Just a quick set of thoughts on the passing today of the Queen of England, and the outpouring of solemnity and scorn that I've seen on social media, on both sides of the Atlantic.
Last year, I wrote a similar post after the death of Prince Philip, which I used to talk about Elizabeth's legacy and what she meant to me and basically everyone else in the West. What I wrote then is still broadly how I feel, though I should add that quite a lot of comments have talked about how her death seems like losing your grandmother. These comments have revolved around a picture taken recently (maybe in the past couple of weeks?) of her standing in a living room in her palace, looking like a kind old lady, and I can't deny, there's a grandma vibe there.
Really, how could it be otherwise? For people of my generation, Queen Elizabeth was this presence who had been there for all our parents' lives, just like a grandparent. The fact that she kept out of the spotlight helped too: she didn't make pronouncements that pissed people off, she didn't throw her weight around. I don't think I ever even heard her voice until I was in my 30s.
As far as the mourners and the detractors, as always I fall somewhere in between. I can't relate to the more fulsome expressions of grief, especially here in the US. Nor can I relate to those who are celebrating, though I can understand why some people are calling out the colonialism that the Queen represented. The British like to pretend that they "stumbled into an empire", and that they were on the whole good colonial masters; they also like to pretend that they let go of the empire with equally good grace and little bloodshed.
What I do think is too bad is how Elizabeth's death is overshadowing the various crises engulfing the UK at the moment, from runaway inflation to widespread industrial action to an energy crisis that will ruin thousands of families this winter. These crises are all pretty much self-inflicted, when seen against the backdrop of Brexit; the only thing that isn't the fault of the ruling Conservatives is the war in Ukraine, but that's just shown up how unprepared and chaotic the country was.
The new prime minister, Liz Truss, has announced an energy price cap of £2,500 per year, but if you think about it, that's already a ridiculous amount of money to pay for keeping the lights on and heating a home. Beyond that, Britain is poised to renege on its own treaty by eliminating the Northern Ireland protocol, thereby also jeopardizing peace in the region, all because the Tories can't be bothered to maintain the agreement they made or to find a long term solution that works.
In my more cynical moments today, I couldn't help thinking that Elizabeth saw her moment to shuffle off, given the chaos facing the country in the near future. Certainly the political and social climate won't do any favors to her heirs, and in decades to come we'll probably look back on the Elizabethan era with a fondness that probably won't be entirely warranted.
Still, it's the close of an incredible era, with way too many cultural moments to count. It'll be interesting to see how King Charles III navigates the next few years, and how he'll diverge from his mother's way of doing things.
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