With the passing of HM Queen Elizabeth II on September 8th, 2022, a 70 year reign came to a close and a new chapter of the British monarchy began. Given the longevity of the late queen’s reign, she has become synonymous with inbound and domestic tourists and in popular culture/media on a global scale with attractions such as Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and Balmoral Castle to list but a few.
In the immediate aftermath of her passing, UK (and particularly London) saw a surge in tourism visitation and associated expenditure with hotel occupancy rates up to 95% (AP News, 2022). According to Windsor.gov.uk (2022) ‘In total, around £473 million was spent on trips to Windsor in 2019 by overnight and day visitors, a rise of 7% on 2018. 16% of this expenditure was made by domestic staying visitor; 24% by overseas staying visitors and 60% by day visitors. Even though these are pre-pandemic statistics, the convey the value that the royal brand has in relation to tourism.
Despite it’s economic value to the UK in tourism terms, the concept of the British monarchy in terms of its relevance to modern day life is increasingly under question. If the monarchy ends, will it’s associated attractions lose their lustre, appeal and ultimately, their visitor numbers?
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/mar/14/harry-meghan-royal-family-monarchy-what-are-they-for
Talking Points:
Will the passing of Elizabeth II have implications for the future of royal attractions in the UK. If so, how?
If there is increasing antipathy towards the royals in the UK, will this impact perceptions of attractions with a link to the monarchy and in general?
Do attractions have to consider demand and changing trends?
The Attraction 
I believe the passing of the Queen will enhance tourism as people will want to travel to London and other places where the Queen is associated to see memorials for the Queen and to remember her/pay their respects. This is good short term for the tourism and events industry as i believe there will be a spike in tourism to these places.
It is reported that 250,000 people travelled to London to pay their respects on the day of the Queens funeral (Donelan, 2022). The funeral was broadcast to 4.1 billion viewers, these figure shows how important it was to the British people, and to people all over the world. Fyall suggests there will be a larger surge in visitors over the next six to twelve months (Fyall, 2022).
However, the Queen was in reign for 70 years, so for most people having a Queen is what we all have known. The Queen was widely respected by many people and i believe this is a huge part of the popularity tourism has experienced due to the royal family. Some may think that due to the change in monarch people may travel to experience the new reign of the King or some may argue the opposite and say that because the Queen has died, royal tourism will be affected negatively as less people will want to visit as the Queen has passed away.
I believe the popularity of the Royal Family has decreased dramatically in the past 20 years, YouGov poll showed that only 31% of 18-24 year olds were in favour of the monarchy, compared to 66% of the population as a whole. This figure shows how Generation Z ‘cares less’ about the monarchy. However, after the Queen’s death these figures rose to 67% (YouGov 2021). I believe after the boost in tourism and popularity of the Queen’s passing, these figures will drop down to similar to before.
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I agree with Caitlyn’s point. During her 70-year reign, the queen became the longest standing monarch, creating a history that arguably will never be replicated (SkyHistory). This could explain the influx of visitors to London when she passed, creating a peak interest in the royal family.
It was reported that 100 heads of government visited London after the Queens passing (BBC), this details the huge importance that the monarchy still has around the world.
However, it is arguable that King Charles is now head of state, the popularity of the monarchy will significantly reduce. Royal commentator, Jobson discussed that Charles becoming king, in his opinion, would only reduce popularity of the monarch (Geonews).
Therefore, although there has been an influx of visitors to London, causing an escalation in the popularity of the monarch, this is arguably only temporary, and they could face a steep drop in the coming years.
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I agree with Caitlyn121, the Queen’s passing will bring in a new sense of tourism of parents and grandparents education their children/grandchildren about their experience under the Reign of Queen Elizabeth II.
However, the backlash from Charles the III being her succesor at the age of 73 was high, headlines split reading “Long Live the King” and “Why the British Citizens Dont Want Charles as King” these were spread far and wide with article upon article and after such an incredible reign from his mother he will have to become a representative of what the people he rules over truly want and feel as one article described him this way “For example, Tom Bower, author of Rebel Prince, describes Charles as being petulant and uncaring about the times when he causes harm. Some of his private rants and tantrums have been made public, further damaging his reputation.” (Raven, 2020)
The country i feel is holding its breath hoping that things go onwards and upwards rather than a drastic decline for however long King Charles may Reign.
