To ask you if there were to be a vote tomorrow on whether or not we should become a Republic country, how would you vote?

[LLDilema]

Very long thread title... but just interested to know, if tomorrow it was announced that we all have to vote on whether to keep or abolish the royal family, how would you vote? Yes to keep. No to lose.

No. Get rid of them. The sooner the better.

Yes. Keep.

Yes to keep.

Better the devil you know.

Ahem

George W. Bush

Yes to keep.

Ahem

King Charles III

With the notable difference being that you could vote Bush out of office.

I used to joke that I'm sure he wants to be King of Scotland

We joke that too - but I'm sure he'd leap at the chance of being the equivalent up here if they created a role for him

No.

Another vote to keep.

No. Get rid of them. I hate the 'they bring in tourists' argument. It's not like the queen etc give daily audiences to random people.

Yes to keep. The alternatives are grim.

Yes to keep

If the queen stood for election, I might actually vote for her.

But just the queen, not her awful family.

Yes from me too, the Queen is a beacon of stability in a darkening world. As for cost, how much do you think Presidents cost?
I like the Royal Family as an institution. They may have some twits and tosses, which family doesn't? On the whole they are benign and pleasing ambassadors for the UK.
All The Kate bashing on here just smacks of envy to me.

Couldn't be arsed to rtht. Has anyone suggested the guillotine yet? I am sure some lefty republican would love to see it.....

Oh. And as for the Queen being a freeloader she has worked hard long passed the age many would have retired so I guess yes she is good value for money.

Yes to keep
For those quoting that Ireland's president costs 2.5 times less to keep than the royal family - what's the population of Ireland? About 4.5million? So less than a tenth of the UK. The royal family sound like a bargain to me!

The countries which mumsnetters hold up as being beacons of liberal democracy, fairness and happiness are for the most part constitutional monarchies - Sweden, Norway, Denmark.

As to the value of the royals to tourism, the Americans LOVE our royal family, and surprisingly, many Chinese visitors come to the UK because of the royal family - this number will rise.

For all the republicans who also want rid of the HOL - they were the ones who forced the chancellor to back down on cuts to tax credits.

No-lose the royal family.

I've made the point in thread like these before that they are basically like The Truman Show-just there to keep the masses entertained.

I have a big problem with the anti democratic nature of the royal family. We should not be deciding who will be the next king or queen based on their parents. I don't care how much money the bring in/how little they cost us. It is the principle.

Lap I would be interested to see the figures for the cost of Ireland's President vs British Royal Family. Especially as the figure quoted by monarchists only covers the civil list payments and doesn't cover policing, security and a host of other things.

I've never been convinced by the 'tourists come because of royalty' argument. They come to see the trappings of royalty, the buildings etc. not the Queen herself (unless she has started doing private audiences for tourists) and if the seven royal palaces were unoccupied they would be able to stay open all year round.

Even if the tourist argument was proved (and I don't think it is) something as important as picking our head of state should be made from principles of fairness, effectiveness and the kind of country we want to live in, not on what may attract visitors. We are not a quaint olde worlde theme park!

ohbehave maybe read the thread, it has been mostly well mannered with people putting views for and against. The only fascile and sneery comment so far has been yours.

"Worked" Ohbehave!! Do us a favour... I think her putting in a few hours a week travelling in ostentatious chauffeur driven limousines and gold carriages to attend a banquet or shake a few hands is the least she can do to repay the UK tax payers for the unimaginable luxury and privilege that she and her whole family (and their attendant hangers-on) have enjoyed their entire lives don't you? Not to mention the untold millions she's granted from the civil list every year?

"Work"? FFS! That's actually a bit of an insult. I'd like to have seen her go out with my mum at 5.30 every morning to mop floors.

I actually agree with ohbehave - I am far from a fan of the royals but I do think the Queen has worked hard - and continues to do so. She might not have mopped floors but neither do I, and I still work hard - it's not a benchmark.

The other royals otoh - nope, not much sign of a work ethic amongst the younger ones. Kate Middleton wouldn't know work if it jumped up and bit her bum, for example.

Yes. I want to be a citizen, not a subject

I think we would be abolishing the monarchy though, not the royal family.

Yes, keep. I think there is a lot to be said for having stable institutions that people understand.

Sorry, I answered the thread title, not the question in the op.

I would very much vote to abolish the monarchy.

To be fair bit we are citizens.

It says so in my passport!