States and systems
Topic a The Bri ti sh monar chy
Countries a UK
vocab ulary a Monarch y
Links a 3a
The ups and downs
of the British monarchy
T he British peopl e have had ~ monarchy for over ~ thousand ye~ rs. The relationship between lhc monarch and
the people has suffered so me ser ious crises in the cou ntry's history, bUI the monarchy ~I IY~Ys see ms to recover.
Revolution:
Charles I
Retirement:
Victoria
The b iggest cr isis in the mona rchy 's
hi sto ry ca m e in 1649 whe n the king
was actua lly co nde m ned to deat h by
parlia ment. Cha rles I wa nted the
mon a rch y to have 111 0re power, a nd in
1629 he dismissed the parlia me n t a nd
r uled for II years wi thout il.
In 1642 a Civ il \Var b roke o u t between
th e Royalis ts and the s u p po rters of
parliament. the Round hea d... und er
Olive r Cro m wel l. The Roundheeds
won , Charles was behe aded e nd the
monarch y abo lished. Eng land W<1S, in
r-ffcr-r. a republ ic fo r I I yea rs, gove rne d
by a Lord Protecto r (first Cromwell an d
the n h is so n). But in 1660 the age o f
the Res toration b egan w he n Cha rles 's
so n, Cha rles II, was m ad e king.
when Q ueen Victo ria's hu sb an d ,
Qu eenVictoria celebrating her Diamond
Jubilee in 1901 .
t
Before ygu read
D Can you identify any of the royal people in the photos? Can
you nameany members of the current British royal family?
V o cabylary
El Complete these 'royal' words. Findthem in the texts if you
are not sure.
1.The son of a monarch is a p
.
2.The daughter of a monarch is a p
.
3.The special chair which a monarch sits on is a th..
4.The ceremony where a mona rch is created is a c
.
5. The person who wilt become the next mona rch is the current
monarch's h
.
6. A royal residence is a p
.
Reading
III Complete the table with the correct dates from the text.
The English Civil War begins
The execution of Cha rles I
Prin ce Albert, d ied in 1861, the Quee-n
suffered a terri ble d e p ressio n. She
e w ith drcw from public life a nd spen t
more time at her pa laces in Sco tla nd
and o n the Isle o f wight tha n she di d
in Lond on. For over 20 yeMs sh e
e pcrfo rm cd no n ation al du ties. Peop le
beca me c ritical or th e mona rch y a n d ,
in a time of h uge industria l a nd
scien tific p ro g ress, me mbers o f
parl ia me n t began to talk abo u t
re pub lican ism . But Victo ria n-covcn-d
and in 1897 her Diamo nd lubl lo-.
celeb ra tin g d reco rd 60 ycars o n th e
thron e, wa s d g rea t p ub lic rela tions
s uccess w ith hu ge p rocess io ns,
cere mo nies an d p u b lic ce leb rat ions.
o ImJ Which British king or queen:
1.became less popular immediately after the death of Princess
Diana?
2. became very privatewhen her husband died?
3. cameto the throne because his brother abandoned it?
4. couldn't get married and become monarch?
5. had a coronation in 1660?
6. wanted to take power away from parliament?
o Read the newspaper article on page 53and answer the
questions.
1. Find:
a. the name of the Queen's husband.
b. the name of the Queen's residence in London.
c. the name of the street in front of her residence.
d.the titles ot two patriotic songs.
2. How manymembers of the public, according to the write r,
sangto the Queen on her jubilee day?
3. Why do you think the crowd was 'red, white and blue'?
4. What impression do you get of the success of the jubilee
celebrations?
The Restoration of the mona rchy
Death of Prince Albert
Victoria celebrates 60years on the throne
Edward Viti becomes king
Edward Viti abdicates
Elizabeth II becomes queen
Prince Charles ma rries Princess Diana
Prince Charles and Princess Diana divorce
Princess Diana dies
Elizabeth II celebrates 50 years on the throne
Befgre you listen
[11 Can you name anyof Queen Elizabeth's children or
grandchildren?
