The great civil procession around the coffin of Isabel II is sealed with calm and historical satisfaction
The movement of a piece of paper can provoke a national commotion. This thesis, inspired by the butterfly effect investigated in chaos theory, describes the events that have occurred in the last ten days in the United Kingdom. It all started shortly before noon on September 8, when Nadhim Zahawi walked into the House of Commons of Parliament in Westminster and handed Liz Truss a piece of paper.
Zahawi is Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, one of the old titles that in Parliament, the Royal House, Justice, the Army or universities confuse locals and strangers. His functions are similar to those of a Minister of the Presidency. Liz Truss is prime minister (and first Lord of the Treasury, plus other titles). Isabel II had entrusted him with the head of the Government two days before her death.
The paper informed Truss of the queen’s imminent death. He was passed from the Government seats to those of the opposition, to the deputy leader of the Labor Party, Angela Rayner. The deputies understood that something serious was happening. The debate on the measures announced by the Government to alleviate the effects of an extraordinary increase in energy prices dissipated.
The outcome is that, in Westminster Hall, about fifty meters from the lower chamber where that paper ran, tens of thousands of Britons are walking in two silent lines around the catafalque that contains the coffin of the deceased queen. Some bow their heads or say a short prayer, others wear short-sleeved sports shirts. They have queued for more than twelve hours.
Children’s drawings deposited in the gardens of Holyroodhouse, awaiting the arrival of the queen’s coffin in Edinburgh, end with their walk. Or the public standing silently listening to the national anthem of the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, as a prelude to a concert of French music. They share civility in these crowds without noise.
The queue stretching along the banks of the Thames is the culmination of court-designed rituals, the grand civil procession in a week of funeral processions and military parades. Group behavior researchers at the University of Sussex have surveyed several hundred people in the Long Tail and found that feelings of “calm and contentment” are more prevalent than grief.
The death of a 96-year-old woman could not cause feelings of tearing like those caused by the sudden death of Princess Diana, a mother of two children, at the age of 36. The length and style of her reign made Elizabeth II the universal image of a queen. And, although “the monarchy is anachronistic”, according to ‘The Economist’, “it prospered with Elizabeth II”. Her death in a historical event that attracts audiences.
popular decline
“I don’t wish this on anyone,” King Charles III said, according to ‘The Times’, to a woman who felt sorry for his circumstances, when he greeted people gathered to greet him outside Hillsborough Castle. There, in Northern Ireland, political acts of condolence and mutual recognition of the new monarch and local institutions were organized.
This spontaneous confession by the king discredits the sycophants, who are perhaps the greatest danger to the monarchy in such a transparent society. Faced with the avalanche of saccharine or childish anecdotes to confirm the humanity of the queen and her son, the king recognized the burden of combining mourning for the death of his mother with an incessant chain of acts to underline the continuity of the Crown .
The mortuary rituals will culminate this Monday with a funeral, in Westminster Abbey, attended by dignitaries from all continents, and the subsequent burial in Windsor Castle. Areas near the abbey were packed on Saturday, suggesting the 750,000 spectator figure in central London suggested by organizers may be reached.
actual efficacy
The king carved out an image of a complaining man during his long time as heir, but at the beginning of his reign he has acted effectively, recognizing on his way through Hillsborough that emulating his mother requires accepting a demanding role of mere representation. The last days would have increased the popularity of Carlos, who in 1994 was discarded as the future king after confessing his adultery with Camila.
But according to the series of polls by the National Center for Social Research, the monarchy is less popular than it was then. The sum of Britons who believe that it is very important and quite important has gone from 66% in 1994 to 55% in 2021. Those who consider that it is not very important and that it is not important, and should be abolished, have passed in the last three decades from 33% to 43%.
The national commotion has submerged Liz Truss in anonymity, a woman in a hurry to implement her ideas and undertake with her Government a radical change with respect to the conservative governments that preceded her. A former Cabinet colleague says of her that “she believes that the State is malevolent, that it blocks things and is generally a burden, that it should be smaller and get away from it.”
A country divided by ‘Brexit’ finally has an Executive of radical ‘Brexiters’, to guide the kingdom through the energy crisis and the war in Europe, in a context of debt, poor growth and inequality. The death of Isabel II and the accession of Carlos III have allowed the deployment of martial symmetries and evoked the imperial pose. The family mourning may begin now. The country will also return to its harsh reality.
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