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Once upon a time,
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most of the world
was ruled by kings and queens.
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In almost every society on Earth,
they sat at the top,
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claiming their absolute power
came from God.
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And it worked that way for millennia.
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But in the 1600s, a radical idea
spread among the masses.
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What if everybody was born equal
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and people had the right
to choose who ruled over them?
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This was a revolution of thought,
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which turned the monarchy on its head
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and inspired actual revolutions.
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The world went from
almost total royal rule
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to this.
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There are only 43 monarchies left,
with a range of power.
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Some still have absolute power.
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They all operate differently,
but every king...
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-...there are no absolute queens,
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can make decisions for their citizens,
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and their citizens can't vote them out.
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That's how monarchies
have traditionally worked.
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The newer, stranger monarchies,
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are over here.
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-Some have special protections...
-
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...but they all rule over
democracies symbolically.
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But not too long ago,
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they also ruled their countries
with unquestioned power.
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That's how they got these jobs.
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Most of them are European
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or former British colonies, like Jamaica.
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Having the Queen of England
as the head of state of Jamaica
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is really ridiculous in the 21st century.
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We're supposed to be
a post-colonial country,
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yet we're hanging on
to all of these vestiges of empire.
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It's time to get rid of the queen
as head of state.
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But in Britain,
most people support the monarchy.
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In fact, every ceremonial monarchy,
except one,
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enjoys majority support
in their home country.
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In part,
because they sell us on a fairy tale.
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We have all grown up on these fairy tales.
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Kissing the frog
and the frog turns into this prince.
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So many of us would have grown up
with those kinds of stories.
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These fairy-tale moments,
these grand weddings,
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this sort of a spectacular display.
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These are things people can only dream of.
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It's sort of Disney movies personified.
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And this fantasy,
perfected by the British royal family,
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is now a big part of how
royal families everywhere survive.
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The royal family's main goal,
above everything else, is survival.
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As an elite institution,
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more than anything,
they're worried about continuity.
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So how on earth did they pull it off?
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How did they go from absolute rulers
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to fairy-tale celebrities?
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And how long can the fantasy last?
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Now the robe royal
is put upon the queen.
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The Japanese,
they call him the God Emperor.
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How well Britain can hold
this loose, worldwide structure together
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at war's end is of enormous
importance for the future.
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Tens of thousands lined
the streets to glimpse the royal couple.
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This was
a royal fairy-tale wedding like no other.
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The royal family
hold a place of respect
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and affection in all our hearts.
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Their happiness is our happiness.
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Ceremonial monarchs
are fascinating to watch.
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They have all the royal trappings
you'd expect from old kings and queens.
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Crowns, thrones, palaces.
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But they're virtually powerless.
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Even the most famous monarch in the world,
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Britain's Queen Elizabeth II,
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is just a figurehead.
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She doesn't have
any political power per se.
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She doesn't make laws.
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She isn't meant to influence
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the policies of different politicians
or political parties.
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Instead, royals do symbolic things,
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like officially open Parliament
with speeches.
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Host monarchs and presidents
from around the world.
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And stand on balconies and wave.
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They really, really like to do that.
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Not having political power means
that you are essentially uncontentious,
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that you can't make decisions that can
later be disagreed with by your public.
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So being impartial is key
to modern constitutional monarchy.
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I like most their apolitical nature.
They don't take stances on anything.
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Having a neutral figure
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above all petty politics
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couldn't be achieved
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if the figurehead, the head of state,
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had been elected.
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They also have this incredible power
to unify a country.
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We only need to look
at the recent pandemic,
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how the queen was able
to bring a country together.
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We should take comfort that while
we may have more still to endure,
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better days will return.
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It can also provide
a comforting continuity,
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seeing the same figure
over the years and the decades.
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And the same family over centuries.
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That is my great-great-grandfather,
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Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria.
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Emperor Franz Joseph
was the longest-reigning monarch
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in Europe at that time.
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He represented
the main line of the Habsburgs.
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The Habsburgs are one
of the oldest European royal dynasties.
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Géza's ancestors
ruled for more than 600 years.
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Today, he lives in Bronxville, New York.
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Here in the United States,
I am just a commoner,
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but back in Europe, there are many circles
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where the Habsburgs are still
considered as something special.
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Other Habsburgs weren't so lucky.
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One branch of the family,
which split off in the 16th century,
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became so concerned
with keeping power within their bloodline,
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they married each other.
