Two Week Tragi-Comedy in England: Burial of Elizabeth-II

The Queen has been laid to rest finally after the 6th largest economy wasted two weeks in mourning her. Surprisingly the cost of this futile rigmarole is mentioned very lightly-one estimate puts it at 9 million dollars. That must be the direct cost. Add to it the loss in working hours and days and the cost of bringing the production to normal and we might get a realistic estimate of what Britain lost along with the Queen.

Golden lads and girls all must; As chimney sweepers, come to dust. – Shakespeare (Cymbeline)

England has not given mankind anyone greater than Shakespeare. A decent dictionary of English quotations will have the largest entries from the Great Bard: The Holy Bible generally comes a second but is never close enough. Shakespeare’s words from Cymbeline should have symbolized the attitude of his country to Death of anyone-high or low. Death is the great equalizer; all philosophies tell us.

Still look at the tragi-comedy unfolding in England over the last couple of weeks!

She was 96 and must have been at death’s doors for quite some time. She went quietly as was characteristic of her career. I resist the temptation to see cause and effect between her inviting Liz (Mary Elizabeth: not as merry as her seat is hot compared to the Queen’s) Truss to take the reins of an England in all kinds of trouble and the Queen’s death. Liz Truss has to bury so much-: the Queen’s burial is comparatively simple.

The announcement of the impending Royal Death came on September 8 and a never-ending sequence of protocols started. The Queen had caught the administration unawares as she breathed her last hundreds of kms away from London at Balmoral. National mourning of 10 days, flags at half mast, suspension of all work-the volatile Parliament included-except the banks and the state departments in charge of the prolonged last rites of royalty followed suit. The talk of the beleaguered economy of the country vanished from the BBC which generally prides itself on its objectivity and equanimity. Ukraine was relegated to the back stage. The Royal Family such as the Queen has left was assembled together hurriedly from wherever each member was. TV anchors wore a greyish make up for the first 2/3 days. Media professionals faced the unenviable task of finding ‘highlights’ in the lack-lustre innings of England’s longest-lived monarch. The people of England braced up for an unexpected break from their daily hassle.

Watching BBC for the last week and a half has been like watching children’s comics. Funny dresses, ludicrous headgear, garish colours on men. Horse-drawn chariots. Huge churches. Palaces and unbelievably grand halls. Wreaths, pictures and handwritten homages along the palace fences. The tedious journey of the dead Queen through the traditional routes. The daily timetable of various rituals. Long, long queues of mourners who have no grief in their eyes and are idle to wait for half a day to walk past the royal coffin. Charles-III taking a tour of the country and people vying to shake hands with him. Absolutely ordinary (no patch on Diana) Camilla prancing around as ‘Queen Consort’. Totally lost expressions on the face of Charles and his brother-perhaps they thought their mother would surely outlive them?

All this seems like an exercise in virtual reality-inflating the British monarchy which has no purpose to serve- mourning someone who had no impact on the present. It has been said that the modern world has five Kings/Queens: four in a deck of cards and the fifth in England; yet Elizabeth-II fell much short of that too. She was ordinary without exception: in looks (England has a penchant of ugly queens starting with Elizabeth-I), conduct, idiom. If she had been born outside the royalty she would have passed for an ayah/baby-sitter, governess or a clerk in a small office or a cook in the kitchen of an aristocratic house. She made real news only twice. Firstly, when an Australian prime minister got too friendly for comfort on a tour of that country and secondly, when she talked to her people after Diana’s death. She said that ‘there were lessons to be learnt from Diana’s life’. Perhaps she wanted to suggest that Diana had learnt (been taught?) her lesson in death?

As a student of English literature, I know the impact Elizabeth-I had on British and European history. She founded the British Empire while Elizabeth-II was a helpless witness to liquidation on Britain’s world hegemony and deterioration of British democracy. She also stood by during the decline and fall of British traditions and culture. Elizabeth-I proudly described herself as ‘a woman in the business of man’ and also” I am my father’s (the notorious Henry-VIII) daughter’ as a warning to the British aristocracy and Catholic Church. She supervised the founding of the English East-India Company which impacted world history for next 300 years through brash colonialism. She was not shy of blood on her hands: of her own sister as well as lover. She was made of steel and it is to her credit that the sun never set on the British Empire till the 2nd World War.

Compared to his mother Charles is lucky in that there is no burden of history on him. Both the predecessors of that name belonged to the 17th century. Charles I was thoroughly unpopular with his Parliament and was publicly executed. Charles II salvaged the damage done by Cromwell but, like his brother, angered his Parliament by adherence to Catholic church. This Charles has more trouble inside the royal family. Diana and her horrific death will not easily go away. Worse still are the weddings of the royal with the riff-raff. He stands guilty himself on this. While sex scandals of the British royalty were no news, at least the weddings had preserved some dignity. The generations following Elizabeth II have given a mortal blow to that. How shall such heirs command the (shallow) respect of the British people and the world? The now at rest queen had not added her fuel to this fire.

I was appalled when I googled the details of the Queen’s burial plan-codename ‘London Bridge is Down’. It was shocking to learn that the first such plan was designed way back in 1956, when she had been queen for just 4 years, and it was being discussed and modified every year since then. This is a country which immediately asserts ‘Long Live the King/Queen’ when one is dead! If the burial plans for the next incumbent are prepared so fast, they should add ‘soon die the new King/Queen’.

What overkill of planning.

Reading paragraph after paragraph and keeping track of the codenames was a sickening reminder of the snobbish fuss the British make on things of no consequence. Their democracy is liberal as they do not flaunt a written constitution. But they go by precedent in everything and keep looking back all the time. One such inconsequential obsession is with their Royalty. Now that the blue blood is already invaded and mixed with mortal blood shouldn’t the British rid themselves of this blot on their democracy?

I love England though I have never been there. My England comprises Chaucer, Spencer, Shakespeare, Dr Johnson, Burke, Wordsworth, Arnold, early Eliot, Dickens, Lawrence, Orwell, Caudwell, Green and Le Care and a number of other literary giants. Adam Smith, Malthus, Ricardo, Mill, Bentham, Spencer, later Marx, Keynes are my staple diet. I like the arrogant Churchill despite his anti-India mindset. English Cricketers-Truman, Statham, Gower, Boycott, Cook, Graveney, Snow et al were inseparable from my love of that sport. I respect John Major for his ‘More than a Game’. I was a fan of Beckham till I saw him tormenting himself last week.

I love England for those who established Manchester University in the 18th century by collecting 100,000 pounds through subscription. They did not ask the Royal House to donate. The University duly completed its first 100 years. Still, they did not beg of the Royalty. Queen Victoria sent them 35000 pounds at the behest of a bigwig who enjoyed her confidence. The University returned the money saying, 'We don't accept such small contributions.'

That's my England.

May Elizabeth-II rest in peace. May she be the last member of Royalty to live and die in foolish pomp.

May her people be free of the dead load of Royalty.

- Vinay Hardikar
vinay.freedom@gmail.com

(The writer has been working in the public sphere of Maharashtra for the last five decades. His versatile personality has several dimensions, but the primary ones remain to be that of an established writer, journalist, editor, critic, activist, and teacher.)

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