Are you in favour of the Royal Family?

[enzomari]

DM and I were discussing this last night, she's now in her Eighties and used to really like the Queen (not so much Phillip for some reason) but now really isn't bothered and thinks the RF, as is, should be abolished . I've always been a Republican but I was surprised at DM as she always seemed very pro RF but actually was pro the late Queen.

IMHO it seems so past it's sell by date but I'd be interested to know others opinions.

Nah. Get rid of the lot of them.

I'm not a royalist by any means. And I definitely have no time for the " hangers on" who don't do any work for the country at all.
My main worry is that if you abolish the Royal family what do we replace it with? I certainly wouldn't be happy with a presidential system..

If you have a president as well as a head of government you have the expense and the upheaval when they change. It must cost a lot in France to have Macron and Barnier.
A lot of people want to be associated with our RF. They keep being invited to open a village hall or visit a country.

Absolutely not. I’m an ardent Republican.

I find it abhorrent and inexcusable as an institution. The UK calls itself a democracy and yet has an hereditary head of state getting lobby meetings with the head of government every week.

There should be an elected president at separate elections to the parliamentary ones that give us the PM, like many European countries have.

I often wonder about their mental health all things considered

I can take them or leave them. But basically I do think the notion of a royal family is updated.

Also republican.

However a lot of people really did like the queen, and I can see she was helpful in terms of dignity, neutrality and consistency. None of that applies to Charlie boy ( as my gran used to call him) though.

God no. I find it all absolutely ridiculous. It just services as a reminder of the vast wealth inequality in this country.

I used to be neutral about the royal family. I used to believe that the Queen would step in if the government tried to do something really bad and then she allowed the proroguing of Parliament to happen so I now completely fail to see the point of them.

My kids age 19 and 16 have absolutely no interest in them. I think they could both bump into a member of the royal family and not know who they were. Last night my DD16 asked me who Princess Anne was because someone mentioned to her that he used to be her protection officer.

Yes. There is huge value in having a non-political Head of State. And they use their "soft power" for good. I haven't seen a better model in other nations.

No

No. They are v.rich and prob have undue influence but yet appear to offer no value. Now someone is going to say the RF bring £billions in tourist revenue but no one gets to see the RF unless you are at an event 1 or more of them is at. Eg church at Balmoral/Sandringham or at Trooping the Colour. Its not like you are going to Disney World or Harry Potter World. Luckily the Govt and the opposition are all in favour of the RF so unless there is a public vote (and the Press wont allow that) I'm afraid the Royals can hang on.

Can you give an example of where Charles has used soft power to achieve a diplomatic goal?

This used to be the argument for the Queen's role and was true to an extent but the world has changed so dramatically I don't think this is true anymore.

I think they're largely irrelevant on the world stage now and simply more of a tabloid interest because of their behaviour.

Of course not, how could anyone be in favor of that group of ridiculous amoral freeloaders?

No.

If we had a tiny, symbolic monarchy, who we could wheel out for waving and when there was a disaster to meet victims, I'd put up with it.

But this shower of (let's be honest, pretty thick and useless) poshos has buggered up too many times, costs too much and says awful things about British culture.

I'm a republican, it feels really outdated and only enforces are social and class hierarchy. But then if we did away with the Royal Family we'd have to do away with Earls, Lords etc. I feel it would take a lot of time and could cause a huge mess (especially with our politicians).

❤️everything royal

We need to decide what to replace them with, first.

That requires mature political thought on the part of politicians the voting public and the press.

I don't think we, as a nation, currently have the political IQ to make serious decisions like this at the moment.

Agreed. They use their soft power to help themselves more like.

I'm in the "be careful what you wish for" camp. like some others upthread. Looking at the general quality of our political leaders these days, I think there's still a value to having someone apolitical floating above it all as a symbol of, er, something or other.

I’m not especially a royalist, but when I think of us losing the history, pomp, circumstance and - most importantly - the prospect of a president/head of state that could be Boris,Thatcher,Cameron,Starmer like I feel I can put up with the whole royal family thing.

Also, I’ve encountered a few of them and was in Cambridge when Edward was a student. All were fine and Prince Philip very interested in what he’d come to see at my place of work

No.
they use nation’s wealth for themselves, it’s wrong.

You wouldn’t be happy with a democratically elected head of state, over someone who is the head of state only because of accident of birth, who otherwise has no other credentials or qualifications for the job? Also, they and their family get a shed load of money, from all of us, to further add to their unearned wealth and privilege. How is any of that better, or fairer, than a democratically elected presidency?

Nope, not in favour.

All the last bit of the monarchy are disappearing fast (see also the Lords) abd they are fading into insignificance really.

But also, they simply haven’t been able to face the music and create something new, that would fit within modern living and standards.
The Queen was great. Always smiling. Always listening. Always kind.
Tye current King and his son just look pretentious.