Countries can ditch monarchy and become republics ‘calmly and without rancour’ says Prince of Wales

I think William would be a modern breath of fresh air.But no we don't need all these extra 'Duke & Duchesses of counties, its twaddle.If they're a Prince or Princess, call them so.If not, leave them as they are.

Charles has spoken out for years but always mocked for doing so.

The ‘royal experts’ write their books and every word is accepted as truth, and how often do we hear ‘Andrew is the
.favourite son’ , never hear how close Edward is to the Queen and Phillip had a very close relationship with Edward.

I think Prince Charles made a good statement there. He puts the onus on other countries, they have the choice, they can make their own decisions. Very diplomtic and hopefully we will see much more of this stance. I am convinced William had some input too.

DaisyAnne I agree with your post, and I'm sure you were not accusing all republicans of being part of a mob so I don't think anyone should take it personally.

It would not be a case of Charles or William saying "I don't want to do this" although who could blame them if they did? It would have to be put to referendum and a certain % majority ensured, unlike the vote on membership of the EU.

I expect change may well come about by the time George might become King although I won't be here to see it.

I like the stability but fully expect we may be nearing the end of a monarchical system.
I wonder if Australia might be next to become a republic with a new republican PM ? So many Australians have no direct hereditary links to Britain.

^ I suspect he would fight tooth and nail to prevent it.^

I don't know. Perhaps he would welcome the fact that he could express his opinions and get involved in politics..

I often wonder if he really does have any influence at all in his present situation. I know he's a great one for letter writing, but the surely recipients can just shrug and ignore them. Or, does he have any power to hold over them?

Caleo

I do like Prince Charles!

I think he will make a good King, I hope that I live long enough to see King William.

I suspect our younger GC will see one Queen and three kings in their lifetime.

I do like Prince Charles!

Well, this has gone in an interesting direction, but that’s fine. Discussions should develop and allow people to express different views. At the time of posting I was wondering if Prince Charles had actually considered that people in all of the countries that make up the UK might also prefer to ditch the monarchy. I suspect he would fight tooth and nail to prevent it.

I think it’s high time that the Duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster were brought into the 21st century too.

MaizieD

Grammaretto

Just mention a change and all hell lets loose! and that's just on here. Talk about calm and no rancour. Sorry Prince of Wales but really? Good changes come gradually: no coups, no civil war, no bloodshed please. We are British.

You don't seem to notice, Grammaretto that we're living through an attempted coup at this very moment. With a PM who intends to stay put for ever and ever leading a government with a big and compliant majority which is subverting Parliamentary democracy and removing or attacking citizen's rights at every opportunity.

I notice MaizieD.

I also noticed the attempted coup in the USA and how the courts are dictating to the legislature. Nothing is perfect. But that's okay. We simply need to understand the imperfections and work to get the best solution.

I do also "notice", from my generally fence-sitting position, that more and more people are treating politics like religion and therefore looking for the perfection of a heaven. Surely, politics exist to bring about continuous and usually gradual improvement?

Insults.

I don't "do" history?

Don't accuse me of insulting people and then expect to write things like that and not get pulled up for it.

Got any answers to my questions? Of course you are not obliged to answer them. Perhaps you don't "do" facts.

volver

DaisyAnne

volver

What an insulting post DaisyAnne. I'll come back with a response when I'm less angry about it.

Volver, I have noticed you are always prepared to see an insult where there is none. Who, exactly, have I insulted and how?

If you stopped be Mr/Mrs Angry and debated we might all learn something.

You stop associating people who want a republic with being part of a mob, and we'll talk.

If people learned the difference between democracy and republic, we could have a debate. (I know that wasn't you) If people understood what a HoS was for, we could have a debate. If people stopped saying that the monarchy we have has saved us from extremism, we could have a debate. If people stopped using a bad example of things happening in a republic to say we should never have a republic, we could have a debate.

No volver I would never accept that your anger may dictate what I think or say. The idea that you have a right to use your anger to cancel out my view is not a truth in anyone's democracy.

I did not associate all "people wanting a republic" with mob behaviour. However, you would surely admit this can happen when some use their anger to try and overthrow systems of governence - or perhaps you don't "do" history.

Stop being angry and discuss in the same way others do and you might encourage people to read what you say. Currently, I am rarely getting past the personal insults in your first paragraph. The rest seems to be an attempt to dictate rather than discuss.

Grammaretto

Just mention a change and all hell lets loose! and that's just on here. Talk about calm and no rancour. Sorry Prince of Wales but really? Good changes come gradually: no coups, no civil war, no bloodshed please. We are British.

