Hello and welcome to How to Take Over the World, where today I will be breaking down the life of Elizabeth the second, the recently deceased Queen of England, and Queen Elizabeth. The second is the most different character I will have covered. She conquered, Nolans started, no businesses, invented nothing.

New climbed, no ladders, created no art. She's the only subject of how to take over the. Who reminds me of my grandma

and if her accomplishments are so different, , from the other people that we've studied on this show, why talk about her? For me, it's because I'd like to out her legacy in my own.  I like to cast a wide net on social media. I like to see what everyone is saying, and within hours of her death, there were those on the far left who are singing Ding Dong, The Witch is dead.

According to them, Elizabeth II was the leader of a brutal empire that exploited and murdered across the entire world on every continent.  And then there were those on the far right who also didn't have good things to say about her. But this time, because she had overseen the dismantling of the British Empire,

she had brought to an end this glorious thing that had, you know, the son never set on the British Empire until Elizabeth II came along, right? .

So, I'm very intrigued by this contradiction, which was she, Is she a symbol of colonization or decolonization? And in either case, did she have anything to do with it?

Did she actually wield any power? If so, how? And if not, why are we paying attention to her life?  So let's dig into the life of Elizabeth ii, Her impact and her legacy.  But first, let's hear a word from our sponsors. 📍

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Secure your legacy work with the best checkout, tiny capital. 📍    Elizabeth was never supposed to be Queen.  She was born on the 21st of April, 1926, and at the time, her grandfather, King George the fifth was the.  Growing up, she called him Grandpa England, which I just love. Elizabeth was never supposed to be queen because her father was never supposed to be king. He was born second in line to the throne.

His older brother, Edward, was first in line, and in fact, when George the fifth died in 1936, Edward did indeed become king. But there were a couple problems with Edward. The first is that he was a notorious philander, a very common pastime for British royalty. He had begun an affair with an American woman named Wallace Simpson.

Simpson was twice divorced and was well known as a socialite and partier, and also seen as ,  a woman of ill repute, shall we say? This is a family friendly show, but I think, you know what I mean. Uh, she wasn't exactly a professional, but um, she wasn't an amateur either. So when Edward made clear his intention to marry this woman, Wallace Simpson, the British Public Press and the Royal establishment had a collective.

Edward was a philander. Okay. , that's not very unexpected honestly, for British royalty.  It wasn't viewed as a positive thing, but it certainly viewed as forgivable as an adolescent phase that up and coming princes are allowed to work through. And there is sort of a royal script for how a young prince grows out of this adolescent phase.

He marries the innocent young version, signifying that he has left this all behind. And Wallace Simpson was not exactly an innocent young version. She was also not British, let alone of royal stock.

So this is not someone that anyone could see being the Queen of Great Britain. The official narrative is that this is why King Edward the eighth advocated the throne. He basically stepped down as king in order to be with this woman.  And I do think that was a big part of it, but I do think there is another reason,

edward had very right wing views. He was at least sympathetic to fascism, and it's probably not wrong to describe him as an outright fascist, and he wasn't just passively fascist. He made an early indication in his reign that he intended to be an active and potentially politically involved king.

Now, let me just say that this is 1936, right? And fascism was not the fringe view that it is today. In the 1930s, many normal Brits and Americans and people from all over the. Would describe themselves as fascist. It wasn't exactly a mainstream view, but it didn't make you a pariah in polite society the way it does today.

Nevertheless, like I said, not mainstream and certainly not with the inte genia in England, , and not with the press.

And so this is 1936, the year that Hitler reoccupied the Rhineland and host the Summer Olympics in Berlin. It's hugely embarrassing to the British inte Genia, who are mostly, you know, communist sympathetic at the time. Um, some might say they still are to have a fascist king at this moment.

In 1936, well, just six months after his ascension to the throne, a man jumped out of a crowd with a loaded pistol and attempted to assassinate Edward.

The wood. Be assassin was subdued by bystanders and the plot failed. The wood Be assassin was soon revealed to be an I five informant.

