On the 8th of September, Royal Queen of the United Kingdom Elizabeth II passed away, which began a ten day period of mourning in the country. Before her death earlier in the morning, the BBC reported that the Queen’s health had severely declined at her residence at Balmoral Castle- the royal estate of Scotland. Shortly after the announcement of her passing, the British government began their contingency plan in the case of her death. Among many other plans, a ten day period of mourning was put into effect across the UK and her subjects. Countries like Canada and several Caribbean nations recognized some kind of mourning period in her wake.

After a trip across mainland Britain to Westminster Alley, thousands of citizens waited for over thirteen hours in line on average to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth, lying in state. After a week of ceremonies, the Queen was finally laid to rest on September 19th, at a private funeral among her closest family and friends. 

Elizabeth II had a seventy year reign as royal Queen of the United Kingdom- the longest reigning monarch in the country’s history. At age twenty, Elizabeth joined the auxiliary British army, and refused to evacuate the country during the German Luftwaffe’s air raid, her presence leading a huge morale campaign in the country, which had been rattled by the raids.

After the war ended, she took a tour in Africa, where she said on her 21st birthday: “I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.” Shortly after in 1952, Elizabeth was crowned Queen of the Imperial United Kingdom following her fathers’ abdication.

The passing of Queen Elizabeth started a large sum of various debates, both domestically and internationally, on all different kinds of topics, political and otherwise. For example, one minor discussion brought to the national stage is American media’s obsession with the royal family. This was last made apparent during the controversy over Prince Harry and his partner Meghan, where there was extensive coverage of the event all over various American news outlets. This time around, newspapers’ front pages across the US for several days in September were plastered with different stages of the royal mourning period. Several of the nation’s largest broadcasts also spent as much as nine hours a day covering almost every single moment of the ten day mourning period, which has been a topic of controversy considering that British publications themselves haven’t covered the event nearly as much. 

There have been much more serious conversations that have started in the wake of the Queen’s passing, the first has been on the shape of the United Kingdom. As close to being neutral as possible, the United Kingdom has been on a sharp decline for the past decade, and several British reformists have cited the Tory party (the British equivalent of American Conservatives) as an extremely large contributor to their current state. A large example that has been highlighted by critics is the conservative-led Brexit movement of the past five years- a movement that resulted in the UK leaving the EU, the union of European nations to strengthen each other. The movement was created to protect UK interests (the nation is still largely composed of an older traditional nationalist population) by leaving the international union, however the motion backfired in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has crippled the UK’s economy from resource-loss, with no reliable trade partners to mitigate the damage. Among other policies like threatening abortion-rights and leading carelessly passive COVID-19 regulations, a large number of Tories have criticized the current party leaders, expressing that they do not reflect the party’s true values. Tory and previous Prime Minister of the country Liz Truss met with Queen Elizabeth the day before her passing, just four days into the PM’s term. As both members of the aisle have attacked the recent couple of PM’s leadership, the death of the Queen- an anchor for the country to look to, has been another stain on the state of the current UK. 

Another serious issue that has been made aware of after her passing is the controversy of the royal family’s involvement in the United Kingdom’s brutal imperialism. About a week after her passing, a tweet from an African professor at a Pittsburgh University made almost the top of the trending page: “If anyone expects me to express anything but disdain for the monarch who supervised a government that sponsored the genocide that massacred and displaced half my family and the consequences of which those alive today are still trying to overcome, you can keep wishing upon a star.”

Several leaders of colonial countries have increasingly voiced dissent for the royal family’s history. There has undoubtedly been a large involvement of the royal family and leading colonial atrocities in the 19th century and prior, specifically with the brutal treatment of the West Indies in the Caribbean. Monarchs of their time were the source of funding for expeditions, and these leaders have every right to point out the royal family’s close ties to their brutal past. However, there is a blurred line in the 20th century as to whether or not the monarchs can be blamed for what’s considered the harshest era of British colonialism. Whether or not to include the royal family in Britain’s tyrannical regime in India, Africa, and Australia is a contested debate that is still ongoing weeks later. The first side argues that the monarchy has had no official power in centuries and can claim no responsibility for the work of brutal British generals. The other side of this debate argues that the royal family can be associated with the country’s brutal history, and that the widespread celebration of their existence ignores the role they had in the former regime.

Another topic is regarding the succession to the throne. After the queen’s passing, her first son Charles III became King of the United Kingdom. Many say, at some parts of the Queen’s mourning period, he made it more about himself than the late Queen. Charles’ stance on climate change, which he voiced opposition to, also raised controversy in 2017 during the Paris climate accord meeting. Climate change is just one example of Charles’ personal views, which he has had very traditional stances on, unfavorable to many citizens of the country now that he is king. Further, in 2015, then prince Charles was accused of influencing the government, supposedly voicing his opinion to parliament members before a bill was passed- which is unlawful for a monarch. Going further back in his past, Charles III was the center of attention following the death of Princess Diana in the 1990’s. Charles was suspected of infidelity with the current Queen Consort Camilla which started the series of events that led to Diana’s tragic passing years later. 

Charles’ brother, Prince Andrew, has also been the topic of negative conversation after Elizabeth’s passing. Not only did Andrew lobby for the government not to appoint Charles as king, he was also the subject of a sexual abuse case earlier this year. A woman in the United States came forward alleging that she was abused as a minor years ago, and that known sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein was involved. Prince Andrew was proven to be involved with Epstein for several years which adds serious validation to this allegation. 

The right to criticize the monarchs has been a conversation in and of itself. Because of the reasons listed above, some members of the Queen’s mourning crowd publicly accused the royal family of being full of sex offenders and criminals, which has resulted in a number of arrests for public disturbance. In a viral video during the Queen’s voyage through Scotland, a member of the crowd loudly expressed the above statements and was pulled from the roadside crowd and violently arrested. Several other similar videos have circulated the internet and raised the question about whether the above controversies mentioned are even allowed to be discussed. These arrests certainly beg the question regarding free speech and whether people are allowed to hold these supposedly powerless figureheads accountable for their shaky pasts.

As was the case with the passing of US Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, the topics stirred up after the Queen’s death have taken away from the memorial of an extremely accomplished person, whose feats have been overshadowed by political discussion. Queen Elizabeth Alexandra Mary of the United Kingdom was a compassionate woman who dedicated her life to the welfare of her country. Her position and title is stained with a dark history of colonialism, and social figures around the world are justified in pointing this out. However, the figure herself, Queen Elizabeth, deserves to be honored and remembered for her selfless dedication to her country and position as anchor for millions to look up to.