Young Australians are divided in their support of the monarchy, with some saying the death of Queen Elizabeth II is a tragic reminder of the stability the royals offer, while others see the British monarchy as a symbol of the country’s dark colonial past.
Julie Youssef, 25, lives in Melbourne and is of Egyptian descent. She says the Queen symbolises the pillaging of her cultural heritage.
“Everything the Queen represents, irrespective of the personal attributes she held in terms of being a nice old lady, is the legacy of violence and colonialism across the globe that has touched the majority of people in some way or the other,” Youssef says.
She points to the Egyptian artefacts that were stolen by the British government and still held as a key example of continuous colonialism under the Queen’s reign.
