“Make Elizabeth the Last.” So announces a series of Republic billboards, springing up in the United Kingdom, mere days before the Queen officially celebrates officially her Platinum Jubilee of seventy years of service. Nothing subtle about this signal of lèse-majesté, is there?

Although Elizabeth II herself does not appear on the signage — some things are, fortunately, still considered sacrilegious — “shrunken” images of Princes Charles, William, and Andrew are no doubt meant to demonstrate their inability to match the family matriarch.

Britain’s jubilee celebrations, due to climax over a four-day holiday weekend starting Thursday, aim to recognize the diversity of the U.K. and the Commonwealth, according to the Associated Press. A jubilee pageant through central London on Sunday will feature Caribbean Carnival performers and Bollywood dancers. Protests, though, are sputtering overseas, as well as at home.

In the estimation of your Brexit Diarist, UK republicans lack an appreciation of history and political economy, but suffer from a lack of timing, too. For when will monarchist fervor be at its strongest than during a nation-wide — world-wide, in truth — celebration of all things “Queen Elizabeth”?

True, the republican movement is not so deluded as to threaten to dethrone the Queen. And, give them credit, by ever so discreetly comparing the current reign with what will follow — heirs presumptive Prince Charles and Prince William — republicans throw shade upon the likely future direction of the British crown.

Neither heir presumptive has shown Her Majesty’s sure touch when it comes to keeping well clear of controversy and public clamor. Witness their willingness to wade into debate on climate change and current social mores.

Another reason, perhaps, to see this anti-monarchist political intervention in a positive light: For being tone-deaf, coming at a moment of overwhelming public esteem for Queen Elizabeth, it is certain of an unreceptive audience. And for pointing out to the Princes waiting in-the-wings that their esteem is by no means guaranteed.

Elizabeth II has prioritized the interests of her subjects for seven decades. Like the Queen, Charles and William must earn the public’s respect. Yet the anti-monarchists, in their fervor to abolish the fundamental political institution in Britain, overlook how deeply entrenched is constitutional monarchy.

Just past are celebrations for “Oak Apple Day,” which marks the restoration of the Stuart dynasty following the English Civil War. Ten years of repressive republican rule by Oliver Cromwell and his son Richard, a time when traditional public festivities— even Christmas! — were banned, quickly soured Britons on experimental government.

When Charles II returned to London in 1660 to end the Interregnum, Samuel Pepys recorded in his diary that Parliament declared May 29 “to be forever kept as a day of thanksgiving for our redemption from tyranny.” 

Tories ought to be alert to this conservative celebration, and proudly wear the simple oak leaf as a signal of their determination to repulse an emerging “woke” regime that threatens traditional Britain. 

Anti-monarchists are also naïve to believe that republican government will be less financially burdensome to the British Exchequer. As Hans-Hermann Hoppe points out, monarchs are well-aware of the limits of public sentiment with respect to spendthrift sovereigns. When the Head of State becomes an elected official, however, all bets are off.

As the Daily Mail argues, the United Kingdom makes money off its royalty. “Prior to the pandemic,” it reports, “around 3,285,000 people visited the official royal residences each year.”

The Mail further notes that while the Republic movement estimated in 2015 that the monarchy costs around £340 million per annum, Forbes figures that in 2019/20, “the Royal Family brought in £19 billion to the UK’s economy.” Or, in an “understated” Express headline: “The staggering sum of money the Royal Family brings into Britain exposed.”

None of this suggests that monarchists should feel secure to rest on their oars. On the question of the tourist potential of The Firm, your Diarist finds that line of argument tacky and no less insulting than those of the Republic movement.

Monarchy, at its best, should be the symbol of a limit to political centralization and over-government. With its connections to the Church of England — indeed, the Queen inherits the title “Defender of the Faith” — the Crown defends a world “beyond politics.”

Elizabeth II has done her part, and more, to ensure that monarchy endures in Britain. It is on cultural conservatives to stand for and defend their traditions and freedoms.

Make no mistake, though. That the republican movement feels sufficiently self-assured to attack the Crown, during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, speaks to their confidence that the future belongs to them.

BrexitDiarist@gmail.com