The Legacy of Queen Elizabeth II
Good-Bye to the Queen (Long Live Her Manners)
Welcome to the Civic Way journal, our quick take on the relevance of current events to America’s future governance. The author, Bob Melville, is the founder of Civic Way, a nonprofit dedicated to good government, and a management consultant with over 45 years of experience improving public agencies.
“The most practical kind of politics is the politics of decency.”
– Theodore Roosevelt
Even the most oblivious among us saw the news from England. Queen Elizabeth II, after a 70-year reign, died on September 8, 2022. The end of a beloved monarch and perhaps an era. The beginning of a ten-day period of national mourning and a surreal, seemingly endless cavalcade of remarkable rituals.
On September 9th, ninety-six round gun salutes echoed throughout England. Dutiful soldiers escorted the Queen’s coffin from Balmoral, where she died, to Edinburgh’s St. Giles Cathedral, to Buckingham Palace and then to Westminster Palace, where she lay in state for four days. At Westminster, thousands waited for hours to pay their respects (David Beckham waited a reported thirteen hours).
On September 19, 2022, Queen Elizabeth’s state funeral was attended by hundreds of world leaders and watched by billions. Her coffin bore the Royal Standard, and imperial crown, orb and scepter. Eight members of the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards lugged the lead-lined coffin to an ornate carriage. Finally, after a long, somber procession, Queen Elizabeth was laid to rest (aka buried).
The world media covered the procession as if time stood still, as if nothing else mattered. After the obligatory sentimental send-offs to the Queen, the tough questions soon followed. Will the monarchy survive? Will the new King lead or merely berate leaky pens? Will Charles III succeed where his House of Stuart namesakes did not? Will England replace the monarch with a ceremonial President?
Someday, such questions may be answered. In the meantime, the world’s curiosity about the royals seems insatiable. If many Americans are curious about the English monarchy, the Brits seem fascinated. And the Queen’s death has only converted that passion into an obsession.
Regardless of one’s views of the monarchy, Elizabeth’s passing is admittedly a time for British reflection.
It is a time for royalists to grieve the loss of a woman who was always with them. A time to worry if the monarchy’s popular support will hold. A time to defend the monarchy as a stabilizing tradition, moderating influence or what Orwell called an “escape valve for dangerous emotions,” especially when conventional politics implode (think Boris Johnson).
For populists, it is an opportunity to disparage the Queen’s family and its behavior. Charles for his arrogance, petulance and whining. Andrew for his wandering eye and legal sleight of hand. Harry for his dubious tastes. Camilla for … well … just being herself. All of them for the preposterous pomp and trappings—the castles, valets, uniforms, curtseys, protocols and ceremonies.
For some scholars, it is a time to lambast the monarchy as a patrimonial institution that defies the most basic principles of merit. As a lavish civic anachronism utterly incompatible with modern democracy. As an archaic device for maintaining useless traditions. As a legal excuse for refusing to lead.
For budget hawks, it is a time to examine the monarchy’s parasitic wealth (an estimated $28 billion). To question its careless squandering of scarce public resources. To challenge the inexplicable exemption of royal estates from Great Britain’s inheritance tax. To investigate the monarchy’s use of offshore tax havens. To celebrate the new King’s glorious achievement—finding a job after over a 50-year wait.
For media critics, it is a time to lament the world media’s inordinate coverage of the Queen’s funeral. The nonstop coverage of every ritualistic detail. The virtual muteness regarding other news like Hurricane Fiona’s wrath and Puerto Rico’s devastation. The death and suffering of so many American citizens. An entire island’s power loss.
Americans should consider a different path. At least for a moment, forget about the monarchy; that is an issue for Britons and Britons alone. We Americans have enough problems without offering unsolicited opinions on the affairs of other nations. We can always offer ourselves to other nations as saviors once we fix our own problems.
Perhaps what we can do best right now is to set aside all of our skepticism and cynicism and learn something positive from Queen Elizabeth’s example.
One can argue that her leadership, such that it was, was woefully inadequate for a parliamentary democracy in a modern world. One also can argue that, while she no doubt had her reasons (the Prince of Wails might have been one), she hung onto the throne far too long.
But, if she did nothing else, she showed us how to treat other people. She set an example for political leaders everywhere. If not in substance, certainly in style and tone.
She had a front row seat for the best and worst in English—if not global—politics. Yet, she never belittled, demeaned or vilified others. She never blamed others for her mistakes, discredited elections or policy decisions, condemned other leaders or incited infighting and violence.
What she did do for over 70 years was to comport herself with dignity. To treat others with respect and grace. To put her country first. To serve what she saw as the public interest. To hold herself accountable. To do her duty.
In contrast to so many political leaders in England and elsewhere—America, Brazil, Hungary, Turkey and Venezuela, for example—she was consistently civil. Somehow, through her undeniable decency, she may have even buffered her nation—her people—from the coarseness of its politics.
Wouldn’t it be nice if more of our political leaders would do the same?
Rest in peace, Queen Elizabeth.