Queen Elizabeth biographer demands ‘atonement’ for slavery
The historian suggested that while the current royal family is not responsible for slavery, they must atone for the past sins of the British monarchy.
Biographer Clive Irving slammed the funeral ceremonies for Queen Elizabeth II Monday as a "facade" without "atonement" for the sin of slavery by the monarchy as an institution over centuries.
When MSNBC correspondent Katy Tur suggested Irving had referred to the pomp of Queen Elizabeth II's funeral as an "intoxicant," Irving responded, "I actually think I said it’s pageant as narcotic, meaning the same thing."
He continued by disparaging the funeral ceremonies as being hollow.
"A lot of this seems to be facade, it’s almost like a Potemkin village exercise," Irving suggested. "There’s all this regal display of something that, as one of your guests said earlier, nobody does it better than the British, but you always have to ask what lies behind the facade."
Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Louis of Cambridge, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, Prince George of Cambridge and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge watch the RAF flypast on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during the Trooping the Colour parade on June 02, 2022 in London, England. The Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II is being celebrated from June 2 to June 5, 2022, in the UK and Commonwealth to mark the 70th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
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He then appeared to hint at the monarchy following the political trajectory of a changing Britain.
"In terms of the future of the monarchy, you can't separate the future of the monarchy from the future of the country, and therefore the condition of the country has to be taken into account when you think how Charles will handle this," Irving suggested.
"This legacy requires something that I haven’t seen coming from the Windsor family at any stage in recent history which requires atonement," he suggested.
Queen Elizabeth II with President Ronald Reagan at a welcome ceremony in Santa Barbara, California, in 1982. (Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images))
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Irving specified further, "It requires acknowledgment of the true cost to those colonies of slavery which began under Charles II in 1666, because he founded this thing with a very innocent title called the Royal Africa Company which actually concealed a very evil enterprise which was shipping slaves from Africa to the Caribbean colonies."
He noted that this slave trade was then "succeeded by colonial societies leading right through to the 20th century in which the crown played the part of head of state."
He then appeared to suggest that even if the monarchy is not involved in the slave trade currently, the institution is tainted by its continuity with the regimes of the past.
From left, Prince Andrew, King Charles III, Camilla, the Queen Consort, Princess Anne and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, look on as the Duke of Hamilton places the Crown of Scotland on the coffin during the Service of Prayer and Reflection for the Life of Queen Elizabeth II at St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, Monday Sept. 12, 2022. (Aaron Chown/Pool Photo via AP)
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"So although you can't lay the cost of slavery, the human cost of it" at "the doors of the present monarchy or even the Queen, the institution, the crown itself is responsible, there’s a continuity going right through to now," he claimed.
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