A biographer of Queen Elizabeth II denounced her burial as a “farce” and urged the royal family to “make amends” for its history of slavery and colonialism.
Yesterday, as the casket of the Queen was being brought in an emotional funeral procession to Windsor Castle, Clive Irving declared that the Crown was’responsible’ for the worst excesses of the British Empire.
The former managing editor of the Sunday Times, who questioned the monarchy’s durability in his 2021 book The Last Queen, lambasted the royal family and referred to the burial as a “drug” for the British people.
He stated on MSNBC, “Much of this appears to be a farce; it’s almost like a Potemkin town exercise.”
As one of your guests remarked earlier, nobody does it better than the British, but one must constantly wonder what lies beneath the surface.
Clive Irving denounced the Queen’s burial as a “sham” and asked that the royal family “make amends” for its history of slavery and colonialism.
Yesterday, the biographer spoke as the Queen’s coffin was being brought to Windsor Castle in her emotional funeral procession.
Regarding the future of the monarchy, it is impossible to separate the future of the monarchy from the future of the country; therefore, the condition of the country must be taken into account while evaluating how Charles would handle this scenario.
Irving argues that the history of the British Empire must be considered if the monarchy is to succeed in the future.
This legacy requires something I have never witnessed from the Windsor family in recent history: atonement.
“It is vital to recognise the true cost of slavery to these colonies, which began under Charles II in 1666 when he formed the Royal Africa Company, whose supposedly innocent name concealed a very terrible organization that imported African slaves to the Caribbean colonies.”
Approximately one-fourth of these slaves died en journey, chained below the decks. This was followed by colonial societies that lasted until the 20th century, during which the crown served as the head of state.
Irving suggested that for future prosperity, the monarchy must consider the history of the British Empire.
Former managing editor of the Sunday Times has questioned if King Charles can retain the monarchy.
The institution, the crown, is responsible; there is continuity between the past and present.
Then, he assailed Prince William for his March Caribbean vacation, which was overshadowed by persistent outrage over the Windrush disaster and demands for slavery reparations.
William and his wife Kate were met with protests in Belize, Jamaica, and the Bahamas.
When he visited the Caribbean earlier this year, Prince William, according to Irving, grossly misjudged the situation.
On contemplation, I questioned how a man with William’s degree of education, one of the highest available, could be oblivious of this.
This year, Prince William and Kate embarked on a controversial Caribbean tour (pictured in Kingston).
As the royals engaged with the public, the tour was described as “tone deaf” and “reminiscent of colonialism.”
William remarked, upon his return to the United Kingdom, that he had a deeper understanding of the’many concerns that matter most to the people of the region,’ as well as how the past significantly effects the present.
The trip to the Caribbean in March by the father-of-eight-days and his wife Kate, age 40, was deemed ‘tone deaf’ by critics who said there were examples of ‘colonialism’
Antigua and Barbuda’s prime minister, Gaston Browne, told the media that he hopes to call a vote on the issue within three years. Antigua and Barbuda was the first nation to announce republican transition plans following the death of the queen.
A colleague in the Bahamas has voiced similar goals, albeit without a timetable.
The day after the queen’s death, the Nassau Guardian cited Prime Minister Phillip Davis as saying, “For me, it is always on the table.” He stated, “I must hold a referendum, and the Bahamian people must vote in my favor.”
Earlier this year, during Prince William’s catastrophic tour of the Caribbean, Prime Minister Andrew Holness advised him that Jamaica is considering “moving on.”
They are following in the footsteps of Barbados, which was previously known as “Little England” but whose ruling Labour Party used its majority to approve a constitutional amendment removing the queen as head of state last year.