It’s been a turbulent few months for the United Kingdom: the scandal-ridden departure of a prime minister, the death of a beloved queen, economic woes, and the accession of a less-beloved king. We decided it would be best to have an actual British person on the podcast to discuss it all with, so we invited Josh Glancy, columnist for The Sunday Times.
We began by highlighting the strange contrast between the recent upswell of support for the monarchy and Britain’s parlous economic state. Does having a monarchy suppress public discontent by deflecting its attention, and is this a good thing? Also, how can Americans wrap their heads around the monarchy’s function in Britain? Shadi, Damir, and Josh discuss whether the Constitution or Presidency might serve a similar role.
Then, we discussed the monarch who now rules over Britain. Will (now-King) Charles be able to preserve the apolitical, broadly popular place his mother carved out in British life? Or is the institution doomed to become politicized and controversial? The answer, we surmise, might lie in how similar British political culture is to America’s.
In Part 2 (available here for subscribers) Damir asks the question that's on everyone’s mind: is Prince Charles a secret Muslim? Shadi has his thoughts. More seriously, we discuss the religious role of the British monarch, as the head of the Church of England, and how much Christianity shapes public life there. In a relatively irreligious and diverse country like Britain, are average citizens affected by Christianity’s presence in the state? And does the United States, a far more religious country on paper, “feel” any more Christian?
Required Reading:
- Adrian Woolridge, “How a Journalist, a Bureaucrat, and a King Invented British Majesty” (Bloomberg).
- Josh Glancy, “Divided America Needs a Dose of the British Royal Family” (The Times).
- Josh Glancy, “How the British Royal Family Became a Very American Obsession” (American Spectator).
- Josh Glancy, “King Charles III: A New Era Begins With the Most Gloriously Elaborate Piece of Box-Ticking” (The Times).
- Josh Glancy, “Even Now it’s Still Good to be Jewish in the U.S.A.,” (The Jewish Chronicle)
- Josh Glancy, “Party of a Lifetime for the ‘World’s Grandmother’” (The Times).Damir tweeting about the crypto-Islamism of King Charles.