COMING TO TERMS WITH THE COLONIAL LEGACY? IMPERIAL MORES AND ENDURING CLASSISM IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

Abstract

The death of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8, 2022 has rekindled across the world the debate about the legacy of the British Empire, given the historical ties between the British monarch and the imperial order. Although Elizabeth II’s personal legacy has often been romanticized, she has also played an institutional role at the end of the British Empire. In colonial countries that wanted to gain their independence, the final years of the Empire were a period of authoritarian rule, abuses and violence. This brutal legacy is by no means consistent with Elizabeth II’s portrayal as a genteel champion of peaceful decolonization. Today, inquiries into past colonial injustices seem more necessary than ever, especially given the imperial amnesia that is so widespread in the UK. The oblivion coexists with a selective nostalgia for the imperial rule that has recently inflated, as well as with an upper-class paternalism preserved since imperial times.