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“Charles will modernize” – expert on the future of the British monarchy

“Charles will modernize” – expert on the future of the British monarchy

“People are afraid of all this” – the stern journalist assigns Charles a new role as king.

Dagmar Seeland (star) We’re seeing some signs of him right now that he doesn’t have the patience and dignity that the Queen seems to have. And people are just scared of all that. And now this insecurity. And in the situation, Prince Charles will have a difficult role. I think the monarchy has become even more important to people in recent years. I would say since Brexit indeed.

Hendrik Holdmann (stern) The new Stern issue and also a Stern special issue are dedicated to the death of the Queen and also to the question of how things will continue now. You’re there and reporting for Stern: What’s the current mood like? How do you perceive the country before and after the Queen’s death?

Dagmar Seeland (star) So shortly after the death on Friday, many people were still shocked, deeply shocked and actually really sad about the Queen’s death. Slowly, through all these official appointments – you’re hearing “The Queen is dead, long live the King” for the fifth time – some people, I wouldn’t say, are getting bored, but still feeling a bit: Yes, well that’s enough, but can we also report on other things, for example Ukraine? Big, important topics like that. Because the reporting here is actually still full of the mourning for the Queen and the procession of the coffin etc. And a lot of people are just saying: Now it’s good, we have to hear other things too.

Hendrik Holdmann (stern) What kind of king will Charles be?

Dagmar Seeland (star) This will be a modernizing king. That was already announced beforehand. He will certainly downsize the royal family – that is, the people who carry official functions. He has already shown that in advance. You could see that the group of people on the balcony had become much smaller in the last appointment. The big question, of course, is how he will personally fill that role. And we’re seeing a few signs of him at the moment that he doesn’t have the patience at all and she doesn’t have the dignity that the Queen seems to have. Because we have already seen these little things, that he asked someone out of sight, a bit surly, to please clear the table for him and yesterday also the story with the fountain pen. That was very funny with the pen, which obviously doesn’t work the way he imagined. You can already see that he is slightly irritated. Now you can of course think: Okay, of course I’m nervous. He had to prepare for this role for 70 years. And now she is here.

Hendrik Holdmann (star) Let’s dive a little deeper. How will Charles reform the monarchy?

Dagmar Seeland (star) On the one hand, as I said, it will certainly make them slimmer. personnel. At one point, he’s also seen how he once so briefly fired 100 employees at Clarence House in his seat as Prince of Wales. Which didn’t go down well. A lot of people also hope that he will modernize the monarchy, so that all that pomp and old-fashioned stuff will be reduced a bit and probably save money too, because it’s simply not up to date to maintain so many palaces. The big question is: what will happen to Buckingham Palace? Will it open more to the public? And that’s already a lot of people would support that too.

Hendrik Holdmann (star) What role does his wife Camilla actually play? How has your reputation changed over the past few years?

Dagmar Seeland (star) We were on a tour of Kent last week, last Friday, talking to all sorts of people: poor and rich, young and old. And the reaction to Camilla was very interesting, because that’s what the groups share, when you talk to older people, they say: Well, the story about Diana and Camilla and Charles was a long time ago. It wasn’t pretty, but let’s go further, let’s go forward and the two have now had a long, happy marriage. And Camilla is where she is right now. And that’s good! Younger people see it very differently, because they only found out about Diana’s story through Netflix and were really shocked too. I know that too. My own daughter was too. And these young people are now saying, actually, they were outraged that Camilla was given the title of Queen Consort. They are not wrong in saying that from their position. They say yes, considering how she got this job, it feels wrong.

Hendrik Holdmann (star) Inflation, Brexit, the Ukraine war and Corona: how would you describe the overall situation in Great Britain? What challenges await the country and now, of course, King Charles?

Dagmar Seeland (star) The country is facing very big problems and what’s more, in this country that actually knew nothing but continuity, at least on the royal side, there is suddenly a new king. And there is also an unelected new Prime Minister, because she was actually elected by just under 0.3% of the population. That’s a lot of change for most. And most people feel very insecure in this situation. Because the Queen was still such a barrier between the government that we have now and also such a symbol of old, better times. And the new prime minister and her policies are currently not very confidence-inspiring for the majority of the population, who are worried about the cost of living, which is rising enormously here. A severe recession is forecast, likely to last at least a year and a half to two years. Even higher inflation than actually in Germany is predicted. And people are just scared of all that. And now this insecurity. And there in the situation, Prince Charles will have a difficult role. I think the monarchy has become even more important to people in recent years. I would say since Brexit indeed. Because Brexit has changed a lot in the country. It has created much more division within the population, not only between Brexit and Remain, but also between North and South, between immigrants and Britons, although in this case the term immigrant is very broad. Racism has increased, and I believe that the Queen, especially Queen Elizabeth, still ensured a certain continuity during her lifetime, as I said, and also created a certain buffer between politics and the rest. Because she was someone that most people could actually agree on was a good person and a good and a good head of state. Charles, on the other hand, is for many, but on the one hand many people know what he thinks, because he has enough time and enough opportunity, which he also used to say it. He’s very pro-environment. He was very committed to the environment but was very committed to traditions and especially in architecture for tradition. But his environmental commitment has been very well received lately. Still, I was surprised to hear from many people that they think Prince Charles is a relative unknown after all. Probably insofar as he will behave as head of state. I think that’s the point. And probably a lot of people worry that he’s too political, but I don’t think so. He himself has already announced that he will hold back. And the problem is, will he be able to? Just like the Queen, who has managed so well for 70 years to create this and this balance to a government that is becoming more and more populist, but also more and more right-wing.

Source: Stern

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