M i five is the British Domestic Intelligent Service, basically the British fbi, and it should be noted that the man only served 12 months in jail.  For an attempted assassination of the king. Now, of course, at the time, m I five claimed that this was just happenstance that he was supposedly a spy working with the Italians, , and that this man was a double agent and reporting all his findings to m i five, but he had gone rogue all of a sudden and not reported.

This assassination request from the Italians. He hadn't reported it to m i five. Well, just two years ago. In 2020, new documents were released that demonstrated that he had told m I five all about the assassination plot multiple times, and they had done absolutely nothing about it. They had completely ignored the information, even though this was a known informant to them who?

Worked with frequently. , this doesn't look good. And historian Alexander Larman said about this new information, , in 2020 quote,  it is entirely possible that m i five were aware of the planned attempt and were happy to let him assassinate Edward, thereby removing an internationally embarrassing monarch with believed Nazi sympathies from the throne.

And I don't think it's a very far jump from there to say that m i five may have orchestrated the intent themselves. I mean, it doesn't really make sense to me why the Italians would want to assassinate King Edward when at the time Mo Salini was the leader of  the Italian government, it, it was a fascist country at the time.

So why would they want to kill, uh, the most, not.  You know, fascist sympathetic monarch in the world and doesn't make sense to me.

But so whatever the, the, the information indicates that  the British Security services were at least turning a blind eye and may have actively been orchestra.  An attempted assassination of the king. So, look, Edward stated that the reason he abdicated was because of Wallace. Simpson. There really were negotiations to see if he could remain king and marry her.

There are good reasons to believe that it was indeed the reason he abdicated as king.

But  when you have good reason to believe that your own intelligence service might be trying to assassinate you, or at least might be allowing it to happen,  that might be a catalyst to want to step down as king. So, , I do think there is that element of as well, but for whatever reason, uh, with Edward Abdicating,  his younger brother Albert, who was Elizabeth's father, comes to the throne. This happens when she is 10 years old.  . Now, Elizabeth's childhood had in many ways been idyllic. She hadn't grown up in a palace. She did grow up in a mansion. She was still royalty, but not in an actual palace. , she loved the outdoors and she was able to spend considerable time outdoors.

So she kind of had this sweet spot where,  she was royalty, so she had all the perks and privileges of being royalty,  but without many of the burdens that would be placed on some who were actually expected to drop as royalty, she was educated at home under the supervision of her govern.

And surrounded by accomplished tutors. And she was educated well. Though her mother, who was sort of an old school Scottish aristocrat, tended to emphasize history, literature, and music, and tried to dissuade education in what she considered to be the more masculine subjects like math and science. And throughout her life, occasionally Elizabeth would demonstrate, , sometimes surprising ignorance of, uh, some of these more hard science subject.

She was a precocious girl and well liked. She was always her grandfather's favorite, and even Winston Churchill was very impressed by the young girl when he met her, when she was very young.  So she's living this idyllic, carefree childhood outta the public eye, having a great time outdoors, loving nature.

But her carefree existence comes to an end when her uncle steps down

with only a younger sister and no brothers. She was now the presumptive heir to the.  There's a famous exchange where she's talking to her sister Margaret, and Margaret says, You're gonna be the queen now. And Elizabeth says, one day. And Margaret says, Poor you.  And I don't think this was sour grapes.

I think they viewed the queenship as a genuine burden.  Elizabeth's first public duty came in 1940 when she was 14 years old. This was during the Blitz when Germany was bombing London. She gave this radio broadcast the comfort Children across England.  And you can listen to a snippet here to hear what she sounded like as a 14 year old trying to comfort other children throughout Great Britain

In 1945, as the war had progressed and was coming closer to drawing to a close, she joined the military as a.  And this was definitely a publicity stunt, but it was also an important display that the Royal family was in it together with the British public.

Later in 1945, on May 8th, the Allied Powers celebrated Victory Day. Nazi Germany had officially been defeated, and the people of England flock to the streets in mass to celebrate.  Elizabeth and her sister Margaret were allowed to sneak out and join the celebrations on the streets with their caps pulled low to avoid recognition.

She later said, quote, I remember lines of unknown people linking arms and walking down White Hall. All of us just swept along on a tide of happiness and relief.

