The Perception of the New British Monarchy. Looking Back on Elizabeth II’s Reign

Abstract

[eng] According to public-opinion polls, the British monarchy enjoys great popularity in the presentday society. For many critics, it remains a mystery how this “archaic institution” has gained enduring support over the years (Clancy 2021). Other scholars have discussed Elizabeth II’s reign in detail, considering the institutional power and its evolution (Cannadine 2004; Pimlott 1998). Likewise, it is the aim of this essay to analyse Elizabeth II’s reign, specifically, the challenges she has encountered, and the strategies taken to overcome these obstacles. To that end, this essay presents the evolution of Elizabeth II’s public image considering the influence of her precedents and the Monarchy’s role during post-war Britain and the 1990s, an era of scandals. From an historical and semiotic approach, this essay argues that the popularity of the Windsors is based on the coexistence of traditional ceremonies that maintain the institution’s mystique with a process of “celebrization” and humanisation of the Monarchy. Drawing upon the media representation and the fictional narratives that construct Elizabeth’s iconicity, this paper suggests that her symbolic role has been readapted in relation to the evolution of the English imagined community and reshaped according to public sovereignty.