The queen keeps quiet about 'Brexit'
While the entire world has been reeling from the vote last Thursday for Britain to leave Europe, Queen Elizabeth II has continued her two-day 90th birthday tour of Northern Ireland, including a visit to the UNESCO World Heritage site, , with Prince Philip, Duke Of Edinburgh.
Elizabeth has not yet released an official statement about Brexit, but on Monday she made her first official appearance after the vote when she met with Northern Ireland鈥檚 deputy minister, Martin McGuinness, and Arlene Foster, first minister of Northern Ireland.
When Deputy Minister McGuinness asked how she was doing, she responded, 鈥�.鈥� She continued to say, 鈥淚鈥檝e had two birthdays, so we鈥檝e been quite busy.鈥� , following tradition, was celebrated with the Trooping the Colour ceremony. The publicized meeting was civil and short.
The monarchy did not vote on Brexit per tradition, and was quiet during the politically tense period before Brexit as well, even going after the tabloid newspaper The Sun, which . The Independent Press Standards Organisation ruled that the paper had breached media regulations by publishing an inaccurate headline after Buckingham Palace complained.
The monarchy鈥檚 website states that the queen acts as a 鈥�; gives a sense of stability and continuity; officially recognises success and excellence; and supports the ideal of voluntary service.鈥� However, as The Economist notes,聽, with powers to sign treaties, wage war, and dissolve Parliament.
Britain has seen immense prestige come from their monarchs鈥� image, as well. Not least George VI鈥檚 role in giving 鈥渁 sense of stability鈥� during World War II, as depicted in the wildly popular
Although the monarchy , or $61.25 million, according to The Telegraph, the royals are also a major tourist draw for the nation. A, costs 拢21.50 per ticket (about $29).聽
Last year, , $382.84 million, in revenue, to Britain, which shows that keeping the collected, graceful, and non-political face helps the nation. The queen is considered聽, not a political player.
According to a YouGov survey from 2015, among British people of all ages and political parties. The survey stated 68 percent of the British public believes the institution is good for the country.
A survey by Ipsos-MORI, a British marketing research company, that has been running for the past 23 years has also shown that the monarchy remains consistently popular, with only 17 percent of respondents 聽in February聽and 18 percent favoring a republic in 1993.
So as , and the rest of Europe and the world considers how to respond to the referendum vote, the queen and her husband are scheduled to continue their trip to Scotland 鈥� a country that, like Northern Ireland, voted to stay in the EU.
Following proper etiquette, political opinions are unlikely to be shared during royal small talk.
