By Melissa Murray

Dear Listener,

According to its mission, the Heritage Foundation is a think tank that advocates for “individual liberty, limited government, free enterprise, traditional American values, and a strong national defense to protect it all.” The Heritage Foundation is the sort of group that venerates the American founding and the Founding Fathers—its branding materials specifically reference the Liberty Bell. Which is why I found it surprising—befuddling, even—that the Heritage Foundation, in partnership with the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom and the Simon Center for American Studies, was hosting a virtual event entitled The Crown Under Fire: Why the Left’s Campaign to Cancel the Monarchy and Undermine a Cornerstone of Western Democracy Will Fail.

When I first saw an advertisement for the event, I was immediately intrigued. But then I was completely confused. The connection between the traditional American values on which the Heritage Foundation is built and a full-throated defense of the British monarchy seemed like a stretch. After all, the democratic values that the Heritage Foundation celebrates are rooted in our nation’s 1776 break with Great Britain and its monarch, King George III. Any third grader can tell you about the Stamp Act and the Boston Tea Party—potent examples of the toxic relationship between the Crown and its erstwhile colonies that led to a violent break with Mother England and the American Revolution.