Britain is a lucky country, and not just because we have been blessed with the most extraordinary queen of the last 70 years. The constitutional monarchy he heads has become one of the greatest strengths in our country, one of the central reasons why we continue to be a haven of tranquility, prosperity and freedom in a world of chaos, revolution and war.
The monarchy is not a later idea, a symbol, a relic of the past: it is one of the central institutions of Britain, an engine of who we are as a nation, an engine of renewal and unification, absorbing the present in our past, boosting our unusual ability to reinvent ourselves without neglecting our essence. It serves as a bulwark against extremism, against demagogues, tyrants, fascists, communists and awakened cancelers.
The 1,136 years of royal continuity since Alfred the Great have been a remarkable history of evolution, a shift from absolutism to government by consent, from feudalism to a form of capitalism, from Catholicism to a multi-religious society, from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom. in the Anglo-Saxon kingdom. empire in Brexit. The monarchy, paradoxically, given what was before the Magna Carta and the Charter of Rights, now protects the people from power. The monarch serves as a reminder to politicians who ultimately do not have total control: there are forces and institutions above them.
There are other methods to protect nations from extremism or tyranny, such as the division of powers at the heart of the US constitution. But the downside for the United States is the constant paralysis and inability to reform institutions that are broken. Thanks to our constitutional monarchy, we can evolve when necessary; the others have to wipe it all out if they want to change. This is not a naive view of a whiggish view of history: many of the changes that have been made in this country over time have been bad, with wrong returns as an example. But we can deal with and absorb harmful ideas or ideological revolutions without losing heart; the French and the Russians and even the Americans cannot.
Republicans used to argue that meritocracy was incompatible with a monarchy: the great changes of the last few decades, the Big Bang in the city, the drastic progress of the working classes in the 1980s and of the minorities in the 2010s, have shown this. is true. Anyone in Britain today can be prime minister or billionaire.
Crucially, the central role of the monarchy in British life moderates our politics and our society. It drastically reduces the threat of extremism, violence or ideological excess, a quality that the rest of the world values highly about Britain.
A monarchy, with its titles, palaces, carriages and servants, is clearly not compatible with communism, although it can coexist with rather radical left-wing governments. The royal family is inherently internationalist, as is the Commonwealth: complete autarky or isolationism would be psychologically difficult. When military personnel enlist in the Armed Forces, they swear an oath of allegiance not to the prime minister but to the queen: the threat of a coup organized by a hot-headed demagogue is very small.
The role of the queen as head of the Church of England, and the possibility that one day the role of monarch could be extended to that of defender of all religions, also militates against compulsory official secularism. The Queen’s sincere Christianity, her moral language and leadership, have helped break down barriers between religions, made minority worshipers feel totally British, and in a way baffling French and northern legalist observers. – Americans, have helped to enshrine religious pluralism in Britain. . Over time, this is expected to help dismantle both Islamism and far-right sentiment, and to forge a more tolerant and integrated society at a time of mass immigration.
The time horizons of monarchies are extremely long, a useful counterpoint to an era added to social media where attention is reduced, where senior positions are transformed too quickly in the public and private sectors, where ministers go and sell every year and where wisdom and experience is undervalued. Western societies also tend to downplay the importance of the family: nepotism is rightly taboo in educational institutions, large corporations, and the public sector. But in the private sphere, in the real world, family and blood ties matter, and often more than anything else. The royal family reminds us of the continuity between generations, even when there are tensions, disagreements and scandals. When millions of people struggle with atomism, a demographic implosion, loneliness, and the search for meaning, anything that rebalances our perceptions of the good life is certainly welcome.
However, the greatest danger to our societies today is disintegration from within, the idea that our countries are inherently evil, racist and “white supremacists”, that freedom of expression, the state of law and democracy are covered for “micro-aggression” and “violence.” that genders and ethnicities must confront each other, and that anyone who disagrees should be “canceled” and destroyed.
Here again I hope that Britain will, in time, be in a better position to avoid much of this awakened revolution. The monarchy has become a unifying focal point around which all groups can unite without degenerating into identity politics: everyone can feel proud. It is an institution that reminds us of our unique history, the extension of rights, individual and political freedoms and the immense economic opportunity that has characterized British history. No honest reading of the last 1,000 years can remotely state that we are only bad: in spite of all our flaws, all our mistakes, for a long time we have been a beacon among nations, improving and developing before others and addressing injustices more quickly.
The reign of the queen and her deeds expose the criticism aroused as absurdly wrong and foolish. Ephraim Mirvis, the great rabbi, perfectly captured the remarkable qualities and dedication of His Majesty in his special jubilee prayer: “His crown is honor and majesty; his scepter, law, and morality. His concern has been for welfare, freedom and unity, and in the lands under his rule, he has maintained justice and freedom for all races, languages and creeds. “
The monarchy, and the queen in particular, have provided us with an integrated advantage in dealing with the destabilizing forces associated with Western democracies. For this, and for all that His Majesty has given us during his extraordinary 70 years on the throne, we should be eternally grateful.