In order to understand the current status of the monarchy, you have to understand the events that occurred in the aftermath of the death of Princess Diana.. For millions of people, Diana became something of a fairy tale princess, a folkloric figure of charity and devotion. Her divorce from Prince Charles in 1996 created a huge divide between the public's darling and the family that isolated her. The 1995 interview with Martin Bashir revealed a marriage racked with problems and a monarchy that was cold and distant at heart. Diana's greatest skill was her use of the media, a skill which she used to attack and undermine the Royal family at every turn. When she died, the outpouring was immense and all the frustration her fans had at the royal family boiled over when Queen Elizabeth II misjudged the situation terribly. Up until that moment, Queen Elizabeth II had spent her entire life believing that the public wanted their monarch to be reserved and, to a degree, emotionally distant. While there's no doubt that her priority was her grieving grandchildren, William and Harry, the Queen failed to take note of the immense outpouring of grief from millions of her subjects who felt Diana's death was a personal loss. No messages of support, thanks or grief were given until the last possible moment and even then it seemed forced. The fact of the matter is that had the Queen continued doing things the way she wanted to, the royal family would've collapsed. Tony Blair's 'people's Princess' speech captured the feelings of millions while the Queen was perceived as doing nothing to 'ease her people's suffering'. It was only due to that last minute decision to address the country that the royal family was saved and there's no doubt that this perilous moment has remained with the Queen ever since.
Today, the Queen remains popular and Prince's William and Harry follow suit, providing a more modern and emotionally connected face for the monarchy. These two generations will remain strong for the foreseeable future but there is a weak link in the royal succession. Prince Charles.
The face of a man trying to maintain the public facade of patience...
While the Diana 'fandom' have totally forgiven the Queen for her failure to react to their 'grief', Prince Charles is arguably still regarded with certain resentment. In her 1995 Martin Bashir interview, Diana revealed that there had been a third person in her marriage and suddenly the Camilla issue exploded and resulted in Charles becoming the man who married a vulnerable, young girl simply to produce an heir and then cast her aside for his mistress, when in actuality Diana wasn't the easiest woman to deal with either. Even now, Prince Charles is still one of the least popular members of the royal family and when he eventually does become King the monarchy will be at it's weakest since the abdication of Edward VIII. There are three main problems with Prince Charles. Firstly, he's still blamed by some for Diana's death and unhappy marriage. Secondly, while to his credit he does make an attempt to taste popular culture, whenever he does he always seems remarkable out of touch.
His hands say "Rain over Scotland", his eyes say "Kill me"
Thirdly, he's made every effort to involve himself in politics, having sent scores of letters to ministers in an attempt to change policy. This is one thing for a Prince to do but quite another for a King. The British monarchy has little power; it reigns, it does not rule. Having a King like Charles, who makes every effort to influence policy, goes against everything the current monarchy is supposed to be about. It also doesn't help that Charles is the sort of guy who has all these big ideas for the future of Britain and clearly wants to take a more active role that his mother has. It's obvious that his weekly meetings with Prime Ministers will be less about giving advice and more about trying to make policy. However, as problematic as Charles potentially is, the monarchy will remain secure with the help of two very popular and influential public figures.
No.
Prince William and his associated womb Kate Middleton have a lot of the traditional monarchy about them; this quick succession of children is about securing the future rather than broodiness, but they are two of the most popular people in the country if not the entirety of the Western world. All royal babies are welcomed with the usual horde of fans waiting outside the hospital but the popularity of 'Wills and Kate' is unprecedented. It will be this adoration that so many people seem to have for the young royal couple that will see the monarchy through the potentially difficult Charles and Camilla era, no matter what political meddling Charles sees fit to commit, the next generation of royals will be there to divert attention.
Despite my hope that we'll outgrow the monarchy at some-point, I don't think we'll be rid of it anytime soon. Granted, Charles will be a weak point but with William and Kate being as popular as they are, I can't see us becoming a Republic. The worst that can be said of the monarchy's future is that it'll be a little shaky, Naturally, opinions regarding the importance of the monarchy have changed radically and there's always a chance that there might be another event on the same scale as in 1997, but there's a new generation of royals now, a modern generation, who grew up in the wake of Diana's death and, if they should face such an outpouring of anti-monarchy feeling, then there is no doubt that they'll be about to deal with it better than the Queen or, God forbid, Prince Phillip.
He would shoot into the crowd and recite a dirty limerick about an Arab and a barmaid from Calcutta.
Benny4700
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