Why do you love The Royal Family?

[pedropony76]

I previously posted this on The Royal Family board but only received one response so wanted to post here for traffic.

For those that love The Queen & The Royal Family, can you actually explain why?

I often see MNetters saying ‘Oh I love The Queen, I love this member and that member’ but no one ever says why. I came across the video of Stacey Solomon saying she doesn’t get why the country is so obsessed with this family as it could be any one of us born into royalty and I totally agree.

For me, when I think of The Royal Family, I instantly think of colonialism and how many of the jewels on the Queen’s crown has been stolen from different countries. I understand not everyone thinks like this but why do some love the members of this establishment as if they’ve done anything to better your life? I’d love to hear people’s views. I’ve tried to have this conversation in real life but everyone I know couldn’t care less about The Royal Family so I’m none the wiser.

Here’s the Stacey Solomon clip for any who haven’t seen it before

I have so little faith in elected leaders and government so have grown to like (some of) the Royal family more over the past 10 years. I think the Queen is like a living relic of our great history as a country and she is the one thing that seems to unite the country a little. We are such a painfully divided island I do dread the day there's no more royal family/Queen.

To a PP who said without the royal family people would still visit the estates/palaces- I'm not sure it would generate anywhere near the revenue you might think if there's no longer anyone on the throne, maybe?

The Queen isn’t even on the UK Rich list, She probably doesn't even make the top 500.

All the talk of redistribution of wealth is misguided if directed solely at the Queen. Yes redistribution of wealth needs to happen, but it is a POLITICAL problem. You’re not going to be any better off by ‘sacking’ the Royal family.

Blame the Tories for the poverty and increasing inequality. Blame Boris and his band of selfish and immoral chancers.

At least I've heard of the Queen! Who's the other woman?

MintJulia what do you mean .. ? Can you give examples of how she handles such things? Not noticed! Thnks

Romeo I agree with you wholeheartedly!

Democracy yes so important but it doesn't seem to be serving us very well at the moment does it?

We have a Prime Minister who has broken the Law, that no one seems to have the balls to get rid off!

We had a referendum that has split society down the middle, Scotland didn't want BEXIT but are having to lump it, same Northern Island!

It wasn't the Queen who chucked £37 Billion on test & trace was it!

Well it’s sad you feel that way, although I do understand. I am also ashamed to be British at times, believe me, I am a die-hard lefty, I voted for Jeremy Corbyn!

I just think that the Royals are a total red herring / straw man when it comes to bringing meaningful change to the UK. You can go after symbols, as with the recent tearing down statues but where would it get us?

The sentiment is all very well but we’d be no richer, we’d be just as unequal, but we’d have lost something that made us a little bit unique, a little bit special, and overall I think a force for good.

There is no denying that the Royals are working in the best interests of our country. They live in luxury- but they pay for it with their lives. A gilded cage. I wouldn’t give up my freedom for their life. I truly do believe it is a life or service. So as long as they are willing to do it, I am happy for them to continue. I actually think the way the monarchy will ultimately end will be with a string of abdications and nobody wanting the job.

I think the Queen personally is amazing. She is such a strong woman and I find her devotion to this country and sense of duty humbling. In 70 years she has not really put a foot wrong. In an era of Trump, Biden, Boris etc I am even more truly grateful for our Queen.

More generally in this country, the royal family is above politics and I believe a truly unifying force for good. I have been at charity events and hospital wards during a royal visit and the pleasure and excitement it causes is huge. It also ensures maximum publicity. Have you seen how many charities each individual royal is a patron of? Have you seen how many public duties are carried out by the working royals - one single Head of State could never scrape the surface of so many visits.

On the World stage, our monarchy is a source of interest. Foreign heads of state want to meet our royals and stay in our palaces. Every time I have lived abroad, from France to Russia to Hong Kong to Australia - I have always been asked if I have met the Queen. Tourists also flock here because they love the living history and pageantry.

England has had a monarch for over 1000 years, I love the connection with the past.

27,457 threads later and still people trotting out the same old myths .. we do not have a democracy. We have an imitation of one with a govt that got 44 percent of the vote and 22 million votes wasted. Until fptp is replaced by a fairer pr/av system, millions of voters will continue to have nobody to vote for, the Tories will continue to benefit from their massive over representation and will keep serving their own interests, and only their own interests, by forging unholy alliances with whoever will give them the most in return/keep them in power including the RF and their "special relationship" with the PM. You are being held hostage to what you call tradition and stability but it is in reality corrupt and undemocratic and undermining social unity.

As an outsider I find it very odd for Brits to be debating the point of the royal family. At least someone is keeping an eye on them, and they have their purpose.
However, it seems the entire British (or English, rather) system is built on this type of inherited lordships, money, estates, positions and so on, and those people are subjected to none of the scrutiny. I would find it much more useful for the system as a whole to get rid of that lot.
I mean, ‘house of lords’ for christ’s sake, if ever there was an anachronism..!

I remember you from one of the republican threads! I wouldn't disagree with electoral reform, but as I said on a recent thread it's not going to benefit the Conservatives so it's not on the cards for them. If we got a lab/lib coalition it might be a different story, but we can only hope!

