MONARCHY IN THE UK

 

Covid, Brexit, War in Ukraine, Boris Johnson, James Corden set to return to UK. Just when you thought we had been given every sort of setback The Queen dies. The surprise element of this was not great to be fair, but it still resonated.

Her passing inevitably raised questions about the nature of Royalty and the ins and outs of a republic. Words like 'traitor' and 'sheep' were bandied about in place of rational debate and it seemed that one was expected to be in one camp or the other. But here's the thing, you can feel a bit sad about the Queen's death and not be a staunch monarchist. You can reflect on how things feel rather strange without queueing up for 32 hours to pay your respects, and you can acknowledge the passing of a human being that was probably around for all of your life without wanting to hang dissenters from the flagpole of the local Town Hall.

The fact that Charles is going to henceforth be on our coins, notes, stamps and cheap novelty products on sale around the Tower of London and Oxford Street feels a bit odd, but that's how it is.

Those that object to Charles taking over have every right to voice that opinion and to a great degree the Police have opened themselves up to some, for want of a better word, piss-taking, on this matter.

Will they arrest people with banners hoisted proclaiming

MY KNOTING!

IGNOMY TK!

TONING MY K!

KING MONTY!

The vagaries of free speech and offence open themselves up to comedic possibilities akin to the output of Goons, who Charles was a big fan of.

Maybe some levity will prick the bubble of the current tone exemplified by BBC coverage which is should be renamed Mourn Hub*.

Sometimes people don't know how to react in these situations, what they think they should or shouldn't say or do, how they should feel or think and in the end you can't ignore the fact that this country has a monarchy and that has an impact on the nation.

The Queen is gone and the Monarchy continues (for now) and that's just how it is and it's fine to disagree with that reality, it's fine to embrace it but I think that any real scrutiny about the future of the establishment can wait. It can wait until everyone has had enough time to reflect on the end of an era

* I can't take credit for this phrase, or credit he author, but well done