God save the meme
While some folks mourn, others celebrate the death of a monarch who represented decades of imperialism and racism. (Image: @_talhahashmi from Twitter)
On September 8, Buckingham Palace announced royal doctors were concerned for the health of Queen Elizabeth II. This sparked worry across the world and speculation about the 96-year-old monarch whose health had been a matter of concern for a few years. Later that afternoon, it was announced that she passed away peacefully at Balmoral Castle in Scotland.
Elizabeth II was the longest reigning monarch of the United Kingdom at 70 years. She became Queen at 25 after the passing of her father, King George VI. She will be buried at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor, next to her husband Prince Philip who died in 2021.
Long live the meme
Long before her death on Thursday, September 8, Queen Elizabeth II had already been the subject of a lot of memes. From a viral photo of her scowl to her seeming immortality, the monarch was a familiar face on the internet. So one can expect that her death would also spark a landslide of memes. On the /memes subReddit, users said they went straight to Reddit upon hearing of the news because “it was about to be lit.”
Sure enough, Twitter and Reddit have been rife with jokes and jibes alongside criticism. There were edits like this one of now-King Charles imposed on the book cover of Jeanette McCurdy’s I’m Glad My Mom Died. Satire account Reductress posted that the Queen’s corgis would be buried alive with her. Or what about the hauntingly awkward experience of the West End production of Wicked announcing the Queen’s death before the musical opens up with the lines “Good news! She’s dead!”
Elizabeth II was known for having a bit of a sense of humor. Her controlled and reserved bravado was contrasted with a delight for amusement. It’s why she “acted” alongside James Bond during a skit for the London Olympics. Or enjoyed tea with Paddington during her platinum Jubilee. The Queen could laugh at herself, which she saw as a survival tactic. So to some people, the jokes about her death might have been what she wanted.
Who mourns the wicked?
The ethics of making memes on death has always been a hot debate topic. Often hidden under “dark humor,” criticism of humanity’s desensitization towards serious issues—especially on the internet—has emerged in recent years.
Northern Ireland’s First Minister in waiting Michelle O'Neill has appealed that now is not the time to make jokes about the Queen’s death. After all, she was a person that leaves behind a grieving family. Some publications called the jokes cruel and unsympathetic towards the UK which fears destabilization. Many considered the Queen the glue holding the UK together as the monarchy’s popularity dwindled.
However, what complicates this statement is what Queen Elizabeth II and the whole institution of the monarchy represented for many people: A history of racism, imperialism, and systemic prejudice against minorities—much of which went glossed over by the royals who had their own share of controversy.
Crowds at a football game in Ireland chanted “Lizzy’s in a box” to the tune of KC & The Sunshine Band’s Give It Up. Ireland has a complicated colonial history with the monarchy. Ireland gained its independence from Britain in 1922, but Northern Ireland remains a part of the Commonwealth today. Talk of possible referendums for Scotland’s independence were swirling as early as Thursday afternoon before Buckingham Palace made the official announcement of the Queen’s death.
Ireland is just one of the many former British colonies which include India, Pakistan, Hong Kong, and much of Africa. Today, there are still 16 countries over which the monarchy is sovereign.
Memes are a form of communication that can reflect a certain mindset or belief system, be it good or bad.
It’s easy to dismiss people as being disrespectful when they celebrate the death of someone who they consider an evil person—or at least a representation of evils that be. But it’s also an “exercise in perspective,” Slate writer Nitish Pahwa says.
“[These] reactions are also coming from a place of real, often deeply felt pain. If the Queen, for many, was a symbol of grace, for many other people she was a symbol of something deeply ugly.”
A similar sentiment can be said for people who cry foul over internet slang like “punch a Nazi” which raises questions about violence versus Nazism. For many people, while “violence is never the answer” is a universal moral truth, preventing or shutting down Nazism takes precedence. (Shoutout to my Ethics professor for the flashbacks this newsletter is giving me!)
I once asked my friends for their thoughts on jokes about former administration official-turned-meme Harry Roque and if they thought it was okay to poke fun at politicians’ appearances. I’ll spare you the long conversation but the conclusion we came up with was: no, body-shaming people will never be right, and deeper cuts often come from a critique of politicians’ personalities instead.
And look, I’m not in the clear for laughing at Queen Elizabeth II death-adjacent jokes (this being my favorite). But my personal opinion is this: The royal family as an institution will survive this. They’ve lived through worse than (valid) criticism on the internet.
