Is it time to ditch the Monarchy?

[TattiesMum]

For all of the media hype about the royal wedding, I can't help but notice that the reactions of almost everyone I know (and a large proportion of opinion posts online) seem to indicate that the general public in the UK really aren't as interested in the Monarchy as the TV and papers would like us to believe.

So .... do you believe that it's time for us to dismantle the monarchy, open the state buildings that they currently inhabit as tourist attractions, make them pay tax on all of their income (rather than letting them voluntarily decide what they will pay as they do now) and generally stop treating some people as being above others based purely on birth ?

 

[Natasha2605]

I don't know much about the Royal Family or the way they work (or don't )

I've never really seen the point in them But maybe I would think differently if I knew what they did for Britain? xx

 

[Pyrrhic]

Who would do their job?

The monarchy represent over 3,000 charities.

They carry out over 2,000 engagements each year.

Acts of Parliament still have to be approved by the reigning Sovereign, and they still have the power to dispel a current prime minister.

The Queen acts as the head of state, and preforms all the duties such as receiving international ambassadors and heads of state, supports diplomatic and economic relations in the commonwealth, state activities, festivities, etc.

The Armed forces are headed up by the Queen, and there is no way I would swear an oath to follow a Prime Minister who is as interchangeable as a pair of pants. I don't know anyone I serve with who would either.

As 'Head of Nation', The Queen's role is less formal, but no less important for the social and cultural functions it fulfils.

These include: providing a focus for national identity, unity and pride; giving a sense of stability and continuity; recognising success, achievement and excellence; and supporting service to others, particularly through public service and the voluntary sector.

 

[coccyx]

i am certainly not a 'royal' lover , but i did watch a programme about the queen and she was always on the go. Would have to be nice to the most boring of people and most of her day was planned out for her. I am not keen on the b list royals and no way would i curtsey to anyone!
President could not take queens place as he/she is political

 

[Cloberella]

i am certainly not a 'royal' lover , but i did watch a programme about the queen and she was always on the go. Would have to be nice to the most boring of people and most of her day was planned out for her. I am not keen on the b list royals and no way would i curtsey to anyone!
President could not take queens place as he/she is political

A President would be the head of state, that is how one could replace the Queen.

I have never understood the need for a royal family and I resent paying money towards them.

I also think its a bit rich that they are getting married just when all the Governments cuts will be beginning to take effect; in paticular all the police cuts- how many police will be needed for crowd control and protection for all the dignitaries and heads of state that will be in attendance? How much will that cost?

 

[Pyrrhic]

So how would a President be any different? They wouldn't be able to govern and fill the role the Queen currently does, so you are just replacing like for like.

The monarchy make their own money. Kate Middleton comes from a wealthy family, she works, has her own salary, William makes at least £40k from his own job, plus his investments. Prince Charles makes about £20million per year, from land rentals, property, his own food range, and he even owns a cricket ground that brings him about £250k a year. So who's to say that the wedding will be paid for by taxpayers money?

 

[redpoppy]

It's funny because you never get a real indication of what proportion of society is pro or anti monarchy. Perhaps B&B is a better place than most.

I'm pro monarchy. I have lots of small reasons but I doubt any really convincing ones. I don't trust democracy can't be bought and so I would like someone already rich (albeit with my, what was it again, like £2 or something per year, I think, can't remember) to have some sway and power. I wish there was more power attributed to the throne. I can probably be convinced otherwise as my thoughts are fairly abstract and generally I'm a lefty, liberal, libertarian with strong belief in welfare type person so most people think it's out of character for me to be pro monarchy. I do think we'll lose more than we'll gain.

Besides, I do have an irrational fondness for the royal family. Especially that crazy racist old german fella. I can't help it. I apologise in advance.

 

[Scamp]

I'm not a Royalist and I'm not all that interested in the Royal family but I do quite like that we have one, not sure why though.

Very interested to see what everyone thinks of them

xxx

 

[redpoppy]

So how would a President be any different? They wouldn't be able to govern and fill the role the Queen currently does, so you are just replacing like for like.

