Sept 8, 2022 The Queen

The Queen is dead, God save the King. 

A sentence years in the making. And all the more bizarre every time I read it and think about the meaning behind the words.

For over a thousand years Great Britain has been ruled by a monarchy of some form or other. Essentially a dictatorial form of government that employed the feudal system and ensured the survival and success of a small group of people – in perpetuity…

Will the Queen’s death signal a new reality when it comes to Britain having a Monarch at all?

Somehow I doubt it.

Will God really save the King anyway? I’m not sure that he cares all that much. But the supporters of the British crown would be accusing me of heresy if they read those words. What is the point of a king in a democratic country anyway? Why should someone simply inherit the right to rule said country? The atrocities committed in the name of the British crown over the centuries does make me wonder how much God would support that anyway…

God save us all might be a better refrain.

Queen Elizabeth The Second will go down in the history books as the last great Queen of The United Kingdom of Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Will there be another? Should there?

The media has gushed over her legacy for the past few days. I will skip that part here. She was indeed a great woman whose influence and class were second to only a very few females throughout history. But in the end, she was merely a woman, a human being like all the rest of us – why should she be any better based on being born into the right family?

Why indeed.

“Tradition” is what monarchists say. But the world has broken with tradition more and more each day. Some would claim the monarchy is unassailable and should never be abolished. Others would argue that it is past time to do away with such archaic institutions. It is the 2020’s, and the idea of the divine right of kings is one from fantasy stories, not the real world.

But here we are in the real world and the death of one woman has created a wave of news and grief around the globe. I can’t imagine how it is in England itself. Here in San Diego the news rippled through the town and in the bars. I met a man in the bar last night and he was shocked to learn the influence the British Crown still has in Canada. 

I explained when a person is charged with a crime it is The Crown who issues the charges. The Court is Regina vs the accused. Regina is the Queen, now when people go to court in Canada it will be Rex vs the accused. Rex being The King. It was very hard for any of us to understand why the courts are still referring to the crown of a foreign country.

But it is steeped in tradition.

A tradition that may never change.

With the ascension to the throne of Charles III, I wonder if those traditions may begin to die.

Will Canada shed the last remnants of the monarchy?

Should it?