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A lot.
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Cousins, uncles and nieces,
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and more cousins,
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with unfortunate results.
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Like the protruding Habsburg jawline.
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It was so deforming,
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painters and sculptors tried to minimize
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this deformation.
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Because of these intermarriages,
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in the year 1700,
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because no more children were born,
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the Spanish line died out.
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For Géza, the greatest blessing
of not being a reigning royal
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is that he can choose who to marry.
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I am incredibly blessed
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not to have had to marry a royal.
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I have the most extraordinary wife,
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who has exactly
the same interests as I do.
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I am a truly lucky man.
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Most ceremonial royals
have relaxed their rules.
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Queen Elizabeth
is married to her third cousin.
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They both descend from Queen Victoria.
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But her grandkids had a lot more freedom
to pick their partners.
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And in nearly half the countries
with ceremonial royals,
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the next monarch could be a queen.
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Modernizing can be key to survival.
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The Japanese monarchy
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is the longest hereditary
and continuous dynasty in the world.
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The current emperor is actually
the 126th emperor of Japan.
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And the current Empress Masako
faced a lot of pressure
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to produce the 127th.
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So much so, she withdrew from view.
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When she finally did give birth,
it was to a girl
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and girls legally can't take the throne.
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Even though she's the daughter
of the emperor,
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the future of this millennia-old dynasty
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rests on the shoulders of this boy.
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Her kid cousin.
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The big challenge for Japan
is going to be this issue of succession.
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They are at risk literally of dying out.
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In every monarchy,
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the basic rule hasn't changed.
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Power is inherited.
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And so is money.
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♪ Paper ♪
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♪ All the money paper ♪
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Most ceremonial monarchies
get taxpayer money.
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Each country calculates it differently,
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but none of them
get as much as the British royal family.
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Some believe
this investment pays for itself,
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because they generate
so much tourism revenue.
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By some estimates,
more than 700 million dollars every year.
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But that's a hard thing to calculate.
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Buckingham Palace
gets about 15 million visitors a year,
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but the Palace of Versailles
gets ten million
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and France hasn't had
a royal family for centuries.
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The British monarchy
doesn't just rely on tax money, though.
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They privately own spectacular properties
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bought with public funds.
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Expensive collections.
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Plus investments we just don't know about,
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although we got a glimpse in 2017.
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It's one of the biggest
data leaks in history.
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Millions of leaked documents
reveal how the powerful and wealthy,
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including the queen, secretly invest vast
amounts of money in offshore tax havens.
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Around ten million pounds
from the queen's personal fortune
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were paid into funds in Bermuda.
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The fascinating thing
for a historian like me
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is just how inscrutable
royal finances really are.
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We don't know what they have.
We don't know where they have it.
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But we do know
a lot of the start-up capital
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came from their royal subjects,
back when they ruled with absolute power.
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They required the lower classes
to pay taxes
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in exchange for favors,
land, protection, or nothing.
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Royals could just get what they wanted.
Their word was law.
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And they used that money to build palaces,
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which, in Japan and in Britain,
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they still call home today.
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They also spent that money on war.
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The more places they conquered,
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the more people in their lower classes
and the more wealth they could extract
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to fund more conquests,
creating more subjects.
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And so on and so on.
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And then there was
a whole other layer underneath this.
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In the 15th century,
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European powers began
conquering land and people overseas,
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until the world was mostly
under European royal rule.
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This would go on
to inspire Japan to invade its neighbors
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and build an empire of its own.
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But the British Empire was
the largest one the world has ever seen.
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In 1655, they invaded Jamaica
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and turned it into the newest jewel
in their empire.
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They set up the Royal African Company,
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which would go on to ship more
enslaved African people to the Americas
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than any other single institution ever.
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Starting with Charles II,
all the way to King William III,
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the British royal family had a monopoly
on the entire slave trade.
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They profited off kidnapping human beings,
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transporting them across the world
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and selling them
to plantation owners as free labor.
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Colonialism and enslavement
were integrally tied to the monarchy.
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A kind of racist ideology of conquest.
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The whole business of empire
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was about gathering subjects
across the globe.
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Under William III,
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the Royal African Company
lost its monopoly.
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The royal family had been
key early investors in the slave trade,
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but it grew into one of Britain's
biggest industries,
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trafficking nearly three million people
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and making many along the routes rich.
