Tuesday, 14 April 2009

1232 Three Monarchs and some politics

Three times in the past five years an event occurred which devastated and since news today and returning from a shopping expedition to Newcastle I have attempted to occupy myself in a constructive manner. I need to do something and writing is what I usually do to take me out of myself or the situation affecting me, so that is what I will do. Paralysing myself helps no one, or me

The British Islands have experienced three women who, as the Monarch, defined a long era. Elizabeth 1st born 7th September 1533, she came to the throne 25 years later, reigning for forty four years. This was also the era of William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlow, Ben Johnson and Francis Bacon, of Sir Francis Drake and Walter Raleigh.

Many will regard that the most important action she took during her reign was to establish the Protestant Church as the Church of England and that the Monarch was its head, thus severing the power of Rome. I thought of her and of this when considering the situation of Gillian Gibbons imprisoned for fifteen days for a trivial matter, by any standards, except for the extreme of religious fundamentalists, and which I suspect reflects internal tensions within Sudan, between the fundamentalists and the government and elements in that country who seek what the majority of the rest of the world regards as a more civilized approach to human relationships with each other. It is another form of the battle to come between those who uphold these values and the fundamentalists, and we should all become prepared to understand the nature of the conflict and its implications. I can say this as a fundamentalist about truth and freedom.

It is a simple choice. Do you wish to be told what you may think, feel, do, say, write and work, or do you wish to be controlled by others who believe, and how strongly or ;passionately, is irrelevant, that their way, is the one and only way, even if what you do, say, think, feel, write and work at does not affect anyone else in an adverse way? Stalin and Hitler are the two who had the greatest impact on my generation, but there have many before and since. In the reign of Elizabeth 1st it was Rome and the King of Spain

Having said this I cannot fault the approach which appears to have been taken by David Miliband and the government to bring the imprisoned teacher in Sudan home as quickly and safely as possible.

It is of great significance that at the invitation of the Sudanese government Lord Ahmed and Conservative Baroness Sayeeda Warsi are visiting the country to discuss the position after news last night that in response to an appeal, a crowd of up to a thousand paraded in the capital for two hours demanding a tougher sentence. The age of gun boat diplomacy has gone and both were major features of the reigns of Elizabeth 1st and Queen Victoria.

Contrary to popular belief Elizabeth 1st did not set out not to marry. An historical debate concerns the impact of Thomas Seymour on her attitude to men and marriage, Thomas being the husband of Catherine Parr, the last wife of Henry VIII who took 13 year old Elizabeth into her home. When Catherine died there was evidence that Seymour planned to marry Elizabeth and there was evidence of at best, inappropriate conduct towards her from the moment she entered his household and following complaint from his brother, the Lord Protector, he was investigated, tried and sentenced to death by beheading. I understand over 130 individuals have been beheaded in Saudi Arabia this year, although the statistics for the U S A in 2006 are that over 3000 individuals were held in prison under sentence of death and that the sentence was carried out in 53 instances in 14 states with almost half in Texas and where I understand the figure has dramatically increased this year. I mention this because faced with the situation regarding the school teacher in a Sudan prison it is tempting to strike out with a general attack against those whose approach and behaviour we disagree with, especially for governments who need to think carefully about their own country's historical record and those of the countries they have become allies, partners or where they and their countrymen and women do business, compete in sporting events. At what point do we boycott and what the implications of such action and what happens to those most adversely affected in these countries?

The apparent truth regarding Elizabeth that she came close to marrying people she was interested in four times and she rejected proposals, including from Philip 2nd of Spain because she knew doing so would compromise her duties and responsibilities in relation to her own people. It was in later life that she became known for having referred to herself as having married her country. What is said to be evident that that whenever the choice arose between her personal feelings and wishes and those of her country, she chose the latter. In this respect she was not alone then or subsequently and the millions of men who volunteered or accepted conscription in the Great War testifies.

Elizabeth is also known for her defence and development of the nation through economic policy, supporting the East India Company and ventures in the New World which required an extensive fleet and which was to serve the nation well when it came to war with Spain and their Amada. Less attention is usually given to her role in Ireland which retained a predominantly Catholic population loyal to Rome where she was ruthless towards rebellion. She was the only one of the three Queens where it is possible to talk of national and international action ad reflecting her views and inclinations.

The downside to not marrying was the absence of an heir and this is always a problem from ensuring the peaceful transition between monarchs. This was not a problem with the children of Queen Victoria or Queen Elizabeth. I have two biographies of Elizabeth 1st and one to Sir Charles Drake.

Elizabeth was the 7th most popular of 100 Greatest Britain's in the 2002 BBC Poll, Churchill, Brunei, Princess Diana, Darwin, Shakespeare and Newton being above her and John Lennon, Nelson and Cromwell forming the rest of the top ten, Margaret Thatcher along with Michael Crawford is in the next ten above Queen Victoria at 18 and Sir Paul McCartney at 19.

Queen Victoria born 24.05.1819 lived longer than Elizabeth 1st and became Queen in1837 at the young age of 18. At birth she was only fifth in line of succession, and because of deaths and the failure of others to produce a son or daughter she became the heir presumptive with a Regent appointed to take responsibility if she became Queen before reaching legal maturity for the Monarchy. Although her brother who became King William IV produced ten children by mistress Dorothy Jordan, an actress trhere was no heir from his wife.

I digress because what happened to the children of their courtesan actress mother explains the true nature of British aristocracy and present day society and helps that perennial question, what is Britishness? The eldest became the Earl of Munster, one was given the rank of the younger son of a Marques and became a Lt General, and another son a Rear Admiral. And of the daughters one married a Baron, another a General, a third an Earl, a fourth had a second marriage to an Admiral or was also a Lord and the Youngest married Viscount Falkland. Her descendents include David Cameron, present Leader of the Conservative Party and at present likely to become the next Prime Minister! British Government and aristocracy has been flexible about background and human nature for several hundred years. It is only through the development of 24 hour media that what happens in private affects the ability to govern. Is this a good or bad thing?

