THE BRITISH CULTURE

BY: FERARU ELENA – DENISA

ROMÂNĂ – ENGLEZĂ

GRUPA 11LF111
 ABSTRACT

It's hard to make yourself known, or even heard. It's even harder to do it while you live in the public eye, with the
heavy burden of The Crown on your shoulders. But in order to be remembered, you have to do great things. So,
many important personalities made themselves great by praising their country and believeing in it from the start.
There is no monarchy, no government, nothing at all without the british citizens, as they play an active role in their
country's greatness. And why would you want to be a great personality if you don't influence your people by doing
good?

Keywords: Charity, Commonwealth, Abdication, Queen Victoria, House of Windsor, Monarch.

 INTRODUCTION

The British culture is, in my opinion, a very large topic. Many kings, queens, princes, princesses,
prime – ministers, authors, and so on, have walked the grounds of the popular streets, palaces
and cathedrals, and every single one of them had an impact on England’s history and made it
what it is today.

For my paper, I chose to write about The British Monarchy and also about Princess Diana’s
impact on the british culture.

So many people loved Diana, that even after her death, she is still admired, loved, respected, and
when remembered, she brings a smile on anyone’s face; she was called “ The people’s princess”,
after all. But, she was more than a pretty face. She was a great asset to The Royal Family, and
from the very beginning she prioritized her duty as a royal, but in her own way. Even though she
was coming from upper class, she was able to emphatyze with her people, and vice-versa.

“How did Princess Diana contribute to society?”. Oh…well, in many ways. Not only did she
raise millions for causes batteling homelessness, poverty, cancer and AIDS/HIV, but she visited
shelters and hospitals, she shook hands with those diagnosed with AIDS/HIV, and sat with
people suffering from different diseases.

Diana was a big advocate for issues that The Royal Family veered from.

She was a patron to Centrepoint, a charity providing shelter and support for people across UK.
She was making it her mission to support young adults, and to put an end to those “never –
ending” problems. Not to mention, she raised awareness of mental health, something she even
struggeled with, and which was frowned upon then, and sadly even in 2021 in some cases. She
remains an icon, because her heart of gold took her places that no amount of money could have.
 CHAPTER I:

A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE

1.1. The Princess of Hearts

The British Royal Family is well-known, not only in England, but in the whole world. So when
the time came in 1981, that Prince Charles proposed to the mysterious Diana Spencer, no one
anticipated that she was going to gain such popularity. Some would say she was even more
popular than her husband. “Did she do it on purpose?” or “She surely enjoyed the attention” are
some frequent allegations thrown at her over the time. So I will do my very best to analyse the
situation, based on interviews she gave, and mostly, on books who had been written about her.

We, as a nation, are aware about all the documentaries, interviews, movies and TV-shows about
her life. But my personal opinion is that Andrew Morton did a really good job at writing a book
and giving interviews about her in a respectful manner. “Diana: Her True Story” lets us in her
personal life, feeling like we know her like we know a friend.

“For all their privileges, their legions of servants, their chauffeur-driven cars, private yachts and
planes, they are prisoners of society’s expectations and puppets of the system.”― Andrew
Morton, “Diana: Her True Story”. By this quote only, we can assume that she was not as happy
as it seemed. Yes, she had it all. Fame, wealth, and a seemingly perfect husband. As we came to
find out, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, as well as the rest of the family supported the
marriage since day one. They considered her a perfect fit, but they never anticipated what was
yet to come.

“He’d found the virgin, the sacrificial lamb, and in a way he was obsessed with me.” , Diana said
in Morton’s book. At first, she felt trapped. She knew that the marriage wasn’t going to last, but
she gave her all. She took the role as Princess of Wales very serious, and considered it an
opportunity to do good: “One of the worst things that happened to her was that she was put on a
pedestal which didn’t allow her to develop in the direction that she wanted but one which has
forced her to be concerned about image and perfection.” ― Andrew Morton, “Diana: Her True
Story”.

After her divorce from Prince Charles in 1996, she turned her pain into greatness; she did not
take advantage of the title and money she possessed. Using her high profile, her charity work
made her more “human – like “, in contrast with the depiction of Prince Charles, and the rest of
his family, which people considered to be somewhat cold, and a bit harsh.

Diana made many visits to North America, visiting hospices, schools, charities and fundraising
galas. Other major visits included Angola, Australia, Bosnia, Egypt, India, Pakistan, and many
European countries. She is rightly recognised and respected today as a true humanitarian.

