Fifty years after Queen Elizabeth II became Britain’s monarch, her majesty’s subjects no longer seem to love her the way they once did.
A public opinion poll released Monday showed that although a large majority of Britons surveyed still support the idea of a monarchy, most think the 75-year-old queen is out of touch with ordinary people and no longer “symbolizes the nation as a whole.” Given all the scandals that have rocked the royal family, it may not be surprising that only 27 percent think she has been a good mother.
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Most disagree with her reported views on her son and say Prince Charles should marry his lover, Camilla Parker Bowles, though she should not become queen.
The poll of 3,003 Britons, in the conservative Daily Telegraph, does not appear to augur well for the queen’s Golden Jubilee year, which begins Wednesday on the 50th anniversary of Elizabeth’s accession to the throne upon the death of her father, King George VI. Celebrations are scheduled to peak in early June with an extended holiday and a series of nationwide events that organizers hope will equal those of her Silver Jubilee in 1977.
On that occasion, millions of people poured into their neighborhood streets and partied. Bonfires were lit, and an outpouring of public affection was a lovely sendoff for the queen and Prince Philip on their six-nation, 35,000-mile tour of the Commonwealth.
Times have changed
But that was then, before Charles and Diana, Fergie and Andrew, Charles and Camilla, and Prince Harry and “Mary Jane”; before the Channel Tunnel and the euro, before Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland had more devolved government; and before rioting by Muslims in northern cities suggested that some young Britons feel more allegiance to their ethnicity and less to their British nationality, let alone to royalty.
According to the Daily Telegraph’s poll, 37 percent of those surveyed said their view of the monarchy and the royal family had “gone down” in recent years. Only 8 percent said their opinion had gone up. In addition, 47 percent said they took no pleasure in reading stories about the royal family, and 43 percent said they were “not looking forward at all” to celebrating the queen’s jubilee.
In practical terms, would-be monarchist revelers have found that few local councils are planning or budgeting for celebrations. If people want to do it themselves, they may have to come up with as much as $1,350 for permits for street parties, plus obtain liquor and music licenses and extra insurance. Lord Levene, the national celebrations coordinator, already has quit, complaining of shambolic inefficiency.
“The plain, hard truth may be that Britain no longer cares about the monarchy,” columnist Jonathan Freeland wrote in the leftish Mirror tabloid. “We have, for one thing, become disenchanted . . . . The magic spell has worn off.
“We have come to see the Windsors as a mortal family, no better or worse than anyone else. We now know that they divorce, row and cheat just like the rest of us–if not more so.”
National uncertainty
That gloomy view appears to match the current British public mood. A post-Sept. 11, slightly jittery, economically uncertain Britain has once again put health concerns and transportation at the top of the national public agenda.
According to royal and government officials, there may be fewer spontaneous localized Jubilee events than 25 years ago, but significant events are being planned nationally and major efforts will be arranged to attract foreign visitors, particularly from North America, which recorded a 23 percent drop in tourists to the United Kingdom in November.
The central focus will be Jubilee Weekend in London, a four-day national holiday on June 1-4. On June 1 the queen and the duke of Edinburgh will play host to a televised classical music concert in Buckingham Palace gardens; June 2 the queen and duke will attend a Jubilee Church Service at Windsor; June 3 she and Philip will have a pop concert (her first, and including Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney and Elton John) followed by beacon lighting and fireworks; on June 4 she attends a series of street parades throughout the capital. On July 25 she opens the Commonwealth Games in Manchester.
There may well be cheering crowds and festive street parties during Jubilee Week. But the cynics already are saying that will happen only if England wins its World Cup soccer games that week.