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And that money compounds.
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A major study estimates
that Britain owes Jamaica
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at least three trillion dollars
in reparations,
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mostly for the labor of enslaved people.
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For the whole Caribbean,
it's 9.7 trillion.
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Follow the money trail
and you can see just how much
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the British Empire profited
from its colonies around the world.
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We must recognize
that a grave injustice was done
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and the legacy of that injustice remains.
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Britain's wealth was fueled by slavery.
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The slave trade ended
in the early 1800s,
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but the world's empires
held strong until the next century.
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The battle of the continent
becomes Europe's total war.
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The great shocks
of the 20th century,
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the First World War, the Second World War.
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These events lead to revolution.
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And dozens of monarchies fell.
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We fled from Hungary,
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left everything behind,
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and we lived the next years
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as refugees.
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Japan lost World War II.
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The emperor is stripped
of this idea
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of being a divine being.
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He is a mere mortal.
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Japan was also stripped
of its colonies.
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But Britain wasn't
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and since it was
on the winning side of the wars,
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it enjoyed a lot of goodwill.
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The monarchy had to figure out
how on earth it changed its behavior,
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it changed its public image,
253
00:13:50,996 --> 00:13:54,333
in order to survive
in the era of democracy.
254
00:13:54,416 --> 00:13:57,419
So they took off their crowns and robes,
255
00:13:57,503 --> 00:13:59,672
and went out into the streets.
256
00:13:59,755 --> 00:14:01,465
The royal family very quickly
257
00:14:01,549 --> 00:14:05,886
pioneers a very deliberate
public relations strategy.
258
00:14:05,970 --> 00:14:10,474
It's determined to make
its natural enemies, the working classes,
259
00:14:10,558 --> 00:14:11,600
its allies.
260
00:14:12,184 --> 00:14:15,271
This type of reinvention, this spin,
261
00:14:15,354 --> 00:14:17,481
is at the heart of their survival.
262
00:14:18,023 --> 00:14:19,358
Everywhere.
263
00:14:20,109 --> 00:14:22,403
On August 6th, 1962,
264
00:14:22,486 --> 00:14:25,281
Jamaica became an independent nation.
265
00:14:25,364 --> 00:14:29,118
I would have been 11
at Independence.
266
00:14:29,201 --> 00:14:31,662
This was a momentous occasion.
267
00:14:31,745 --> 00:14:36,500
We were moving from being a colony
to being an independent country.
268
00:14:36,584 --> 00:14:38,752
But there was a catch.
269
00:14:39,378 --> 00:14:41,422
One of the paradoxes of independence
270
00:14:41,505 --> 00:14:45,342
was when Princess Margaret
came to represent the queen.
271
00:14:45,426 --> 00:14:48,053
This was happening
around the world.
272
00:14:48,679 --> 00:14:51,682
What we see
are carefully choreographed scenes.
273
00:14:51,765 --> 00:14:54,852
They are, according to the images
we see in the newsreels,
274
00:14:54,935 --> 00:14:57,021
welcomed by the locals.
275
00:14:57,104 --> 00:15:01,025
They have sought to present this idea
that the Empire, now Commonwealth,
276
00:15:01,108 --> 00:15:05,529
is characterized by ideas of harmony,
unity, democracy, equality.
277
00:15:05,613 --> 00:15:07,906
And yet, for so long,
278
00:15:07,990 --> 00:15:10,743
the monarchy held an empire together
279
00:15:10,826 --> 00:15:12,703
based on oppression and violence.
280
00:15:13,412 --> 00:15:14,997
Of the 63 British colonies
281
00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:17,875
that gained independence
in the 20th century,
282
00:15:17,958 --> 00:15:21,128
nearly half chose
to become Commonwealth realms
283
00:15:21,211 --> 00:15:23,672
and 15 of them still are.
284
00:15:25,257 --> 00:15:28,886
In other words,
Queen Elizabeth II is their queen.
285
00:15:29,511 --> 00:15:33,641
In the early days of independence,
there would have been a lot of individuals
286
00:15:33,724 --> 00:15:37,227
who only knew
a Jamaica under British rule.
287
00:15:37,311 --> 00:15:38,896
We used to sing,
288
00:15:38,979 --> 00:15:41,815
"Rule Britannia,
Britannia rules the waves."
289
00:15:41,899 --> 00:15:44,109
"Britons never never shall be slaves."
