Royal Wedding fever continues to rise. William and Kate mugs are being printed as we speak in far flung corners of the East, whilst the BBC readies themselves for disgracefully pro-monarchy rolling news coverage of the entire event. 70% of the population will be watching, if you believe newspaper polls, and any ‘non-believers’ will be shunned as ‘mean’ or ‘cruel’. “Get into the spirit”, they say. “It’s a joyous occasion!”. Of course it is.
…as joyous as any other wedding anywhere on the entire planet.
The British monarchy embodies tradition but tradition is the enemy of progression. Ah, we have a conundrum! “But it’s tradition!”, they say.
- The Royal Family is unaccountable. That’s a bad thing. It means they can do what they want, when they like.Repeat: that’s a bad thing. An unelected, unaccountable body is (like) a dictatorship.
- The Royal Family is unrepresentative of modern society. 70% of people will watch the Royal wedding, but that’s only because it’s a national holiday and they’ll have nothing else to do. Probably.
- The Royal Family represents class privilege - something which every government since the war (bar a few) has been trying to reduce/eliminate.
- All of the nations assets belong to the nation. But can you or I try on a crown? No. That’s reserved for the few who actually get to make use of the assets (property, funds etc). In in reality all of the ‘nations assets’ belong to, er, the Royal Family. Forever.
- We claim to like democracy and want to export it to all countries worldwide, but hypocritically leave a hereditary, unelected power at the core of our constitution.
- The Royal Family is surrounded by ‘advisors’. Mostly senior politicians. Government and Crown are closely entwined and protect each others interests. That is unacceptable in a free and fair meritocracy.
- Lots of people say the monarchy has no power. Don’t believe them. If money = power then they have lots of it. It cost ONE HUNDRED MILLION POUNDS to provide security for 20 inner Royal family members last year. I want my £1.40 back. That’s before considering assets, access to public funds, ‘diplomatic trips’ and so on. The MPs scandal blew up an absolute storm. But the fact that the Royal family cost 20x more than the running of the House of Commons (including all MPs salaries) crept by unnoticed. Each ‘working’ (I use the term loosely) royal member cost the taxpayer £12m.
- Abolishing the monarchy would be the most democratic reform ever to be undertaken in our history.
- Having a monarchy encourages sycophancy rather than performance judged on merit.
- Meh, I think I made my point.
There’s just one other argument to refute.
Having a monarchy brings in more tourism revenue that it costs.
This myth is perpetuated far and wide across the entire country. It’s the bog standard monarchist argument and frankly, it’s getting boring now. There is absolutely no evidence to support this theory. Even if there was (which there isn’t), should we base a constitution around a tourism strategy? That seems like a terrible democracy to me. Palaces, castles, etc and all other Royal assets accounted for less than 1% of tourist revenue last year. That’s because most properties are kept for private ownership only. Buckingham palace is closed for most of the year. Removing it’s ‘owners’ would allow it to be open 365 days a day. Do the maths on that one. The Royal wedding will no doubt generate revenue for the people at the bottom of the trickle down effect, but Royal Weddings don’t happen every year. Yet the drain on the taxpayer does.
Germany, with one of the most expensive Republics in Europe, spends only one fifth of what it costs the British taxpayer to support the Royals’ lifestyle. But the real nub of the question is how many people actually visit the UK to see the Queen. Not many, I will venture, because she doesn’t come out to greet them that often. Abolishing the monarchy doesn’t mean burning all Royal Palaces to the ground. It simply means removing the unelected and unaccountable people who inhabit them then moving towards more a democratic system. Historical culture, heritage and customs are a separate entity to Mrs Windsor and co. They don’t have to co-exist.
So, in answer to the original question, I urge you to do anything apart from get caught up in needless nonsensical hysteria. I feel especially sorry for you if you are getting married that day too, because TV coverage tends to only shine on those least deserving of it. Meh, you probably didn’t want Nicolas Witchell at your wedding anyway.
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One would like to see the sort of reform you talk about within one generation, but I can’t see it happening.
No chance we’ll get rid the buggers!! You might want to take a look at what Republic are doing.
Couldn’t agree more…. in fact I’ve been using the same (or similar) arguments on the subject for several years now, but the fact is that the Brit’s just don’t get it. An unelected head of state with a ‘democratic’ system that appears to have more unelected decision makers than elected ones is hardly a system to be proud of. The Americans are also annoying me with their intense interest, have they forgot their history I wonder? Needless to say it will be business as usual for me.
