Well, I thought I’d take this moment to discuss a rather funny addition to the wonderful, connected, and slightly addictive world of social networking…I am speaking of course of Her Majesty The Queen. Not only the Queen however, but the entire Royal Family. This doesn’t exactly excite the normal everyday local in Canadia-land…but it is quite a big deal here in the actual centre of the kingdom the Queen presides over. The thought of Queen Elizabeth slumped over a laptop typing her new status updates “Just got back from ANOTHER boat christening…such a good waste of champagne!” or “Phil just broke wind on the couch again! Will need to get the staff on steam-cleaning that spot :S” sort of makes you cringe. Of course…the Queen isn’t actually updating any statuses, confirming her attendance at any events, or commenting on William and Harry’s photo albums…that’s left to staff members to do, much like most official pages for celebrities or politicians. I don’t even know if she knows that she has a Facebook page…or what Facebook is for that matter. However, this new official Facebook page of the British Monarchy has become a hot bed in the news over the last few days. Why is this you might ask? The answer is a simple one…because of the people on Facebook who have joined it.
The page itself can be viewed here. I perused it yesterday and I must say, I was highly impressed at how amazingly boring it really is. I guess this is to be expected from the stiff top flight of the aristocracy in this great country. There’s really nothing the monarchy wants to officially publish other than the various events, openings, races, and dinners they attend as well as the varying official statements to the press. It’s really more of a record of the goings on of the Royal Family. They leave the stories of clubbing, drunkenness, and whether William has proposed to Kate Middleton yet to the Sun and Mirror. Now, this is all wonderful if you either cover the Royal Family for a major news outlet, you are a serious Royal junkie…or you are actually in the Royal Family. For most people this Facebook page doesn’t hold much significance except to impress your friends on their News Feed (of which I’m pretty sure I’m the first of my friends to “Like” it….so there.)
The continued existence of the Monarchy in Britain is a subject for much debate and has been for quite a few years. Some of the countries in the Commonwealth have already either voted to no longer recognize the Queen has their monarch or are debating whether to do so, the most recent of these being Australia. In a world where it is rather rare to find a country ruled as a true monarchy (I’m looking at you Lichtenstein) the viability of having its existence in Britain seems almost pointless. Sure they are descended from a long line of Royals and the monarchy has been the traditional symbol of English stability since the times of William the Conqueror…but what do they actually do now? Besides the aforementioned public appearances the reigning monarch is also the head of the Church of England and holds the privilege of ultimate veto on any parliamentary decisions (which rarely ever gets used). That is unfortunately about it. I’m sure you may be thinking that they’re not exactly harming anybody so why can’t they live out their inherited lifestyles? Well, to the British citizen they are unfortunately harming something…their wallet. The expenses of the monarchy for things such as travel, accommodations, event holdings, etc. are all footed by the British taxpayer you see. So, in desperate economic times such as these, when the Brits are facing some of the harshest budget cuts in decades, the necessity of paying for certain Royals to make good will appearances in foreign countries doesn’t exactly sit well with some.
Which brings us back to the brand spanking new Facebook page (see…there was a point). It seems that this new page has become a centre for decent (and indecent) democratic debate on the existence of the monarchy. It may not be exactly what the Royals had in mind (or at least whoever the brainchild of it is) but it has become that nonetheless. People have been making their opinions known about the monarchy through comment streams on photos, links, and videos. Some of them are tremendous claims of absolute love for the Queen, some serious and intuitive points for debate…and some just downright angry (such as the ever so popular and simple “fuck the queen” comment seen on most page updates.) Don’t even get me started on the irony of having to click on a button that says “Like” in order to completely and unabashedly claim your utter dislike…it hurts my head too much. The point is the debate on the Facebook page has caught the attention of the media and as of right now 204 665 people currently subscribe to it, with more and more joining every day.
Innovations in social networking have given fuel to many fires of social debate. They become mediums and forums for regular people to voice opinions across continents in a mere click of a mouse. Although the debate over the British monarchy as been around for some time it has never held quite a concentrated space in which to exist. No doubt this Facebook page will bring the debate to brand new levels…the question is how high will it go? And for how long? Although I am somewhat of a traditionalist at heart and enjoy the existence of the monarchy, I completely agree with one’s right to free speech and opinions. I understand where a lot of the negative opinions come from but can’t quite empathize with them until I am a British taxpayer myself (soon enough). Only time will tell exactly what this new page will lead to but we watch with open eyes and bated breath in the years to come. The only question that is truly burning in my brain right now is…how long until the Queen's tweeting?
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