290
00:15:44,193 --> 00:15:48,238
And it never struck our teachers
that we were the children of slaves.
291
00:15:48,322 --> 00:15:50,991
How could we be singing
a foolish song like that?
292
00:15:51,075 --> 00:15:54,286
That's because
we identified with the British.
293
00:15:54,370 --> 00:15:55,788
We were Britons.
294
00:15:56,330 --> 00:15:59,458
Every year,
Jamaica’s parliament opens with this.
295
00:15:59,541 --> 00:16:02,211
Men in British-style military uniforms,
296
00:16:02,294 --> 00:16:04,922
and British robes and wigs.
297
00:16:05,005 --> 00:16:07,549
And a speech
by Jamaica's Governor-General,
298
00:16:07,633 --> 00:16:10,886
appointed by the Queen of England
to represent her.
299
00:16:10,969 --> 00:16:13,305
She also gave him a royal insignia,
300
00:16:13,389 --> 00:16:15,140
which was part of his uniform
301
00:16:15,224 --> 00:16:18,394
until it recently came under scrutiny.
302
00:16:18,477 --> 00:16:22,648
That image
that's on the St. Michael insignia
303
00:16:22,731 --> 00:16:27,820
is of an archangel
with his foot on the neck of the devil.
304
00:16:27,903 --> 00:16:31,824
And people began to see the symbolic link
305
00:16:31,907 --> 00:16:35,452
between a white colonial master
306
00:16:35,536 --> 00:16:37,830
oppressing a Black subject.
307
00:16:37,913 --> 00:16:40,332
You're like, "Whoa, hold on a minute."
308
00:16:40,416 --> 00:16:44,586
Even the governor-general himself
made a comment about revisiting it.
309
00:16:45,212 --> 00:16:49,842
The queen technically owns
all of Jamaica’s public land
310
00:16:49,925 --> 00:16:53,887
and the capital
has a prominent statue of Queen Victoria.
311
00:16:53,971 --> 00:16:59,017
And the truth is
that these are the things that remain
312
00:16:59,101 --> 00:17:01,645
that sometimes we are not conscious of,
313
00:17:01,729 --> 00:17:05,983
but, unconsciously,
they kind of reorient the mind.
314
00:17:06,066 --> 00:17:09,028
Having the queen as the head of state
315
00:17:09,111 --> 00:17:11,739
is a classic example of mental slavery.
316
00:17:11,822 --> 00:17:14,533
That we need to emancipate ourselves
317
00:17:14,616 --> 00:17:18,454
from some of these traditions
that bind us to the past
318
00:17:18,537 --> 00:17:21,832
and do not enable us
to claim full freedom.
319
00:17:22,541 --> 00:17:26,295
But that history is not the story
the monarchy wants to tell.
320
00:17:26,378 --> 00:17:28,964
Its brand isn't political anymore.
321
00:17:29,048 --> 00:17:30,132
It's personal.
322
00:17:30,799 --> 00:17:34,136
To be head of the Commonwealth
entails long absences abroad.
323
00:17:34,219 --> 00:17:37,056
And what a sacrifice that must be
is brought home to us
324
00:17:37,139 --> 00:17:40,517
by these glimpses of the happiness
that comes to the royal family
325
00:17:40,601 --> 00:17:42,478
when they are all at home together.
326
00:17:43,812 --> 00:17:48,484
The monarchy have turned
this idea of family into a business.
327
00:17:48,567 --> 00:17:52,279
And into a very successful business.
It's about emotion.
328
00:17:52,362 --> 00:17:56,366
We can all relate
to the image of an ordinary family.
329
00:17:56,450 --> 00:17:58,786
We see this every day now.
330
00:17:58,869 --> 00:18:01,830
It's one of the most popular TV genres,
331
00:18:01,914 --> 00:18:06,085
but the royals
pioneered this decades earlier.
332
00:18:06,168 --> 00:18:10,339
For the first time, they started
to celebrate things like royal weddings,
333
00:18:10,422 --> 00:18:12,508
royal births, funerals,
334
00:18:12,591 --> 00:18:14,092
as national events.
335
00:18:14,802 --> 00:18:16,178
And global ones.
336
00:18:16,261 --> 00:18:19,348
It's estimated that Prince William
and Prince Harry’s weddings
337
00:18:19,431 --> 00:18:23,060
were watched by more than
a quarter of the people on Earth.