The sentiment is all very well but we’d be no richer, we’d be just as unequal, but we’d have lost something that made us a little bit unique, a little bit special, and overall I think a force for good.

I can't believe a Corbynite just said that. Of all the good things about Britain you cite the Nonce family as a little bit special .... Epstein and the 0 mm the queen distanced herself... Just wtf. Perhaps unique in our enabling of sex offenders and crime. A force for good, wtaf, guys I'll leave you all to it because this is unbelievable.

I don’t think we could find someone to elect who would have done as good a job as the Queen does at being head of state and an ambassador of this country. She impresses everyone who meets her in person and the continuity is reassuring for me. I am going to feel so very sorry for her family when she dies. Poor Prince Charles - a) I think they’re genuinely close now and b) no one can follow that.

it seems the entire British (or English, rather) system is built on this type of inherited lordships, money, estates, positions and so on

You were right with British.

To be fair, I don't think Stacey has done much to deserve her wealth either.

I'm fond if the Royal family, I'd love to know more about how they live day to day and also love the pomp and ceremony and rituals. But no, I don't love them.

When I think of the royal family I think of the history. There is so much we don't know about the past but following it through the royals gives us a pathway to present times. I love the ceremonies that have been passed down through the centuries.

I do understand people saying privileged people/family but this is what was decided many years ago. Should it stop with the death of our Queen? I don't know, I would be sad if we didn't have a royal family, I would miss the pomp and ceremony such as we have seen over the past few days but I am of the older generation and its not for me to say how my grandchildren and their children would see their world.

So basically I'm saying love the Royal family but understand that maybe a Royal family does not fit in tomorrow's world

But getting rid of the Royal family isn't going to get rid of that system & suddenly make us a fairer Country, all that is in the hands of the Government!

It was inevitable that this thread would get taken over by rants, but it's interesting that no-one has joined in to say that they love the Royal Family.

I believe that the Queen has done her job (and it is a job) admirably. She sees her role as a calling from God, to serve and represent her nation. You might consider her to be deluded but she has taken her responsibility seriously.

Left to her own devices, she would have chosen to breed and race horses. If you start with enough capital, it's possible to create a breeding operation that functions as a business and generates a profit or a manageable loss and would therefore be sustainable without public money. What would you rather do? Be a racehorse breeder (pretty much the ultimate hobby job) or spend 70 years visiting sewage plants and having to play host to people like Robert Mugabe?

Boris is the PM, how could he be a president? So you think it's fine to have as head of state someone who only got the position by being born? Doesn't make sense.

If we did have a republic why do people always think of Trump, Blair or Johnson. Like there's no one else in the world. But they think it's fine to have a 96 year old who's been doing it for 70 years. It's bizarre.

So if the queen was to visit your village/workplace/school etc, you wouldn’t curtsy?

I would like to be an equal citizen in my country, not a grovelling subject of a hereditary elite.
Monarchy and everything it represents has no place in modern society. Hereditary monarchs are irrelevant to democracy, the Queen absolutely does not provide a check on governmental power as she just gives royal assent to any bill. Think of how many awful laws have been passed recently, for example the Nationality and Borders Bill. Did old Lizzie do anything to stop that?
Moreover, the cult of personality around some royals is mind-boggling. They’re like talentless celebrities. These unremarkable people are meant to be our examples and model behaviour to look up to. I for one don’t think pedophilia, racism, colonialism and classism, to name a few examples, are anything to aspire to! Why are these people promoted as an ideal when they do nothing to enrich our country, whether that be morally or economically. ‘Tourism value’ is brought up as another point, but no tourist actually sees the royals when they visit. It’s the palaces and estates etc. that hold interest, so why not follow the lucrative example of say, Versailles, and open them up to the public as museums? Much more money could be made that way. But no, we’re seemingly content to have a big family and their hangers-on hoarding wealth and living off taxpayer money.
As you can probably tell, I get quite worked up about this issue! It’s sickening to see billions of pounds spent on pomp and pageantry whilst people sleep on the streets, rely on food banks, and can’t heat their homes. By abolishing the monarchy we wouldn’t be throwing away history - the history would still be there in museums etc., but the future would be much improved!

Do we need a head of state? What purpose does one serve? Get rid of the Royal Family and just don’t bother replacing them.

The only time I've ever liked what Stacey Solomon says is when I heard her saying how she doesn't get this huge adoration of the royal family. Totally agree with her. They're just an ordinary family. I hate the bowing and scraping.

I clearly don’t love the Queen or the Royal
Family. I am not a royalist however there are benefits to having a monarchy (most democratic countries have a monarchy usually, can be used as an unbiased middleman during talks eg look at the Middle East & can be cheaper to run than republicans) however I think they should be phased out and replaced with an Irish/German system.

But voting personalities hasn't served us well either Taras has it!

People say Boris or Trump because those are the latest examples who have been voted in!

The sort of populist stuff we have going on at the moment isn't giving us the leaders we need!

So very true. I went to the Palace of Versailles a few years ago and we all know what the French did to their Royals yet it’s France’s most popular attractions outside of Paris!