Basic HTML Version
3) the right to warn. This is a
neat and apt summing-up. T he
Queen today is consulted on al!
matters of state, and all govern–
ment papers are laid before her.
S he ·· naturally and effortlessly
assumes the role of friend and, if
need be, adviser to all of her
prime ministers.
But this is only one way in which
the "right to encourage" is exer–
cised.
It
goes, of course, beyond
prime ministers to all the citizens
of Britain. In this respect , one need
think on ly of her broadcasts to the
people. The right to warn has been
used by Monarchy with tact and
discretion.
A Declining Nation
The British Crown today presides
over a declining nation. This has
been said often enough before
and doesn ' t need to be overstated
now. But year after year Britain
slides a little farther down the
hill. In March of this year (liter–
ally for the first time in British
history) a British prime minister
had to admit tbat she could
not
entrust members of her own Cab–
inet with the secret details of the
annual budget. Walter Bagehot
would turn over in his gra.ve
because this makes a mockery of
ministerial responsi bili ty.
And so, with decüning national
power, a declining national
morale and the now alarming dif–
ficulty of the government trusting
its own ministers- quite apart
from government servants who
seem to be perpetually on
strike-the Crown has a bigger
task than ever before. It must
maintain standards of honesty
and loyalty that are being every–
where undermined. The brilliant
achievements of the British Mon–
archy should blind no one to the
apathy, slothfulness and increas–
ing inner divisions of the British
community. The Royal Family
soldiers on, its motto evidently to
go on setting an example, in the
belief that sorne day a great new
nation can be re-created on the
crumbling ruins of the old. A
daunting task, indeed!
For neither the Queen, Prince
Charles or any other member of
the Royal Family can single-
June
1
July 198 1
The fact of 'family'
brings the Queen, her
husband and her children
close to the hearts of
virtually every family in
the kingdom.
' '
handedly pick Britain out of its
present trough of moral lassitude,
depression and
m~terialism.
But
their sterling example will live on
and someday, it will be followed.
Monarchy Not Always Popular
It is sometimes forgotten that the
British Monarchy has not always
enjoyed the popularity it does
today. Charles
11,
thai "merrie
monarche,' ' certainly won the
affecúons of his people, perhaps as
much by his outrageous amours as
by his grace of bearing and ready
wit. But his brother James
B
was
apparently a pompous bore and
William of Orange was
i:l
foreign–
er.
Then carne the Hanoverians,
renamed the House of Windsor
only during the First World
War.
Severa! Hanoverians, spanning a
period of well over a hundred years,
were certainly not assets in the gov–
ernance of Britain. Said Bagehot:
' 'The first two George's were igno–
rant of English affairs, and wholly
unable to guide them, whether well
or ill. ... The Prime Minister had,
over and above the labour of manag–
ing Parliament, to manage the
woman- sometimes the queen,
sometímes the mistress-who man–
aged the sovereign. George
111
interfered unceasingly [and] he did
harm unceasingly. George IV and
William IV gave no steady continu–
ing guidance, and were unfit to give
it."
George IV and William IV
were ruthlessly lampooned by the
caricaturists of the day . The
Hanoverians failed to win the sen–
timent of religious loyalty, or the
lasting affection of the powerful
landed aristocracy.
Perhaps the only popular per–
formance of the early Hanover–
ians was that of George
Il ,
who
fought gallantly at Dettingen.
When his horse insisted on bolt–
ing in the wrong direction, he dis–
mounted and said, "At least my
legs won't run away with me."
Queen V ict oria
Even Queen Victoria went
through a long period of unpopu–
larity, perhaps as a result of what
amounted to almost total retire–
ment after the death of Prince
Albert in
186l.
Then in
1863
she
grievously offended many of the
public by appearing in deep
mourning at the wedding of her
son and heir.
In fact , it was only in the reign
of George V that the British
Monarchy began to establish its
present popularity. The King was
not charismatic, but a great trier.
He endeared himself by renaming
the Royal House "Windsor" after
tha_t most English of castles. Once
he refused medicine on his
sickbed by asking, "Nurse, am
1
King of England, or am
J
not?"
The late Duke of Windsor's
short reign was a severe setback,
and it was only under his brother,
George VI, that the Crown con–
solidated the tradition set by
George V of selfless service to the
whole community. This shy,
physically delicate man
con–
quered
his stammer and sense of
in security and stood with his
people in war. He paved the way
for his immensely more glamor–
ous and extroverted daughter to
become the model Monarch of
British history.
The British Monarchy has nev–
er been so popular as it is
today- except, perhaps, for a few
short weeks in
1660,
when parlia–
mentary rule was swept away and
the fountains of London, alleged–
ly, flowed with wine.
A Truly United Royal F amily
One of the greatest advantages
that Prince Charles has enjoyed
has been to belong to a truly
23