I think it was one of the most memorable nights of my life.  It was one of the most memorable moments of her life because it was one of the few moments when she could actually.  A part of the public, a part of a crowd, that she could feel unknown. And as I studied and, and read more about the life of Elizabeth, I've kind of been struck by this sense of isolation.

Like she was a caged animal  and obviously she was in one of the most beautiful cages you can imagine, but caged nonetheless. And I think her recollection of ve day demonstrates that. And it was so memorable to her because, It was the only day that she would have like that in her life, which is pretty remarkable to me.

I don't think Elizabeth was naive to what she was sacrificing when she signed up to be Queen,  but she believed strongly in duty and she thought this sort of royal isolation was a part of the job. And so, you know, she, uh, in a classic English fashion, stiff up her lip.

She wore it. She, uh, and she, she wore it. Well. She, she never complained about it.  But it's something that you can kinda see throughout her life.

Around this time, she begins getting serious with a foreign royal and distant cousin named.  They had met when she was 13 and like I said, he was foreign and so, uh, he was out of the country, but they wrote many letters to one another over the years. And now the romance began in earnest.  Well, the firm was not happy about this. Romance, uh, was not happy about Philip and the firm is the professional bureaucracy around the royal.

It's sometimes also called the royal institution or the institution. They were not happy with this relationship because it was a lopsided match in many ways in terms of money, titles and prestige.  Phillip was a foreigner with no property, limited financial means, and to boot, he was German, which was not the best thing you could be in the wake of World War ii,  

but Elizabeth was young and in love and didn't particularly care about the opinions of the firm. So in July of 1947, when Princess Elizabeth was 21 years old, the two are engaged. They are married in November of that year. The wedding was beautiful and elegant, but humble. Maybe a little more subdued than usual by the standards of British royalty because post-War Britain was still suffering the consequences of the.

Rationing was still in effect, and it would've been unseemly to have had two extravagant of a wedding in that environ.  

But the wedding was really well done. It really managed to kind of split the middle. Uh, it avoided a lot of criticism and not only avoided criticism, but was a really a popular success.

Provided some much needed escapism for the British public in what was an extremely difficult economic environment. And it managed to provide them that without seem.   out of touch or too opulent.  A little under a year after their marriage, Elizabeth gave birth to their first child, Charles, and two years later she gave birth to their second child, Anne.

But soon after this, some marital problems began with Philip. He tried to involve himself more in royal business. You know, his primary role  is at this time, the queen's cons.  In other words, he was a stay-at-home husband. And that was a little emasculating, especially in the 1950s. So he wanted to be treated more as a contributor, perhaps an advisor to the Queen,  to sit in her meetings and counsels to offer his advice and to take on some more royal duties.

But this attempt was rebuffed by Queen Elizabeth, who felt that the burden of the crown was hers alone.  And this caused tension early in their marriage though. How much tension is a matter of debate? Philip always said that it wasn't that big of a deal.  Others said that it was. Philip did get some reprieve when he was assigned to active duty with the Royal Navy.

At least he could do some good by being a model public service. And in addition, in the Navy, he sort of outside the realm of the royals. He's not being constantly reminded of his subordinate relationship to his.  So he's stationed in Malta and then sails around from there. He's got few responsibilities and a lot of free time.

So what does he do  well, that favorite pastime of British royals since time in Memorial. He gets around to checking in with the local women, seeing what they're doing.

Eventually Phillips Philandering becomes public knowledge. Elizabeth and the kids visit him for months at a time, and Malta to kind of, you know, try and keep a lid on this.

But ultimately he's brought home to save the royal family, and Elizabeth in particular from further embarrass.

Phillip and Elizabeth were given the chance to present Unity in their relationship when they were sent on a royal visit to Africa in February of 1952.

There were a few stated reasons for going to Africa, including recreation site, seeing, uh, Safari, but also because there had been some unrest in Kenya. So it was kind of a.  Vacation slash political visit,  but only six days after arriving, they received news that Elizabeth's father, King George had passed away.

It's actually Prince Philip who found out first from a local newspaper, and he breaks the news to Elizabeth. She was stoic, but obviously saddened.  No one saw her shed a tear  which was kind of her mo.  Again, she kinda represented that very British stiff upper.  They cut the trip short and she comes back to England as soon as possible where she immediately starts acting in the capacity of Queen.