The monarchy make their own money. Kate Middleton comes from a wealthy family, she works, has her own salary, William makes at least £40k from his own job, plus his investments. Prince Charles makes about £20million per year, from land rentals, property, his own food range, and he even owns a cricket ground that brings him about £250k a year. So who's to say that the wedding will be paid for by taxpayers money?

Wow Pyrrhic. You know lots. I never really looked into this issue in detail but read the odd article about it now and again. I will definitely be following your posts so I can steal your arguments for future debates.


P.S There are probably many other things I'd personally resent paying for more than the royal family.

 

[indy and lara]

They should have been removed a long time ago. The Queen clearly does do a lot for charity and I have no doubts that she does work hard. However, the money spent on security (and in previous days) for minor royals who do very little and cost a huge amount was and is ridiculous.

I can understand how military people feel that the Queen is important as she is part of the oath of allegiance they swear but I cannot see their relevance to the vast majority of us.

 

[Pyrrhic]

It's funny because you never get a real indication of what proportion of society is pro or anti monarchy. Perhaps B&B is a better place than most.

The BBC carried out polls a couple of years ago that said about 80% of the population wish to retain the monarchy.

https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7162649.stm

 

[Cloberella]

So how would a President be any different? They wouldn't be able to govern and fill the role the Queen currently does, so you are just replacing like for like.

The monarchy make their own money. Kate Middleton comes from a wealthy family, she works, has her own salary, William makes at least £40k from his own job, plus his investments. Prince Charles makes about £20million per year, from land rentals, property, his own food range, and he even owns a cricket ground that brings him about £250k a year. So who's to say that the wedding will be paid for by taxpayers money?

Well Presidents are very different to the monarchy, its complicated but if we had a presidential system then we would likely vote for a separate president and majority party- you know how the US (and most of the world) works? Thats how it would be different from having a Queen. And also the President would be an elected person- not someone just given the role as a birth right.

I didn't say we would pay for the wedding- but there will be a lot of costs such as policing that will come out of taxpayers money- unless a private security firm is hired out for the whole of London? If that happens I will hold my hands up and say I was wrong but I find it difficult to believe that this will be the case- especially as that has never happened before.

 

[kirmal12]

The Royals are what makes Britain special in my opinion, we have such a fantastic history. No other country in the world has a monarchy as big as ours and as well loved. I love all the pomp and ceremony, it makes me proud to watch it all!.

I think it only equates to something like 1p per family in tax to keep them, i would rather them have it than some lazy sod who can't be bothered to work (for example, massive generalization i know). I just couldn't imagine Buckingham palace turned into a hotel!.

 

[smokey]

Dieu et mon droit


I am a royalist and do feel they serve their purpose, even something as simple as tourism is benafitial to this country just purley for the novelty of having a monarchy alone.

Because my father was in the Coldstream Guards (the ones with the big black bearskin hats standing around outside the castles and palace) I was brought up with respect for the royals, plus I got to play around in some rooms at windsor castle as a kid that general public wernt alowed in and met them all a far amount of times as a child

I dont however realy like most of the b list royals and think they should be intitled to much less.

 

[Dopeyjopey]

Personally i think it is worth my money to get the odd bit of comedy genius from Prince Philip!

 

[smokey]

Who needs stand up night at the Apollo when you have comments like

To an Aborigine in Australia
“Do you still throw spears at each other?”

To a student who had been trekking in Papua New Guinea
“You managed not to get eaten, then?”

To Elton John after hearing Elton had sold his Gold Aston Martin
“Oh, it’s you that owns that ghastly car – we often see it when driving to Windsor Castle.”

To the President of Nigeria, dressed in traditional robes
“You look like you’re ready for bed!”

At the height of the recession in 1981 he said: "Everybody was saying we must have more leisure. Now they are complaining they are unemployed

 

[TattiesMum]

Who would do their job?

The monarchy represent over 3,000 charities.

They carry out over 2,000 engagements each year.

