to wonder why the whole country has gone completely bloody Royalist?

[Hullygully]

Erect the scaffold.

Up the Republicans.

We are ADULTS we don't need a feudalistic Divine Right of Kings addled parasitical bunch of halfwits to live off our taxes.

You can hide the hideous mumsnet bunting if you have adblocker - rightclick on the image and it should give you the option to banish the offensive jingoistic triangular items.

And I think I might be right in thinking that the reason that this is not a popular idea within government itself is because the PM in turn quite likes the fact that s/he can make laws and pass them through parliament more or less easily (depending on the government majority) and get the queen to sign without having to make any effort to convince her. If there were an elected HoS with the power of a provisional veto, it would be a check on the government's ability to do stupid things like go to war with Iraq or whatever.

The government likes being omnipotent and it will not be relinquishing that status anytime soon.

I will certainly be at work but I have no choice

Jeez, you 'republicans' are a bunch of old ladies with wet panties! :o

As a citizen from another country, BELIEVE me when I say there are worse things than having a Queen and a lekker long weekend!! I honestly wish this is all I had to worry about in my country, instead of being murdered, corruption, home invasions, severe inflation and intense racial disparity and the god-awful petrol price.

How's getting yer knickers in a twist about basically a big party for an old lady?

Have some fun man. It's not all bad.

I quite like her, but I strongly suspect I am a thicko American. :o

I'm sorry it IS that bad- the Royal family have done NOTHING other than being born to warrant the vast expense that is showered upon them.

They have not achieved anything through hard work or talent. They're worse than the bloody bankers because at least the bankers have a talent for their job. And although I think it disgusting that footballers earn the amount they do, at least the people have chosen their wages through market forces.

I'm heartily sick of this worship of royalty.

All this little old lady guff .

Oh and the Daily Wail and its sycophancy has reached saturation point: it couldn't get more arse-licky if it tried.

This from the newspaper who slags of benefit cheats at every opportunity.

Yet they are happy to support the biggest freeloaders this country has ever produced. People really are thick as s*.

Oh and 'but they can't do this, they can't do that'. So what?! ANY job requires restrictions on time and habit (s). They are paid handsomely for the 'work' they do, believe me.

It was exactly as I predicted-a huge success!

"and coming to some agreement vis a vis property" - no need. If the monarch (or Parliament) decide they don;t want a monarchy any more there is a clear delineation of what property is private and which is held in trust for the country eg Buck House public, Balmoral private. It also wouldn't be difficult to remove the powers that the queen has, again (from very rusty constitution class memory) it is very clear to the monarch that they must remain apolitical and carry out the wishes of the democratically elected government.

Personally I think the Queen does have a talent for the job and has worked very hard for a lot longer than any footballer. That's not an argument for the monarchy, just an observation. I don't much care which freeloader is head of state - elected or not.

wamster can't believe you suggest the Queen doesn't work hard. It may not be physically gruelling work but she genuinely has no choice in whether she goes to all the official events she does. She is one of the hardest working royals even at an age when most people have been retired for 15 years.

And the comment about benefit cheats is just laughable. At least the Queen pays tax.

Having been away from this thread for a few days and having been to street parties and seen the enjoyment people are having - whether or not they support the royal family - I can't believe anyone would begrudge the fact that we are celebrating the Jubilee.

Yes, the hard fact is that the royal family inherit everything they get. But as for not working for it, that's rubbish. There are oligarchs all over the world who will pass on obscene wealth to their children who don't lift a finger. Think Bernie Ecclestone's daughters. How does abolishing the royal family change inequality in any real shape or form? Get real.

You 'get real', loveisagirlnameddaisy, there is a world of difference between people like Ecclestone who EARNED the money and the Queen who got it as birthright. And of course inequality wouldn't be wiped out-but the biggest spongers this country has known will be.
If you're willing to be fobbed off with a few parties, fine. I'm not.

I wasn't talking about Ecclestone, I was talking about his daughters who most certainly did not earn that money, but seem intent on spending it. Of course he has a right to pass it it on to his children, but if we're slagging off the queen for inheriting everything she's got, i presume you'd be happy to see a 100% inheritance tax levied on everyone in the country?

Hardly being fobbed off with a few parties, but if you think people with respect for the monarchy are that simple-minded, then that's your call.

There is an important difference between those that get rich through hard work, effort or just luck and the royal family who just get it by birthright.

I am not saying that those who have respect for the monarchy are simple-minded just simple-minded regarding the monarchy.

"There is an important difference between those that get rich through hard work, effort or just luck and the royal family who just get it by birthright." - no there isn;t.

You either believe people should be allowed to inherit wealth or you don't. You don't get to set up a commision to assess who deserves their wealth and who doesn't.

Should lottery millionaires not be allowed to pass their wealth on? Cigarette manufacturers? Arms Dealers? Bankers?

I may inherit my mums flat on her death (hopefullt no time soon though) - why do I deserve to benefit from the rise in London property prices? Your argument makes no sense at all - and I have repeatedly said that I'm not a monarchist - it still doesn't make any sense to me.

But they've got little in the way of independent wealth! Most of it is all out of the taxpayers' purse! I assume that your mum is not asking us to contribute to her flat.

But they've got little in the way of independent wealth WRONG

The Queen?s personal income, derived from her personal investment portfolio and private estates, is used to meet her private expenses.

The Queen owns the Balmoral and Sandringham Estates, which were both inherited from her father.

Estimates of The Queen?s wealth often mistakenly include items which are held by her as Sovereign on behalf of the nation and are not her private property. These include Royal Palaces, the majority of art treasures from the Royal Collection and the Crown Jewels. The Queen cannot sell these ? they must pass to her successor as Sovereign.

b'stards

Noddy, that article made me so angry. How on earth was this passed without parliamentary debate at least or a public referendum?

Osborne is a twat and the fact the Dave has him as chancellor demonstrates that whom you know is more important than competence. No wonder they collude with the monarchy, incompetent amoral entitled twats sticking together

same news different bias - the change will result in £6m spending cut on Royal family.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/spending-review/8076454/Queen-faces-6m-spending-cut-as-Civil-List-is-abolished.html

Kew, I am sceptical of that. Also shocking that the royal family, not tge people have rights to the sea bed in our country. That should be a national resource.

Why was there no national debate and discussion on this? Are we subjects who should have no opinion or citizens who should decide on how the resources of our country are used?

572 posts and not one decent republican argument.

I'd expect ma'am sychophants and brown nosers to reject a republican pov

I've always loved our Royals.

It also ignores the fact that the whole thing has been a tremendous success. I don't know what happened to the republican meeting on 3rd but I didn't see anything about it.