the throne. It's known as her platinum jubilee and
she's the longest serving monarch Luke Hanrahan reports
from London on why there's a monarchy in the first
place. No one knew that the girl will arrive here as
Princess Elizabeth the year is 1952. Harry Truman is in
his last year as president. On Tv Betty White debuts a
daytime talk show in sports, the new york Yankees beat
the Brooklyn Dodgers to win their fourth straight title
and in the United Kingdom, Queen Elizabeth the se
takes the throne, beginning what would become the
longest reign in british histor But why does the U.K.
Still have a monarchy Let's dust off the old european
history books for a quick catch up, way back in
medieval times, kings and queen used to rule the lands
and control their subjects living there. In 10 66
William the conqueror invaded England and is considered
the first norman king of England. Then there was his
son, another William, then Henry, then Stephen then
Henry the second skip to john in the 12 hundreds and
the magna carta. That was a big deal and took some
rights away from the king Then another Henry III one,
he was forced to set up a parliament taking more pow
away from the throne. Then the first of three Edwards
in a row. Then Richard the second three more Henry's
two more Edwards. Another Richard moore Henry's another
Edward then England's first que mary the first in 15
53. Fast forward to 16 49. England gets rid of its
monarchy and declares itself a republic. Parliament got
more power and Oliver Cromwell took over but didn't
call himself king, his son tried to govern too, but
that didn't go well and eventually England returned
the monarchy slipped to 16 89 and the glorious
revolution, William and mary the second take over as
king and queen. But before they can take the throne,
they have to agree the english bill of rights. This
takes a lot of power away from the monarch and gives it
to parliament, turning England into a constitutional
monarchy Back to the royalty, then there was an and
more Georges. America said it had enough and got out
another William Queen Victoria, she reigned for more
than 60 years and so on. Along the way, power contin
to go from the crown to parliament. Okay, all caught
today. The queen's role is mostly a ceremonial one that
includes several key duties and a lot of waving, She's
considered the head of state, opens each parliament
session, my lords and members of the house of commons
and technically chooses the prime minister, but these
days just goes with whoever the people select. So if
she's mostly a figurehead, why have a monarch at all
for one. She's popular, accordi to a 2021 poll from
yougov, of British adults have a positive view of the
queen and a poll from Ipsos shows just 19% of British
adults, I think it would be better to abolish the
monarchy. 41% said things in Britain would get worse if
that happened. The monarch also helps pay the bills and
attracts tourism according to the numbers from brand
finance, it helps bring in about $2 billion to the UK
economy. In 2017, americans are part of that royal
craze. More than 29 million people in the US tuned in
to watch Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tie the knot.
And 68% of Americans have a favorable view of the queen
To the friendship between our two countries and to the
health freedom, prosperity and happiness of the people
of the United States of America. There's also the
Hollywood effect. Disney and others have told stories
of Royals for years and that's helped create an
interest that remains today. My name is Elizabeth. No,
in long live queen Elizabeth we have a new sovereign
Young and a woman shows like the crown on netflix have
had success telling the story of Royals in reality
though, the queen's story is no fairy tale, just a
chapter in the long history book of the monarch. Newsy
luke hanrahan in London, Richard Fitzwilliams is a
royal commentator and joins me now from the United
Kingdom. Thank you so much for joining us. It's a
pleasure and it's also wonderfu to talk about a really
historic moment in The history of Britain and also very
few monarchs have reached 70 only the extraordinary son
King, reign of France Louis the 14th rainfall 72 years.
And recently Kim Bhumibol of Thailand moved for over 70
but it's very rare. Well it's a pleasure to have you on
to have this conversation in your view. Richard, what's
the biggest reason the monarchy has survived I think
that it's very significant symbolically nation
That is the main reason because also it's above party
politics and it's also constitutional. There are
certain important things that it does, but the most
significant is probably the power it denies to others.
Help us understand how the british see their royalty
versus how americans view them. Well, I think that it's
part of Britain's D.N.A. It goes back over 1000 years
continuously by the civil war in the 17th century.
