British Monarchy could be gone in two generations

The British monarchy could be gone in two generations, says the novelist Mantel.

The British royals, whose history can be traced back more than 1,000 years, could be gone within two generations, said writer Dame Hilary Mantel in an interview published on the anniversary of the New York terror attacks, Saturday, September 11.

The monarchy traces its history back at least to William the Conqueror, who famously invaded England in 1066 but also claims ties to the patchwork of kingdoms and principalities which stretched across what became England, Scotland and Wales long before that date.

Mantel, best known for her Wolf Hall trilogy that traced the rise of blacksmith’s son Thomas Cromwell to Henry VIII’s chief minister and then his downfall and execution, said she admired the devotion of Queen Elizabeth, 95, and heir Charles, Prince of Wales.

“I think they do it as well as anyone possibly could take it as seriously as anyone could,” Mantel, 69, speaking to The Times newspaper.

“It’s very hard to understand the thinking behind the monarchy in the modern world when people are just seen as celebrities,” she said.

If her opinions turn out to be correct, Elizabeth’s great-grandson, Prince George, 8, who is third in line to the throne after his grandfather Charles, 72, and father Prince William, 39, would never become king of England.

Mantel triggered anger in Britain earlier this month by telling La Repubblica that England was now a washed-out place that ran on “the memory of power”. She described Brexiteers as callous and often ridiculous opportunists.

Although surveys suggest a clear majority of Britons continue to support the monarchy and especially respect and admire the queen, an opinion poll taken in May 2021 showed that young people in Britain would now much prefer an elected head of state.

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Dame Hilary Mantel has said she is intending to take Irish citizenship to “become a European again” and escape the “shame” of living under the current government.

In an extensive Q&A interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, the two-time Booker Prize winner said prime minister Boris Johnson “should not be in public life” and revealed that she was “baffled” by the popularity of the monarchy.

Speaking about home secretary Priti Patel’s approach to immigration, she said: “We see the ugly face of contemporary Britain in the people on the beaches abusing exhausted refugees even as they scramble to the shore.

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