Unit1: The British Monarchy and the Media after Queen Elizabeth's passing:
Intro:
In this unit, we are just getting started! We will focus on the royal events which have taken place in the UK in the last few years (and months!). We will then consider the way the media report on the Royals. Basically, we will reflect on the monarchy debate and find out more about the British political system, not to mention the Commonwealth.
The documents below will help you go further into the theme and practice (translation, reading or listening comprehension, ....).
Survival kit:
Download this file and add what you think is important (vocabulary, historical or cultural facts, grammar, ....)
Step1: The British Monarchy and the Royals (webquest):
- The British Monarchy: main facts:
Official website / Official channel
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Royal events:
20th anniversary of Princess Diana's death (on August 31, 2017): link1, link2, link3, link4
Meghan and Harry's wedding (highlights), BBC
Queen Elizabeth II becomes longest-reigning monarch
Queen Elizabeth: "The many world leaders she outlasted", BBC
"Prince Philip retires", Express.co.uk
"Prince Philip dies, aged 99, Buckingham Palace announces" (on April 9, 2021), BBC News
Megxit (a French article that you could try to sum up in English)
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The royal "babies":
Royal baby headlines (2nd baby!) / and 3rd baby!
What the papers say about Prince Louis on April 24
"Adorable Archie meets the Queen", BBC News
"Big royal snub for Meghan Markle, Prince Harry's daughter Lilibet", News.com.au
+Lilibet
Step2: The Media Coverage of the Royal Family:
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The royal "babies" and how the press covered their arrival:
Royal baby headlines (2nd baby!) / and 3rd baby!
What the papers say about Prince Louis on April 24
"Adorable Archie meets the Queen", BBC News
"Big royal snub for Meghan Markle, Prince Harry's daughter Lilibet", News.com.au
- The British media:
History of British newspapers, NS
Quality newspapers vs tabloids, About English
Broadsheets vs Tabloids (a bit more difficult and thorough!)
The media frenzy about the royals (extra information)
Step3: "London Bridge is down": The UK political system and the monarch's roles/duties:
The Magna Carta, History Learning Site
The British Monarchy (official website)
a key video (the UK/ Great Britain/ The British isles...)
Video extracts from "The Queen"
For the trailers of "The Queen" and "The Crown", see below (Go further)
Doc3:
"The Queen remembered", a BBC Podcast
Step4: The Monarchy debate in the U.K.... and in the Commonwealth:
- The Monarchy debate in the U.K.:
#ThankTheQueen, The Telegraph
"Prince Philip dies, aged 99, Buckingham Palace announces" (on April 9, 2021), BBC News
"Misleading posts about the cost of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee", The Cube (doc4a)
"Can the British monarchy survive the Queen's death?", FastCompany.com
"The Book of Condolence" (The Daily Mail)
Campaign group Republic (doc4b) link1 + link2: Emma, Magali, Justine,
Baptiste, Charles <----- : surf the website of the campaign group Republic (doc4b) and recap what you learn about this group (main facts, objectives, etc)
"Monarchists vs Republicans", The Economist (doc4c) -------------------->
-watch the video (doc4c) and recap the arguments of monarchists (the arguments in favor of the monarchy) and
the arguments of republicans (in favor of a republic) Ariunzaya, Alexandre, Théo, Angus, Malo
Megxit and Meghan's interview with Oprah (doc4d) link1 / link2
-= read the article (doc4d) about Meghan's interview with Oprah and recap about you learn + explain the word "Megxit": Noah, Théo, Hajar, Leyan
Jeffrey Epstein and the downfall of Prince Andrew: what you need to know (doc4e), The New York Times
= read the article (doc4e) about Prince Andrew and recap the scandal he is confronted with. Cyrielle, Emmanuel,
Evan
How the Queen's death could impact the British economy (doc4f)
= read this article from Le Monde and recap the impact of the Queen's death on the British economy Clémentine, Martha, Gaël, Léna
A few extra links:
"What do Londoners think about the Royals?", Luke's English
Debating the future of the British monarchy
Royal economics: "The price of an enchanting anachronism", The Economist
"Is the Royal family worth the money?", The Atlantic
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... and in the Commonwealth:
The Commonwealth and the Royal Baby
"How the Commonwealth sees the Queen", BBC News
"Barbados to remove Queen as head of state", BBC News
"What the Queen's death will change in the Commonwealth", Insider.com
"'Much more than a figurehead': how the Queen was the beating heart of the Commonwealth", The Guardian
Cartoons:
Translate! Practice!
Practice your vocabulary and grammar on the following articles to be translated into English... or French!
"Britain's royal family: cut this anti-democratic dynasty out of politics" (The Guardian)
"How much do the royal family spend and are they down to their last million?" (The Guardian)
"La dimension géopolitique de la disparition d'Elizabeth II", Europe 1
Go further!
Review the Unit1 vocabulary list!
In the bottom right hand corner, you can switch modes and decide what "game" to play! Have fun ;-)!