You don't seem to notice, Grammaretto that we're living through an attempted coup at this very moment. With a PM who intends to stay put for ever and ever leading a government with a big and compliant majority which is subverting Parliamentary democracy and removing or attacking citizen's rights at every opportunity.

As I said, show me something that better protects me from dictatorship

Consider this serious discussion.

Can you please list the monarchies and republics of the world and explain which are dictatorships and which are not? Then stop setting up straw men to try to prove that there is nothing better than what we've got.

This is why I'm angry. Debate properly. Don't make up spurious allegations about how republics work.

Some of the "trappings" bring a great deal of money into the economy

Consider this serious discussion.

Do you have the figures for what the trappings bring into the economy, please? Not just feelings, actual profit and loss; what do they bring in and how much would we lose if we didn't have them, meaning that we didn't have to pay for them, to begin with?

you can't possibly think that the American dream works better than our system.

The American system is stymied by the dead hands of the Founding Fathers and by, strangely enough, a misapplication of the British constitutional principle of 'separation of powers'. However, other versions are available.

It's also very interesting, in view of the Leave voters' hysterical fear of becoming part of a 'federal EU', to see how much autonomy individual US states have. But that's not really part of the topic in discussion.

GrannyGravy13

I am yet to see a valid argument/reason that has made me think that the U.K. should abolish the monarchy.

That's fine. But I've seen many reasons and will not be dismissed. We're allowed to differ on this.

But when people defend the current system, without knowing anything about it other than saying democracy works in NZ because they are sparsely populated, serious discussion seems a long way off.

Grammaretto

I agree DaisyAnne with your post. I only hope we lose many of the outdated trappings of monarchy and properly modernise it. I see signs that it is going in a better direction. Why are you so angry Volver? you can't possibly think that the American dream works better than our system.

I think it will ivolve Grammaretto; it has to. Some of the "trappings" bring a great deal of money into the economy, so we need to be careful what we "shed"

I don't see myself as a monarchist - just a pragmatist. As I said, show me something that better protects me from dictatorship; I will be happy to look at it.

I wondered that too Blossoming.

I am yet to see a valid argument/reason that has made me think that the U.K. should abolish the monarchy.

Back wards Britain

Abolishing the monarchy would not erase Britain’s class divide overnight, but a republican form of government would at least be able to lay claim to the principles of equality and democracy.

DaisyAnne

volver

What an insulting post DaisyAnne. I'll come back with a response when I'm less angry about it.

Volver, I have noticed you are always prepared to see an insult where there is none. Who, exactly, have I insulted and how?

If you stopped be Mr/Mrs Angry and debated we might all learn something.

You stop associating people who want a republic with being part of a mob, and we'll talk.

If people learned the difference between democracy and republic, we could have a debate. (I know that wasn't you) If people understood what a HoS was for, we could have a debate. If people stopped saying that the monarchy we have has saved us from extremism, we could have a debate. If people stopped using a bad example of things happening in a republic to say we should never have a republic, we could have a debate.

Having the monarchy gives all power to the PM government that means monarch does nothing.

A president would defend our constitution if a PM was acting against it or breaking the constitutions laws. A republic would not be like USA or the French it would be a parliamentary republic similar to the Irish model effectively doing what queen can't do.

So we have a monarch who does not act in the interests of the people only the government and monarchy. Is secretive and free from FOI act.

Monarch is given huge amounts of public money many palaces and grand homes which her extended family have at very little rent or rent free doing very little in return.

We do not have a codified constitution and monarchy stops us having an elected House of Lords.

We pay Prince Charles more than £22m a year. That's more than six times the combined salaries of all democratically elected heads of state in Europe.

#AbolishTheMonarchy

There is no reason to keep them.

Grammaretto

Just mention a change and all hell lets loose! and that's just on here. Talk about calm and no rancour. Sorry Prince of Wales but really? Good changes come gradually: no coups, no civil war, no bloodshed please. We are British.

I'm sorry, but who mentioned coups and civil war and bloodshed?

We are British. Not like those demm colonial chappies. Now I'm really angry.

I quite like Charles. If he ran for President I might even vote for him. Not William though.

volver

What an insulting post DaisyAnne. I'll come back with a response when I'm less angry about it.

Volver, I have noticed you are always prepared to see an insult where there is none. Who, exactly, have I insulted and how?

If you stopped be Mr/Mrs Angry and debated we might all learn something.

Why do you think the American system is the only way a Republican can be run?

I'm angry that people think unelected aristos in jewelled hats have any place in the running of a modern country. I'm angry that some people do not have the slightest idea that there are alternatives. I'm angry that people say what a good King/Queen someone will be based on how good they look in a green dress and how cute their children are.

But mostly I'm angry about how hoodwinked people are and how they try to pretend that anybody who thinks we might want to modernise our democracy is part of a mob.