A Queen and a Princess
It’s been a weird couple of weeks, friends. Between the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the release of the controversial new Little Mermaid trailer, the Internet has been busier than usual fighting with itself. It’s hard not to see parallels between (1) the rage against those pointing out that the British monarchy has done great harm to much of the non-European world (with a side note of “any guesses as to why the British press hate Meghan Markle so much?”) and (2) the rage against those who are excited to see a Black woman play the live-action Ariel. Let’s break those down. I’m a bit of a royal-watcher, I confess. I thought King Charles III seemed absolutely shattered, Princess Charlotte looked like an adorable Edwardian orphan in her flat black hat and coat, and it was bittersweet that Her Majesty passed away in the place where she loved to relax. The Queen did her duty to her country, for so many decades, unflaggingly and with flashes of humour that humanized and endeared her. She meant something to an awful lot of people, who have been grieving her loss as if she were their own grandmother or at least a dear family friend. I don’t wish to belittle those feelings. At the same time, she carried on an institution — the British monarchy — that has done immeasurable harm. The Queen is invoked and commemorated in various ways all over Canada, she is (was) the head of state, she appears…