End of the Elizabethan Era

The death of Queen Elizabeth II on 8th September 2022 has been a sad occasion for many, none more so than her immediate family for whom she was not just Queen, but also a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. The outpouring of grief from many parts of the world is understandable, given her unprecedented 70 year reign which marked her as an ever-present fixture in the global public consciousness.

While some mourn, others also understandably have had mixed reactions not necessarily to Queen Elizabeth II’s passing, but to her legacy and what her death means for the future of the British monarchy. Regarding the latter two, some even believe that now is not the time for such discourse. 

One can grieve the Queen’s passing and still have an honest conversation about her legacy and that of the British Crown. One is also entitled to refuse to mourn. Both stances are perfectly fine. 

The Queen’s legacy is certainly a complicated one. On the one hand, many will remember her for her longevity and commitment to duty, even up to the eve of her passing. In an era when it was not common for women to work and occupy prominent positions, especially young mothers, Queen Elizabeth II would have inspired many women to believe that they too can aim for more in a male dominated world. 

However, on the other hand, now is as good a time as any to have that reckoning with the more unsavoury elements of the Queen’s legacy and that of the British monarchy. In the Caribbean, Africa, as well as parts of Asia and the Pacific, Queen Elizabeth II’s legacy cannot be divorced from Britain’s colonial past. 

In these parts of the world, the Queen is seen as a symbol of oppression.

In 1952, the year of her reign, the British colonial administration in Kenya carried out extreme acts of torture, including castration and sexual assault, in detainment camps where up to 150,000 Kenyans were held. 

In the Caribbean, for example in then British Guiana, roughly a year into Elizabeth II’s reign, the British government sent warships to quell pro-independence voices.  

Long before Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, her ancestors were active participants in the horrors of trans-Atlantic slavery. Both Queen Elizabeth I and King Charles II provided financial backing to slave trading voyages. Of course, the irony is lost on everyone that Queen Elizabeth II is being succeeded by King Charles III. 

On issues such as reparations for the descendants of slaves and indigenous peoples, Queen Elizabeth II remained silent. The Queen’s son, Prince Edward, is reported as saying that he was not taking notes when the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, asked him to use “diplomatic influence” to achieve “reparatory justice” for the Caribbean. This is emblematic of a monarchy that continues to be tone deaf concerning past wrongs.

Today, in addition to the United Kingdom, King Charles III is the head of state for 14 countries. None of these countries elected Charles whose ascent to the throne is based on the order of his birth – not on merit and not by the will of the people. 

The time is ripe to have a frank conversation about settling these anomalies from our colonial past. It is not necessarily about the Queen or any individual for that matter. It is more about dismantling oppressive structures and symbols and shredding the remaining colonial garbs. 

It is acceptable for the British people and everyone touched by the Queen’s passing to celebrate her life and mourn her loss. However, it is also acceptable to recall and to reckon with how her reign stacks up against a difficult past for which there has never been full accountability. 

May Queen Elizabeth II rest in peace and may countries like ours find the resolve to turn a new chapter.

l Joel K Richards is a Vincentian national living and working in Europe in the field of international trade and development.
Email: joelkmrichards@gmail.com