republicans, over here!

[arghpleasestop]

OK, it's been 24 hours now.

Can I say it yet?

Long live the king - any king! - you must be joking. How on earth can it be the 21st century and there is still a hereditary monarchy of 'special people with the right blood' who wear crowns, live in palaces and play a formal role in politics?

I can see from other threads that others feel upset and are following it all closely. This thread is not to deny those feelings and for sure Queen E worked hard shaking hands for a long time - but to say, WTF, bring on the republic please.

Follow?

Do you know what a Head of State does ?

@cakeorwine yes I do and name me great ones that would be so much better and why we would be better for it
When i say follow I mean that is so great that you think we should follow that way

Also how will any of your life's change if we don't have a monarchy , you won't be richer , have more freedom or any of those things
Also respect seems to mean little to people , at least let the lady get buried maybe
And also we still live in a country where the majority want a monarchy or aren't bothered either way so would not vote for a republic
And majority wins

And majority wins

Or you could say where the majority don't want a monarch or don't care either way. So that majority should win.

Well, in the first instance this president would be elected, democratically, by the people, instead of it being some sort of birthright that’s gets passed down to the next generation, in perpetuity, because, you know, that’s not very democratic, especially because it’s the 21st century.

Just because something is tradition and has been done for centuries doesn’t mean that something new could not work just as well if not better. The possibilities are endless.

What you mean like how the leader with the actual power, the one who runs the country as in our PM is elected?

Why would you need to also elect a ceremonial figurehead and call them “president”? Presidents can’t give out knighthoods for example. And they’re not special.

Why would you need to also elect a ceremonial figurehead and call them “president”? Presidents can’t give out knighthoods for example. And they’re not special

Knighthoods, Order of the Garters, Orders of the thistle, Earldoms, Knight Companions....

I am sure that other countries have a way of recognising people who have done well in their country without these titles.

Countries have a Head of State to carry out ceremonial events - such as receiving foreign dignitaries, ambassadors, overseeing new Parliaments etc. Maintaining the Constitution.

I am sure that they could also hand out awards as well.

Doesn't the Prime Minister and a team of people tell the Monarch who should get a Knighthood and the Monarch just rubber stamps it?

Which Monarchs in history are so great that you have followed them?

George III
George II

Henry IV
Elizabeth I
Edward VIII

Victoria

In this day and age there should not be any kind of knighthoods or anything similar. There are so many other ways that a person could be recognised.

Well they physically could but to my mind getting honours that are supposed to be given to you by a royal person descended from all the royal families of the British Isles from random citizen x who won a popularity contest just isn’t the right way to do it. It loses its specialness. It could be a person off Google box or some TikTok viral video.

My main point is that those that actually govern our country, and hold all the sovereign power are all democratically elected. So calling for a republic will change exactly nothing about how our country is governed or run, all it would do is erase the history and ceremony that we have alongside the boring day to day government officials. The royals are the fun and interesting bits about our country. Having the crown estates too ensure the conservation and preservation of our history and heritage. If we just stopped supporting all that, then we’d be in the position of a lot of nations with only a few bits and bobs in a museum in a foreign country or in the hands of private collectors. The palaces, castles, lands would all be bulldozed and replaced with council estates, luxury hotels and resorts, perhaps even yet more Amazon warehouses.

A U.K. with no monarchy would be boring, soulless and grim.

The royals are the fun and interesting bits about our country

The Truman Show

Thanks for proving my point

Well they physically could but to my mind getting honours that are supposed to be given to you by a royal person descended from all the royal families of the British Isles from random citizen x who won a popularity contest just isn’t the right way to do it

And has been pointed out, we are all descended from previous Royals if you go back far enough.

Because that's how genetics works.

They are NOT special. Or mysterious. They are just people whose ancestors died and in Victoria's case, her Dad was encouraged to marry and have children because there were no other heirs to the throne.

So what about France and it’s beautiful palaces, castes, historical institutions, galleries - in their thousands. It’s hardly a historical or cultural waste land, is it?

Why should there not be? They’re ancient tradition and full of meaning. They don’t hurt anything, and frankly there isn’t a Nobel prize for everything worthwhile. Just because something is old/ancient doesn’t mean we need to erase it and make up new awards.

