A Royal Family for the 21st Century
The British Monarchy Revamps Its Public Persona
Once upon a time, the royals reigned supreme over every magazine cover imaginable. But since the untimely demise of Diana, Princess of Wales, and the ousting of Sarah, Duchess of York, all seems to have quieted down on the Windsor front. Does this mean that the royal family has become boring and what are they doing to combat the critics?
Royals In the Media
For centuries, the British monarchy has been peppered with tales of indiscretion, illegitimacy and infatuation. Following the abdication crisis of 1936, the House of Windsor has been known to work overtime on damage control to stop the tabloid newspapers from further tainting the public image of their dynasty. In recent years, however, there has been a constant murmur calling for the demise of the monarchy altogether. Now, the Queen is pushing the envelope to set the media straight. Her message is clear: she’s modern, she’s in touch and she’s not going anywhere.
Re-Establishing The Royal Persona
Following the public anger against the monarchy over the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, the royal family has gingerly stepped back into the public’s eye with carefully orchestrated events. While carrying out their daily tasks, they are aware of being seen and not heard and the headlines reflect this. Gone are the days of toe-sucking photographs and indiscriminate affairs. The height of the most recent media interest has been the childish missteps from the Earl and Countess of Wessex, for blabbing about the benefits of their royal contacts or chasing their own family members to capture their own media footage. Since these follies, Edward and Sophie have stepped back in line and as of recently, been behaving themselves nicely.
In 2005, while Diana was turning in her grave, Prince Charles returned to the altar to wed his long-time mistress Camilla Parker-Bowles. While the ceremony created anticipated media attention, it was unable to recapture the magic that the royals enjoyed during the 1980s. Has the public grown tired of the fairy tale lives of this family? In an era of global economic downturn, is it appropriate for a country where people are facing record levels of unemployment and hardship to be funding a monarchy and is a monarch even necessary?
A Monarchy For The 21st Century
England has seen many changes during the Queen’s sixty-year reign and not surprisingly, its citizens have emerged with indifference to the monarchy. Headline stories of their latest saga used to sell millions of copy, but today’s market just won’t tolerate misbehaving, pampered royal princes and princesses. Through it all, whenever the palace is perceived as being a superfluous tourist attraction, the Queen has retaliated by gently nudging her way back into the heart of her people.
In 2006, the Queen once again granted public access to her life with a documentary series, "Monarchy, The Royal Family at Work". Currently being re-shown on PBS, this exclusive fly-on-the-wall series looks at the Queen in her day to day role as the head of the royal family and offers insights to all the minute details that go into making a monarchy function. Perhaps generated in reaction to the public outcry to get rid of the lavish royal lifestyle at the taxpayers’ expense, this series is carefully crafted to show hundreds of people who are employed behind the scenes in the daily tasks of running Buckingham Palace. In the event of the abolition of the British monarchy, one quickly realizes how many people’s lives would be affected. It also displays the Queen as engaged and receptive throughout her exhaustive schedule – hardly a woman sitting back and enjoying the fruits of her wealth.
Last week the Queen launched the new and improved version of the British Monarchy website at www.royal.gov.uk. With its updated features including links to each of the members of the royal family, YouTube links, historical notes and a great deal of photographs showing a relaxed and accessible family, these revisions are a clear indication that the monarchy is ready, willing and able to get back into the public’s eye.
Finally, there has been a lot of time and energy in recent years put into the grooming of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall for their future. Camilla has become a gracious figurehead of several charities and seems to be enjoying her role. She is well dressed, but careful to not overindulge in eccentricities. Together, they have quietly worked on their united public persona which is a marked contrast to the bitter struggle that Charles had with Diana. Although the Queen is still standing firm as the head of the monarchy, this duo is peering over the heads of the critics and anticipate with absolute certainty of fulfilling the roles that await them.
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