By Mike Kebonkwu Esq
A fortnight ago, England literarily came to a standstill in two unique events, complimentary and opposite: the transition of Queen Elizabeth II and the investiture and coronation of Prince Charles as King Charles III. The latter would not have been possible without the former. The transition of Queen Elizabeth II was a magnificent display of the regal splendour of the English Monarchy. The final rite of passage of the Queen recorded over 500 dignitaries that included heads of government, diplomats and royalties across the world. It was a burial like no other as the queen was buried with the same élan that she lived.
I am not an iconoclast but I do not like the monarchy as a system of government in the 21st Century, whether it is constitutional or classical monarchy. I perceive it as an anachronism.
Now, late Queen Elizabeth 11
Queen Elizabeth II as a quintessential matriarch of England was an iconic figure even in death. There could not have been any such crowd of mourners paying tribute to one individual in living memory and there is not likely to be any after it. The repertoire of logistic ensemble was a moving theatre that could overwhelm the greatest of dramatist. I understand the queen had personal fortune but the wealth of the monarch belongs to the state. This would mean that in England, the monarch is the State but the State is not the monarch. I admire the Queen’s magnificent lifestyle; she was an enigmatic matriarch loved by her people. She was the ceremonial head of the Commonwealth of Nations and she played the role in a dignified manner that did not isolate her from even the hoi polloi who craved to pay their last respect.
The Queen was said to have lived an admirably simple life relating to lowly staff at personal level at every occasions and celebration. At festive occasions she was reputed to personally hand over gifts and presents to her personal staff with handshakes. As stories have it, she even danced with her staff at balls irrespective of status. She held her office, drawing the line on the sand between her ceremonial duties and functions and political leadership of her country. Queen Elizabeth lived a good life and died at the ripe age of 96 years.
Then came the coronation of King Charles III in style. The classic English were at their poetic, and dramatic best. The Mascot used for the investiture and coronation of King Charles III was a bearded immaculate white he-goat with a fat phallus, properly decorated and marching in regal elegance. He-goat depicts uncontrollable libido and philandering. The he-goat is an ingenious imagery and metaphor satirizing sexual strength and energy of a randy fellow. Prince Charles was a jolly good fellow notorious for huge and fertile appetite for sex which partly caused his marriage with Princess Diana, that ravishingly beautiful belle, to crash.
By the way, the British Monarch is the head of Church of England. So anybody occupying the exalted ecclesiastic office should not be caught in the web of infidelity which was the reason King Edward VIII was dethroned. In the monarchy, there is therefore a meeting point between the ecclesiastic and the terrestrial in celestial bliss. In spite of the public misgiving and disapproval of the behaviour of Prince Charles at that troubled times of matrimonial tempest, and the admirable glamour of Princess Dianna, the motherhood of Queen Elizabeth II came out supreme in defence of her child, the troubled Charles in his travail. Now we have King Charles III who is relatively old and experienced and again, no one is too sure of the future of the sweeping ceremonial powers of the monarch and the duality of his role in the complexity of the circular and the spiritual.
King Charles appears to be an unorthodox person with liberal disposition which manifested during his transition even in his state of bereavement. The emotion he betrayed was a combination of fear and anxiety as he himself said, this was the moment I had always dreaded referring to the passing of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
It is uncertain whether King Charles can employ the dexterity of his mother which was inimitable in glamour, diplomacy and simplicity all combined in navigating the complex role of a constitutional monarchy of present day United Kingdom with a vast mix in racial demographic spread.
King and king’s children
The crown and throne of the monarchy and political leadership of the United Kingdom is grossly misunderstood by many. This is probably why some activists who did not have a profound understanding of the role of the monarch want the Queen to take responsibility for the historical wrong of Great Britain during the transatlantic slave trade and colonial exploitation therefore, wishing her a painful death. However, we ignored and failed to interrogate the roles of African traditional monarchs and chiefs who traded off their subjects in exchange for rum and gun powder as impetus to slave trade. No man is made a slave without his consent. Some political elite, the traditional monarchs and local compradors did not want colonial exploitation to end because they were directly compensated and used by the imperialists to subjugate their people. In some places, warrants chiefs were created where hitherto the people were republicans.
This is the same situation that is playing out today as our political leaders voluntarily submit to neo-colonialism, siphoning the wealth of the country into vaults in safe havens and offshore accounts in Europe and America. We have continually blamed others for our failures instead of developing different attitude and employing the skills of our vast human resource that abound everywhere in the world. Our leaders portray African continents as mendicants going cap in hand to foreign donors for aids and loans which they keep servicing at huge interest and cost. The same leaders would be seen in official meetings of global organizations demanding for debt forgiveness.
In Africa, we honour people with questionable sources of wealth and mental stability because they are political leaders with deep pockets and money to throw around. We celebrate geriatric political thieves while the rest of the civilized world mock us as we suffer hunger and diseases associated with poverty in the midst of our rich natural resources.
For those blaming the corpse of the Late Queen Elizabeth II for the historical torment of colonialism, they missed the points by miles. The Queen was not responsible for our inability to manage our diversity. Whether it was the Nigerian Civil War or the crises in the Great Horn of Africa, especially in the Democratic Republic of Congo, we have ourselves to blame for our choice of leadership who are still playing divisive roles today and driving us to breaking point while imperialism and neo-colonialism harvest our rich mineral resources leaving us with the short end of the stick. The lesson of the British monarchy and the Queen’s transition is that you may be so highly place but it should not take away your humanity by relating with the people and be empathic to the down trodden. I recall when a certain Nigerian head of state died sometimes ago, the people were celebrating his demise due to his tyranny.
The burial of the Queen and coronation of the King was equally colourful in display of splendour and common humanity. The Queen was greatly loved and would be missed as one who understood the circularity of the state and partisanship of the British Parliament. I join the rest of the world to bid the Queen farewell for a life well lived to the admiration of human kind. For King Charles III, the people have made their own statement in the memorable image of a he-goat which is also a reminder of the frailty of man as flesh and emotion. The symbolism of the lucky bearded he-goat will be a constant reminder to the king of his travails and journey to the throne. We also wish him well, hoping that he does not diminish the status of the exalted throne and spectre of the British monarchy during his reign. Long live the King!
The author wrote in from Koyen-Hi Kebonkwu Chambers, Wuse 5, Abuja, Nigeria
