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.

No, I am in favour of an elected prime minister and MP's, with a non-elected head of state and second chamber.
Pretty much what we have now.

That’s not what have now .

We have a non elected head of state who costs close to half a billion a year plus he and his son cream off another 50 million a year charging charities , the NHS and raiding dead men’s bank accounts based on a medieval land grab !

In principle I am a republican and would love to abolish the monarchy, write a proper constitution and set up a new parliamentary system with checks and balances and have electoral reform.

But in reality I just want a bit of stability now. I sort of see the soft diplomacy of a non elected head and think we are still struggling with where we are after brexit.

Trump might surprise us all. Anyway he will be gone in 4 years time. The RF will be there forever and ever. At our expense too.

I think they need to be massively slimmed down or abolished. ATM it comes across that they are serving themselves under the guise of serving us!

They embed privilege at the heart of the country, which in turn props up the chumocracy at the heart of the establishment.

I don’t want to downgrade the traditions, culture and rich history heritage of Britain, especially those held by the armed forces, but I would prefer an elected Head of State and we need to start looking forwards as well as back!

Also when you have a private family acting in a state role; it results is an uneasy mix of private and state finances which is far from transparent and difficult to assess and scrutinise.

This current system makes the RF less accountable if they can say that three of their homes are privately owned and the state only pays for their upkeep or whatever. Too many grey areas!

And of course an elected Head of State is easier to remove. If Charles had died in a polo accident we would have had Andrew acting as Regent!

If we do keep them, imho there needs to be an automatic mechanism, like a vote after each reign, and before the next monarch is proclamated, as to whether UK citizens still want to be subjects or not! To have no say after a seventy-year stint is outrageous I feel!

I like all the pomp and ceremony of the RF, I'd miss all that if they were gone, but I do believe the 'finances' need an overhaul.

No.

Why does anyone think all the pomp and ceremony would disappear if we had no Monarchy?
It's not happened in France despite over 200 years of no monarchy.

It wouldn't. We'd still have that mace knocking on the door of parliament and all that ceremony, we'd still have Trooping of the Colour, we'd still have the Remembrance cenotaph marching... all of that. Really, nothing much would change apart from the gold carriages and ridiculous crowns.

Republican here. I do worry about their ever increasing creep on public assets. The lines are purposefully blurry on what is public or privately owned, even though only acquired as a result of being king/queen. Would they be allowed to keep to the Duchy of Lancaster and Cornwall?

There has to be a head of state of some description.

Let them pay their way through the courts re the Duchys .
In 1800s MPs planned to correct the mistake ( not including it in the crown estate) - it was accepted then as an oversight - I don’t rate their chances re keeping it

Also can we talk about the back taxes owed ??
The Windsors might be happy to get away without that can of worms being opened

Trump might surprise us all. Anyway he will be gone in 4 years time.

At time of going to press.

Meant to add below that, maybe it’s the times we are living in, but as so many of our countries’ problems are centred on homelessness, child poverty, lack of productivity and as the huge disparity between rich and poor keeps getting wider, the more imho the RF’s credibility is undermined.

I think William for example probably is personally very committed to his homelessness projects, but when he is about to inherit fourteen or so properties, and will soon own a huge chunk of Scotland and the British coast as well as the Duchies, it seems such an anachronistic position to be in, that it does undermine his message.

The only situation in which the role of the RF is perhaps done best by a family with an ancient aristocratic lineage, is when it is necessary to deploy significant soft power, such as when the late Queen visited Ireland or stood on the Great Wall of China. And when state banquets or weddings provide opportunities for world leaders to hob knob. I can see real value in that. The RF can plug the gaps where the foreign office fails for example.

However, in direct contrast to that, France has just demonstrated during the ceremonies to inaugurate the re-opening of Notre Dame, that a RF perhaps isn’t necessary for hob-knobbing purposes after all.

Trooping of the Colour is to celebrate the Monarch's birthday. I don't want to celebrate a Head of State's birthday.

Also the guards are the Queen or King's guards.

A royal family is part of our history and in my opinion should remain.

Her survival depends on it. Look what happened to her MIL for not toeing the line.

I’m late 60s and long to abolish the monarchy and live in a Republic.
Every one of the RF is a waste of space.

No

A royal family is part of our history

Depends how far back you go. Why can't we have our Saxon monarchy back - you know, the one where they elected the King ?

No, I’m a Republican and the fact we still have a monarchy with all the ridiculous and archaic pomp makes me cringe. (And I wish Kate would stop with the embarrassing curtseying.)

Oh Come on!

She was being driven at high speed without a seatbelt, by a drunk driver.

Oh don't be ridiculous

We can adapt though can’t we?

So many of the “traditions” were invented once!

For example, Charles had his investiture as Prince of Wales in Caernarfon Castle. No sign of such a ceremony for William.

If the RF can change things like that, so can the state.

The Trooping of the Colour can exist in its own right to do exactly that. It stands on its own merits.

Nothing is set in stone. In fact, it shouldn’t be!

That's what they want you to think ....

If the absolute obsession with social class on Mumsnet is in any way an indication of country as a whole, then the Royal Family is staying put. Unfortunately.

We don’t need to adapt because everything is just fine as it is.