For many years, perhaps decades, the republican cause in this country has held its breath while effectively waiting for Queen Elizabeth II to draw the last of her own. If that sounds insensitive, it is in fact a testament to the strength, as well as the longevity, of her reign. Earlier this year, leading up to the Queen’s platinum jubilee, I spent a fruitless couple of days attempting to elicit the views of serving politicians who were known or thought to have republican sympathies. Hardly any responded and only one would go on the record. That exception was Clive Lewis, the Labour MP and 2020 party leadership candidate, who articulated the problem of being an open republican. “The Queen is seen as someone who is hard working, humble, etc,” he said. “I think that makes it very difficult for the republican argument to be put forward. But I think when she does pass away, that will open up the possibility of conversations about the future of our democracy.”
This month, after 70 years, the longest reign in British history, that moment finally arrived. However, it brought forth the most prolonged glorification of, and visible public support for, the crown since the Queen’s coronation in 1953. While this funereal fanfare may have been concentrated on the late Queen, rather than her successor, King Charles III, the sheer scale of both the state-orchestrated and public acts of bereavement seemed to reaffirm the centrality of the monarchy to British life.
There was the near total saturation of media coverage, posters commemorating the Queen on every high street, streams of commercial enterprises all eager to demonstrate their respect, the postponed sporting events, the huge crowds at Buckingham Palace, the slow progress of the coffin in Scotland and then the flight – said to be the most tracked in history – south, the heavy air of solemnity beneath which Prince Andrew managed to creep back into public life, the lying in state, “the queue” with its five-mile tailback and close to 24-hour waiting times and of course the resplendent funeral itself on Monday, which was hastily made a public holiday.
