Did Tony Blair Really Try to Modernize the Monarchy?
The Crown's ending season has the former Prime Minister Tony Blair, who was in charge from 1997 to 2007, as a major character. In episode six, "Ruritania", Bertie Carvel portrays Blair, who strives to bring the monarchy up-to-date.
Was it the actual Blair who made an effort to achieve this? Absolutely, Blair did, but it's not known how effective his attempt was.
The Washington Post said in September of 1997 that Blair considered the monarchy to be one of the institutions that needed to be improved following Princess Diana's death.
According to the newspaper, Blair attempted to position himself as the guardian of the monarchy while also advocating for the royal family's gradual transition into the modern era. Despite publicly defending Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles following Diana's passing, which many members of the public accused them of not being sympathetic, Blair's aides reportedly informed British reporters that his influence convinced the House of Windsor to provide a more dramatic response to the mourning crowds on the streets.
Ten years later, in the year 2007, the Telegraph newspaper wrote that "Mr Blair allegedly believed that the Queen and other important members of the Royal Family were not in tune with the modern world. During the beginning of his tenure as Prime Minister, his closest advisors reportedly claimed that Downing Street had saved the monarchy following Princess Diana's untimely death in a car accident in Paris during the late summer of 1997."
In the sixth episode of The Crown, it was shown that Queen Elizabeth had reservations about making any type of modern changes to the royal family. People who were friends with the Queen, before she passed away, revealed that anything that she believed did not need to be changed about British traditions was quite upsetting to her.
According to Peter Morgan, the person behind The Crown series on Netflix, Mr. Blair's favorite word during his time as a leader was "modernisation." This is important because the institution the Queen presides over is all about maintaining traditions and being stable, which is the opposite of modernisation. It's not strange that the Queen has been cautious when it comes to modernisation.
We don't know if the ex-PM is happy with how the famous Netflix show portrayed him. When season five of The Crown was over, Blair's representative stated to the Daily Telegraph that it's not unexpected that everything in the show is absolute nonsense.
Emily Burack is a news reporter for Town & Country, where she writes about various topics, including entertainment, culture, the royal family, and more. Previously, she worked as the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma, a website dedicated to Jewish culture. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram @emburack.
