Not an Essex Man (Justin Tallis - Pool/Getty Images)
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In 1953, every child in Essex was given a slim hardback volume published by Essex County Council and printed, quite beautifully, in Dagenham. Royalty in Essex, its weighted inscription explained, was published to mark the “occasion of the coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, on June 2nd, 1953”. Its pages contained potted histories of the various buildings around the county that were built or owned by royals, some with handsome illustrations, and a colour print of the new Queen at the back.
Hadleigh Castle, one of the featured properties, was built in the 13th century but now lies in ruins on a hill above a section of the Thames meandering towards the North Sea. People like me who grew up in this densely populated, marsh-fringed stretch of Southend might know Hadleigh as a right-of-passage destination for teenage drinking, rather than for any association with Edward III. Sheltered from the wind in one of the towers, you could truly escape the streetlights, Neighbourhood Watch patrols and trendies spoiling for a ruck.
The surrounding constituency of Castle Point — named after the ruin and containing Hadleigh, Benfleet and Canvey — is, according to new polling by UnHerd, the most monarchist place in Britain: 67% think it’s “a good thing”. Neighbouring constituencies had similarly high results. Essex, it seems, more than any other county, belongs to the king.
Castle Point is an area closely linked with the Thatcherite stereotypes of Essex Man and Essex Girl. It is notable, too, for being at the top of two other charts that have come to define Britain: it had the third-highest Leave vote in 2016, and it has the highest percentage of property ownership in the UK, with 82% of its dwellings owner-occupied.
Monarchism and home ownership are intrinsically linked; there are, after all, few more voracious property owners than the Windsors. As Londoners leaked into Essex in the postwar years, if they didn’t move to the new towns of Basildon or Harlow, they swapped a life of anxiety under landlords for a dabble at sovereignty. Soon, the transfer of the working classes from east London’s slums to Essex’s new suburbs became a shiny symbol of home ownership, particularly after Thatcher’s Right To Buy scheme.
Yet property ownership in these parts was not triggered by Right To Buy, but by a boom in the sale of parcels of land on which migrating Londoners with not much money but plenty of resourcefulness built DIY homes. On to this patchwork of land, acquired wholesale by cunning developers, were built thousands of makeshift homes. It’s partly how my father’s family came to live in Essex, by building a bungalow in a woodland clearing in Thundersley, which is now part of Castle Point. The rectangular, pebble-dashed dwelling my Nan grew up in is long gone; the plot now houses a luxury detached property for the modern Essexperson on a street filled with SUVs parked on lit-up driveways. When I recently visited the area for my new book, I met a woman who lived in one of the surviving bungalows built by my great-grandfather. She was very keen to talk about the history of the people who built the original estate, but not in stories of kings and the queens. “I like real history,” she said.
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SubscribeTrue story: when I was growing up, my stepfather had a Jack Russell called Sam, whom he enrolled in an organisation called the Tail Waggers Club, which genuinely was located in Barking.
True story: when I was growing up, my stepfather had a Jack Russell called Sam, whom he enrolled in an organisation called the Tail Waggers Club, which genuinely was located in Barking.
As Chesterton points out, home ownership is having a stake in the country – similar to how one would care more for an owned house than for rented house, since it’s yours. A rise in home ownership begets a rise in people caring for the health of the country and hence the health of the monarchy
Absolutely spot-on. All the sadder that Thatcher’s actual legacy is the buy-to-let landlord and a generation that will never be able to buy-in.
Absolutely spot-on. All the sadder that Thatcher’s actual legacy is the buy-to-let landlord and a generation that will never be able to buy-in.
As Chesterton points out, home ownership is having a stake in the country – similar to how one would care more for an owned house than for rented house, since it’s yours. A rise in home ownership begets a rise in people caring for the health of the country and hence the health of the monarchy
Not sure if I would link fondness for the monarchy with homeownership alone, but more broadly to upwards mobility and the accessibility of the hallmarks of the middle class, of which home ownership is one.
If you feel like you are moving up towards the rich and privileged Windsors in terms of wealth and social status, then you might not be moved to love them but you certainly won’t resent them.
If, on the other hand, you feel like things are getting worse for you and middle class life seems like an impossible dream, then the Royals will seem so much more distant from you. You might start looking at the Royals with a more jealous, resentful eye and start wanting to see them gone.
This is understandable but unfair towards the Royals. After all, they aren’t in control of societal developments – they are merely sitting ducks, exposed to the consequences of (and the moods brought on by) those changes.
Not sure if I would link fondness for the monarchy with homeownership alone, but more broadly to upwards mobility and the accessibility of the hallmarks of the middle class, of which home ownership is one.
If you feel like you are moving up towards the rich and privileged Windsors in terms of wealth and social status, then you might not be moved to love them but you certainly won’t resent them.
If, on the other hand, you feel like things are getting worse for you and middle class life seems like an impossible dream, then the Royals will seem so much more distant from you. You might start looking at the Royals with a more jealous, resentful eye and start wanting to see them gone.
This is understandable but unfair towards the Royals. After all, they aren’t in control of societal developments – they are merely sitting ducks, exposed to the consequences of (and the moods brought on by) those changes.
Sadly our culture is dying before our very eyes, and perhaps it is for the best.
Only last week the ‘BBC Singers’ were summarily sacked, whilst that moronic self-publicist, Mr Lineker was reinstated despite his simply appalling conduct.
I very much doubt if the King or even Essex can arrest this process.
Sadly our culture is dying before our very eyes, and perhaps it is for the best.
Only last week the ‘BBC Singers’ were summarily sacked, whilst that moronic self-publicist, Mr Lineker was reinstated despite his simply appalling conduct.
I very much doubt if the King or even Essex can arrest this process.
On a related topic, I’ve never been prejudiced against gay people buying property. They’re just home owners.
Even Cottage owners.
Indeed, in France gitisme is a phenomenon much in evidence among the Beauners of Dijon.
Indeed, in France gitisme is a phenomenon much in evidence among the Beauners of Dijon.
not homo owners?
Thus the double entendre.
Thus the double entendre.
Even Cottage owners.
not homo owners?
On a related topic, I’ve never been prejudiced against gay people buying property. They’re just home owners.
Perhaps with a commercial sponsorship deal, and his renaming as ” Burger King Charles III” he will be an even bigger hit with Terry, Garry, Darren, Chardonnay and Kyleigh?
Perhaps with a commercial sponsorship deal, and his renaming as ” Burger King Charles III” he will be an even bigger hit with Terry, Garry, Darren, Chardonnay and Kyleigh?