Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Abolishing the Monarcy.

880 replies

Helendee · 17/02/2021 12:45

Good or bad idea and reasons for your opinion?
I don’t feel strongly either way but I am curious about what aspects of becoming a Republic are more beneficial than the UK’s stable current system.

OP posts:
wewillmeetagain · 17/02/2021 14:01

Are people actually stupid enough to believe that the crown is not fiction? Yes it's loosely based on facts but mostly its total fictionHmm

BrumBoo · 17/02/2021 14:02

@Mia1415

Why are people quoting the crown? Its FICTION!
It's the same people who read the Daily Express for all the sad-face Diana stories for the same reasons....
Gobbeldegook · 17/02/2021 14:02

I think we should keep them. I quite like the fairytale.
I'm fully aware it's all bollocks. But I remember being a child and admiring it all. Being in awe. Magical. It's symbolic of our history, I'd be sad to see it go. I also think it's good that the government has to be accountable to someone too.

AshMeri · 17/02/2021 14:03

I also think that if we can have a referendum on whether or not to stay in the EU we can have one on whether we wish to continue to be reigned over by a monarchy or not. There's probably more support for its abolition than there was initially for the referendum (although probably less in it for the Friends of the Conservatives, so will never happen).

I think the campaign should involve a bus. I love a good campaign bus.

Tlollj · 17/02/2021 14:10

I think it’s a good thing that we have a head of state that isn’t a politician personally.
Pity the USA hasn’t got a monarchy then Trump would have been just another politician instead of ‘leader of the free world’.

SleepingStandingUp · 17/02/2021 14:12

What happens practically speaking of abolition went ahead?

They're not going to move Phillip into a care home and go e the rest of them council properties in their nearest city are they. The press would still hound William etc when he turns up for his job as a driver for Waitrose 😂

But seriously, how do they work out what wealth they're entitled to keep as family money and what is ""our" money, same with property?

josieorange · 17/02/2021 14:14

But seriously, how do they work out what wealth they're entitled to keep as family money and what is ""our" money, same with property?

I think they wouldn't want to keep Buckingham Palace and maybe another of the larger properties because it must cost a lot to maintain. They would scale things down if they had to pay for it all themselves, and I think would willingly hand over some property.

Benfoldslanded · 17/02/2021 14:16

I have been watching the highly accurate portrayal of the family 'The Windsors'. Just imagine what the schemer Camilla will do once Charles is on the throne. Very worrying.

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 17/02/2021 14:16

I would abolish the monarchy and have long been a republican. It’s not democratic and the idea that they bring in money - as compared to what they cost - hasn’t been substantiated.

Interesting how COVID and their behaviour in the pandemic has led to many more people questioning the point of them!

TooTrueToBeGood · 17/02/2021 14:17

Given the consistent ineptitude of our democratically elected politicians I'd be inclined to go the other way and give the monarchy back full executive powers.

DdraigGoch · 17/02/2021 14:18

@CoronaIsWatching

Prince Andrew is just what they're all like behind the PR spin

Prince Harry and no loyalty to the monarchy or the country in the end

Prince William having affairs left right and centre, all covered up

Prince Charles and Camilla both vile in their treatment of Diana (what The Crown and see for yourself)

Only one I like is Kate Middleton but she's not even a blood royal

The Crown is not a documentary. It is a fictionalised drama. Diana was no saint, people venerate her because it was so tragic for a beautiful young woman to die, leaving behind children.

Maybe Prince William is having affairs left, right and centre (the upper classes have always had affairs). I doubt it though, his wife can't even sunbathe in a remote villa in France without getting papped. Trust me, in the 21st Century eyes are everywhere.

oldwhyno · 17/02/2021 14:19

I think there's some merit in having some wealth and influence in our country that isn't all about big corporations.

In what way would the average British person possibly benefit from abolishing the monarchy?

Justcallmebebes · 17/02/2021 14:19

Abolish from me or at least get rid of all the bloody useless scrounging hangers on

josieorange · 17/02/2021 14:22

In what way would the average British person possibly benefit from abolishing the monarchy?