Vive La Republic!!
)
You article , not surprisingly for a Republican, is somewhat ill informed. For instance, we have many unelected Quangos which have far more say in the governance of the UK than the Monarchy, and they are totally unaccountable to the electorate – so much for our ‘democracy’, The UK Monarchy are figureheads, and take no direct part in the governance of our country – but the Queen does provide an apolitical fogurehead – and the cost of the Monarchy is far less than our Parliamentary expenses, and is dwarfed by the Treasury gain from the Crown estate, which was exchanged by the Monarch, centuries ago, in exchange for the ‘civil list’.
Don’t forget – a ‘Republic was tried in the UK once, and quickly rejected.
Go Steve how right you are, these so called republicans have no idea.And yes the royal family do bring in a hell of alot of revenue for the country. Just today the country has taken over 2 billion pounds in soveniers sold.
The Queen and royal family bring in over 20 billion pounds a year, so if we didnt have the royal family you wouldnt get your £1.40 back because the government will have to get the money back some how which would mean your 1.40 now becomes £5.00.
And if you listen to your government( by the sound of it you dont ) the queen gets 8 million a year which she has to pay her bills and her staff.
P.S
As for wearing the crown, can you go to the white house and knock on the door and say can i come in?
I couldn’t agree with you more. I am American (proud of it) and like Britain for It’s people. I say this because too many (certainly not all) Americans are stupid. Stupid, because of our media constantly telling people about everything unimportant and leaving out the important things. I notice that most (not all) British people have a more realistic idea of the world. I can’t stand how our media grabbed a hold of “The Royal Wedding” and shoved it down EVERYONE’s throats. I could not hide from it even though it took place at some Godforsaken hour here on the eat coast. Google, yahoo, every news channel, school. <— All Wedding oriented… I must tell you, it's cute and all… I wish them the best…. BUT, it's really hypocritical. Anyone who says otherwise is too proud of "tradition" to be rational. Oh, and people (British) who say the US is bad and evil for pretty much invading the middle east, are also stupid, let's not forget who the biggest imperialists ever were. Even the US would be yours of you had it go your way. *As for getting into the WhiteHouse; You can take a tour, or get voted in…
wow, someone’s a little prissy that they aren’t the Queen
Fuck off home you republican bastard.
Oh no not Americans… biggest tax evaders of all time avoiding that Tea Tax! Remember you would have taken Canada if we didn’t stop you! and what about Puerto Rico, that you have hidden behind your back… you claim not to be stupid but that last comment you made really wasn’t a bright one.
wowowowowow America was British and jack was right you just had a war with us to avoid tax! as an empire we abolished slavery before any other first rate power and definitely before the US, so none of your pish.
fuck off you stupid irish republicans the Monarchy are the best thing to happen to this country and provide continuity of an unbiased regulation of our government and who will not be swayed to get the core vote of the people and will instead do what is right. you seem to make their power seem out of proportion considering no unelected person has any real law making powers, Parliament Act 1911 if you have any questions on the House of Lords. dieu et mon droit.
I find it funny how EVERYONE has something to say when it comes to America…
I guess you Brits will never get over the fact that you lost America. Couldn’t beat us in the revolution (yeah yeah yeah we had France’s minimal help)… Biggest tax evasion ever? You WOULD think that way… prissy? No, more like honest and to the point… You Brits would be “prissy”… Cocky and hypocritical Europeans… Start being honest with yourselves and reevaluate your bias views toward the US… As my mom says, “Only stupid Americans visit Europe”. That is because America is far more beautiful and has much more to explore than Britain and the rest of Europe. Oh, and the people are nicer. I know you’re seething, I know you will call me stupid… uneducated, you know; the typical things you people say to Americans… So keep hating, because it wont do anything to tarnish my glorious life here in America. Bye YALLLLLL
Oh, and about slavery. Of course we abolished slavery way after Britian. Your country had quite a while to get it right. The US on the other hand, was still developing and the whole southern economy was based on slavery. The North passed laws that “slowly abolished slavery” way before the south. It wasn’t until later on that Slavery was officially abolished. Trust me, the US has a lot more history and depth when it comes to Blacks.
PS: Cheers about Osama being dead. As much as I know none of you will appreciate it. You’ll probably say something like,”Yeah, thanks for making AlQueda angry”