Crowned at the dawn of the television age, Queen Elizabeth was the first celebrity ruler in the age of modern media. kvanaren writes that she was defined by her distance as much as her ubiquity
Elizabeth II was not the first queen of England whose visible public self became tangled up with technology and all kinds of broader cultural connotation. Victoria, the first English monarch, became an important icon for women’s comportment and mourning in the Victorian age. Her public image coalesced out of the combination of her imperial majesty and her devoted, loyal widowhood.
Yet, paradoxically, the regular waves of anti-monarchism were held at bay largely by the sheer, irrefutable fact of her continued existence. What, were you going to deposeMeeting President Nyrere of Tanzania in Buckingham Palace during the filming of the 1969 BBC documentaryWith princes William and Harry in the royal box at Guards Polo Club, June 14, 1987.Touring the Royal Albert Hall after its rebuilding, March 30, 2004.