We pay millions each year to fund their lifestyle, so we would save that
We would no longer be subjects
We would live in a fairer society not a feudal system

ibblebibbledibble · 17/02/2021 14:23

Keep 🤴 👸

thereisonlyoneofme · 17/02/2021 14:26

@LizBennet

Pre watching The Crown I would have said keep the monarchy, I loved the tradition of it all.

After watching it, I say orf with their heads.

You do realise this is a work of Fiction as as been widely reported
thereisonlyoneofme · 17/02/2021 14:28

and also they dont actually personally own all the palaces

BigFatLiar · 17/02/2021 14:29

They don't own the crown estates so no.

The estate belongs to the monarch for the duration of their reign, but cannot be sold by them and profits go to the Treasury

LizBennet · 17/02/2021 14:32

You do realise this is a work of Fiction as as been widely reported

You do realise you can RTFT and see that has been addressed and answered.

jcyclops · 17/02/2021 14:34

I think it's good that the PM is not the head of state. I think it would be disastrous for any prime minister to take that role (Johnson, Cameron, Blair, Corbyn - pick your own villain). The PM is elected by less than 60,000 citizens from a very small area of the country, and can be removed by a few politicians on a whim. So if we abolish the monarchy, what do we replace it with? The choices seem to be a "political" president (Trump, Obama, Macron) or a "figurehead" president (Higgins, Steinmeier) and both of these systems have their own problems. The Queen is known worldwide, but I bet few outside their own countries even know who Higgins and Steinmeier are, or even what their first names are.

DGRossetti · 17/02/2021 14:35

Dad. How do I get to be Monarch if I want to, when I grow up ?

You don't child. Now shut up and know your place.

Is pretty much all you should need to know why the whole rotten lot should go.

DdraigGoch · 17/02/2021 14:38

@Hairbrush123

Actually the most democratic countries have a monarchy (well most) so I wouldn’t say it’s undemocratic as such. I’d love to see a referendum on the matter.
Well quite. I wonder if those on this thread calling for abolition are the same posters who on other threads call for Britain to have the same tax/education/social security systems as Sweden/Denmark/Norway. Likewise, Belgium, Luxemburg, Spain and the Netherlands are all monarchies.

As for abolishing the class system, the USA has been a republic for nearly 250 years and nepotism is absolutely endemic. Being in the right fraternity at one of the top universities in the US carries far more influence than the "old school tie" does in Britain. Do you really think that the likes of George W. Bush and Hillary Clinton became presidential candidates entirely on their own merits? Austria still has debutante balls attended by the president, even though the Queen abolished them in the UK as being an anachronism.

DdraigGoch · 17/02/2021 14:46

@SleepingStandingUp

What happens practically speaking of abolition went ahead?

They're not going to move Phillip into a care home and go e the rest of them council properties in their nearest city are they. The press would still hound William etc when he turns up for his job as a driver for Waitrose 😂

But seriously, how do they work out what wealth they're entitled to keep as family money and what is ""our" money, same with property?

Assuming that any revolution is a peaceful one (unlike France or Russia), exile would be the traditional way of doing things. I'm not sure that it would be necessary so they'd probably just end up writing memoirs in Balmoral, Sandringham and Highgrove.
oldwhyno · 17/02/2021 14:47

@josieorange
We pay millions each year to fund their lifestyle, so we would save that
That sounds very much like "We send the EU £350m a week......"
We would no longer be subjects

In what way to, say, Americans benefit from being able to call themselves citizens not subjects?

We would live in a fairer society not a feudal system
Which is this fair society you hold up as an example? What unfairness (there's plenty) would this fix?

MissSusan · 17/02/2021 14:47

@SleepingStandingUp

What happens practically speaking of abolition went ahead?

They're not going to move Phillip into a care home and go e the rest of them council properties in their nearest city are they. The press would still hound William etc when he turns up for his job as a driver for Waitrose 😂

But seriously, how do they work out what wealth they're entitled to keep as family money and what is ""our" money, same with property?

Have you been reading Queen Camilla ? Grin
Swipe left for the next trending thread