With Queen Gone, Former Colonies Find a Moment to Rethink Lasting Ties
In Commonwealth nations with British colonial histories, Queen Elizabeth’s death is rekindling discussions about a more independent future.
By Damien Cave, bureau chief, Sydney, Australia
(NYT) Reconciling a seemingly benevolent queen with the often-cruel legacy of the British Empire is the conundrum at the heart of Britain’s post-imperial influence. The British royal family reigned over more territories and people than any other monarchy in history, and among the countries that have never quite let go of the crown, Queen Elizabeth’s death creates an opening for those pushing to address the past more fully and rethink the vestiges of colonialism.
Many former British colonies remain bound together in the Commonwealth, a voluntary association of 56 countries. The members are connected by their shared histories, with similar legal and political systems, and the organization promotes exchanges in fields like sports, culture and education. Especially for smaller and newer members, the group can confer prestige, and while the Commonwealth has no formal trade agreement, its members conduct trade with one another at higher-than-usual rates.
Most of the Commonwealth members are independent republics, with no formal ties to the British royal family. But 14 are constitutional monarchies that have retained the British sovereign as their head of state, a mostly symbolic role.
On Saturday, the prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda announced plans to hold a referendum on becoming a republic within three years. In Australia, the Bahamas, Canada and Jamaica, debates that have simmered for years about their democracies’ ties to a distant kingdom have started to heat up again. From the Caribbean to the Pacific, people are asking: Why do we swear allegiance to a monarch in London?
10 September
Charles formally proclaimed King by privy council
King Charles III is proclaimed in his absence at an accession council in the state apartments at St James’s Palace
(The Guardian) King Charles III has been proclaimed in a historic ceremony in which he swore with the help of God to dedicate “what remains to me of my life” to “carrying out the heavy task that has been laid upon me”.
In a ceremony dating back centuries, and to a fanfare of trumpets, the King was proclaimed at a meeting of the accession council in St James’s Palace by privy counsellors.
On the balcony of the old courtyard, the mass media of the 1500s – men in scarlet jackets and tricorn hats – clambered through a window to trumpet news of their “only lawful and rightful liege lord”.
The principal proclamation was then read aloud by the garter king of arms from the balcony of St James’s Palace to a public crowd gathered below, followed by gun salutes in Hyde Park and the Tower of London.
The crowd sang the national anthem, God Save the King, with its wording reverting to that last sung 70 years ago, and ceremonial troops gave three cheers for the new king.
Following tradition, the King was missing from the first part of the proceedings, attended only by privy counsellors, and did not witness senior figures from national life including the Queen Consort, the Prince of Wales and the prime minister, Liz Truss, as the proclamation was first read. During this part, the lord president of the council, Penny Mordaunt, informed the 200 invited privy counsellors of Queen Elizabeth II’s death. A platform party, including the Queen Consort, William, Truss and the archbishops of Canterbury and York, then “shall wait on the King to inform him the council is assembled”, Mordaunt said.
King Charles’s address in full at proclamation ceremony
Charles praises Queen’s reign as he is formally confirmed as king
By Andre Rhoden-Paul and Claire Heald
the choreography of continuity
(BBC News) It was a mix of ritual, ornate language and constitutional practicality.
Clerk of the Privy Council Richard Tilbrook proclaimed Charles “King, head of the Commonwealth, defender of the faith”, before declaring “God Save the King”.
The packed room, including all of the six living former British prime ministers, repeated the phrase. The proclamation was then read out on a balcony above Friary Court in St James’s Palace.
It is the first time the historic ceremony, which dates back centuries, has been televised.
King Charles officially proclaimed as Canada’s new monarch
House of Commons will be recalled Thursday to pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth
9 September
Charles III’s first speech: what the King said and why it was important
King Charles III’s first speech to the nation as sovereign contained telling passages showing how he hopes the public, in the UK and abroad, will see his forthcoming reign and how he wants the royal family to operate.
(The Guardian) … “In the course of the last 70 years we have seen our society become one of many cultures and many faiths. The institutions of the state have changed in turn.” And he said: “Whatever may be your background or beliefs, I shall endeavour to serve you with loyalty, respect and love.”
These two sentences projected a clear recognition of a new era, in which he will reign over an ever more ethnically and religiously diverse nation. Charles has for decades shown a huge interest in faiths such as Islam and their related cultures and appears keen to present himself as a guardian of religious and cultural diversity as well as the established Church of England, of which he is a part.