Now, there's a reason that I brought up her uncle's attempted assassination and subsequent resignation, and that's the show, the extent to which British Monarchs had been removed from power.  In fact, I would say they were sort of hermetically sealed off from power. There were strong safeguards in place to make sure that they didn't exercise anything like actual power or sovereignty.

And that is still true. And so that would kind of be a theme of Elizabeth's reign. I think the fact that she didn't truly rule in any real sense of that word, the decline. The British monarchy basically began with Charles, I first and the English Civil War back in 1640.  It then took another big hit with something called the Glorious Revolution, and finally it was really Elizabeth's father or grandfather who was the first purely symbolic king of England,  depending on who you ask.

But that was really when the transition was happening from what you might call a Mostly ceremonial, mostly symbolic king to an entirely ceremonial or symbolic king.  So that is to say whatever impact Elizabeth wanted to make, she would have to do it largely through symbols, pageantry, and tradition, the tools that were available to her.

So her coordination was an extremely important event

the first thing she had to do was decide her name. Monarchs typically choose a name to rule under when they ascend to the throne. So for example, her father was named Albert, but ruled as King George the sixth. In part, I think he did this to stress the continuity with his father, King George, the fifth, especially after the tumultuous and short reign of his brother.

So the option was there for her to take a new name, but Elizabeth decides to take her own name and this could be seen as grandiose since the first Queen. Elizabeth was one of the most powerful and important British monarchs ever, but I don't think it came across that way, and I don't think she intended it that way.

When her secretary asked what name she'd rule under, she replied, quote my own. Of course. What else? And. I think that's how she meant it. I think what actually communicated was a lack of pretension, a sort of groundedness that I'm gonna rule under my own name.

Elizabeth is my name, and I'm still Elizabeth, I'm still Jenny from the block.

She also needed to decide on her last name. She belonged to House Windsor and her husband belonged to House Mount Batten.

Now there was some precedent for a queen taking her husband's name, her great, great grandmother.

Queen Victoria  married a German Prince Albert, who was of house Sax, Coberg and Gotha. And their children were of house sax Coberg, Gotha, which changed to Windsor in World War I because it sounded too German while they were fighting war with Germany.

So the question was, would her children. Stay House, Windsor,  uh, or would she be like Queen Victoria and become house Mount Baton? And she decided that they would stay House Windsor.  Phillip considered this another slight, and he complained. Quote, I'm the only man in the country not allowed to give his name to his own children,  

but Elizabeth is someone for whom history was always very, I. House Windsor sounded British in people's minds. It was the Royal House of Great Britain. It carried a lot of positive connotations because of Elizabeth's father and grandfather, and she wasn't willing to throw that all away.

So she decided to upset her husband instead of the British public, and, uh, and go forward with her name.

Elizabeth's coronation ceremony was a huge deal. Hundreds of thousands of people lined the route to Westminster a and more than 20 million people watched the ceremony on television,

the actual coordination ceremony itself was not televised as it was considered a religious ceremony, and therefore, two sacred to be shown on television.

But everything else around the procession and all the pomp and circum. Was shown.

And what's remarkable to me is how grounded the ceremony was in tradition.  This is someone for whom, you know, the monarchy was changing and the British Empire was ending. , the British Commonwealth was changing, the world was changing, and it would've been easy for her to change the ceremony a little bit and maybe, downplay it a little bit. Tone it, tone it down just a tiny bit.  Um, but she rode in a gilded coach, which was more than 200 years old. She carried all the regalia of the monarch, including the crown, the cep, and the orb.  She used the stone of stone, which was the stone that was taken from Scotland and like a, a sign of, you know, England's superiority over and subjection of Scotland.

And I think, you know, obviously she was not the type of person to try and lured her power over others, but for her, I think it was just very important to be rooted in traditions. So she wanted to carry out all the traditional  ceremony of becoming a monarch

of the United Kingdom. And so on the 2nd of June, 1952, she was asked, Do you solemnly promise and swear to govern the people of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland? And she replied, I solemnly promise so to do.  And with that, at the age of only 27, Elizabeth became Elizabeth the Second.

