Monarchie britannique
691 mots
3 pages
The British monarchy and the futureIntroduction
The British monarchy is one of the oldest monarchies in the world; it has stood for more than 1000 years. In the present time, things have changed considerably.
The monarchy has been subjected to Parliament’s control since the Constitutional Revolution in 1688. However, Queen Elizabeth II who was crowned in 1953 represents the Kingdom. Lawfully speaking, she is the head of the state and of the church, but she’s also a symbol of the unity of the nation (McDowall, 2003).
The end of the 20th century and now
Nowadays the big debate is about the future of the monarchy. Even if the Queen had her Golden Jubilee celebrated in June 2002, Britain doesn’t seem to perceive it the same again (www.stclaresoxfordonline).
The monarchy’s popularity is not that gleaming as it used to be years ago. The end of the twentieth century did see some changes with some disastrous events reported regularly by the press.
Some well-known events such as the Windsor Castle fire which raised the British people’s anger when the government announced it would pay for the repairs (McDowell, 2003). The civil list was also a matter of dispute and raised high irritation towards the public opinion. This list was finally ended by the Queen.
However these happenings were hardly the worst, the monarchy has suffered from other calamitous events, such as the Diana episode, from her unhappy marriage and dramatic statements made in public about Prince Charles and Camilla until her tragic intriguing death.
Further shocking news followed with headlines such as “Prince Harry the NAZI”, preceded by Harry’s alcohol and drug abuse literally filled the British press last year.
The monarchy drama yet is still not ending, referring to the “Telegraph” newspaper the monarchy has been seriously damaged by the litany of errors overshadowing wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles. Public attitudes to the marriage appear to vary widely;