Analysis: It seems unlikely that the expression ‘Queen of England’ will fall out of use with King Charles

The use of the expression “Queen of England” in a metaphorical sense, to derogately designate someone whose power is only symbolic, carrying more pomp than real political weight, is not exclusive to Brazil, but has a strong presence in the national political imagination.

It is likely that this is due to the fact that it marked one of the most dramatic Brazilian political episodes of the last century. After the resignation of Jânio Quadros in August 1961, conservative resistance to the inauguration of the then vice-president João Goulart led the national political elite to conceive a blatantly casuistic arrangement: Jango would take office as president, yes, but the system of government would change for parliamentarian.

Speaking on the phone with deputy Amaral Peixoto, national president of the PSD and one of the architects of the move, Jango then said the famous phrase: “Commander, do you want to make me a queen of England?”. Adopted in September 1961 in the name of preventing a coup d’état —which would in any case end up coming less than three years later—the parliamentary system would be revoked in a plebiscite in January 1963.

Interestingly, the last time the expression was on the lips of a Brazilian president was in June 2019, when Jair Bolsonaro – a defender of the military coup that overthrew João Goulart – complained in an interview that the then presidents of the Chamber, Rodrigo Maia, and the Senate, Davi Alcolumbre, were trying to reduce the power of the Executive, making it Queen of England.

There is no reason to believe that Jango was the creator of the expression, but he was certainly its great promoter in the country.

When she said that phrase to Peixoto, Elizabeth II was a young queen who had not even completed ten years on the throne — and before that there would have been no reason to call the holder of a showy position, deserving of honors and pampering “Queen of England”, but emptied of power. The previous queen, Victoria, had died in 1901. It seems that the expression was not yet used in such a sense in the 19th century.

The parliamentarism prevailing in England is the obvious explanation for the expression, also used with reasonable frequency, with the same sense, in US political journalism.

In the country in mourning for Elizabeth II, monarchs play a role of representation, not government, far removed from absolutism. However, it should be noted that the expression is informal and is far from being a rigorous portrait of British political reality. To begin with, one should speak of “Queen of the United Kingdom”. In addition, there are controversies about how weak the power of the Crown is.

Will, in the reign of King Charles III, the expression “queen of England” will eventually fall into disuse? Only time will tell, but it seems unlikely.

Idioms tend to survive the historical circumstances that engendered them. There is still talk of “falling in”, although younger people don’t even know what a payphone is anymore, and the “blank check” seems well equipped to resist the debit card and Pix era.