Opinion: Methinks King Charles Is Too Full of Himself. Do you agree?

PixabayPhoto byJuliusH

Note: The Photo that prompted this article is copyrighted but linked here, so you'll know the history behind this.

I liked Queen Elizabeth. I lived in England in the late 1970s and got to see her - from a distance of course - and she was everything the press said she was.

Upfront, authentic, kind, and an anachronism for all of her 70 years on the throne. That she was there to "approve" the government after each election, open new hospitals, and greet and dine with dignitaries from around the world didn’t alter the fact that she was a relic of the past.

But then some relics are beautiful, important, and informative, and help us understand where we are compared to where we started years ago.

Relics are often revered as well, ask the Catholic Church about the bones of saints long gone and they will expound on how they are relevant and help to connect dogma and ritual with the spiritual world. That they exist helps to affirm the church's existence as well. Without them and the cathedrals that house them, people may forget why they are still here.

The Queen was the monarchy, as written often by the British press, and social media in more recent years and mentioned consistently by the infrastructure that supports it and counts on its existence for their very own.

The Institution, which encompasses newly crowned King Charles, his heir Prince William; his heir Prince George, the wayward Prince Harry, and scores of others that dot the British landscape are all part of a cultural phenomenon that has been in place for almost two millennia.

But this institution has also represented tyranny and oppression. Endless wars, conscription, the Crusades, conquests, starvation, isolation, and a hierarchy that makes it quite clear that not all are equal.

In a nutshell, and for most if not all Americans and American historians, it is the reason the United States was formed. To get away from aspects of it that were unwanted. To gain freedom from religious persecution. To make ownership of land a possibility and escape a place where all of it seemed to be owned by someone else already.

And yet, when gazing at the newly released image from the Royal establishment, do you get the idea that Charles is rather comfortable with his position? That Princes William and George seem accustomed to the pomp and ceremony exuding from the image.

And perhaps more on point, does this look like something that belongs in the 21st Century or a throwback to the late 1700s when King George III was rather obsessed with pushing back the bothersome colonials and making them behave themselves?

Rituals and traditions are comforting. Singing carols at Christmas, inviting the neighbors for Thanksgiving, and having parades down Main Street every Fourth of July in celebration of something important. They keep us rooted in who we are as people, as a nation, and at times as a prevailing point of view that needs to be kept relevant.

But at what cost? In other words, does adhering to a tradition that maintains a line between those who believe themselves to be better or more privileged compared to say, everyone else, make a point that should be made in 2023?

We deal with this tradition in a similar but distinctly American way with our version of royalty including celebrities, athletes, politicians, and the rich. Each with their own perspective on their place in our society and what our roles are in regard to them.

According to a 2022 report, there were at that time approx.1200 people working directly for Queen Elizabeth.

From ladies in waiting to wait staff, royal laundresses and tailors, butlers, chauffeurs, gardeners, and a slew of others who at that time enabled the Queen to carry out the myriad duties that she held near and dear.

Cost - well over a hundred million pounds each year. Much of it paid for by the state, some of it paid for by the Queen and the immense financial resources she had at the ready. And these numbers did not take into account what it costs to maintain the other working royals - those who attended the state and local events, the royal charities, and meetings with heads of state, not to discuss policy but to include everyone in the process of government that is uniquely British.

We recently got to watch (well, some of us) the royal coronation as it was streamed around the world. Getting to see Prince Charles, finally becoming King Charles after many years in waiting. Will he be as good as his mother was?

It is highly unlikely, not from a lack of effort on his part, but because Queen Elizabeth II became a queen in 1953. It was a different world then. A world more accustomed to royalty and its place in people's lives. She was raised to standards seldom seen as useful today all in preparation to perform duties in a world that is as different from 2023 as 1953 was from the early years of Queen Victoria.

Millions of Brits have only known one “real” monarch - Queen Elizabeth. Have only seen the monarchy from a very focused lens - what she did and said and meant to them, their parents, and their grandparents.

King Charles is entering a world of social media dominance. Where a thought travels around the world in almost the same amount of time needed to think of it in the first place.

How will he find relevance in a world struggling to make sense of climate change, corporate rule, rising inflation, wars that somehow, someway, still get started when “nobody wants them anymore," and convince the British people that yes, it is relevant and should continue to be funded, appreciated, watched over, supported and God forbid, not allowed to end.

Would corporate CEOs, US Senators, certain Supreme Court Justices, or NFL players pose for a picture like this?

Would they sit on a throne, and wear a crown (or their Super Bowl rings) with coaches, personal assistants, or trainers standing nearby supporting them?

Hard to imagine? Probably.

But who would suffer the monarchy’s loss?

Let’s face it, the monarchy and everything we’ve seen of it for decades looks pretty cool. The royal carriages. The royal guardsmen. The royal homes and castles and staff who press their pants, keep the vases loaded with fresh flowers. Cook their meals, make their beds, drive their cars (all of them), and generally make their lives pretty much different from everyone else’s on Earth. What’s not to like?

It seems those who most cherish this institution is the institution itself or The Firm as it is called. Those who would not only lose a powerful, prestigious, and profitable position if it went away but would be relegated to the normal. The everyday.

Like you and me and 99.9999% of the world.

It’s not such a bad thing really, being normal - well, maybe the royals have it better. For now.