Acts of Parliament still have to be approved by the reigning Sovereign, and they still have the power to dispel a current prime minister.

The Queen acts as the head of state, and preforms all the duties such as receiving international ambassadors and heads of state, supports diplomatic and economic relations in the commonwealth, state activities, festivities, etc.

The Armed forces are headed up by the Queen, and there is no way I would swear an oath to follow a Prime Minister who is as interchangeable as a pair of pants. I don't know anyone I serve with who would either.

As 'Head of Nation', The Queen's role is less formal, but no less important for the social and cultural functions it fulfils.

These include: providing a focus for national identity, unity and pride; giving a sense of stability and continuity; recognising success, achievement and excellence; and supporting service to others, particularly through public service and the voluntary sector.

A democratically elected President could act as Head of State and perform all of the duties associated with that

Charities could find patrons quite easily amongst the myriad of celebrities looking for exposure - it's not like the Royals actually fund the charities financially in any way, and I sincerely doubt that people choose to give to individual charities based on who their patron is. The same goes for the majority of 'engagements'.

Yes the armed forces swear allegiance to the Queen, as do Members of Parliament ... but really shouldn't they be swearing allegiance just to their Country and the people who live there (not to a Prime Minister who is just an elected representative of those same people)? Again it's not as though the Queen pays for the Armed Forces is it?

Personally I find the idea that an unelected person CAN dismiss an elected Prime Minister abhorrent - let alone that they have to approve democratically debated Acts of Parliament.

I also don't believe that a Monarchy is essential for providing a focus for national identity, unity and pride - there are a great many Republican countries (think USA and France) who have a much more developed sense of National Pride than we do here in Britain and I'd be willing to place a pretty hefty bet that 'the monarchy' is a loooong way down the list of answers for most people if asked 'what makes you "British" '.

There are a lot of myths surrounding the royal family's 'contributions' to Britain imho ... the biggest being their cost. 40p per family or whatever it is is JUST the cost of the civil list - it doesn't include ANY of their security costs, travel. upkeep of state owned properties and all sorts of hidden extras that we aren't allowed to know about (the true cost is even exempt from the Freedom of Information Act).

The other biggie is that they bring tourists to the UK .... but I ask you, how many tourists come to the UK to actually SEE the royals? They come for our rich history and to see the buildings etc. If the royal family were not there then their state owned properties (which we pay for anyway) could be opened to the public and would undoubtedly attract even more visitors Tourists don't go to the Palace of Versailles to see royals because there aren't any, but they still flock there in droves.

Polls like the one the BBC ran are completely meaningless I wonder what proportion of the public even knew there was a poll so it's hardly a true representation of people's feelings on the matter (a bit like those face cream adverts where 80% of women agree and the small print at the bottom of the screen reveals that only 44 people were polled )

For me the most important question isn't about cost etc though it's this.....

Do I believe that the Queen and her family are fundamentally superior to/better than me, you and everyone else in this Country?

 

[redpoppy]

Who needs stand up night at the Apollo when you have comments like

To an Aborigine in Australia
“Do you still throw spears at each other?”

To a student who had been trekking in Papua New Guinea
“You managed not to get eaten, then?”

To Elton John after hearing Elton had sold his Gold Aston Martin
“Oh, it’s you that owns that ghastly car – we often see it when driving to Windsor Castle.”

To the President of Nigeria, dressed in traditional robes
“You look like you’re ready for bed!”

At the height of the recession in 1981 he said: "Everybody was saying we must have more leisure. Now they are complaining they are unemployed

I'm sorry but classic! He's just so funny!

 

[Dopeyjopey]

Smokey, you missed by favourites!

On key problems facing Brazil
“Brazilians live there”

To his wife, the Queen, after her coronation
“Where did you get the hat?”

When asked if he would like to visit the Soviet Union
“The *******s murdered half my family”

But the best by far is when they do a voiceover of a Prince Philip clip on Mock the Week.

 

[Blah11]

I voted no - its fine as it is.

They queen has had her budget reduced quite a bit this year and they do bring in way more than we give out.