they get the chance.
Once we turned on the news, it was live coverage of former Prince Charles receiving his coronation and officially becoming the king. It was on every news channel, even when I switched from the overnight job to my weekend job. Then, it was all over the gossip on the radio, on social media, even Ken Dashow kept talking about it during Breakfast With the Beatles.
Now, I know some people are going to get offended by this, but I will now share my own opinion on it here: I could not care less. I don't care that now King Charles had to wait many decades to finally become king. I don't care that it was apparently dazzling, and so many people have been posting - and keep posting - stuff on it. I don't care if the princess looked beautiful, or if Charles himself looked tired. I don't care if Harry was supposedly snubbed, that nobody else in the Royal Family is talking to him after the release of his "tell all" book. This might be blasphemy to some people, but I do not give a rat's ass about these people and their glorious lives. Never have, never will.
One thing that was hard not to notice, and which other people (particularly guys, it seems) notice is that more Americans seem to get very excited about Royal Weddings and coronations and all of that other nonsense. Of course, there are many people in Britain who also love the Royal Family, and some prominent artists and musicians (both of the surviving Beatles, Elton John, and Brian May come to mind) get knighted. At least they are British , although again, I still don't really get it.
Here's the thing: maybe my ambivalence - and at times like these, it might seem closer to hostility - comes from my own background. You see, my family has some strange bedfellow backgrounds. We are in part Ukrainian. But we also lived in France for a while, and were all dual citizens (I think including my son, although he never lived there, at least not yet). And we also are, of course, American. France fought a very bloody revolution which effectively ended the monarchy, and made any lasting restoration of a monarchy there almost impossible. And the United States also fought a revolutionary war to gain independence from the British King, and opted not to establish an American version of a Royal Family.
Call me crazy, but shouldn't all of that mean something? Yes, I understand that, at least technically, numerous countries still have kings and queens, including a number of European states. And yes, the British Royal Family is the largest, wealthiest, and most popular ones around. But frankly, the time of kings and queens is over. They are symbolic leaders, figureheads. They don't have to do anything, they just inherit the titles and the wealth, and I don't want to hear any kind of garbage about how the Queen, or now the King, are not actually as wealthy as they seem, that they might be, in some strange way, "cash poor." You know who's cash poor? Poor people who make minimum wage, or don't have jobs. They don't live in palaces or have elaborate properties with magnificent castles and sculpted gardens spread out across the country. They don't have meals prepared for them every single day, or get to travel all around the world at taxpayer expense. Maybe you can make a counterargument that they are born into it, that they don't have a choice. But Prince Harry effectively rescinded his official status as a member of the Royal Family, to his credit. If he can do it, so can the rest of them. Somehow, I suspect that Great Britain would get along just fine without them. In fact, my suspicion is that things might be better without them.
It seems that every time that the Royal Family visits former colonies, there are protests which seem to be gathering steam, trying to hold the Royal Family accountable for their history of supporting as well as profiting from the slave trade. From the reign of Elisabeth I in 1558 until the reign of William IV ended in 1837, there were a number of English monarchs who indeed supported and profited from slavery. Since this coincided with the time when the British Empire was at it's absolute height of power and influence and wealth around the world, it hardly takes a stretch of the imagination to put two and two together and see that much of the wealth that the Royal Family has inherited are little more than ill-gotten gains.
Now I want to be fair. Both King Charles and Prince William have publicly supported and are cooperating with a study into the links that the Royal Family has with the slave trade. Last year, during a trip to Rwanda, King Charles said he could not describe "the depths of his personal sorrow" at the suffering caused by the slave trade. Similarly, during a visit to Jamaica last year, Prince William declared that slavery was abhorrent, "should never have happened" and "forever stains our history".
All true. But they are not exactly stepping up and offering some sort of compensation or reparations, either. These are controversial issues, and they can spark anger in many. So it is something that should be approached with delicacy. Understood. But still, the words which they speak feel like they are mostly just a sign of the times. Until they actually back that up with giving up at least some of their extensive wealth and privileges, words are all that they are.
Again, I do not want to sound overly insulting or anything, but the times of monarchies is pretty much over. True, there are still some very powerful monarchs who remain heads of state, and not just the Pope. There are some in a number of countries, as I understand it. However, they have limited, mostly symbolic status in most European nations which still retain their monarchies. Yet, they live incredibly privileged lives of stunning comfort and wealth. Isn't that what attracts the gawkers, whether in Britain, here in the United States, or in much of the rest of the world? Maybe it's time to get past these daydreams, and to recognize that, in fact, they sure seem to be a drain for taxpayers.
That said, of course I am not British. I do not get a vote, and can only express my own opinions on the matter, which will not hold sway in Britain or anywhere else, I guess. But at the very least, I feel that I should object to the way that Americans, specifically, seem to fawn over the British Royal Family. At most, we should reserve all of this to the entertainment sections, because to me, this really does not qualify as newsworthy. The Royal Family never seemed to impact my own life, other than having to deal with the nuisance when, however briefly, they suddenly dominate the headlines around the world. I still remember when Prince Harry got in trouble for dressing up as a Nazi. Yet we are supposed to indulge them, and view them as learned and distinguished statesmen? Give me a break. Funny how that was swept under the rug.
To me, informed as I may be by the history of the two nationalities - American and French - which I belong to, I nevertheless will admit here to not being impressed by the Royal Family. Never have been, and I am guessing at this point that I never will be. True, I am not British. But for me, that's all the more reason for puzzling over this strange, and frankly, unhealthy fascination that Americans in particular have for the Royal Family. I cannot help but wonder why we should be subjected to their nonsense. They complain about not having any privacy, but as far as I am concerned, they deserve little sympathy. So long as they accept all of the wonderful privileges that they inherited - and did not earn - then they should also accept everything that comes with it, and without complaint. Personally, I lost whatever small interest I might have had - if indeed I ever actually had any - a long, long time ago.
Ultimately, this is a British issue. My assumption is that at some point, the British will indeed themselves grow tired of the Royal Family, and will end that eventually, regardless of how much the media harps on pro-Royal Family viewpoints at times such as these. Meanwhile, as a Franco-American, all that I can ask is that we in foreign countries not have to be subjected to constantly hearing about this often pathetic family and all of the drama that surrounds them. Because to me, it's completely irrelevant. Maybe if they actually addressed the crimes of the past in a forthright manner, and then backed it up by doing something substantial about it, I might take an interest. Until then, and at the risk of sounding overly hostile, let me nevertheless borrow words from a movie which itself is deemed controversial these days, and rightly so. Since both the Royal Family and the movie "Gone With the Wind" both have generated controversy regarding the issue of slavery, I will end this with Clark Gable's memorable words, which ring especially true when it comes to the supposed glory of the Royal Family:
"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."
Below are the links to the two articles which I used in writing this particular blog entry, and from which I obtained both the facts and the quotes used in the above blog entry:
The British kings and queens who supported and profited from slavery by David Conn, 6 Apr 2023:
From Elizabeth I to William IV, over a period of 270 years monarchs had links to the slave trade
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/apr/06/the-british-kings-and-queens-who-supported-and-profited-from-slavery
King Charles supports study into Royal Family slavery links Published 6 April
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-65200570
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