“ We are the living legacy to Princess Diana’s belief that young people have the power to change
the world for the better. “ – copyright of The Diana Award and The Diana, Princess of Wales
Memorial Fund.

How did The People’s Princess influence her people, after all? While she was alive, she did all
sorts of things – as mentioned earlier, she fulfilled her duty. The thing with the charity work is
that she didn’t just give money away, she actually participated in helping others. This is the
reason why so many people, especially british citizens loved her so much. She was real,
powerful. But on the night of august 31st 1997, the Princess’s life was cut short. After the news
broke out, the gates of Buckingham Palace were filled with flowers, lighted candles and pictures
of her. She influenced the society so much, that even after she was no longer walking the
grounds of this country, she was mourned deeply.

Concha Calleja did, in fact, write a book titled “They’re going to kill me!”, having all sorts of
opinions about the way Princess Diana passed away. “The Royal family lives in the 18th and 19th
century, and they think they are above the law, like they are from another species, with blue
blood”, Concha wrote in her book, as a part of the interview with Dodi Al Fayed, the father of
Diana’s new partener, who sadly died with her that night in Paris.
She paved the way for her future daughters – in – law, Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle.
These two remarkable women, along with their husbands, Prince William and Prince Harry, live
by her legacy even today, as they continue it with pride.

1.2. The Crown

The monarchy itself could be another topic to be discussed as a part of the british culture. Queen
Elizabeth II proved to be one of the greatest sovereigns the country could have. She stepped in
her father's shoes, King George VI, and proved to be as strong, as influencial, and as smart as
those before her. If we take a look at her family tree, it is quite impressive: House of Windsor,
as we know it today, used to be “ House of Saxe – Coburg – Gotha”. The name was changed,
and the first Windsor monarch was Queen Elizabeth's grandfather, King George V. Today's
royals are all descendants of King George V and Queen Mary of Teck, and two of their children
also became monarchs: King Edward VIII, who made a name for himself in the british society
after he abdicated the throne to marry Wallis Simpson, an american divorcée. At the time, The
Church of England did not allow divorced people with a former living spouse to marry in church,
and the Government opposed. His reign is one of the shortest ones in British History, lasting only
326 days. Following his brother's abdication, Prince Albert became King George VI. Although
he never wanted the crown, as he was known to be a very shy man and struggled with a speech
impediment, he inevitably ended up on the throne. In the end, he did a great job, respecting his
new position and caring for his country and his people. The formation of the British
Commonwealth finalized during his reign, and with that, he became the last Emperor of India
and the first Head of the Commonwealth.

Queen Elizabeth II, his daughter, is currently the longest – reigning and longest – living monarch
Britain has ever seen, as she reigned for 69 years, surpassing her great – grandmother, Queen
Victoria, who had a reign of 63 years. Also, her coronation was the first in history to be
televised. The gown she wore during the ceremony was embroidered on her instructions with the
floral emblems of the Commonwealth countries.
Britain, like most countries, have always preferred to have a man on the throne, but females like
Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Anne, Queen Victoria or Queen Elizabeth II have proved that a
woman can do the job just as fine, if not better.

“ There is a forgotten word, nay almost forbidden word, which means more to me than any other.
That word is England. “ - Winston Churchill, former prime – minister.
 CONCLUSION

After this brief “history lesson”, I can only say that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland is, in one word, unique. The country has seen bad times and also good times,
but it always made a step towards greatness. Of course, many people had an active role in the
process.

Kings and queens, troughout the centuries, left their mark; starting from the year 1066, with the
Battle of Hastings, many royal houses had a long – lasting impact. It all started with The Saxons,
then the Normans, the Plantagenets, the Tudors, the Stuarts, the Hanoverians, and lastly, the
Moderns, belonging to House of Windsor.

This country was hit with numerous situations, like The Plague, The Great Fire of London, The
Battle of Waterloo, World War I and World War II, the Great Smog of London, and the list
could go on.

I, as a non – british citizen, am completely intrigued with the backround of this country. It has so
much to offer. The british history is, in my opinion, a topic we should consider at least reading
about, as it has so much to offer for our knowledge.
 REFERENCES

1. Calleja, C. (2007) - ”They are going to kill me!”, LiteraInternational

2. Judd, D. (2012) - “George VI”, Bloomsbury Publishingrg

3. Morton, A. (1992) - “Diana: Her true story”, New York Times

4. Pilmott, B. (1998) - “ The Queen: A Biography of Elizabeth II”, Wiley

5. Smith, S.B. (2012) - “Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch”, Random
House Trade