There is the symbolic nature of it. There's no question
that the advice of I said there are demonic powers t
be advised to encourage and warn the weekly audience
with the Prime Minister reading the government's speech
from the throne. This these are the formal duties and
then there is the christmas message which the queen has
perfected every year but that was always part and
parcel of the british closeness. But essentially what
think is so valuable is that if you have a for all the
thoughts of the hereditary monarchy could throw up. You
have a head of state above the political fray who al
is the head of the commonwealth, which is esse
if all nations who freely joined together, the maj
were british colonies that you have, even in an
egalitarian age, there's the ceremonial, which links
with the past traditions. That is also the fact that
the British monarchy and Briton are well aware of this
and I think they like it is the world's most high
profile. I mean in the era of 24 hour news and social
media that can win doing well being a tremendous
blessing. Of course it can be a cuss if when things are
going badly and periodically that happens as is
currently the case, the areas of dealing with Prince
Andrew and also the duke and duchess of Sussex, harry
and meghan. But there are also benefits that the
britons, I think appreciating e if some of them take
it very much for granted. The fact that the cost of the
monarchy is relatively low, even though we don't know
the security cost, You've also got enormous benefits to
british business and wild trips abroad. You've got the
tremendous draw tourism, you've got the historical side
of it. And also if you want to use soft power has been
fascinating to see how after Brexit, which was so
divisive here when Britain left the european union
members of the royal family were used on So many trips
abroad to European countries. I mean, this has always
been a way of spreading with. So the variety of factors
that attract to the monarchy. The other thing is that
the Republican movement is very embryonic, just over
20%. Usets to richard, we the past few years have of
course been a little bit difficult for Buckingham
Palace. We have that interview with Harry and Meghan
with Oprah Prince Andrew has been accused of sexual
assault allegations and was stripped of his titles. We
know from history that scandal is not new for the royal
family, but what impact does that have on the monarchy
Well, as you say, it's certainly not new in the 1860s.
After Albert's death, the Queen Victoria withdrew into
seclusion for years. That was serial was 1936. There
was the abdication. That was absolutely seismic and in
the 1990s, that was not appalling decade where almo
everything you could imagine we wrong from a fire of
Windsor castle to the the marriage of the prince and
Princess of Wales. You're quite right. The Oprah
interview by Harry and Meghan, I think that that was
pretty devastating. Quite frankly, it's rather like
exploding a device in Buckingham Palace courtyard
because it was broadcast worldwide. And despite the
fact that a lot of what they said was what one might
call their truth rather than the truth, to what extent
they overlap has been much debated. The facts are, that
certainly among young people. The fact that the sussex
has stepped back only to step down. Um there hasn't
been a blow and also correctly mentioned the di
of Andrew there is no doubt we don't know where that is
going to end up. But it has been a Very very serious
embarrassment and an interview gave a news night in
November 2019 to Emily make this talking about his
friendship with Epstein and Maxwell and not me.
Eventually the victim was I can only say a car crash of
Krakatoa in proportions. We saw the monarchy is popular
overall. But let's look at this among 18-24 year olds
in the UK41% favor an elected head of state, just 31%
want the monarchy to continue and that's coming from
this next generation. Is that a reason to be concerned
at all That is a poll from yougov last year and it's
the only poll of its sort if you looked at the previous
year and exactly the same generation, the figures we
very different. It's also true that the rest of the
poll was pretty conventional and over 60% of people
wanted the monarchy. But this clearly is something that
will cause concerns simply beca it has been a bad
period for the monarchy. For scandals involving For
example though he vehemently denies any wrongdoing and
also the fact that everyone had hoped that the sussex
is would have spearheaded a very, very contemporary
look at the monarchy and it proved a disaster. Richard
Fitzwilliams. We have to leave it there. But thank you
so much for coming on the Y and appreciate your insig
on this. When we come back, we'll look at why so many