338
00:18:25,145 --> 00:18:29,733
I have to confess that I watched
the wedding of Prince Harry.
339
00:18:29,817 --> 00:18:31,610
It was a grand occasion.
340
00:18:31,693 --> 00:18:35,489
So we do in Jamaica
pay attention to these royals,
341
00:18:35,572 --> 00:18:40,244
but it is with a kind of attention
you pay to a celebrity.
342
00:18:40,327 --> 00:18:42,704
Why am I a royal watcher?
343
00:18:42,788 --> 00:18:45,332
Because at a thousand years old,
344
00:18:45,415 --> 00:18:47,876
they are the longest, continually running
345
00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:50,546
reality show family in the world.
346
00:18:50,629 --> 00:18:52,256
And the drama never stops.
347
00:18:52,339 --> 00:18:54,508
My favorite memory
348
00:18:54,591 --> 00:18:57,761
is when the queen dressed up in pink
349
00:18:57,845 --> 00:19:02,516
and when Prince Harry and Meghan
get their kiss.
350
00:19:02,599 --> 00:19:06,019
It is quite cool
to have that tradition there,
351
00:19:06,103 --> 00:19:08,897
because I consider myself
a real traditionalist.
352
00:19:08,981 --> 00:19:10,649
I love the influence it has.
353
00:19:11,191 --> 00:19:14,611
In a democracy, we like to think
of power working like this.
354
00:19:14,695 --> 00:19:16,780
From the people to the government.
355
00:19:16,864 --> 00:19:20,075
But in our culture,
it's still the old triangle.
356
00:19:20,158 --> 00:19:21,577
Royals are at the top,
357
00:19:21,660 --> 00:19:23,745
but instead of God giving them
their power...
358
00:19:23,829 --> 00:19:25,581
-...the media does.
359
00:19:25,664 --> 00:19:29,209
They use it and we buy into it.
360
00:19:29,793 --> 00:19:33,088
And that's now the strategy
of royals everywhere.
361
00:19:34,089 --> 00:19:37,926
All that media attention
comes with a lot of power
362
00:19:38,010 --> 00:19:41,138
and nobody knew that better
than Princess Diana.
363
00:19:42,848 --> 00:19:46,268
She was the first royal
to redirect that attention
364
00:19:46,351 --> 00:19:47,895
to other issues.
365
00:19:47,978 --> 00:19:50,105
The princess is an inspiration.
366
00:19:50,188 --> 00:19:52,107
By touching and talking to patients,
367
00:19:52,191 --> 00:19:55,319
she reduces the prejudice,
stigma, and fear of AIDS.
368
00:19:55,402 --> 00:19:59,865
This visit has convinced me
that I must continue to play a part
369
00:19:59,948 --> 00:20:03,660
in the ongoing worldwide campaign
to ban landmines.
370
00:20:03,744 --> 00:20:06,413
In many ways, she took on a new role here.
371
00:20:06,496 --> 00:20:10,167
She presented herself as a humanitarian.
372
00:20:10,751 --> 00:20:13,462
Her sons have followed
in her footsteps
373
00:20:13,545 --> 00:20:14,963
with their own charity work.
374
00:20:15,047 --> 00:20:17,090
What’s happened with us and with others
375
00:20:17,174 --> 00:20:19,968
is that you have
to prioritize your mental health.
376
00:20:20,552 --> 00:20:22,221
But on certain issues,
377
00:20:22,304 --> 00:20:26,308
it's hard to be a humanitarian
and stay uncontroversial.
378
00:20:26,391 --> 00:20:29,227
The resurgence
of the Black Lives Matter movement
379
00:20:29,311 --> 00:20:31,939
was a particularly important moment.
380
00:20:32,022 --> 00:20:35,567
Given the colonial past of the UK,
381
00:20:35,651 --> 00:20:38,236
the Commonwealth,
and the British royal family,
382
00:20:38,320 --> 00:20:41,365
it makes for
a very difficult conversation to have.
383
00:20:41,448 --> 00:20:44,868
Kate and William's charity
showed support on Instagram,
384
00:20:44,952 --> 00:20:48,038
but that wasn't under their own names.
385
00:20:48,121 --> 00:20:52,084
The two people we did hear from
at that point were Harry and Meghan,
386
00:20:52,167 --> 00:20:55,087
who had already stepped away
from the institution.
