The Coronation, The Royal Family and Racism

Scattered thoughts on the legacy of empire (and that documentary)

Author

Sharon Hurley Hall
May 08, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

Hello friends,

As I write this, I’ve just seen a few highlights of the coronation of King Charles III. I didn’t watch the whole thing. As we Brits say, I wasn’t that fussed. While the pomp and circumstance were certainly eye-catching, I found myself musing on the need for and role of a royal family in 2023. It seems anachronistic, and the ostentatious display of stolen wealth - because a lot of that gold and those jewels came from far flung previously colonised places - seemed out of touch. Isvari Maranwe expressed some of that in a recent LinkedIn post.

The event also made me look again at some thoughts and questions I’d jotted down about the British monarchy and racism when watching the Harry and Meghan documentary. These never turned into an article, but I share them here for what they’re worth:

On racism denial

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