Queen Elizabeth II: A Bagehotian Monarch? | UFM Talks
Channel: New Media UFM English
Date: 2021-07-13

Will Ogilvie, Coordinator of Global Affairs at the Institute for Political Studies and International Relations at Universidad Francisco Marroquín, introduces Catherine Marshall, professor of British Studies at CY Cergy Paris Université in France,  to discuss the question of whether Queen Elizabeth II is a Bagehotian Monarch?

“Queen Elizabeth II embodies what Walter Bagehot believed that a constitutional monarchy should embody”. – Catherine Marshall

Will starts the conversation by asking of Bagehot and why isn't he outdated, to which Catherine answers that he was a known journalist who wrote the book The English Constitution which was a simplify drafting of the constitution and everyone could understand it so there might be some outdated facts but overall he is very clear and doesn’t leave anything out. She explains that the book has two chapters focused on the monarchy, where he states that the monarch has three powers: to be inspected, encouraged, and warned. Catherine explains that Bagehot did not know the monarchy of Queen Victoria even though he was supposed to be writing about it but he made Queen Elizabeth II a reality by writing about her. Bagehot believed that she embodied what the constitutional monarch should and mentions four reasons why the monarch should work: starting with a family on the throne is an easy idea, that person is the head of religion, society, and finally morality. Catherine goes on to explain that the reason Queen Elizabeth II embodies what Bagehot explains is because she was taught with The English Constitution and has kept every word of it and put it into action.

“The power of the documentary was that in some sort of way it put the royal family on the level of normal people but this is not what you want to see from the monarchy.” – Catherine Marshall

Catherine agrees with Bagehot in that people should not daylight build magic, if they want magic to be present, it has to be managed and sort of staged. She explains that there’s no monarchy if you don’t have some imagination left for the public. She questions whether the next generation will understand this like Queen Elizabeth II, who was able to manage to keep the power and responsibility of it. Catherine explains that after Queen’s death, Prince Charles might not have the time to be the king he wants to be because there won’t be enough time and he has a lot of challenges ahead. For a monarchy to go on and be wanted by the people,  it should be respectful of its role and keep the power of the monarch invisible.

Organized by:
Instituto de Estudios Políticos y Relaciones Internacionales 
https://epri.ufm.edu/

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