On the eve of a momentous State Funeral at Westminster Abbey on Monday morning, we mark Her Majesty's passing with personal and constitutional tributes.
What strikes Fraser Nelson in today's Telegraph (16.09.22), is the sheer scale of the global reaction to the news :
"A day of remembrance for the Queen was held in India, a country whose populist politicians regularly attack British imperialism. Even Brazil and Lebanon held official days of mourning.
The 10-hour queues for the lying-in-state in Westminster have been reflected in Hong Kong’s queues to sign the book of condolence. Polls show almost half of Canadians intend to watch the funeral. When it starts, the world will pause. More than four billion viewers have been predicted, which would make it the most-watched event in human history.
In various ways the magic of monarchy, which has been on such vivid display, can be seen at work all over the world."
It was astonishingly, the French President, whose tribute perhaps best encapsulated the present moment:
“To you, she was your Queen. To us, she was the Queen.”
To be held in such regard by international leaders around the world is by any measure, an astonishing personal achievement.
"An offer of an audience with her, or any member of the Royal family, held more allure for world leaders than all of the other potential inducements put together. So it’s not just Polish plumbers and American backpackers who are drawn to the Crown, going out of their way to be physically present to royalty.
The world’s most powerful, most outspoken people were willing to do almost anything to meet this silent woman who held no power at all."
And therein lay the key to her appeal:
"In an age of culture wars and clashes of civilisations, the Queen stood as a symbol and a source of unity, both nationally and globally."
But it is the personal contribution of the woman herself that most will remember
"whose understatement and service personified what so much of the outside world regards as British values – and ones with global appeal.
In this way, the Queen continues to bring honour to Britain. And this was, perhaps, her greatest gift to her country: the ability to show the world our best self."
The full article can be read below with a link to the original here:
Credit: PA
As an addendum to the above, we provide a constitutional perspective on the reign of Her Majesty in an article by David Lord Frost.
The enduring legacy of Britain's constitutional monarchy, he argues is based on historical developments particular to this country:
"...monarchy and Parliament evolved, not in opposition, but in partnership. Conflict between the two was an aberration, not the norm, and the story of our monarchy is also a story about Parliament."
Viewed historically, the two evolved and operated to each other's mutual benefit:
"Parliament originally grew and prospered because it was useful to the medieval monarchy in raising money for the wars in France. It didn’t get sidelined, as under continental absolutism, precisely because it was the King’s partner in running the country. Its aristocratic and knightly members represented their interests to the King, but also helped make the government’s writ run in the shires.
The Stuarts tried to change things – unsuccessfully and traumatically, one reason why we remember Speaker Lenthall and the Civil Wars so vividly. When James II was sent packing in 1688, Parliament did not abolish the king’s powers, the Royal Prerogative, but instead took some of them for itself.
The group of the monarch’s advisers who could sustain a majority in Parliament, the Cabinet, became the government, and Parliament became the arena for the great debates of the day: court and country, Tory and Liberal, Labour and Conservative."
He concludes:
"That evolutionary character of our constitution, the ability to manage deep differences within an agreed political arena over time, is the British genius."
The full article can be read below with a link to the original here:
CREDIT: EMILIO MORENATTI/AFP
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