“My life will of course change as I take up my new responsibilities. It will no longer be possible for me to give so much of my time and energies to the charities and issues for which I care so deeply. But I know this important work will go on in the trusted hands of others.”
Here he alludes to setting aside the causes – such as climate change, classical architecture, alternative medicine, youth work and interfaith dialogue – that have sometimes caused public controversy. But he does so in the knowledge that Prince William, whom he anointed the Prince of Wales, has already taken up the cudgels on the issue that concerns him most: climate change. He also hinted he wants them to take on a brief perhaps relating to inequality when he said the new Prince and Princess of Wales would “bring the marginal to the centre ground where vital help can be given.”
The end of Queen Elizabeth’s moral geopolitics
In contemporary terms, she had a moral perspective on globalism
By Andrew R. Marshall
(New Atlanticist) The death of Queen Elizabeth II marks the passing of an era in the United Kingdom. It may also signal the end of an approach to global politics that she personified—an idea of a world brought together as a family or community, one that she deeply cared about.
The monarch was a source of continuity during a dramatic period of change and decline for the United Kingdom. When she was born, her father was emperor of India; in the last year of her life, the small Caribbean island of Barbados decided it no longer wanted the British monarch as head of state.
… The United Kingdom’s global ties will clearly persist in many dimensions: financial, economic, political. The monarch’s passing, though sad, will be just one moment in time. Britain has continuing close connections with many countries in Africa, the Caribbean, Asia, and the Middle East, and those connections have to do with practical British influence and trade. But the sense of moral, familial, and personal connection may now be ebbing. Perhaps that conception was always more romantic than real, but it was certainly a reality to Queen Elizabeth II. The moral sense of the world—what we owe to each other, and what we can gain by seeking goals in common—was to her the highest form of duty. That, at least, seems to be something she passed on to her son, now King Charles III.
The Atlantic Council remembers Queen Elizabeth II
By Atlantic Council experts
8 September
Queen Elizabeth II has died, Buckingham Palace announces
Queen Elizabeth II, the UK’s longest-serving monarch, has died at Balmoral aged 96, after reigning for 70 years.
Her family gathered at her Scottish estate after concerns grew about her health earlier on Thursday.
The Queen came to the throne in 1952 and witnessed enormous social change.
Her eldest son, Charles, becomes King Charles III, and the head of state for 14 Commonwealth realms. He said the death of his beloved mother was “a moment of great sadness”.
All the Queen’s children travelled to Balmoral, near Aberdeen, after doctors placed the Queen under medical supervision.
Her grandson, Prince William, is also there, with his brother, Prince Harry, on his way.
Prime Minister Liz Truss, who was appointed by the Queen on Tuesday, said the monarch was the rock on which modern Britain was built and she had “provided us with the stability and strength that we needed”.
Speaking about the new King, she said: “We offer him our loyalty and devotion, just as his mother devoted so much, to so many, for so long.
Obituary: A long life marked by a sense of duty
The BBC’s announcement of the death of Queen Elizabeth II
The Economist announcing special edition Britain’s longest-reigning monarch has died. During her 70-year reign, Queen Elizabeth II advised 15 British prime ministers, met 12 American presidents, lent her name to over 600 charitable organisations and owned more than 40 Pembrokeshire Welsh Corgi dogs. Along with her consort, Prince Philip—by her side until his death in 2021—she witnessed the evolution of Britain from a declining imperial power to a multicultural country embracing change. The unique circumstances of the queen’s reign mean that it is unlikely to be repeated. The new monarch, King Charles III, is Britain’s longest-serving heir-apparent and is the oldest new monarch in the country’s history.
In her seven decades on the throne she witnessed the end of the British empire and welcomed radical societal shifts. But her profile extended far beyond Britain–she visited over 100 countries, met 13 American presidents and five popes.
Earlier in the day
Concerns for Queen Elizabeth II’s health
Queen Elizabeth II has been placed under medical supervision because doctors are “concerned for Her Majesty’s health,” Buckingham Palace said Thursday, as members of the royal family rushed to Scotland to the side of the 96-year-old monarch. The announcement by the palace came a day after the queen canceled a virtual meeting of her Privy Council when doctors advised her to rest following a full day of events on Tuesday (6 September), when she formally asked Liz Truss to become Britain’s prime minister.