Raven, R. (2020). 11 Reasons British Citizens Didn’t Want Charles to Be King. [online] Reader’s Digest. Available at: https://www.rd.com/list/reasons-british-citizens-dont-want-prince-charles-to-be-king/ [Accessed 28 Oct. 2022].
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As everyone has mentioned in the previous comments there was a sudden growth in royal attractions after The Queen’s passing. As CEO of the travelling agency UK Inbound, Joss Croft, has said at the time, there is an increase in the number of foreign travellers coming to pay their respects and celebrate the life of Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II
(economictimes.com, 2022)
Having said that since King Charles has now taken over the throne, there is a possibility that fewer people will have an interest in his reign since there are many controversial opinions of him within the general public. A recent poll conducted in 2021, found that more than 70 per cent of people in the UK are in support of The Queen, whereas only 50 per cent are in support of, now, King Charles (politico. eu,2021)
As the years go by there has been a decrease in people who believe the monarchy should continue, most of those votes coming from the future generation (yougov.co.uk, 2022). However, I think the royal attractions will remain a vital tourist point for the UK. Maybe not for the citizens, but for foreigners, especially those whose countries do not have a monarchy.
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The increase in visitors to royal attractions showed during Queen Elizabeth’s II passing and afterward. As mentioned in the comments above, the numerous visits also came with different perspectives and
opinions about the new monarch, King Charles III. A variety of people were pleased to see the new King in the spotlight, however, the York incident brutally showed other opinions on King Charles III. (BBC, 2022). Apetogbor suggests that the passing of Elizabeth II will create an increase of 60 million pounds from sales of souvenirs in connection to the funeral, as more people still associate the United Kingdom with the beloved Queen. (Apetogbor, 2022).
The Monarchy has always confronted the issue of relevance throughout the years, with the young generation finding the monarchy irrelevant, many foreigners have different and positive opinions about the essence of Britain. Pearce suggests that it could be argued that the Queen was nothing but an effectively powerless figurehead, however, her impact and influence on numerous events throughout her 70-year reign has surely made the monarchy stand to this day. (Pearce, 2022).
I think the royal attraction will remain an important point in UK tourism, although the monarchy is slowly losing its relevance among the crowds of young people (yougov.co.uk,2022), the mark it leaves beyond the borders of the country, especially for foreign visitors, will always contribute economically to the United Kingdom. Authenticity is what makes the royal attractions unique and is what foreign tourists are delighted to see in a world full of modernism.
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The Queen’s death definitely lead to a sudden increase in domestic tourism in the UK, since the queen passed on September eighth demand for flights to London had increased by 49% shortly after, and booking for flights were up 38% compared with the week before her passing (Edenedo, 2022). There was over 250,000 people lining up to view the Queen’s coffin and pay their respect (Adam and Timsit, 2022), this suggests that her passing did in fact bring visitors to the royal attractions and shows how important it is to residents as well as those across the world.
With King Charles III ascending the throne, surprisingly 63% of people said that he would do a good job (Qinn and Sinmaz, 2022), however King Charles III has received a lot of backlash even before him becoming monarch for multiple reasons and 46% of the British public were in favour of Prince William to take the throne instead (Barnes, 2019). As stated in previous responses, the monarchy is somewhat losing significance where 22% of the British population are in favour of having an elected head of state instead of a monarch, the majority being the younger generation (Kirk, 2022).
I believe that royal attractions will still continue to bring in tourists to the UK and remain important, the monarch can be viewed as important due to London being the most visited city in the UK by international tourists, however having the new monarch could possibly decrease the interest in royal attractions more with those already located in the UK.
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I agree with all the comments above. Queen Elizabeth II was a constant in many people’s lives during her 70-year reign which meant she had a loyal following. It is reported that 250,000 people travelled to London to pay their respects on the day of the Queens funeral (Donelan, 2022) which has been great for the UK economy.
