My Brief Reflections
We have just witnessed the death and burial of HM Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. When her death came it was swift and largely expected. The period of national mourning befitting of such a monarch was appropriate, in my opinion.
What we have lost is a monarch who was driven by duty: based on a promise she made in 1947 to serve us for her entire life. And that is what she did.
The funeral was a typically British affair: a success by any standards. Billions of people around the world are said to have watched the funeral, let alone the lying in state. We were treated to a ceremony that no one else on the planet can conceive, plan and carry out so well. I am not being boastful about that and I am sure I am not wrong in my assertion.
Prince Charles has become King Charles III and I wish him well in his new role.
The Naysayers
I was brought up at a time when we would hear the phrase, "It's a free country" on a daily basis. It was, too! We had freedom of thought and freedom of speech: we could think and say what we liked. That is not so true today as everyone questions our right to say much of what we believe and say. To some extent that is good because we are forced to think more carefully about some issues whereas before, we would just blurt it all out.
However, at a time of national mourning, large numbers of people have crawled out of the woodwork to pour scorn on the notion of a monarchy, the legacy of the Queen, the costs of supporting the monarchy and so on.
Many of the comments were just parroting: someone merely repeating what someone else said, however ludicrous that might have been. Other comments were more considered and they stemmed from sincerely held views on the monarchy, republicanism and so on. Nothing wrong with anyone having and expressing such views.
Prof Mauro Guillen
Then we come to the argument about the true benefit of the monarchy and I like to point to the work of Prof Mauro Guillen in this respect. Guillen has researched the benefits of having a monarchy. In essence, what he found, from a study of almost 137 countries over 110 years, is that we are all financially and socially better off under a monarchy. Average GDP per capita is higher under a monarchy. political systems under a constitutional monarchy, like the UK, are more conducive to a better life under a constitutional monarchy.
I am grossly simplifying what Prof Guillen found and said but before we fight for a republic and install the nonsense that they can bring, do consider where we might be about to throw out the baby with the bath water. Read about Prof Guillen's work here. There is a link to a YouTube video dedicated to Prof Guillen's study.
DW
22/9/2022
