THE MAKING OF A KING—I Meanings And Functions Of British Monarchy

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32011, 11 June 1969, Page 5

THE MAKING OF A KING—I Meanings And Functions Of British Monarchy

(By

JOHN BAKER WHITE)

Early in 1951, not long before the world realised he was ill and those close to him knew he was dying of lung cancer, King George VI gave a small dinner party at Buckingham Palace. Its purpose was to discuss industrial welfare and youth training, in which the King had been deeply interested all his life.

“The importance of training,” the King told his guests, “was brought home to me very vividly when Edward abdicated and I had to take over almost overnight.” A journalist in the party asked: “Were you surprised, sir, when you realised what you had to face?” “I was very surprised, but of course we were all trained in case we were suddenly faced with this situation. I never expected to succeed to the throne because Edward Is only a year older than I am. But in this life nothing is certain. One has to be ready.” History bears out the wisdom of the King’s words. George 111 reigned for 59 years, his son George IV for 10. Victoria was on the throne for 63 years, her son, Edward VII, for only nine. George V reigned for quarter of a century, Edward VIII for 325 days. It is a reasonable assumption that Elizabeth II has a long reign before her. But that prospect is not an argument against what has become the practice of the Royal family: that of training its members for future responsibilities and duties, defined and undefined. In the case of Prince Charles that training has one purpose. It is the making of a king. Slow Change What is the meaning of the monarchy in this day and age? The process of change from the doctrine of the Divine

Right of Kings, for which s Charles I was ready to die 1 rather than make any conces- i sion, to constitutional mon- t archy, has been slow, some- i times painful, but always con- I tinuing. < And as the monarchy has shifted its ground, losing t power and gaining human t dignity, so has the public s attitude changed. t When a statue to Queen s Anne was erected outside St | Paul’s Cathedral looking down Ludgate Hill at a well- i known inn, some wag pinned | a card on it which read, “Old i Brandy Bottle Anne has left - us in the lurch, her face to-1 ward the brandy shop, her i toward the church.”. And j both George 111 and George IV were publicly lampooned i In vicious cartoons. ] Today such attacks would , be unthinkable, partly be- i cause the monarchy is be- | yond personal reproach and , partly because it has placed ; itself outside the area of con- , troversy in public and politi- i cal. affairs. , Queen Victoria was the last ( sovereign to intervene . actively in party, as distinct ( from national, issues. , In a characteristic outburst after Sir William Harcourt’s introduction of death duties, which she supposed would ruin the aristocracy, she wrote, ”... Most earnestly does the Queen urge and hope that Sir William Harcourt may be able to modify these proposals, which she owns she thinks dangerous." Tradition has made her heirs more circumspect. New Ideal It was between 1910 and 1936, in the reign of George V, that the new ideal of constitutional monarbhy emerged. He had to contend with the Irish Home Rule crisis from 1912 to 1914 when civil war came close, and the difficult situation which followed the fall of the first Labour government in 1924. He established a new type of relationship between the Sovereign and his ministers who formed a high opinion of him. He was not influenced by party labels or class distinctions and he knew a political crook when he saw one. And the two world wars played their part in the development of a corresponding new relationship between i monarchy and people as they shared common dangers, dis- ’ comforts and personal losses. The change which has come i over the British monarchy between the times of Eliza- , beth I and Elizabeth II is ; nowhere more marked than > in the steady erosion of its • political power. But in the . transformation not all power I has gone. The sovereign still i has the right to be privy to . all the actions of the govern- ' ment, to see all official papers and to give advice to the government of the day. Such advice may not be valuable and a Prime Minister does not have to heed it. But the principle is important.

state. And the longer that reign continues, the greater is, or should be, the monarch’s accumulated fund of knowledge, experience and practical wisdom in public affairs. The advice offered to ministers may well be wise. Certainly, it should be free from sectional bias, since by all tradition and training the sovereign is set apart from political partisanship. Permanence lending stability in a changing world and persuasion acting perhaps as a political corrective —these are two essential meanings of British monarchy. But there is a third influence: personal example. The Crown today is the focus of popular affection in Britain because of the high example set by the Royal family in its personal and public life. Sometimes adulation transcends the limits of reason, and often the media of communication are to blame. But the need to look upwards for inspiration is fundamental in human nature and in Britain the Royal family exists to serve as the example. Chores Of State The focus of a family supplies a point of identification since the Royal family shares with all other families common experience, joy and sorrow, sickness and health. And their example generates a respect for the essential values of a society, a sense of security and a common bond between people of otherwise varying beliefs and opposed views.

This is the passive role of monarchy. In its active capacity it does the chores of State, receiving visitors, fulfilling the need for pomp and pageantry, carrying the flag abroad, all the time acting as a symbol of the British people. It serves, too, to encourage both private and public endeavour, particularly through its interest in social welfare. A great many of the functions undertaken by the Royal family are connected with social provision for the less fortunate members of society. Such then are the meanings and functions of British monarchy. They constitute the basic education in the making of a king.—Copyright, Central Press Features.

Practical Wisdom In democracies parties and individuals come and go. But the monarch, as long as he remains alive and sane, is permanent. There comes a stage in his reign when he alone has had continuous access to the highest affairs of