You could make the same argument about the Olympics…meh fuck the Ancient Greeks and their slave based misogynistic empire, abolish the Olympics…and get rid of gold, silver, bronze medals and get rid of the Olympic Games…there are so many other ways to recognise athletic achievements. Let’s have the Coca Cola Games and the winners get to be called the Coca Cola Titans and go around the world making appearances and doing cameos on Google box. Nightmare.

The Honours system

honours.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/about/orders-and-medals/

Yes, but most of the republicans on here have stated that the Crown estates should be seized and sold off to the highest bidder so that “we” can have the money. No one has evinced any desire to preserve anything to do with the monarchy. They don’t want government funds used to keep these historic places for people to visit (which people can do already) or keep even the Crown Jewels in a museum. I think quite a few would be happy to see Buckingham Palace turned into luxury apartments or torn down and a monument to “Freedom” put up in its place.

Yes, but most of the republicans on here have stated that the Crown estates should be seized and sold off to the highest bidder so that “we” can have the money

Have they?

We'll get to that point once the Revolution has started........

A U.K. with no monarchy would be boring, soulless and grim

As opposed to the UK now? where the Royals subjects die waiting for ambulance or die waiting in one outside AE, where home care packages are like rocking horse shit BUT thats all ok because those that "rule" over us don't have to wait and have exceptional health care.

The Royal palaces etc could easily be put in a not for profit charity and full access given - more people (around 4x as many) visit France's former royal residences than they do UK ones.

It would be worse. Getting rid of the Royals isn’t going to change wait times for ambulances or magically convince the Tories to fund the NHS properly. Things are obviously not ok, but the idea the Royals are responsible for these things or that their absence would make any of that better is ridiculous. It’s rather like deciding to burn your own house down because homeless people exist. Pointless destruction.

I agree royal palaces could be say, given to the National Trust or similar charity. France will always have more tourists than we do because they have better weather, better transport, and are a much bigger country. They don’t have more tourists because they have no monarchy….

The Louvre used to be a royal palace. Just saying.

The royals are not responsible for NHS waiting

But the system that enables their existence is

t would be worse. Getting rid of the Royals isn’t going to change wait times for ambulances or magically convince the Tories to fund the NHS properly. Things are obviously not ok, but the idea the Royals are responsible for these things or that their absence would make any of that better is ridiculous. It’s rather like deciding to burn your own house down because homeless people exist. Pointless destruction

That's something completely different.

So your argument is that the Royals make this country interesting. As you have pointed out, other countries have monarchies as well. So we're not unique in that. Denmark's Queen - who I am sure we can all name - celebrated her jubilee yesterday.

It's an argument - and people do like the pomp and ceremony.

What do you think the argument is for people who want to see an elected Head of State on the Ireland model?

"Yes, but most of the republicans on here have stated that the Crown estates should be seized and sold off to the highest bidder so that “we” can have the money.

Where have "most of the republicans" said that on this thread?
I have seen some people saying that the income generated by the Crown Estates could be kept entirely.
The people who keep talking about selling off the Crown Estate actually seem to be royalists engaged in what looks like headless-chicken fear-mongering.

[France] don’t have more tourists because they have no monarchy….

Nobody is saying this, though... people are saying that France still has loads of tourists visiting Versailles for example.

You don't really see the royals in public unless it's an occasion. They're not standing on the balcony every other day for tourists to look at.

When tourists come, mainly they get to look at the buildings. And the interior of the building, in some cases. Or sometimes, some of the interior of the building. Or stand at the gates of the building. If there was nobody living in the buildings, then the tourists could see all of the buildings, all year round.

I'm no sycophant, I'm not grieving, i dont particularly like KC3 or wills, i dont believe they are better than us, just richer with a rich heritage. However, I have looked into it and think that on balance fucking up our constitution is a bad idea right now. Our government have much more important things to deal with. There really isn't a better option to represent us on the world stage. I don't trust our "democracy" to elect a worthy figure capable of uniting the nation. I think a lot of people who want to tear the monarchy down aren't appreciating the consequences and aren't proposing anything better.