I am from another Commonwealth country, not on the list @simpsonthecat posted above. There is literally one Letter to the Editor piece in an online newspaper and a FB post from a local talk show host where everyone who took the time to respond basically spoke about Trump and other Epstein-related names. The Windsors barely warranted a mention.
I found the links mentioned after searching for them as nothing came up on my SM feeds and none of my group chats brought it up.
For context, when the Queen visited the country sometime in the 80's, my mum who was around 20 then said the streets were lined with people waiting to see her. For the Golden Jubilee in 2002, the lower forms at my secondary school were asked to submit artwork celebrating same. There was even a small revival of interest up to the point when Harry and Meghan got married. Growing up, we had endless streets and facilities and sporting grounds named after the royals. Princess Margaret is part of our local lexicon and her name was used regularly in relation to a spoilt, arrogant person 😂
BUT...all that has genuinely changed. People in my age group do not even know who Andrew, Anne and Edward are and they only know Charles because of Diana honestly.
The reasons are threefold -
- Younger people simply do not believe in venerating and idolising people simply by virtue of birth. Meritocracy may be flawed but it is defensible.
- There's an Eat the Rich mentality and it's pervasive in millennials and Gen Z. People expect accountability, transparency and social responsibility...pretty much the antithesis of everything the royals stand for.
- In the commonwealth, there's growing anti-colonialism sentiment. The BRF are the epitome of the empire ideology and they are completely unrelatable to us in ways the British cannot understand. The country I was born and live in and the one my ancestors came from were both colonised and I think there is a rejection of all things reminiscent of Empire. Meghan would have been so good for the family image as she actually looks somewhat like the varied peoples the RF once ruled over and many people here found her easier to relate to, but alas...