It is the saddest sight, that of the tiny figure of the Queen sitting alone in the choir stalls, almost lost in the immensity of the chapel of St George. She has on a long black overcoat and a black broad-brimmed hat. A black mask covers her mouth and her nose. Only her eyes can be seen, eyes that closely observe the coffin of the man who until now has been her constant companion. She is the survivor of a marriage that has lasted 73 years.
She leads by example. She wears her mask and she sits on her own because there is no one in her bubble. She doesn’t even allow herself the comfort of having her children by her side. That would go against the rules imposed by the government in its attempt to curb the spread of the virus. Although Covid is in retreat and we’ve seen the relaxation of preventative measures there is still no permission to lower your guard completely and for her it is more important to show solidarity with her people than to have the consolation of another person sitting hip to haunch. Throughout her nearly 70 year-long reign she has always done her duty, obeyed the rules and resisted the temptation to express openly her point of view on matters of politics. Curiously, it is not her place to comment publicly on matters of State and she has uncritically backed the policy of whatever government has been in power.
However, for many English people the funeral is the latest episode in the best soap drama on the telly, better even than Coronation Street and EastEnders and they react to the death of Prince Philip the same way as they react to the death of any senior member of the cast of a long-running TV melodrama: it is sad to lose someone like the Duke of Edinburgh, a character that has been on the programme since you were born but, at the end of the day, he was only a bit player; his role was to be the tall, irascible partner of the Queen. However, he was best known amongst the viewing public for putting his foot in it. For example, during a visit to China, he warned a group of English students that they shouldn’t stay in the country too long as they would get slitty eyes.
For these people, the true importance of the funeral is the opportunity it gives for gossiping about the members of the family who have been invited to the ceremony and those that have been left out: “What will be the attitude of other members of the family towards Harry and Meghan? Why in the funeral procession are Harry and William separated by one of their cousins? I don’t like that dress”. etc, etc, etc. For these people the sense of loss portrayed by the players is just part of the plot. They even think it’s great to see them suffer because this is theatre.
However, nobody would ever admit to that.
For republicans, and there are many of us (this country is divided just the same as many others when it comes to the form of government we ought to have), the monarchy is merely a tool of the Establishment and the good fortune, the bad luck and the scandals of the royal family serve to divert public attention away from more pressing social concerns and necessary reforms. Its continued existence is nothing more than another method of accustoming us to the normality of a society based on privileges; an attempt to discourage those of us who would like to see a world built upon a basis of rational principles.
Well, whatever you think is the function of the monarchy, you have to feel compassion for a woman who has sacrificed her whole life for what she believes to be important and who maintains scrupulously her dedication to her people, even if such dedication means that she sits on her own in the choir during the funeral of her only true lifelong friend.
Ingleses 