Listen
fjI <J)Listen to Gary, Emma and Linda giving their views on the
monarchy. Who supportsthe monarchy, who opposes it and
who has no strong feelings about it?
boost a an improvement
cheer a when people shout to show their appreci ation
to crown a to be t he c li m a x of
to discharqe a t o do a duty
drop a redu ct ion
tcw -kev e no t ve ry visi bl e
outdate d a old -fashioned
to perf orm a to do
re ndition a performance
to th reaten a to promise danq er
t hund er ous a as loud as thunder
to withdraw a to retire from ot he r pec cre's co mp an y
Abdication :
Edvvard VIII
Tragedy:
Princess Diana
Wh en Ge orge \' dinl in Jdlllhlr y 19)6,
his heir Edward wa s in lo ve with a
twi rc-divoro..d Ameri can woman ,
\\'dllb Sim pso n. Ilis fdmil y and the
go ve rn m e n t divapproved of .\ Irs
Simpson, but Edward wan ted to
ma rry h er. In the end he WdS force d to
choose bet ween h is love an d th e
thro ne , a n d he chose to aban do n th e
thro ne . In Decem ber of tha t yea f, five
mont hs b efore h is plan n ed coro n atio n
and wit h wa r g th n 'dtl' n ing th e world,
Ed wa rd VIII odd n-svcd th e nation b y
radio .md tol d th em that "I h ave
fo und it impossible to CMfY o n the
l1('d vy burd en o f res po ns ib ility and to
e di sch ar gc th e duti es of king ...
with o ut th e lu-lp and suppo rt o f the
woman I ]0\,(' ''. I lis brot her George VI
loo k his place at th e co ro n a tio n, a n d
proved to be a s tro ng mon arch. \Vh e n
Gcorgc's daug hter, Princess Elizabeth,
carn e to the th ron e in 19.52 th e
monarch y wa s o nc e aga in ex tre m ely
popu lar.
In modern tim e.., peop le b cg.m to sec
the monarch y dS a o u tda tc-d . but the
roya l fclmily wa s g ive n cl tremend ous
e b oost in 1981, wlu-n Prince Charles
married the popular Princ(,ss Diana.
Dia na became on in tern atio n a l
su pe rstar, more popular than her
hu sban d from whom she divorced in
1996.
\\'hen she d ied in d rar rravh in 1997
mdl1Y people ocr-used the roya l fa m ily
of treating h e r b cHlly du ring her
m a rriag e e nd aba n do n ing her after
he r divo rce.
The Q uee n a nd Prin ce Ch.ir k-s
su ffere d a hu gc a dr op ill p o pu lari ty,
and th ey were ad vised to modernise
and b cronu- lcvs fo rm al a nd dis tant .
Celeb rations for th e Que-e-n's C o ld e n
Ju bi lee ill 2002 we re delilH'ra tl' ly kept
g lo w- key, as th e o rg ,lIlis('r s feared th a t
th e publi c woul d n ot h e interested .
Edward VIII and Mrs Simpson.
A sea of flowers for Pri ncess Diana.
m~ (!) listen again and complete the sentences in the
most appropriate way.
1. Gary has a good opinion of:
a.the Queen and all her children.
b. the Queen and one of her children.
c. the Queen 's children, but not the Queen.
2. Emma wants the royal family:
a. to pay for themselves.
b. to be abolished.
c. to be more modern.
3. Linda thinks the monarchywill survive because:
a. the young generation are very popular.
b. the Queen works very hard.
c. they never have any problems.
s
Q Which othercountries still have a monarchy? Do youthink
thereis anyplace for kings andqueens in the21s! century?
THE DAIl.YTELEGRAPH
June 5th. :::00:::
A jubilee sea of red,
white and blue
nation responded with g cheers.
applause and enough flagwav ing to iransfortu the M~ll
into a patriotic sea of red. white
hree balcony appearances
and more than a million and blue.
Three times the crowd brou ght
voices raised in a athund~rous the Queen and PrincePhilip to
e rendition of the National the balcony of Buckmgham
Ant he m
g cro wned
the
Palace and thre e time s they
Queen·s Gol den Jubilee
were repaid in song, as the
celebrations yesterday.
huge mass of spectators sang
On the day that the Queen
Land of Hope and Glory and
spoke of her 'g ratitude. respect
God Save the Quee n.
and pride' in the nation . the
B y CAROLl~E D AVIES
T