A member of the Royal Family finally said something about the disappearance of little Madeleine McCann, a full 14 days after she disappeared. Members of this august family are not known for their pronouncements on the public stage, but it has been accepted that when there is a real tragedy, especially on a personal basis, we expect our Royal Family to give a lead, especially in compassion, care and appreciation of the situation. Despite that appalling tragedy for the family, and the incredible amount of attention it has drawn, it took Prince Andrew two weeks to say something, and it wasn't planned either. He departed from his set text in Scotland to be human. One could be cynical and say that, whatever else he was going to pronounce on at that event would not have had so much media coverage, so he made a wise decision!
The Royal Family is rapidly becoming an anachronism in today's classless world of high tech reactions, individual expressiveness and instant soundbites. The Queen still gives out medals and public honours based on the 'British Empire', yet where that empire exists these days is entirely beyond me. Paradoxically, she is head of a commonwealth which is highly multi-racial, yet there is not a single Black person in her entourage, no Black advisers and certainly no Black staff in her palace. Furthermore, this commonwealth is is weighed down under the oppressive symbolism of an unjust 'empire' that obstinately continues to take pride of place in our language, no matter how offensive it is to certain sections of the British community. There is no move to get rid of the archaic, divisive and racist symbolisms which divide her subjects, despite her important role in the commonwealth.
In the dark ages
The problem with the royal Family is that it has not changed with the times. Members are still trying to apply traditional, unequal ways of behaving to a situation which has long dispensed with tradition. Diana offered a golden chance of bringing the monarchy up to date with current expectations, but her demise meant that her sons offer the best hope of change. In a world where blog is king, there is no place for silence from our Royal Family anymore otherwise they rule themselves out of our rapidly advancing world simply by omission. That could explain why, except for the Queen, William and Harry, their popularity has dramatically declined and only a few people turn up to see them at events. We need a caring, expressive Royal family who is not just there for the tourists, but one who, through its own lead, will begin to justify the £10 million per year the public purse has to supply to keep them in the dark ages.
In its present form, the Royal Family is definitely irrelevant, having the trappings without the substance. As a strong Royalist who has no desire to see Britain become a republic, to me it would be nice to see a leading Family which is more in tune with our modern age, more approachable, more inclusive and far more appreciative of the benefits of technology to getting their own message across; one that is no longer guided by a colonial empire but reflecting a modern society based on respect for the individual, regardless of class, race, creed or birth.
2 comments:
I think that this article is insulting! I am a british citizen too, and admitidly mistaken if you can find any people more tolerant and adept than the royal family. I understand you may find my veiw biased due to my nationality, but equally one could remark that yours is one sided and pesimistic. The vast majority of the British public are satisfied and happy with the monarchy, and I will stand by my veiw that the Windsors are the furthest from irrelevant, unexpressive, and uncaring you could credibly reach! The British Empire, admittidly, does not exist as it did before, but this is no reason for the Queen to stop distributing honours in recognition of her people's acheivements, and to say that 'only a few people turn up to see them at events' is absurd! There has already been a Brtish Revolution, and the modern governtment are the result of that. To say that the royals are an anachronism is ridiculous-the princes did not ask to be born a royal, yet they bring the monarcy forward into the 21st century as well as they can.
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