Royal Bodies

Hilary Mantel is an award-winning and bestselling British author. She is particularly famous for her historical novels. In her speech held at the London Review of Books lectures at the British Museum 2013, Hilary Mantel describes her stance towards the women of the British monarchy.
The whole reflection on British female royalty started with a simple task; name a famous person and choose a book to give to them. Hilary Mantel chose Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge as her famous person, and the book she would give to her was Queen of Fashion; What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution. Hilary Mantel quickly states, that in no means does she believe that we are heading towards a revolution. Rather her choice rests on the fact, that she sees Kate as a mere shop-window mannequin, completely and utterly defined by her outfits and nothing else. She describes how Kate has no personality of her own. It does seem rather odd, to judge a person you’ve never met before, based on the way tabloids describe their fashion choices, frankly Kate could have the most amazing personality in the world, but how do you expect it to shine through the glossy pages of a gossip magazine?
Nevertheless, she does not identify Kate with Marie Antoinette, rather she identifies the late mother-in-law of Kate with Marie Antoinette, Diana the People’s Princess. Marie Antoinette and Diana are described as “gliding, smiling disasters”. Where Kate is described as the cookie-cutter image of how a princess should be. Kate is the machine-made, 90-pounds, bambi-eyed, immaculate image of perfection, without as much as a hint of the human emotions that ended up being Diana’s downfall. That is why she was chosen to be princess.
What Kate and Diana unquestionably have in common is that they both came from simple families. Neither of them were breed in to royalty. Hilary Mantel states that stories of poor women extricating themselves from adverse circumstances were the nation’s favorite reading for twenty years. Perhaps that is what captivates the public, the Cinderella tale of how the unpretentious girl married a prince and lived happily ever after. Sue Townsend has stated that Diana’s problem were that she saw only the Cinderella tale. She did not realize how many twist and turns her fairytale could go through, and how unhappily ever after she would be.
Hilary Mantel also mentions that Kate was presumably chosen to breed some manners into the royal family. Could this be a reference to the out of control behavior of Prince Harry? Or does Hilary Mantel simply think that the royal family in general has no manners. If so, I would like to know where she gets her info.
Hilary Mantel describes the need to speak of the royals as a compulsion. It is not even spoken it is mouthed. As if every conversation, regarding the royals is empty small talk that we for some ungodly reason just feel compelled to talk about. She compares the royals with pandas in a zoo. She mentions that just like pandas, royals are ill-adapted to any modern environment, and that they are just an endearing expense. She clearly does not realize how much of an income the royal family is to a country. Let me exemplify it the way she does. Pandas in a zoo is an expense, of course it is! However, they become an income when people buy a ticket to the zoo in order to see the pandas. So yes, the royal family is an expense, but how many people, would visit a rainy little island in the middle of nowhere, if it wasn’t for the rich cultural experience largely provided by the royals. One of the most visited tourist attractions in London is The Tower of London. Tourism aside, royalty works like a magnet on companies and other business transactions. DI has said that not anyone who wishes to abolish the Danish monarchy knows how much business they attract to the country. I can only imagine the same applies to the British monarchy. Ill examples from her aside, she raises an interesting point, and that is whether the British royal family is in fact living in a golden cage. She uses examples from past events in which members of the royal family have participated, to describe how their life is an empty façade, and that they only exist once they are looked at. The examples seem rather inflated. She has no idea how the royal family feels about their life. If they felt it was an empty façade, perhaps they would abdicate and persuade, what she calls, a “real life”. The British royal family may be for show, but they are nevertheless a family. It seems odd if that family only smiled for the public, and had no private moments of joy.
Hilary Mantel’s way of describing, or rather labelling the British royal family is quite provocative, at least if you are a royalist. She even goes as far as comparing the royal family to animals, not once but twice! First, she compares them with pandas in a zoo, and then she compares them to breeding stock, as if they were cattle. However provocative, the description of them as breeding stock is very thought-provoking. It is crucial that the members of the British royal family continues to procreate, if not, the bloodline will die out, and there will be no heir to the British throne. As a royal remaining childless is simply not an option.
Hilary Mantel’s speech is filled with references to books, namedropping of other authors and personal experiences with the royal family, despite never actually having spoken to a member of the royal family. Her attitude towards the monarchy seems as if she sees it as an outdated institution, with no place in a modern world. She sees the monarchy for what it used to be, not what it is. She states that William chose Kate for her physical appearance and ability to act with grace, rather than out of love. In addition, she states that Kate’s only purpose in life is to produce a successor to the throne. The ability to produce children, preferably male, and physical appearance is what kings and princes of a distant time would value in a spouse. Surely, the monarchy has risen from that. I mean William would not have beheaded Kate, had she given birth to a girl and not a boy.
After reading this speech, it seems clear that Hilary Mantel does not feel strongly for the British monarchy. She does however write that her sympathies have shifted. Perhaps her previous attitude towards the monarchy was that Britain would be better off without it, now it could be that the British royal family would be better off without it. Even the title states her opinion. “Royal Bodies” They are only bodies. Due to their status, they can never be anything but an object for the public to admire, and this is the monarchy’s fault. Hilary Mantel should ponder if it is, in fact the monarchy, which wrecks these women. Perhaps it is the tabloids. The struggles of Diana and Kate does not seem any different from the struggles of Hollywood’s starlets. Of course, the princesses of this world are expected to act a tad more prim and proper, than the silver screen actresses. Still, it is the same things, which the media focuses on; what are they wearing? How is their marriage going? Have they gained weight? Have they lost weight? Perhaps this speech says a bit more about Hilary Mantel, than it does about the British royal family.

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[ 1 ]. Dansk Industri