The Queens Death: American Obsession
Image Courtesy: Samir Hussein/Getty Images
Yes, yes, the queen is dead, we get it. The news outlets just can’t get enough of reminding us. But what do all of these articles have in common? They are all from American publications.
Notice how, when we refer to the recent loss of England's monarch, we don’t call it “the Queen of England’s” death, we simply say “the Queen”. Surprisingly enough for most Americans, there are other monarchies that exist apart from England. In fact, Queen Elizabeth was not the only queen in the world. Queen Margareth of Denmark is, as of September 8, the holder of that title.
When one looks at the history between the United States and the United Kingdom, the American fixation on the death of Queen Elizabeth II seems a bit perplexing. We did (rather dramatically) secede from the United Kingdom around three centuries ago.
As we made sure of in the 1700s, Queen Elizabeth II was not in any way our sovereign; however, there seems to be more documentation about her death in the United States than there is in the late monarch's own country.
The U.S. isn't the only country guilty of this. In tribute to her death, Australia’s Sydney Opera House was lit up with an image of the late queen and the Brazilian government declared three official days of mourning. The French government even went so far as to shut off all of the lights on the eiffel tower.
Now, imagine what the response of the world would have been if Queen Margareth of Denmark had passed away instead of Elizabeth. Would there have been national monuments being transformed and state-sanctioned mourning? I think it's safe to assume that this would definitely not have been the case.
The obsession with England’s monarchy has a lot to do with years of tradition. For us Americans, we marvel at the royal family because of just how different they are from us. While we have a president who is in and out of office after eight years max, the United Kingdom has one, lasting family that remains as a symbol for the country until they die. And even then, the sons and daughters who we grew up getting to know alongside their royal parents, they remain, and take on the role as the face of England.
Perhaps other monarchies have this lasting familial setup as well, but they matter less to us for two reasons: One, because they do not capitalize on the media in the way that the British rulers do, and two, because the other monarchies did not have nearly as much influence on the world as England has.
Like the Kardashians, the British royal family knew how to utilize the media to their advantage. From the moment of Queen Elizabeth II’s televised coronation in 1953, the world, Americans especially, were captivated by the seemingly fairytale lives of the royals. Weddings, the birth of grandchildren, charity events, every aspect of the British Royal family’s lives we tune into and marvel at. They provide a whole new source of content for the tabloids, and an endless amount of distraction from our lives and our own troubles as a country.
Now onto the world. The Brits, historically speaking, have been everywhere. And I mean everywhere. At the height of England's imperial era in 1922, the British empire covered right around one-fourth of the planet. Had Denmark colonized half the globe, maybe we would be obsessed with their monarchy too.
To us, the royals are more like celebrities than they are sovereigns for their country. Their active function in the United Kingdom is similar to that as well. Though the queen may have died, our obsession with the royal family will certainly endure. So long as there is a royal somebody, there is sure to be plenty of media buzz about what the royals are doing, wearing, or disagreeing about.
Strike Out,
Writer: Jane Miller
Editors: Katie Sharp, Natalie Daskal
