[Patreon Exclusive]

 

On the death of Queen Elizabeth, a 20th century figure

 

To our own surprise, we are doing an episode on the Queen of England. How will her death impact the UK when she was basically the only institution that still retained popular trust? Will Britons be made to face up to the question of what kind of country they want?

 

We revisit the Nairn-Anderson theses about how and why Britain had so many seemingly feudal remnants, and ask whether there is still something to bourgeois modernisation. And we look globally at the response to the Queen's death and ask why so many people care?

 

Readings:

The Revolutionary Monarchy of Elizabeth II, Adrian Wooldridge, Bloomberg

The House of Windsor, Tom Nairn, NLR 

'London Bridge is down': the secret plan for the days after the Queen’s death, Sam Knight, The Guardian