To never sing "God save the king"

[boombang]

To be fair, I was never going to - I am a republican, and I did respect the late queen, so used to sing "God save the Queen". She came from a long gone era, and she fought in the war.

I have always thought the monarchy should end with her, I have always thought it was a horrible system, grossly unfair to those caught up in it, and very very annoying - I do understand the point about the prime minister using the monarchs authority though, and understand it would be hard to dismantle - not least because it would mean whatever prime minister of the day volunteering to have all that automatic power taken out of his/her hands.

But the events of the last two days have changed my mind, it is beyond annoying, it is an insidious evil

The media outright calling cancer victims "lesser mortals" - the description of someone putting on pretty clothes and waving as "the bravest woman in Britain" and the huge distress caused to thousands of normal people through this.

We shouldn't have a monarchy. We shouldn't have this system where someone is seen as a better, braver, more important person because they are part of the monarchy, and other people being publicly and firmly denigrated, because whatever their situation, however they are feeling, whatever their abilities and whatever their achievements, they are not good enough,

why? no reason, other than not being royal

Kate and Charles, if you read this, I have nothing but good wishes for you. Apart from obviously you are in the best possible position to access treatment and survive cancer, I feel sorry for you - I wouldn't want your lives.

But I have really for the first time taken on board how inherently damaging this system of having a royal family really is

Sing it, don't sing it, who cares.

How often are you expected to sing it that it even matters. I cant remember being anywhere I was expected to sing it.

"...changing the way we select our head of state." I had no idea we selected him! When do we next get to do this?

In fairness you can expect nothing else from the Torygraph and other monarchy-supporting, pro-establishment press.

The irony of it mildly amuses me. Here's a woman lauded for facing cancer in the full glare of the public eye, when said woman is able to disappear completely behind the walls of her large estates for six months at a time. That's one luxury of which few could boast.

So much for a lack of privacy. To call other cancer sufferers 'lesser mortals' is less tone deaf than completely contemptuous, but it gives you a sense of how pro-establishment types think. It's revealing, just ahead of an election.

IMO, the whole UK constitution needs a radical shake-up from top to bottom: starting with replacing the Lords with an elected second house (not just getting rid of them the way we got rid of the EU. That's just removing an important layer of accountability). The monarchy is an increasingly divisive institution and support for them is falling rapidly: the problem is an aged unwritten constitution - the likes of which enabled the Blair government to make more significant upheavals than any government to date. IMO, that issue needs revisiting.

At present I doubt any political party has the gumption for major upheaval. When these changes do happen I suspect they'll be gradual and happen in increments. The UK historically prefers evolution to revolution.

For the first time, however, I believe we'll see these changes at some point this century. In the meantime, questions will increasingly arise about the relevance of the Windsors and that uninspiring dirge of a 'national' anthem that increasing numbers of citizens won't sing.

Correlation does not equal causation. I see no mechanism for this ‘stability’. Do you have one?

That’s the Queen getting a bunk up there…good on you ma’am

🤣

Thank you. In a way, forgive for being honest, you do not respect them, IE respect them for who they are, stand for and their actions!!

However, you have an opinion that is possibly shared by millions. Just like your stance, many millions think like me

IMO, what you accused them of, the others may be but not Charles and wife nor dear Kate and her immediate family, ie kids and DH!!

I think the last time I sung the national anthem was when I was about 9 and had to at school...
Never felt the need or had to do so since then. Nor want to for that matter...

He didn't have to do it.

The Germans are crazy about our royal family. My best friend (German) travelled all the way to London to watch the royal wedding because she loved them and nothing to do with the historical buildings.

A German you know is crazy about the royal family. That’s just an anecdote there.
It’s obvious that the bulk of tourists neither see not expect to see an actual royal. The buildings are the attraction - as with Versailles for example.

No, but I grew up in the depths of Wales and I can’t ever remember being ‘made’ to sing it as I always assumed people in England were. I’d certainly never sing it as an adult, I’m not sure for what purpose I would. I’m an atheist republican who also finds Will and Kate’s current appropriated titles to be distasteful. I’d not blink twice if they walked past me in the street to be honest (and they may well have at some point a few years back).

YABU. I would hate to throw away all the history and pageantry associated with the monarchy and replace it with a bland President as head of state.

The monarchy is an income generator. We all benefit.

But of course you are perfectly within your rights not to sing the national anthem.

No one wrote ‘lesser mortals’ in the literal sense.

The point about constitutional monarchy is that it is a theoretical check on parliament and a separation of the head of state and head of government.

We need to respect the position of the king or queen, not the individual concerned.

I am not sure that there is a massive desire to move to a presidential system, and the Royal Family do pomp and circumstance very well, which is handy for foreign relations.

The journalist who wrote it

Allison Pearson I believe

Because a lot of people still want it

Because a lot of people don't want the alternative

Data is indeed available should one be arsed to go find it rather than relying on a butler service.

It wasn't 'The Media' it was Allison Pearson who is so right wing as to be unbelievable.

Come live in Wales, haven't had a reason to sing "God save the....." since I moved here age 7.

Although, to be fair, I can't remember the last time I was required to sing the anthem either. Given that I'm unlikely to be picked for the Welsh rugby team any time soon, I can't see that changing.

It’s generally accepted that if you are making an argument you provide evidence. In any case I didn’t ask for data, I asked for a mechanism. Data alone wouldn’t prove correlation.

Have we even asked?

I live in Wales. I’ve been asked to on quite a few occasions. The Welsh one more often, but the Kingy one a fair bit.

Huh, I literally can't think of a time in the last 20 years that wasn't a sports fixture, and to be honest I tend to just mouth along because I can't remember the words.

I suppose if I joined a male voice choir it'd be required of me.

When do you have to do it @cardibach ? I'm wondering what sort of social events I'm missing out on!

I don’t sing it either.
I don’t believe in the monarchy and think it should be abolished.