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One Time The Monarchy Had Been Influential, One Time It Had Been Influenced
As the previous article said, the reign of Queen Elizabeth II is characterized for the transition it witnessed in the world in the twentieth century, going from tradition to modernization. However, when Queen Elizabeth II acceded to the throne, she is torn apart between two camps. On one side, the Queen is told to remain faithful to the Royal Traditions, embodying an institutional token that should not take into consideration personal opinions. On the other side, Elizabeth II is advised to modernize the Monarchy by breaking some old customs. For example, she should be closer to the British people. Consequently, the Queen is facing the evolution of the society and understands that the Monarchy must evolve as well in order to perpetuate through the century.
However, if one takes the times to consider the picture as a whole, the influence goes the other way around. To be more explicit, the monarchy can bring a pertinent judgment as well, enabling a better evolution of the British society in turn.
This observation can be illustrated through two events that had been depicted in The Crown. The first event is the Great Smog of London that took place in 1952 and which is depicted in the fourth episode of the first season, entitled “Act of God”. The second event is a constitutional crisis based on an article written by John Grigg –also called Lord Altrincham- which criticizes Queen Elizabeth II’s behaviour, depicted in the fifth episode of the second season, entitled “Marionettes”.
The article aims to explain those two events and how the series introduced it to the viewers.
The Great Smog of London (1952)
The Great Smog of London took place in December 1952. Due to the lack of wind, the cold winter weather and an anticyclone, the pollution produced by the factories in London did not evaporate and led to a consequent pollution of the atmosphere. The phenomenon lasted four days, causing the deaths of 12 000 individuals and 200,000 causalities. At the time, Winston Churchill was Prime Minister but he was not impressed by the event, simply designating an “act of God”.
In the Crown, the plot mainly stresses on the fact that the production of pollution in the air was due to the factories and cars. Yet, the Prime Minister did not request any interruptions in order to reduce the pollution. Consequently, Queen Elizabeth asked for a meeting with Churchill in order to change his mind. The meeting is eventually unnecessary as Winston Churchill discovered that his secretary has been killed by a double-decker which she did not see because of the fog. Nevertheless, the initial reaction of Winston Churchill regarding the smog deeply questioned his ability to run the United Kingdom. As a result, when Winston Churchill eventually faces his inability to lead the country, he asks for the opinion of the Queen regarding which decision to take. On the advice of Elizabeth II, Winston Churchill quits Downing Street.
John Grigg’s Article (1957)
“The personality conveyed by the utterances which are put into her mouth is that of a priggish schoolgirl, captain of the hockey team, a prefect, and a recent candidate for Confirmation.” ─ John Grigg, 2nd Baron Altrincham
In August 1957, the Queen is becoming self conscious due to the released of an article written by John Grigg. In this article, John Grigg criticizes the Queen, stating among other things that she is being moralistic and that her voice is “a pain in the neck”. Grigg is quickly despised for having such judgment over the Monarch. Consequently, in an attempt to defend objectively his arguments, he attends a TV program. Four months later, the Queen makes her first Royal Christmas Speech on television and later on became closer to British people as she organized a Garden Party.
In the episode “Marionettes”, it is suggested that the Queen had a secret interview with John Grigg in order to improve her image, but there is actual proof of the meeting up to today. The series might actually symbolically made the Queen and the Lord met to emphasis on how much the Queen was willing to listen and change in order to keep the Monarchy popular towards its people.
Sources:
- Wikipedia - Great Smog of London
- Wikipedia - John Grigg, 2nd Baron Altrincham
- Express - Lord Altrincham insulted Queen and was threatened with HANGING – but did he SAVE royals?
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During the Great Smog, the pollution was not caused by factories but rather by individual heating, since most houses were heated thank to coal burning. A cold spell meant more coal burning, more smoke, which combined with fog to create smog… I don’t remember the series stressing industrial pollution and cars (there were not very many cars in 1952). I think you are falling in the trap of seeing the past through a contemporary point of view here.
The Altrincham episode is very interesting indeed as an illustration of the Queen’s willingness to modernize the monarchy (despite her personal reluctance) to keep it popular. Once again, it shows the character sacrificing her personal preferences for the good of the monarchy. It is also an important episode because it can be argued that Elizabeth II’s main legacy will be her success in keeping the monarchy popular at a time when the monarchic principle is widely perceived as antiquated. This is a paradoxical situation explained by the Royal family’s expert use of branding and all the modern methods of communication. The recent marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is a perfect example of this.