“It was a living myth. Its disappearance is a world that is swallowed up, that disappears”reacts Thursday, September 8 on franceinfo Stéphane Bern, journalist and host, specialist in royalty, after the death of Elizabeth II at Balmoral in Scotland. “She wasn’t trying to be happy”but wanted “fulfill his destiny, and may his Kingdom be well”he analyzes.
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What is your reaction a few hours after the announcement of the death of the sovereign?
It’s a page of history that turns. It is even beyond. It is a world that is swallowed up, that is disappearing. It is the Elizabethan era that is disappearing. This woman was a living myth. Everyone knew his figure through banknotes, stamps and coins.
“She was a very misunderstood woman, an ordinary woman, in an extraordinary situation.”
Stephane Bernon franceinfo
What strikes me the most is that she was a woman of duty, at a time when, finally, this notion no longer means anything, when no one is ready to sacrifice everything to fulfill their destiny. She wasn’t trying to be happy. She was trying to fulfill her destiny, which was to ensure that her Kingdom is doing well, that she covers with her ermine coat the possible divisions that she accompanies, that she accompanies the evolutions of society without precede anyway. This is what she did until her last breath, as she pledged to do in 1947: “May my life be short, I will serve you until my last breath.”
Two days before her death, she received her fifteenth Prime Minister. In a hedonistic era where everyone seeks their little pleasure, she embodied these virtues, these values, those of sacrifice and duty.
What will have been the most significant in his reign?
She accompanied all the developments. Think she was born in the days of silent movies and tweeting, emailing or texting her grandkids and children. It is truly the story of a century. On the political side, Winston Churchill was his mentor. It was he who had his political education. She learned to trap him because she was also the most informed woman in her kingdom, she read all the dispatches. She read all the government memos in her famous red boxes and she had a lot of fun with Winston Churchill because she questioned him during their weekly meeting. “Did you see that telegram then?” Of course, he had skipped over this, thinking she wouldn’t ask him. So she learned her trade with him. It is a job that is a job for life.
What impressed you the most about her?
She had a lot of humor, humor about herself and teasing humor also with others. She had given me a medal for a film I made about Queen Victoria, and I said to her: “You know, I also made a movie about you.” She answered me : “Ah, but I’m not dead.” I continued by saying: “Madame, you have entered the legend alive.” It amused her a lot and then she said to me: “It’s funny, in your republican countries I get a much warmer welcome than in others.” There was a crowd outside the British Embassy in Paris.
“I really liked meeting this woman who, deep down, looked like a grandmother who was very subtle. She always gave you the feeling that you were the person she wanted to meet that day.”
Stephane Bernat franceinfo
She wasn’t looking over your shoulder to see if there was someone more important to greet. She was with you. It only lasted three minutes, but for the three minutes she was entirely with you. Imagine that she did this for 70 years with all her interlocutors, in nurseries, hospitals, retirement homes, in homes for the disabled. She did that with every person, so millions of people had that direct connection with the sovereign. And that is what makes this collective popular emotion.
How to explain that she succeeded in cementing the British people?
This form of unanimity is because it embodied the stability, the continuity, the independence of power. It is a constitutional monarchy. The sovereign reigns, but does not govern. Everyone could talk to him, without risking being betrayed. It remained in the secret of the private interview with the sovereign. That’s what made everyone venerate her, respect her.
She was a national symbol. You know, we did a survey a few years ago. We asked what is the recurring dream of the British. And one in three replied: “It’s that I wake up in the middle of the night, my doorbell rings and I’m in my pajamas. It’s the Queen of England ringing the doorbell.”
Why ?
Because it is ubiquitous. Banknotes and coins, stamps and portraits have been in all shops, all institutions, and have been for 70 years. People have only known her, at least 83% of the population. Eventually it enters your brain. She’s a bit like the mother of the nation, the one we turn to for things to go well, because once again, as long as she’s there, we think that the United Kingdom remains united. But when she is no longer there, all of a sudden, we measure how much she will be missed.
How do you see the reign of Charles III now?
I believe he will be a transitional king, he arrives very late on the throne, he is almost 74 years old. We will see how he will be able to mend the loose threads between Scotland and England, the two Irelands and the political parties which are torn between the pro-Brexit and the anti-Brexit. He took positions. He is a brave man. For 40 years, he has been fighting against global warming, against the deforestation of the Amazon, for the preservation of species, biodiversity. He is an ecologist at heart. I don’t think he’s going to forget everything he’s done all these years. And I believe that, after a popular queen, we will have a more intellectual, more thoughtful king. He is a transitional king and is unlikely to reign for 70 years.