Thread by @TaliesinEvitel

Surprisingly complicated feelings. I (Tali) was a London tour guide for years, so I've forgotten more about the Queen than most people will ever know. I've seen how loved she is by people from all over the world. She's a mother, a sister. A human. She seemed nice. I'm sad. But 🧵

2/ she was also the figurehead of an empire and commonwealth that has oppressed millions and caused untold harm. I'm Welsh, and our country has endured generations of genuine cultural genocide in the name of the crown. Our suffering is nothing compared to others

3/ Elizabeth II may have not been the most actively oppressive or imperialist monarch, in many ways she was (relatively) progressive, but she still embodied and promoted the institution at the heart of these wrongs. I mourn for those that loved her and the millions who found

4/ comfort in her. But those who are less compassionate have every right not to be so, and I support them over some archaic one-sided notion of "decency" that always demands compassion from the oppressed and never the oppressor. That's some bullshit.

(Also the nice old lady did use taxpayer £££ to pay for her paedophile son to escape justice as recently as last year and that's not cool either)

Honestly I'm only sharing my thoughts because I know we have an international following, and many of you are interested to know. Sorry if you're not one of those interested people.

Anyway, I hope one day soon we can move on from a hereditary monarchy under which equality of opportunity by definition simply cannot exist in our country. I will miss her, in unexpected ways.