It can be argued that younger generations do not hold the same values for royal traditions and ceremonies. YouGov published that only 31% of 18–24-year-olds were in favour of the monarchy and therefore it is expected that people will still go to London to see royal attractions and to continue to pay their respects for our late Queen.
I believe that the number of visitors will drop after this influx as research indicates that younger generations do not favour the monarchy and do not have the same respect for King Charles as they did for the Queen.
Over the years Charles received bad press during his marriage and separation to Princess Diana and other senior members of the royal family such Prince Harrys relationship to Megan.
The cost-of-living crisis may mean that the public will not want to watch members of the royal family attend glamorous events when people are struggling to heat their homes this winter causing more of a divide between the royal family and the public.
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The Royal Family have been through an exceptional period of transition since 2022, with the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth in June 2022, to her passing in September and then to accession and coronation of King Charles. The funeral of Queen Elizabeth is estimated to have cost £2 million and her death has had a significant impact on the UK economy with businesses closures incurred from the bank holiday given for her funeral which has caused losses amounting to $2.6 billion. (Spoehel, 2022). However, tourism came to the rescue with hotels in London jumping at the opportunity to make money and some even doubling their prices for tourists visiting London to mourn the late monarch which has mitigated the losses.
However, I believe there is increasing antipathy towards the Royal Family today more than ever. With the royal household’s net expenditure at £107.5 million (British Heritage, 2024) being paid for by UK taxpayers, it’s no surprise that there are frustrated taxpayers who are struggling with the current cost of living crisis. Buckingham Palace is also in its seventh year of renovation to reduce the risk of fire and flood but to also enhance public access to the Palace and to improve the energy efficiency (NAO, 2024). The Palace attracts over 15 million tourists every year and hosts almost 100,000 guests, therefore enhancing public access will benefit UK tourism (Royal.UK, n.d).
Despite, many saying the monarchy are outdated and no longer needed, the royals support 600 different charities, with King Charles’ charities raising £100 million annually. Despite the Royals upkeep costing around £500 million a year, it estimated that the monarchy contributes £2.5 billion to the UK economy during the same time period (Hirwani, 2023). So royalist or not, there is no denying the economic benefits the Royal Family bring into the UK.
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Queen Elisabeth II has passed away on 8th September 2022, it has been an year and six months since she passed, still, the relevancy of the Royal family hasn’t gone away with the queen, according to Statista (2023), the number of overseas residents visiting the United Kingdom was actually higher in 2023 than it was in 2022, the year of the queen’s passing. 31.2 million people have visited the UK in 2022, while 37.5 million have visited in 2023. The difference in the number of tourists is not very high, but it does show that people are still willing to visit even after the Queen’s death.
The Royal Family started to slowly lose support and popularity among the British population after the death of Princess Diana in 1997, but there was not a drastic change in how they were perceived, support for the royals has gone below 50% since King Charles III was crowned in 2023 (Garton-Crosbie, 2024). The loss of popularity had begun to show after the coronation, when British people felt that taxpayer money shouldn’t be used to help the old and “useless’ ‘ Institution that is the Royal Family. Still, the british monarchy is still relevant for among tourists and people from countries that never had a monarchy or used to have a monarchy, In some cases, people from poorer countries will link the UK’s prosperity with the presence of the Royal Family, this also applies to other European monarchies such as Sweden.
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With Queen Elizabeth II now deceased and King Charles reigning, there is a huge possibility that the Royal Family might lose their popularity amongst younger generations.
Younger people might dispute the legitimacy of an inherited monarchy in a contemporary democratic country and favour more egalitarian and meritocratic values. Feelings of disconnection and irrelevance may also result from the monarchy’s alleged disconnection from daily life and the difficulties encountered by younger demographics. Furthermore, younger generations may become less interested in traditional institutions like the monarchy as a result of being exposed to various types of entertainment and role models through the growing impact of popular culture and globalised media. In the absence of proactive engagement with younger audiences, a focus on modern issues, and evidence of continued significance beyond ceremonial responsibilities, the royal family faces the risk of becoming marginalised within younger generations.
However, with the Monarchy being a part of British culture for centuries now, I highly doubt that Royal attractions will lose their status as being a “Jewel in the crown”. Even though the demand might decline.
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