THE VIEW FROM RIZAL Dr. Jun Ynares The world caught a last glimpse of Queen Elizabeth II in Sept. 6 of this year. She was photographed at the Balmoral Castle, a favorite royal retreat in Scotland. On that day, she stood up with the help of a cane, smiling, to receive Britain’s new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, the youngest British woman to hold that position. Two days later, in Sept. 8, the Queen was dead. Long lived the Queen. Prior to her death, she was the world’s oldest living head of the state, world history’s second-longest reigning monarch, and the United Kingdom’s longest occupant of the royal throne. People of the world who are 70 years and younger have known no Queen of England other than Elizabeth II. We have heard from our elders that Kindergarten students since the 1960s had known this nursery rhyme:

“Pussycat, pussycat, where have you been? I have been down to London to visit the Queen.”

It was a 19th-century rhyme so the “queen” must have been Elizabeth I. However, for children growing up in the 20th and 21st centuries and who are still familiar with the rhyme would refer to the queen as Elizabeth II. Last Monday, Sept. 19, she was buried in a 200-year-old vault at the basement of St. Georges Chapel in Windsor. Thus ended the world’s 70-year-old affair with the past two centuries’ most famous, most photographed and perhaps most controversial queen. As Elizabeth II was laid to rest underneath the gloomy, cloudy Berkshire country skies, the world once again pondered the role of monarchies, our fascination with British royalty, and the implications of the passing of a world leader. The fact is Elizabeth, prior to her death, is not the only living, reigning queen in the modern world. There are about 26 countries in the world today that still have monarchies of various kinds – constitutional, absolute, federal and mixed types. Of the 26, 12 are in Europe. Several Some of them have “queens” although they may not necessarily be heads of state the way Elizabeth II was. Among them are Queen Margrethe of Denmark, Queen Letizia of Spain, Queen Sonja of Norway, plus a few more. Currently the world’s youngest lady monarch is the queen consort of Bhutan, Her Majesty Jetsum Pena. Our Asian neighbors Brunei and Cambodia also have queens seated on their royal thrones. Yet, it was with the Queen of England and British royalty that the world seemed to be most fascinated with. Mention the word “queen,” and the automatic recall would be the name of the queen who sat on England’s royal throne. The dictionary has a name for that fascination. It is “Anglophilia.” It is defined as “fondness for British royalty, its system of government, or institutions, as well as nostalgia for the former British empire as the British class system.” If Hollywood movies and Netflix’s television series were to be made a basis, it is safe to conclude that “Anglophilia” is alive and well to this very day. By many indications, it appears that the world’s fascination with monarchies will endure – at least that aspect of the monarchy that has to do with glamor, pomp and pageantry and scandals. A New York Times article quotes extensive research done by Wharton international management professor Mauro Guillen. According to that piece written by New York Times editorial board member Farah Stockman, Guillen said many people find comfort from “the fascination, the magic, the stability that comes from a monarchy with a dynasty that has been playing this role for centuries.” Stockman quotes another professor, John Jost of New York University, who said that “people tend to cling to traditions and longstanding social systems that justify our understandable desire for order, safety and predictability.” Jost added that “some people are simply drawn to the glamour of royalty and the fantasy that some very special people are living opulent, extravagant lives, and this could be a way of transcending our mundane realities.” Not everyone is afflicted by “Anglophilia.” Among those are some of the countries which are still under some kind of British rule. These countries have declared that they intend to become “republics” and remove the ruling British monarch as their head of state. According to international media, there have been strong anti-monarchy sentiments in these countries. A number of them are calling for an apology from the British monarch for the alleged suffering inflicted on their people by years of British colonial rule. Is the death of Queen Elizabeth II the start of the end of our fascination with kings, queens and other icons of royalty? We do not know. What we know is that Elizabeth has left an indelible mark in history and in the hearts of many. Long lived this Queen. May she now rest in peace as she leaves our troubled world. For feedback, please email it to [email protected] or send it to Block 6 Lot 10 Sta. Barbara 1 cor. Bradley St., Mission Hills Subd., Brgy. San Roque, Antipolo City, Rizal.