The young Queen Victoria married her first cousin, Albert and he became her general and political adviser for the next two decades. There were five attempts to assassinate or injure her early in the reign something shared with Queen Elizabeth 1st. Prince Albert died from typhus because of the conditions at Windsor Castle, and Victoria remained a widow in mourning for the next forty years. Despite her social isolation and increasing unpopularity with the people, Parliament made her Empress of India in 1876 thus bringing her to the same status of protocol as the Russian Tsar and the German Emperor.

In later life she befriend manservant John Brown and although rumours of a secret marriage have been discredited it is factual that at her request she was buried with one of Albert's dressing gowns and a lock of the hair of John Brown. The impression is that she need and was provided with masculine support throughout her long life and reign which at 63 years and seven months, the longest reigning monarch to date. Fifty Kings and Princes were invited to her Golden Jubilee and an assassination plot was foiled. Interestingly the service to mark her Diamond Jubilee was held outside St Paul's with the Queen sitting in her carriage and thoughtfully she combined this celebration with that of having become the longest serving monarch.

While her reign was the era of the Industrial Revolution and the creation of the British Empire, essentially a means for accelerating economic development, she had progressively less personal influence on the course of events as the power of the Commons increased and that of the Lords and the Monarch decreased. Her principal personal legacy was to oversee the establishment of the constitutional monarchy. One should not however underestimate the power involved with having the right to be consulted, to advise and to warn and which increases with the number of Prime Ministers and length and breadth of experience. The influence will be in private but it will be there.

A different kind of influence was the extent to which her children married into European aristocracy, thus part of the monarchy of Germany and Russia at the time of the Great War. Princess Victoria married the German Emperor and King of Prussia. Edward VII married a Princess of Denmark, Princess Alice married the Grand Duke of Hesse and the Rhine, Prince Alfred Duke of Edinburgh married a Grand Duchess of Russia, Princes Helena married a German Prince, Princess Louis married a Scottish Duke, Prince Arthur married a German Princess, Prince Leopold married a German Princess, Princess Beatrice married a German Prince. Thus it can be included that the inter marrying of Royalty while the marriages of her children did not affect the joining of different sides in war it is likely to have contributed to marriages that lasted in a public and legal sense whatever was the position in private.

I have two biographies on the life of Victoria and about a score of volumes on the period and is its leading personalities from Shaftesbury to Melbourne and Dickens, to the economic glories of the Empire and the murkiness of the Victorian underclass and underworld.

The third Queen is Elizabeth born in 1926, she is therefore of a previous generation to me but her Age is my Age. It is important to understand that while she resides in the British Islands she is still the Queen of Australia, Canada, New Zeeland, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Barbados, Papua New Guinea. The Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua, Barbuda and Belize, and Saint Kits and Nevis each with her personal representative Governor General. Although they are appointed by the government in consultation with the countries and the Queen, they will have a separate relationship with her Majesty and it not beyond he realms of possibility that if the UK decided by democratic means to become a republic, the monarchy of the day could remain head of state in some or all of the other countries listed. Nor has the position of Elizabeth remained static. When she became Queen in 1952 at the age of 26 she was also Queen of South Africa Pakistan and Ceylon. Overall she has been the Queen of 32 nations as territories became independent with half of these declaring themselves Republics. The Falkland Islands is a territory which involved a bloody war in recent times during the Prime Ministership of Margaret, now Lady Thatcher.. Gibraltar, my mother's homeland remains a territory but has remained an issue between the UK and Spain, particular during the fascist dictatorship of General Franco and it is only this year that steps have been taken to normalize relationships. Similarly it is only in 2007 that the bloodshed involving the UK mainland, Northern Ireland and Eire appears to have ended.

Queen Elizabeth II is also has the title Duke of Lancaster which is why the people in that county toast the Duke rather than the Queen to indicate their unique status. She is not only the Commander in Chief of British Forces but of several of the nations where she is Queen, and she is Lord Admiral in the UK and Defender of the faith in various realms for various reasons. These aspects of her position and role are important because there is a tendency in the UK to talk only in the context of Britain and British interests. These are also issues when it comes to relationships with the U S A and the involvement of the UK in the United Nations, with NATO and European Community.

Watching the childish exchanges in the House of Commons at Prime Minister's Question Time and which is reaching a new low with the Opposition leadership of David Cameron, or considering that the majority governing party has a minority of those voting and even smaller percentage of those eligible to vote one can view the present Monarchy as more of a constitutional necessity at the present time than when she came to the throne. How many Prime Ministers have there been?

There is also no evidence that the Queen has remained consistent in the vow she took at the age of twenty five to serve the British people and those of the countries where she has been and remains the head of state. She also presides over the meetings of the Commonwealth. Over recent years there has been a questioning of the future of a constitutional monarchy in the UK. The main source of the questioning has been the fact that the marriages of three of her four children ended in divorce and the media has not been prepared to allow her children and their children to have a private life separate from their constitutional role.

I was struck by the difference between the attitude of the media to the Queen and other members of her family, including her marriage partner while watching the first of three films on her working life which commenced last Monday and then watched a film on DVD intended for a US and English speaking audience on the life of Princess Diana. The respect which President Bush showed her was remarkable, including being prepared to wear a black tie for the first time at an official reception.

It is noteworthy that three of longest serving Monarchs are female and that the most popular Royal was the wife of the present heir, and in some respects gained in popularity after the marriage ended and with her untimely death.

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