Do we actually need the Royal family?

[porkypig]

I'm not very clued up on these things but am just interested to know what's the point in having a royal family if the country has a government etc- I know they're probably good for the economy ( tourists and all that) but I can't see why else? Will this country always have a royal family? Can they just be fazed out? Have other countries fazed theirs out? Just intrigued to know xx

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

I love ours

 

[Mummy Bean]

Yes they bring in over 2billion trade from tourism and merch. They do so much for charity and for encouranging others. They remind of us of the history of our county...and they make up stand out from all the other boring republics out there.

i love them.

 

[binxyboo]

Yes they bring in over 2billion trade from tourism and merch. They do so much for charity and for encouranging others. They remind of us of the history of our county...and they make up stand out from all the other boring republics out there.

i love them.

This

How great did the country feel when the wedding happened? - and the jubilee?
I'm a total Royalist

 

[fantastica]

We don't NEED them no, but I guess a lot of people just like them! I understand the importance of history etc. but it doesn't sit right with me personally.

 

[Harveysmum369]

I always the Queen could stop a law going to vote?I've likely got it wrong though?

We don't NEED them,no,but like others have said they bring a lot of revenue into the country.xx

 

[hayz_baby]

Defo think we need the royals and they are an important part of the country for the reasons mentioned above. Also the queen does have many powers over the country still (although parliament does hold majority ruling) eg she is the only person who can disassemble parliament before an election can happen the pm asks the queen to disassemble parliament. Technically the queen can do this whenever but doesn't for the country.

 

[deafgal]

I thought the royal family have some power. Didn't the queen just sign a law protecting gay and lesbian right ?

 

[hayz_baby]

I always the Queen could stop a law going to vote?I've likely got it wrong though?

We don't NEED them,no,but like others have said they bring a lot of revenue into the country.xx

Yes she can, a law is voted through commons, once passed the law then goes though lords, once passed there it is then passed to the queen. Again she can say no but for the benefit of the country she signs it off.

 

[fantastica]

Many Republics have good tourist industries without a monarchy and surely if the monarchy was abolished then tourists would actually have more access to historically important sites. Although the Queen may have not really used her powers, there is always a chance that someone could in the future.

 

[smokey]

Many Republics have good tourist industries without a monarchy and surely if the monarchy was abolished then tourists would actually have more access to historically important sites. Although the Queen may have not really used her powers, there is always a chance that someone could in the future.

What extra historical sites are you referring to? there is very few places that are royal related places that are not public and those few are because they are lived in residence. Would you want people trapsing through your home taking photos?

 

[kmbabycrazy]

As said they bring an enormous amount of tourism. People complained about how much the jubilee cost and from what I heard/read that money was spent by tourists on souveniers alone. Nevermind the rest of the money the tourists pumped into the economy. I heard an American couple on the radio the other day (before the new Prince was born) saying that they had come over here to be here whilst the royal baby was born. I think they're a wonderful and very important part of this country.

 

[deafgal]

I can imagine them tourists thinking "Oh wow...a real live queen! JUST Like in the fairy tale"

 

[kmbabycrazy]

I always the Queen could stop a law going to vote?I've likely got it wrong though?

We don't NEED them,no,but like others have said they bring a lot of revenue into the country.xx

Yes she does have the power to say no, and signs off on every law passed in this country, but it would be highly unusual for her to say no, so much so people think it's just a formality at this point and that she has no real say, but she does x

 

[bumpy_j]

We don't need the Monarchy, but I think we would struggle to bring tourists to London without one - especially families. It has notoriously bad weather, high prices, shopping that is pretty much on par with every other major capital (apart from places like Harrods I suppose), a not very highly regarded national cuisine - not to mention all those souvenir shops you get in London and Windsor would struggle enormously or have to close. Whilst I don't agree with a monarch that has genuine power, a symbolic one doesn't really faze me.

 

[smokey]

While she has the power to say no there is actually a unwritten rule that the monarch will never reject a law if backed by house of lords and no law has been rejected since the 1700's.
There is however a loophole in that if she doesn't agree to a law passing she can actually disband the government and re elect one that doesn't agree to the law which is what her grandfather had to do once.

 

[Pearls18]

The Queen is head of state so is part of our governmental system technically speaking, but in reality it is understood their power is limited because our government and vote is so strong they know they would have a revolution on their hands! But I think they are very respectful of their role in 21st century Britain, they have taken on a much more ceremonial role and I for one am a big royal fan. Republicanism won't happen in my lifetime and I hope it never does, we clearly live in a democratic society so I see no problems with it.

 

[kmbabycrazy]

While she has the power to say no there is actually a unwritten rule that the monarch will never reject a law if backed by house of lords and no law has been rejected since the 1700's.
There is however a loophole in that if she doesn't agree to a law passing she can actually disband the government and re elect one that doesn't agree to the law which is what her father had to do once.

Do you know what, I knew that haha. A whole A level law lesson just came flooding back to me.

 

[smokey]

I can imagine them tourists thinking "Oh wow...a real live queen! JUST Like in the fairy tale"

We where in Windsor about a month ago (we live about 5 minutes from there) and LO saw the queen and just shouted out "its the queen, wow" really excited, never even realised he would recognise her

 

[bumpy_j]

I can imagine them tourists thinking "Oh wow...a real live queen! JUST Like in the fairy tale"

We where in Windsor about a month ago (we live about 5 minutes from there) and LO saw the queen and just shouted out "its the queen, wow" really excited, never even realised he would recognise her

That's so lovely we used to live very near Windsor too (about 10 minutes from Eton) and I keep meaning to go back to take LO to Windsor castle - strangely, I've never been inside despite always living near there. The Queen came here last year but Joel slept through the whole thing...