British and the Monarchy

"Even if I was king, I would do my own shopping."

Prince Harry of United Kingdom said this in an exclusive interview to a leading news magazine (Newsweek, 21 June 2017).

"Is there any one of the Royal Family who wants to be king or queen? I don't think so," he said.

He shows us that royalty is not, really, something one eagerly looks forward to; and that no one is keen to take up the huge responsibilities these royal roles entail.  

It made me think of the words of his grandmother, the reigning monarch Queen Elizabeth II. From the TV series I am watching on Netflix.

In “The Crown”, Season 1, Episode 3, the queen firmly tells her uncle that he had not apologized.

Her uncle, the former King Edward VIII, had abdicated the British throne in 1936, in order to marry the American socialite, twice-married, Wallis Simpson. 

And thereby he laid the onus of kingship on his younger brother who, despite his unwillingness, had to become King George VI. And the reluctant king had to lead Britain during the difficult and deadly Second World War.   

The former King Edward VIII replies to the new queen that he had apologized to his brother, and also to her mother. 

But, she resolutely says he has not, however, apologized to her!

She asks him if it had not occurred to him that she herself would have preferred to stay out of the spot light. She says she would have preferred to live the life of a normal woman and a normal wife. Not as a queen bearing the heavy responsibility of the crown. And he then says sorry.

The dialogues in this TV series may or may not be accurate. But we know that Queen Elizabeth II, now 91 years old, has been reigning responsibly for over 65 years, since 1952.

In fact, in 2015, she surpassed the reign of her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, to become the longest-reigning British monarch in British history.

Prince Harry is currently fifth in line to the British throne after his father Prince Charles, his elder brother Prince William Duke of Cambridge, and William's little children, George and Charlotte.

And with Prince William and Kate Middleton, Prince Harry expresses, in this interview, that they would modernise the monarchy.

“The monarchy is a force for good,” he says. “And we want to carry on the positive atmosphere that the queen has achieved for over 60 years, but we won’t be trying to fill her boots.”

In an article titled “Why Monarchies Are Still Relevant and Useful in the 21st Century”, (The Diplomat, 24 June 2014), the author Akhilesh Pillalamarri argues that “most of the criticisms of monarchy are no longer valid today”.

He says “Monarchies can serve up a head of state in a more democratic and diverse way than actual democratic politics”.

Old fashioned monarchy is out. But, in today’s world, with the leadership and its citizens being well aware of their rights and responsibilities, the way the world could be governed by monarchies may be even better than democracies.

With well-designed constitutional structures and with equitable legal systems, today’s average citizen could get what he wants with greater ease.

It is also in the interest of monarchs to provide the best for their people. And, they do. 

Denmark, Sweden, Spain, Thailand, Bhutan, Belgium, Morocco, Thailand, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia are but only a few of the countries modernising their monarchies.

But one thing is certain. The responsibility on the ruler is huge.

Perhaps, that is why in Shakespeare's “Henry IV”, a British king’s story, we hear the words:

“Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown”.

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