By the grace of God of Great Britain, Ireland, and the British dominions beyond the seas Queen defender of the faith,  the first thing she does is go on a tour of the Commonwealth, and this is her chance to establish what her vision would be for the United Kingdom and for the monarchy. Now, at this time, decolonization was in full swing.

The UK was broke following World War II and reliant on the United States, which was vehemently opposed to colonialism, and I think the British public was also tired of colonialism, or at least certainly not willing to fight for its continued existence in the face of American opposition.

So Elizabeth goes out and makes the case for a new kind of commonwealth, one that was to quote her an entirely new conception, built on the highest qualities of the spirit of.  Friendship, loyalty and the desire for freedom and peace.  In other words, it was to be almost a fraternity of nations. Now, as I pointed out, this was already the direction things were headed.

She could have come out as a committed imperialist and tried to lead some sort of public outcry to maintain their few remaining imperial possessions, or maybe even, I guess, clawback, those that had been lost.  But it's difficult to imagine that that would've done anything to stop the inevitable.

And all she would've done in the process, I think is discredit the British monarchy and sort of highlight its weakness. You know, she'd come out and uh, and said, you know, we're vehemently opposed to decolonization and.  , , the United Kingdom, Great Britain, , Decolonize anyway, but sort of discredits their, their power and prestige.

So I think she's doing a smart thing by going around and essentially cheering as Britain's overseas territories, solely spin out of British orbit and into new independent nations.  This is especially true in Africa, where she had very friendly relations with black natives at a time when the minority white governments were still trying to maintain.

And so her going around and kind of hobnobbing was some of these black leaders of his countries,  was seen by many white Africans as a betrayal, but was popular on TV back in Britain and with newspapers, and of course with most black Africans in the British territories.

Of course, the queen still attended to matters of state during this time,  she met with other heads of state. She met with every US president from Truman until Biden, which is pretty remarkable to think about. Uh, except for Linda B. Johnson, I believe. She didn't meet with him, but she met with all the other presidents.

She answered letters, cut ribbons, spoke at charities, fundraisers, grand openings, and, and all that sort of thing. Her reputation in performing all of these function. Was that she worked very hard and very quickly she was known as a very fast reader and dictator,  meaning dictating,  letters.

And it was no small task for her secretaries and assistants to be able to keep up with her. So she was a, a very bright woman, , and, , a very effective worker. I think, you know, she would've been a competent leader whether she had been born queen or not.  Over the years, Queen Elizabeth II had two more children, and family becomes a very important theme of her reign in some ways.

She replaced the idea of a singular important monarch with the idea of the royal family,

an ideal loving family that was supposed to showcase the best elements of British culture and British values. I think of it almost as.

A living, walking museum to Britishness. The Englishness really  

the Queen's husband Phillip, was instrumental in this process. He was one of the people pushing for the royal family to open up somewhat and let the public in. They allowed documentary crews to come in and film everyday life of the royal family.

Some complained that this removed the mystique of the queen, which it probably did. But it also made the royal family seem more relatable.  .

They were perhaps less revered, but more loved after this change in approach.  You can see Elizabeth herself sort of outlining this approach in 1957 during the Queen's address, when she sets the stage for this new kind of mon.

The pinnacle of this rosy picture of the royal family occurred in 1981 when her son Charles, married Princess Diana.  Diana was an icon, very beloved, and their wedding was a beautiful opulent affair highlighting familial and national unit.

While projecting beauty and grandeur, the public was enthralled by the wedding and further enthralled. When in the 1980s, Diana gave birth to Princess William and Harry.  So the 1980s were generally speaking, a decade of success and public adoration for the royal family, but unfortunately, it was not to last.

1992 was described by Elizabeth as an Anis Harus, a disastrous year.

Princess Diana's marriage with Prince Charles broke up in that year, and she published a tell all memoir that revealed an unflattering picture of the royal family. Both Diana and Charles had affairs exposed very publicly.  Her other son, Prince Andrew also previously announced his intention to separate from his wife and Elizabeth's daughter, Princess Anne, separated from her husband.