387
00:20:55,170 --> 00:20:57,422
Prince Harry is on a mission
for social change.
388
00:20:57,506 --> 00:20:59,466
Now he's focusing on systemic racism.
389
00:20:59,549 --> 00:21:02,761
He's had an awakening
to the issues facing minorities.
390
00:21:02,844 --> 00:21:05,806
There's no way that we can move forward
391
00:21:05,889 --> 00:21:07,808
unless we acknowledge the past.
392
00:21:07,891 --> 00:21:11,812
The world soon learned
how personal the issue was
393
00:21:11,895 --> 00:21:16,316
when, in 2021, they did
a blockbuster interview with Oprah,
394
00:21:16,400 --> 00:21:20,529
adding that the institution
had missed an opportunity.
395
00:21:20,612 --> 00:21:23,699
I could never understand
how it wouldn't be seen as
396
00:21:24,533 --> 00:21:26,118
an added benefit,
397
00:21:26,201 --> 00:21:28,495
and a reflection of the world.
398
00:21:28,578 --> 00:21:31,248
At all times, but especially right now.
399
00:21:31,331 --> 00:21:34,876
Here you have one of the greatest
assets to the Commonwealth
400
00:21:34,960 --> 00:21:36,586
the family could have wished for.
401
00:21:36,670 --> 00:21:39,756
The royal family
responded in a statement.
402
00:21:51,184 --> 00:21:54,271
But for many people
who live in Commonwealth realms,
403
00:21:54,354 --> 00:21:57,024
these issues are a lot more
than a family matter.
404
00:21:57,107 --> 00:21:59,192
It has sparked another debate in Jamaica.
405
00:21:59,276 --> 00:22:02,654
An individual who "rules" us
406
00:22:02,738 --> 00:22:05,115
that doesn't look like us, sound like us.
407
00:22:05,198 --> 00:22:07,492
Even before that Oprah interview,
408
00:22:07,576 --> 00:22:10,662
only 30% of Jamaicans, a record low,
409
00:22:10,746 --> 00:22:13,415
wanted to keep the queen
as their head of state.
410
00:22:14,041 --> 00:22:17,669
And Barbados announced
that it will officially remove her.
411
00:22:17,753 --> 00:22:19,755
Other countries may follow.
412
00:22:21,590 --> 00:22:23,091
Unlike the British royal family,
413
00:22:23,175 --> 00:22:27,179
the Japanese emperor has started
to confront his country's imperial past.
414
00:22:27,262 --> 00:22:30,015
Recalling the past
with profound remorse
415
00:22:30,098 --> 00:22:31,266
over the previous war.
416
00:22:31,350 --> 00:22:34,770
That can be seen
as a political action,
417
00:22:34,853 --> 00:22:38,315
but at the same time,
it is something that has garnered
418
00:22:38,398 --> 00:22:41,360
a lot of respect
from the Japanese themselves.
419
00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:46,698
The royal fairy tale
has always cut out the other chapters.
420
00:22:47,366 --> 00:22:50,327
The real challenge of monarchy
in the 21st century
421
00:22:50,410 --> 00:22:53,955
is about how to keep
that mystique and aura.
422
00:22:54,623 --> 00:22:56,750
If you open the doors too widely,
423
00:22:56,833 --> 00:22:59,002
the aura is gone, the mystique is gone,
424
00:22:59,086 --> 00:23:02,214
and you are no different than anyone else.
425
00:23:02,297 --> 00:23:06,093
People want the magic of monarchies.
426
00:23:06,176 --> 00:23:07,761
But for some royals,
427
00:23:07,844 --> 00:23:11,098
holding on to that fairy tale
has been a heavy burden
428
00:23:11,890 --> 00:23:14,226
that could cost them their happy ending.
429
00:23:14,768 --> 00:23:18,563
For others, leaving royalty
turned out to be their happy ending.
430
00:23:19,606 --> 00:23:22,984
For most royals,
maintaining the fairy tale
431
00:23:23,068 --> 00:23:26,696
may mean finally facing the full story.
432
00:23:26,780 --> 00:23:31,201
There is an African saying
that until the lion tells a story,
433
00:23:31,284 --> 00:23:33,036
we won't hear the full story,
434
00:23:33,120 --> 00:23:37,332
because the story's traditionally told
by the hunters and not by the lions.
435
00:23:37,416 --> 00:23:40,585
And I think it is time
for the story of the lion to be told.