** as you can tell I wrote this over a month ago and meant to post it on the day of the Queen's Coronation celebrations. Better late than never I suppose!
As today (the 4th of June) is quite a special day, being the 60th anniversary of the Queen's Coronation and all, I thought I would do a little Queen/Monarchy blog entry to mark the glorious occasion. I've always loved history, since I was a small child. I was obsessed with the lineages of the English monarchy dating right back and I loved visiting castles and stately homes and imagining the lives of all those people that had gone before me; their thoughts, feelings, wishes, worries. I've also always been a massive Royalist and Nationalist, much to the horror of my mother!!! It's always been a bit of a contradiction really, since I grew up in a very liberal household, where everyone voted labour and hated the conservatives. I've always leaned to the left and been heavily involved with social issues and had much disdain for conservative individualism and right wing values. I grew up in the working class North, I've always been very aware of class distinction and inequality from an early age... yet I always had the bizarre patriotism and love for all the pomp and circumstance of Royal pageantry!
As a child I loved to watch any Royal parades and ceremonies, and I would make my family watch the "Last Night of the Prom's" every single year and get the Union Jacks out to wave around during "Land of Hope and Glory" and "Rule Britannia"... haha they hated it so much! I'm aware that if you're reading this outside of the UK you might not be aware of what the Proms is! Often known as "The BBC Proms" or the Henry Wood Promenade concerts, It's an eight week long season of classical orchestra concerts held at the Royal Albert Hall in London every single summer since 1895. (Read more about it here). The term Promenade Concerts refers to the popular Victorian outdoor music concerts held in the parks of London throughout the summer season. There are more than 70 concerts throughout the event, as well as other related "Proms in the Park" events in various parks across the country... the season all culminates in the aptly named "Last Night of the Proms" held in the Albert Hall. The Last Night is by far the most famous event in the season, and is where most people get their perception of the Proms from. It's much less formal and the other concerts and is seen as a sort of "wind down". Its always broadcast live on the BBC and there are other events throughout the country where large screens link up live with other major UK cities, so that we can all have a good old sing song together.. and of course Her Majesty is there for the event :)
The Last Night is always dedicated to British Patriotic pieces, its a major tradition for everyone to sing along together across the country to some of our best known Victoria and Edwardian patriotic songs, that reflect a bygone age of British imperialism (and arrogance) are sung by the whole country. Honestly, you may laugh, but I get really emotional about it.... I find it really stirring (which is what they're obviously designed to do)... But I love to wave my flag around and sing at the top of my lungs! the lyrics while outdated and definitely imperial are traditional and make me reflect of the history of this country... they make me proud to be English! Land of Hope and Glory is one of my favourites.... If you haven't watched the Proms version watch it!!! It's a must see... so quintessentially English! You Americans may recognize it when it kicks in actually, since its the theme you use for your graduation ceremonies!... But YES! it is actually a patriotic song all about the wonders of the Britain! (land of hope and glory, mother of the free, how shall we exalt thee, who are born of thee. Wider still and wider, shall thy bounds be set, God who made thee mighty, make thee mightier yet...) - sums up the British imperial mindset perfectly! Click here to watch it... I actually like this one as it starts with the usual "three cheers" for the Queen that we do at all Royal events (hip hip, hooray!)... God we're ridiculous when you think about it! also note the "bobbing up and down"... we're an awkward people aren't we!!! (hehe) The bobbing is traditional too!
The other favourites that they always do are the "sea shanties" which celebrate our naval history (watch).. fast forward to 4mins30 for the best bit and for some more bloody bobbing!. The of course there's the epic "Rule Britannia" (watch) and "Jerusalem" (watch) (in which the lyrics tell of a myth that Jesus once came to England?!) and I vow to thee my country (watch), written around the time of the First World War, I absolutely love it and think it should be our national anthem! Anyway, to sum up.. I love it!...The flag waving and the parotitims has all come back into fashion now which is wonderful. For a long time people thought I was so weird and old fashioned with my love of history, tradition, the flag and high tea. It makes for one uncool teenager I'll tell you! But in recent years, with the recession, concerns over mass-immigration threatening "English identity", as well as the Jubilee and the Olympics, it is once again cool to be British. Many old traditions have been revived and there's been a resurgence of all things British; from tea shops, to vintage clothes and prints, the union jack on everything and good old English food! .... Finally, I'm cool once again!! (hehe)
Anyway, I Diverge... the point is a bit of flag waving patriotism is good for the soul. Where was I??.. Oh Lizzie's coronation, right! The whole point of this post (oops)... hopefully my little/not so little blurb wasn't too boring. So today, Queen Elizabeth II attended a ceremony at Westminster Abbey, where she was coronated in 1953, to mark her 60th year on the throne (three more years and she'll out-do Queen Victoria, who was our longest reigning monarch ever). When she came to the throne a year earlier, it was because of the untimely death of her father, the late King George VI, she was 27 at the time of her coronation and had never grown up with the role of Queen in mind. I'm not too sure how familiar with English history you all are, but Elizabeth's father was never meant to be King, he was second in line to the throne after his brother Edward VIII who is the only British monarch in history to have voluntarily surrendered the crown. Edward never really wanted the