So I mean, what are the chances of that in a single year? Three of your four children separate from their spouse? And then to add to it, there's a fire at Queen Elizabeth's favorite Castle Windsor cast.  So, yeah, 1992, what a year. I remember when I got broken up with and fired within 24 hours and I thought my life was bad.

That doesn't even compare to 1992 for Queen Elizabeth.

Now. All these divorces amongst her children weren't finalized until 1996, and it was a minor scandal when she, The queen approved these divorces since, you know, she's the head of the Church of England and the Church of England was officially opposed to divorces in these circumstances.  But it wasn't that big of a deal. It wasn't that big of a scandal when she did it. What was a big scandal was in 1997, , when Princess Diana died,  in a, in a car crash. , the Queen's reaction to Diana's death became a.  It was very controversial because at first she seemed not to react. She didn't fly the flags to have staff.

She doesn't issue a statement, doesn't leave her summer home at Bellor, doesn't really do anything.

And the public is outraged over this. Diana, despite her many issues, and she did have some issues, uh, but she was very beloved. She was fashionable, she was good looking. Uh, she was relatable.

And so it felt like a s. The Queen wouldn't even really acknowledge her death, wouldn't show any emotion, wouldn't show that she was affected by it at all.

And I think it probably was a snub. One of the primary motivators in Elizabeth's life was duty.

And to her it had seemed like Diana shirked her duty.  , and I don't know that that's totally fair, but I also don't know that it's Elizabeth's fault. I think that's really just a generational gap in terms of how they approached the burdens and mental health issues that came with  royal responsibilities and being a part of the royal family.

But so in Elizabeth's mind, Diana had abandoned her royal responsibilities and given up on her marriage.  So I think it's safe to say that at this point in their life, and you know, she's, she has left.  Elizabeth's son. Of course Charles was not blameless in this, to say the least, but I don't know. It's her son, right?

So, um, so anyway, Queen Elizabeth probably meant it as a little bit of a snub. She probably didn't particularly want, uh, to get involved in all this, but it was going over horribly. The public is kind of outraged. Tony Blair, the prime Minister at the time, actually intervenes. He goes to the Queen and tells her, You need to get back to London and do.

So, Queen Elizabeth shows up in London and addresses the nation in a speech. And here's a part of what she had to say about Princess Diana,

and this speech is very effective. It wins over the public magnificently.  

And I do think it was heartfelt, obviously when you're the queen,  everything is scripted, everything is a show. But that doesn't mean that it's not also heartfelt. I mean, I actually tend to think that if everything you do is public, that you, you probably get used to acting less. You, you kind of.

Have to merge your public and your private self. And so I do think  she had complicated feelings about the death of Diana and um, either way she navigated it.  Well, in the end she kind of stumbled at the front, but she ended up navigating this crisis capably

the concern that she showed for her. Grandsons previewed her next act as queen, which would essentially be national grand.  

A lot of the media focus, uh, over the next decade or two, switched to her grandsons, William and Harry, As people started to look forward to the future of the royal family,  their military service and their studies at elite universities were great fodder for the newspapers.

From there, the height of Elizabeth's popularity probably came in 2012. That was a big royal celebration of the 60th year of Elizabeth's reign. It was called the Diamond Jubilee.

The Olympics also took place in London that year, and there was a great skit where James Bond comes in, escorts to Queen to the Olympics. When he first walks into her office, she leaves him waiting for a minute to demonstrate who's really in charge here.

you might be James Bond. You might be the coolest man in the world, but you still report to the queen.  It was really symbolic of how the queen herself was beloved and seen as tough and sturdy despite her diminutive stature and advanced age.  Well, uh, since 2012, it hasn't been all roses for the royal family.

Her son Andrew, was implicated in the sex trafficking ring of Jeffrey ep.   Megan Markle, who was her son, Harry's wife, maintained that she was mistreated by the royal family. Her son William, married a commoner, Kate. Although, to be honest, that wasn't much of a controversy outside of the firm.

But through all these controversies, Queen Elizabeth in her old age has managed to stay above the fray, a symbol of un flagging duty, stability, loyalty, a symbol really of Great Britain itself.   Her husband died in 2020, one of old age at the age of 99, and the queen reportedly said that it left a huge void in her life.

