Russell Brand Reacts To Prince Philip's Death

prince philip the duke of edinburgh died today of course when a human being dies that's a very sad event the death of a member of the monarchy is primarily a symbolic event because what is the monarchy other than a symbol we have just received this information from buckingham palace let me repeat this news it is with deep sorrow that her majesty the queen has announced the death of her beloved husband his royal highness the prince philip duke of edinburgh you can hear in the newscasters telling the severity of the situation the solemnity of the tone because this is the british broadcasting corporation and this is the death of the sovereigns consort in a sense those of you that don't believe that myth is important that story is important that spirituality is important you know this information will be relayed differently in chile or algeria or even the united states of america i know a range of people with a variety of emotions i'm sure you do some people really feel like they've lost someone that meant a great deal to them like almost like a de facto symbolic family member the monarchy i suppose resourced their psychic energy from our totemic sense that they are a first family it's necessary with the monarchy that you feel a degree of affiliation affinity and affection but a sufficient amount of respect and distance to warrant the inequality necessarily engendered in that type of steep hierarchical relationship i would never comment disrespectfully on the death of anybody and like anybody offer condolences and commiserations not that i'm i'm sure that nobody requires that although that means anything in particular to the people most affected i feel what's interesting in this moment is we are obviously undergoing a period of revision around the monarchy's role in cultural life perhaps we are continually reviewing the role of the monarchy in cultural life and this suggests that we are continually trying to negotiate and understand the meaning of power the harry and megan and oprah winfrey conversation created a sort of intergenerational conflict and i think that is a curious thing and i think it's impossible to imagine that affection for the royal family will continue when her majesty the queen of england dies and now of course philip has passed it's difficult to imagine that that institution will maintain the kind of bond that it has enjoyed with its subjects charles it seems to me from a kind of just anecdotal conversational understanding doesn't have the kind of affection that queen elizabeth has she's a person who's been present for most of our lives she exists as a kind of demigod which is the sort of role of a monarch they are anointed by god there are moments even in the filmed coronation that are too sacred to be filmed to check that stuff out it you know involves the application of oils anointment anointing means you are divinely appointed what i suppose i'm saying is that with the royal family you are dealing in myth and symbols whilst there are economic realities and power realities wrapped up in the monarchy you are dealing with an entirely symbolic situation even though that symbol does also entail as with recent revelations in the guardian unpacked actual power the most significant thing for me about the passing of prince philip is that it means that as he passes as her majesty the queen passes we will obviously due to the nature of entropy lose a generation of believers and it's unlikely that subsequent generations will have the same affection that's why the harry megan situation is challenging for that institution because it means that new symbolic power bases are being formed one could argue that this is a process that's been happening for a long time the rise of celebrity culture particularly deracinated celebrity that's not associated with a particular sport and attainment milieu like you say for example the kardashians shows that people are willing to project their affection and attention onto celebrities the monarchy is necessary in order that a country of our size i'm talking obviously i mean inhabitants of the uk so that you can have a centralized sense of self when you get rid of the monarchy you end up with the de facto monarchy in in republics you know the president's family still has to do look we've got a cat you know they do stuff like that don't this is the cat we're like you you got a cat we got cat you know you have to fulfill the same essential role and in american politics you don't need me to point out that the names clinton bush potentially obama again and maybe even trump might have kind of lineages and all of that's been predated by the kennedys people kind of like arrest like aristocracy by that i mean like enjoy the appeal of an elite class that can take care of how power is administered i believe that and in my conversation yesterday with edward snowden i had this idea confirmed that now that we have the technology to communicate on mass immediately can create new types of alliance it's curious that we are living in a time of distraction and conflict continual combat one might posit that that is because the possibility finally exists for new meaningful alliances that would negate the necessity for centralized power and centralized image systems therefore the death of philip becomes significant because were there the will were there the collective desire we're moving towards a time where people could establish different systems of identification different alliances different forms of power it could mean more than the death of philip it could be the beginning of the death of the monarchy i'm not saying that in isolation i'm saying it because it's been predated by like diana 20 years ago megan and harry the royal family no longer has that kind of necessary blend that alchemic uh coating of mystique and authority you know for example me being necessarily respectful for prince philip and his the loss of people that loved him whether you knew him or not is because if that for me it comes from a humanitarian perspective rather than a royalist perspective me i've never felt any particular connection to authority structures i've usually been adversarial and my any affection i feel for the royal family comes from knowing people and being married to someone who likes the royal family and from watching a tv show like the crown because it humanized the royals it didn't make them seem more remote it made them seem more accessible so of course i'd be respectful i would never be cynical or dismissive about the death of any other human being you'll be able to tell a lot about person by how they're affected by this is what i would say people that are deeply affected likely feel affection obviously feel affection for the uh for the establishment and for the monarchy that's not necessarily about class my grandmother for example born in stephanie lived in dagenham these are both working class communities for people that don't know and like loved the royal family in a way that i kind of felt it but again she had a different kind of life where there were wars where they had the royal family walking amidst the rubble in the blitz east end there is a reason that some people feel very sad and affected today and the reason that other people will feel indifferent me as a person who's has this platform as a cultural commentator i feel sort of respect and sadness and offer condolences to anybody who feels inclined to receive them and from an analytical perspective i know that this is likely coming at a time where our attitude towards power is being revised and it will be interesting but of course the real significant event that awaits us all is the the death of the matriarch because i think it will be very very hard for any of us to be indifferent about an event that seismic this will be a time when we have to re-finally review well what is our attachment to that family there is a degree of ambivalence around charles even among people that adore the older generation note is significantly that when in the harry and megan interview they said they were like racist comments harry was quick to point out that it was neither prince philip or elizabeth i'm not suggesting that's either true or untrue i'm saying it's significant that he said that because the implication is that they are beyond reproach they are inaccessible they operate on a realm that you don't start to query or question so this is a sad event for people that are affected by a significant event for all of us because this is a time where we are all negotiating our relationship with power and how we want our lives to be organized this is a time where there's a great deal of awareness of inequality and where we recognize that symbolic roles assert a psychic control over public imagination so a an event such as this one is a time for reflection a reflection on how you want society to be organized and this is not to diminish or detract from the sadness that people who are personally or even psychologically affected may feel simply to acknowledge there is another component to this because there is always more than one component to an event of this magnitude if you liked that video then please feel free to like it and subscribe to the video it really helps us if you do that helps more people to see this and helps more people to see the work that i do please if you enjoy my content go over to russellbrand.com and subscribe to our mailing list i send out pretty regular bulletins i've got done lots of content on the royal family if this kind of thing interests you have a look at some of the playlists around that and thank you very much you

