With the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, this past Thursday, the whole world stopped to mourn her death. By contrast, throughout social media, many gathered to acknowledge the fact that the Queen’s passing was a reminder of what she represented beyond royalty: a monarch heavily linked to the British Empire and its colonial and slave trade history. This ongoing debate online and offline propelled conversations about the potential dismantling of the monarchy and organisations like the Commonwealth, and, eventually, also the legacy of racism and coloniality within Britain.
Contextualised History
During her years as a ruler, Queen Elizabeth II ruled the second biggest region within colonised Africa. Following the fight for independence, her empire slowly crumbled and several atrocities took place in the name of her crown. To name a few, the Mau Mau massacre in Kenya, the pillage of India, inducing the Bengal famine, building concentration camps in Kenya, mass genocide of Aboriginal communities, the Suez Crisis in Egypt, the Falklands War and MI5’s cover-up and destroying evidence of British crimes against humanity (Operation Legacy).
The monarchy has never recognised its role in the slave trade, despite its huge contributions, support and profitisation. The Queen never pleaded guilty to the Crown's colonial legacy of looting from the Global South. Not even with the plunder of the jewels stuck on her crown – stolen from Africa and India. The collective oblivion of history and willingness to rebrand the Queen as a “nice old lady” reconstructs Britain’s criminal past while hiding its racist structures behind that one dance she once granted Kwame Nkrumah.