I know that I talked about his indiscretions as a young man and his dust ups in the Royal.  , but, uh, I don't wanna give the wrong impression because they really did develop a happy marriage and were good companions for one another, uh,  Throughout their lives. I mean, you know, obviously at the beginning  those problems were what they were. , but I still think they loved each other throughout that and that love only grew. Um, and their partnership grew o over the decades.  

She of course, followed him to the grave a little more than a year later, also dying of old age.  So what are we to make of this woman of Queen Elizabeth ii? What is her legacy?  She was someone who was intensely committed to tradition, loyalty and duty. She was clever and tough, a hard worker and a very private person perhaps bordering on.

Or emotionally distant.  

She is sort of an odd character in terms of where she falls in history. Nominally, she was the ruler of one of the most powerful nations on earth, and yet in reality, she was a prisoner of it with no say over its actions or policies.

People who complain about. Colonialism or the cost of the royals. I mean, she had nothing to do with that. And the cost is negligible.

And even, you know, people on the other side who say they bring in all this tax revenue through tourism, that's also probably negligible

in all honesty, all the policy and government stuff is a Wash Britain's royal family. They're not political actors and Queen Elizabeth. I second certainly wasn't one.

I think more than anything, Queen Elizabeth II represents a tether to the past. There's a link between the Britain of Old and the Britain of today.  You know, if you trace it back far enough, her rule supposedly rests on her dissent from Oden. Right? Uh, that that's where her defined right of kings comes from.

And I think that is embarrassing for those who would like to move past Britain's, I guess, sort of parochial past those who are embarrassed of. Um, it's colonial past, or even just its white past. , and would like to conceive of Great Britain purely as a modern multicultural enterprise

 she is a reminder of Britain as a unique place in the world with a unique history and legacy, , with all that comes with that good and bad. , all the glory, all the warts. And I do think that under a different ruler that tethered to history might have been severed.

I think that the strength of her character will resonate through the institution of the British monarchy for a long time because she strengthened that institution a lot  through her popularity and through her engagement with the public.

So I think that's a big part of her legacy.  

The other thing is I found this an interesting study of power.  I came into this kind of wondering,  you know, is she responsible for colonialism?

Is she responsible for decolonization? And I guess along with that went, how much power did she really have  and who really holds power In Great Britain. , I just kinda had this curiosity about whether it would be possible for some enterprising young king to actually seize power in some circumstance as a fun thought exercise, as a way of sort of gauging, Okay.

Is there a circumstance under which she could have done more?  So I was on the lookout and after studying the life of Elizabeth, the second.  I think I conclude that the United Kingdom is a nation that is controlled not by a king, not by parliament, but by three or four newspapers,  seemingly everything.

Elizabeth, the second did in her life was to placate the media To the extent that she was judged successful. It was because she pleased the media in London and to the extent that she failed, it was because she failed to please them. And so in this way, it's, they are like the monarchs who rule the monarch.

And I just thought that was interesting. We've got a word for monarchy, a word for democracy, but what do you call rule by newspapers?  Someone more clever than me is gonna have to coin a word for that. Uh, but I think that's what England is right now.  

And lastly, I would just like to say that Queen Elizabeth II was a remarkable woman with uncommon strength of character and commitment to her ideals.  She really was tireless. And you know what's interesting to me is when you think about that,   where initially she doesn't issue a statement at Princess Diana's death.

It's remarkable because it's the one time in her life that she isn't rock solid and totally  dependable,  and I think that one little slip up highlights the extent to which she didn't have slipups. She really was one of the most consistent.  That I've ever studied or, or read about. I think consistency is a huge theme of her rule and reign.

So for her steadiness, for her good humor, for her commitment to. Tradition for her kindness, for her general decency. She will long be remembered. She was representative. I think of many of the best qualities of the English people.

So I, I came away, , from studying this episode.  , , quite impressed by Queen Elizabeth. I second makes you rest in peace.  Okay, , special shout out. , big thank you to Elizabeth Graver, who did a lot of the  📍 research for this episode. , thank you Lizzy. And until next time, thank you for tuning in to How to Take Over the World.

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