Channel: Russell Brand

Views: 803,218

Rating: 4.8327308 out of 5

Keywords: Russell Brand, Brand Russell, BrandThe, Russell Brand video, Russell Brand news, Russell Brand politics, News, Brand, politics, Russell, prince, philip, prince philip, Philip, Prince, Prince Philip, Royal Family, royals, royal family, Queen, Queen Elizabeth, Buckingham Palace, Windsor, tribute, tributes, death, dies, died, Prince Harry, Harry, Meghan, Harry and Meghan, Diana, Princess Diana, Duke of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, duke, mourn, mourning, the queen, England, UK, Britain, BBC

Id: rvY5BXKuJg0

Length: 10min 47sec (647 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 09 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/Gerry1of1]

At first I thought this was a comedy skit the I realized it's just a load of bullshit.

"the monarchy, I suppose, resourced their psychic energy from our totemic sense" ....... Huh? Say what? Frickin' hippy!

"I know a range of people with a variety of emotions" - Really? Everyone I know only has one emotion.

[u/vaguelyprosaic]

This was an interesting watch! I think that Brand is certainly on to something in his assertion that the death of the matriarch will be a pivotal moment in the re-evaluation of the role of the constitutional monarchy. I just want to be clear that I appreciate the monarchy's role in UK national identity (I appreciate their philanthropic work as well) --- but I also wonder what other models may serve the same purpose.
Living in a Commonwealth nation, the Governor General plays a pivotal role in balancing the power of our parliament. However, there are times when I wonder if holding on to these ties may be hindering the development of our national identity.

[u/Squrlz4Ever]

Excellent video. Russell Brand's cultural commentary, as he calls it, is probably the closest thing to a university lecturer in the humanities that many viewers have experienced. He's a bit like a top-tier professor, but with tattoos, beads, and chest hair. He weighs ideas one against the other, conducts thought experiments, and explores multiple interpretations of events.

He also gained points from me here for showing respect for the death of another human being and steering clear of cynicism and insults.