It seemed the whole nation of the United Kingdom stopped in its tracks when it was announced that Queen Elizabeth II had died peacefully on Sept. 8.
While it is always sad to hear of someone who was so beloved passing, many Americans have taken to Twitter and TikTok to make thousands of jokes about her death. Most Americans who do not understand what it is like to worship a monarch can see how that is insensitive.
On the other hand, since we do not worship the monarchy, it is easier for us to see the many flaws of the royal family and the unnecessary grandeur that comes with them. It is not appropriate to make fun of someone’s death, but it is important to hold the royals accountable for decades worth of corruption and scandals.
Starting with the evilest and most shocking of them all, Elizabeth’s third child Prince Andrew, Duke of York who was accused of sexually assaulting a minor. Even worse, he has pictures of him and Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s partner in crime and convicted child sex trafficker, with the accuser Virginia Giuffre.
According to BBC.com, Andrew said he “never intended to malign Ms. Giuffre’s character” and that he recognized that she ‘suffered both as an established victim of abuse and as a result of unfair public attacks.’”
The article stated that “the duke also pledged to ‘demonstrate his regret for his association’ with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein by supporting the ‘fight against the evils of sex trafficking, and by supporting its victims.’”
Despite this Andrew lost the title of “His Royal Highness” as well as his military titles.
Stripping his titles isn’t nearly enough. He needs to be disowned entirely and his family needs to put out a statement saying they do not condone his actions. The New York Post reports, “Prince Andrew was told face-to-face by his mother, Queen Elizabeth, that he will no longer be known as His Royal Highness…”
Is this enough? Don’t the many victims of Epstein and his associates deserve better?
Another prime example of the royal family being cold-blooded, Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon.
You may be asking, who are they? Exactly the point.
The Queen had two first cousins, her mother’s nieces, who had mental and learning disabilities. The two girls could barely speak English and were incarcerated in Royal Earlswood Asylum, banished from the Royal Family.
Back in the day, having a child with disabilities was shameful and made it seem like there was something wrong with your family.
Inews.co.uk states, “They had, to all intents and purposes, been abandoned. There is no record of either woman ever receiving a family visit, according to a Channel 4 documentary into the sisters in 2011.”
To make matters worse, it was reported that “in 1963, the family’s entry in Burke’s Peerage registered that both daughters were dead – when in fact they were still alive.”
For a family who relies on being viewed as charitable and good-hearted, leaving your disabled cousins out of all your riches and glory just because of how they were born is disgusting and unforgivable.
The Queen even stated herself on her 21st birthday, “I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.”
Years later, the cousins were sent away, abandoned and neglected for the rest of their lives.
Last, but definitely not least, the accusations that the royal family bullied Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex prompting the pair to leave the U.K.
The original narrative was that Meghan bullied Catherine, Princess of Wales (Kate Middleton) and made her cry. This narrative does not make any sense.
A bully and power-hungry individual would not flee the royal family for anything. So why do they still accuse Meghan of being that person when it is clear she left because she could not withstand the harshness of her new family?
The couple spoke to Oprah and Harry called out his family saying “nobody from [his] family ever said anything” despite the scrutiny that his wife was experiencing. Instead, the family tried to compare their own experiences with the British media to hers, according to Meghan.
It is not a wild accusation to say that this would’ve never happened to Markle if she were a white woman, especially with their history of colonization and the racism that built their empire. Nobody faced as much scrutiny as her when she had done nothing wrong, and the royal family only perpetrated it and concocted their own lies to make her a villain.
The Conversation reports that the people colonized by the British “suffered poverty, malnutrition, disease, cultural upheaval, economic exploitation, political disadvantage, and systematic [programs] aimed at creating a sense of social and racial inferiority.”
After decades of racism and bloodshed, progress is made with an African-American princess joining the royal family and they bully her out of it.
So yes, it is sad the U.K. has lost someone that they loved and who has been a part of their lives for almost a decade. However, we must also remember that the British monarchs are not benevolent saints but rather, human beings who are flawed and who must be held accountable.
