A queen's legacy

During her 70-year long reign, Queen Elizabeth placed special emphasis on two points: 1) To bring the monarchy into the limelight in the eyes of the public, through the skillful use of the media—and later social media—by reviving historical traditions and ceremonies, 2) Traveling constantly around the world, to establish personal contacts with the ruling elite and to establish direct contact with different masses of the population.

These two points contributed to the deepening of the Queen's influence in the Islamic region as well as the world at large. The marriage of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, which ended in divorce, was on the agenda of millions. Sympathy and compassion for Diana went hand in hand with admiration for Queen Elizabeth's handling of the crisis. In all the problems in her private life, the Queen, who succeeded in turning the crisis into an opportunity every time and expanding her followers and fans, was struggling with the troubles of her young son Prince Andrew, who was accused of pedophilia and prosecuted in the weeks before his death. Even this translated as sympathy for the Queen's household.

Queen Elizabeth made 290 official overseas visits in 70 years. The Queen, who set foot in 117 different countries, covered a total of 1 million 661,668 kilometers on her journeys. The Queen's route, which made her last overseas visit to Malta in 2015, was equivalent to circumnavigating the Earth 42 times. The Queen, who went to all the member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, visited Canada 27 times and Australia 18 times. Interestingly, the Queen never had a passport.

(The only country the Queen did not visit was Israel. However, this was also a continuation of a policy pursued by the British state: Britain abstained when the famous bill on the division of Palestine between Arabs and Jews came to the UN agenda on 29 November 1947. Although British politics was at the root of the tension, a show-stopping attitude in a short vote was enough to entice the Arab world. Even today, millions of Muslims have almost forgotten Britain's role in the Palestine issue and place all the blame squarely on the U.S.)

The image of Queen Elizabeth, which was created as a result of all this, was so strong and irresistible that the masses in the Islamic world could not take their eyes off Buckingham Palace while shouting slogans with the rhetoric of "treacherous and sneaky British". As such, countless tragedies in different corners of the Muslim world, played by or condoned by the British themselves, passed away without leaving any "stains" on the Queen's glory.

Whether monarchies have a place in today's modern democratic world is often debated. Since democracy is understood and defined as "the culmination of human progress", monarchies are subject to criticism from many different fronts. Aside from the fact that a system produced by human beings, who are themselves afflicted with countless faults, based on experience and progressing by trial and error, cannot be "perfect", only Queen II. Even the Elizabethan case illustrates the functionality of the monarchy in bringing societies together and covering up conflicts.

When looked at closely and carefully, it is seen that Queen Elizabeth did not openly take a stand on any issue that concerns humanity and the Islamic world in particular, did not intervene in the negative course, and did not condemn the perpetrators of the crimes. In many dramas that her country causes or plays a leading role, it is her position described as "above politics" that saves the Queen from responsibility and criticism: Active politics is the business of politicians, so all responsibility belongs to them. “Her Majesty” cannot be blamed in any way, nor can he be drawn into contemporary politics. The Queen is not involved in the Israeli-Palestinian tensions, the sins of the Apartheid regime that has turned South Africa into a living hell for all but the whites, the atrocities in the Balkans, the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, the internal conflicts and military coups in countless countries, because she holds a "symbolic" post. She just merely occupies an office.

There is no single easy answer to the question of what legacy the Queen left behind. However, When we look at the multidimensional image created around Elizabeth II, we have to say that we have a very successful “public relations project” before us. Now that the love and respect for the Queen's person has turned into sadness for someone who passed away, the question of how the current representatives of the Royal family will relate to the peoples of the world seems to determine the next iteration of the British monarchy.