Antonio Caprarica: The end of England, the book, previews

«Un lost country, a tottering throne.” This is the subtitle of Antonio Caprarica’s new bookRai’s London correspondent for years and a great expert on Royal affairs. The end of Englandreleased today by Sperling & Kupferportrays accurately the current state of Britainexplaining how the country of Queen Elizabeth and now King Charles has gone from the glory of Cool Britain to decline and general uncertainty, dragging the Royal Family and the Crown with it.”

Antonio Caprarica: «Today’s Royal Family is unrecognizable»

L’Union Jack in tatters on the cover. The England of the past no longer exists. But how did we get to this point?
In reality the process was quite long. It started with the end of the glory days of Cool Britain of Tony Blair, the economic crisis of globalization, and the political crisis of Brexit which has turned into a further accelerator. The old English identity fell apart already at the end of the twentieth century. We didn’t notice it because, with Queen Elizabeth still alive, there was a feeling of immobility, of the eternal. The disintegration of the Royal Family? The trigger was the disappearance of the queen. For the English, Elizabeth was a sort of Colosseum, and when the “Colosseum” disappeared, everything changed in Great Britain. Suffice it to say that at the time of her death, the country changed three prime ministers, while in her long 70 years of reign Elizabeth had only 13. And without her, the legendary British monarchy of the past ended up becoming a family of ordinary mortals.

Ordinary mortals who become seriously ill as happened to Charles and Kate.
Illnesses are a second very serious factor because they affect not only the king, but also the heir’s wife. Kate’s situation is far more serious, first of all because no one is able to say what William will do if her wife does not recover quickly. Second, she is the most important figure for the popularity of the Royal Family. This beautiful, intelligent young woman, not noble but who knows how to behave like a queen, is the Royal who is most capable of anchoring public opinion and the new generations to the institution. Her illness is certainly disastrous for the monarchy.

How harmful was the Megxit until now?
If once the monarchy was a very extended family, now, with the departure of Harry and Meghan, and then with Charles and Kate ill, it is truly reduced to a minimum. There are few left to represent the Crown. Princess Anne, for example, is high-energy, tireless, completing up to two or three official tasks a day, but she is also fed up with having to work so much. It’s a very complicated situation for the Crown. Apart from the case of Edward VIII, it is not a habit of the Windsors to abdicate. They have a religious conception of monarchy, they are consecrated at the Coronation. Unlike other current monarchies, they cannot decide at a certain point to retire.

«In the case of Charles becoming incapacitated, William’s regency will begin»

But is a return of Harry and Meghan to court possible?
No. I exclude the idea that Meghan could return to London to take on substitute roles for a role that would never be hers anyway, as a leading actress. After the profound trauma of losing his mother, Harry practically clung to Markle, to this life preserver that appeared out of nowhere. But we know that he is unhappy, also because he too will have realized that, in this American life of his, he is only acting as a wallflower for his wife. In England and Prince Harry, Diana’s son, the soldier, the man of Invictus Games. In the US he is only Meghan’s husband.

Harry has walked into a trap that he will have a hard time getting out of. I exclude the possibility that he has the courage to leave his wives and children in America and return to London. Imagine Meghan unleashing American divorce lawyers on Harry? She would never allow children Archie and Lilybet to go to court, although the little ones occupy very high places in the line of succession to the throne. These children are forced to live in the absolute void of Montecito. Meghan has built a bubble around them that excludes the Royals.

“Imagine Meghan unleashing American divorce lawyers on Harry?”

Camilla, in the past a very controversial character, today finds herself queen and, due to Carlo’s illness, increasingly in the foreground. A true rebirth
The disease actually benefited the popularity of all the Windsors, including Camilla. I think that the English have already made their peace with Camilla, an authentic woman, who does not pretend to be a different person than she is. They realized that she, in the absence of her husband, knows how to do her job well. By sacrificing her own well-being, she is proving herself loyal to Charles and the throne. What more could you ask for?

In my opinion, William already sees it as a natural and inevitable evolution. First of all, for him the Commonwealth does not represent what it represented for Elizabeth, that is, the old Empire. And he’s not even much of a believer, he goes to mass twice a year, so he has little interest in being head of the Church of England. Consequently, without the role of president of the Commonwealth and that of governor of the Church of England, the British monarchy will become a very normal constitutional monarchy like all the others.

«The Royal Family is destined to become bourgeois»

Will William be a part-time ruler?
As I write in the book, William is already a prince from 10am to 4pm. Then he goes home because he wants to be with his wife and children. For him this is more important than being king, so there is no longer the mystique of the throne, as in the times of Elizabeth and a monarchy that put the sense of duty above all else. The stiff upper lip it no longer exists, now even the English are crying and furious. But with the disappearance of Victorian England, what remains? A lost country. And a shaky throne.

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