role of King, he begrudged the responsibilities and was a massive playboy who was embroiled in many scandals with married women and even showed interest in Nazism prior to Britain's entry into the war. He abdicated the throne in 1936 after parliament rejected his proposed marriage; Edward was with his partner Wallis Simpson, and American women. The two had begun the affair while she was still married, and the proposition of a (two time) divorcee and the Queen of England, and an American one at that, was far too much for the Monarchy and parliament to stand. Edward stepped down from his duty as King and gave his speech via the new technology of the radio, stating; "At long last I am able to say a few words of my own...you must believe me when I tell you that I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as King as I would wish to do without the love and support of the woman I love". Edwards family never forgave him for his decision and he is remembered as having let down his country, immediately after the abdication his mother, Queen Mary, exclaimed "All THIS thrown away for THAT". Two years later she wrote to him: "I do not think you have ever realised the shock which the attitude you took up caused your family and the whole nation. It seemed inconceivable to those who made such sacrifices during the war that you, as their King, refused a lesser sacrifice"
George VI, Edwards younger brother took on the role of King; a shy and retiring man, he had suffered with a stutter for most of his life, and wasn't the epitome of a charismatic King. However, it was his behaviour and deportment during the second World War, behaviour so unlike his brother, that most probably saved the British monarchy. George had never expected to be King, and he was reluctant due to his shyness and speech issues, though his sense of duty pushed him to take on the role. During the crisis of WWII the King remained in London, in spite of the bombings and air raids and the family became a symbol of unity to help Britain through and incredibly dark time. The latter part of his reign saw the dismantling of most of the British Empire, he lost the title of Emperor of India in 1947, after the continent received its independence and also his title of King of Ireland, after Eire became a republic also.His health also began to decline, after years of smoking, he died of cancer in 1952 leaving his 26 year old daughter as his succsor.
George VI
All this takes us to our current monarch, Elizabeth II. Our second longest reigning monarch, who like her relation Queen Victoria, has reigned over decades of change. When she came to the throne in 1953 England was a completely different country to the one we now live in. She has seen countless prime misters come and go, and with over half a century on the throne, she has see massive changes at home and abroad. Elizabeth, like her father before her, was never intended to be the monarch. She was a young girl when her father became King and prior to that had lived a relatively quiet life (by royal standards at least). Elizabeth became Queen at the age of 25, following the death of her father, King George V, after a spate of bad health.
The Coronation
Now, back to the coronation. July marked the sixtieth anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's coronation and like her forbearers she was crowned in a historic ceremony at Westminster Abbey in London. The ceremony itself has remained mostly unchanged for thousands of years and for the last 900 years, it has taken place at Westminster Abbey. Elizabeth was the 39th monarch to be crowned in this historic cathedral. The reigning monarch takes on title of "defender of the faith", since the monarch is also the symbolic head of the church of England (since Henry the eighth split from the Catholic Church). Because of this the service itself is conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, whose role has been the same since the Norman conquest of 1066. The 1953 Coronation was the first ever coronation service to be televised, and for most it was the first event on television, at a time when most households still didn't own TVs. It is estimated that 27 million people in Britain watched the live ceremony (with the population of the UK at the time being 36 million).
The monarchy still command much respect from the British public, despite the amount of tax payers money that goes into funding the institution, and if the response to last years Golden Jubilee is anything to go by, it seems that even in our deep recession- the monarchy is more popular than ever. Things have definitely changed over the past couple of decades, especially since the days of Diana. These days the monarchy seem much more accessible and in touch with the common people. Perhaps it is the anthropologist in me that likes to analyze peoples reactions and responses, and shifting societal fads and attitudes- but there has been a massive resurgence of "all things British". Its progressed over the past few years, and is probably more noticeable to me as I spend time out of the country living in Canada; but its seen in the union jack emblazoning everything from mugs, to t-shirts, sofas, food packaging... its all over the bloody show. There's also be a revival of quaint "englishness", seen in the shabby chic trend epitomized by Cath Kidston and the numerous tea rooms springing up. I think the monarchy as an institution remain popular, especially now as we are in times of massive change and struggle in the Uk right now. Since the banking crisis the UK has spent a number of years in recession; jobs are scarce, things are difficult and people are incredibly frustrated. The economic issues have also confounded peoples frustration over mass immigration to the UK, all made worse by the current culture clash seen in cities and the fear and worry of terrorism after a spate of incidents involving individuals subscribing to fundamental islamic ideology. It feels like we're reaching a tipping point maybe, and I think the monarchy are so popular because they are a symbol of "britishness" and tradition at a time when what it means to be British is changing fast. The monarchy has always been a part f what it means to be English and are an integral part of our national identity. Our traditions and our history are what have kept us strong as a country for centuries and I hope they continue to do so.
<3
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