Would the idea of the monarchy get introduced today?

[ForFunAquaTurtle]

Meaning if there wasn't one and lets say an mp said we are going to take a random family put them on a throne give them plenty of land and money and status , would it go down well with the public?

I would LOVE to live in one of these much-vaunted paradises such as Switzerland or the Scandinavian countries (er…which I think you’ll find are monarchies) but comparisons between them and the UK are irrelevant. These countries have much smaller and culturally homogeneous populations, for a start.

Switzerland has four official national languages; if that doesn’t qualify as cultural difference, I don’t know what does!

https://www.weforum.org/stories/2017/07/switzerland-direct-democracy-explained/#:~:text=The%20revision%20of%20the%20constitution,with%2063%25%20of%20the%20vote.&text=There%20are%20three%20instruments%20of,resulting%20in%20a%20mandatory%20referendum.

Despite that, their democracy truly reaches grass-root level.

Their population is about 10% of that of the UK. Totally different ball-game. Lots of space and a pretty wealthy population too. They’re not struggling with the problems of a post-industrial society for one thing.

No, we wouldn't create the House of Lords either, even if we were still to have a bicameral legislature.

If everyone is so convinced about the popularity of the monarchy then there’s no harm in scheduling a referendum and finding out for sure.

Let’s schedule it for when Charles III dies and before William takes the throne. Each country has to vote 60% in favour for them to stay.

But again - is it still made up of hereditary members? I don’t think so, but happy to be corrected. I think there are some out of date beliefs on here about the monarchy’s influence over honours and the aristocracy’s power in the HoLs.

Then lobby your MP to put forward that proposal.

The PM of Jamaica keeps beating his chest about wanting independence from the UK Commonwealth. I’m totally in favour of that - I think they should be.

So what’s his problem? For some reason best known to himself he never seems to get round to calling his referendum. Bizarre!

Parliament is the tool for getting rid of the system of constitutional monarchy. Same as pushing for any change in law in the country. MPs could lobby to update and change the guidance in Erskine May to allow the royals to be debated in Parliament if they want to.

If the tide of public opinion was strong enough then MPs would back it. I'm sure they all keep an eye on the regular polling that goes on.

Attitudes towards having a republic are certainly going up but it's still too low to bet a political career on for most MPs.

And they have laws that govern the most private aspects of your life - you can’t flush your toilet in your house, walk in heels or slam a door after 10pm, can’t hang laundry outside on a Sunday for example - and these laws are enforced too. There’s compulsory military service and a culture of high gun ownership. Maybe look a little deeper at what you are advocating?

After Brexit? No thank you. And I’m not a royalist.

Until a viable and properly thought out alternative is proposed, I’ll stick to being a constitutional monarchist.

Well, William takes the throne the very second his father dies so not much time to organise a referendum.

He doesn't need to have a coronation at all.

Barring any huge missteps or an 'Andrew-level' revelation, the accession of William is going to give the monarchy's popularity a huge boost - especially with the photogenic mini Waleses.

Unless George turns out to be a badun' I can't see the republican cause gaining any serious ground for at the minimum the next 50-60 years so unfortunately I will never see when it happens.

Delightfully ordered as Swiss society may seem to some people, I think Brits would miss the scope for individuality in so many ways - with all its advantages and drawbacks. I get the impression it’s a very conformist society and the UK is not.

And I think that William (for his own and his family’s sake) wants a very different life from that of his father and grandmother. He’ll happily relinquish lots of the properties and privileges to be more like the Scandinavian royals - and I bet he doesn’t fancy dying in post either, so may ‘retire’ in favour of George. I’d put money on big changes when he takes the reins.

Thanks for the advice but I lived in Switzerland on a traineeship for several months so I do know what I am talking about.

Those laws refer to apartment living not private houses. They ensure that everyone is considerate towards one another in a communal situation. It worked rather well actually. Their philosophy is more group oriented than every individual out for themselves and that’s not always a bad thing.

How many threads do you see on Mumsnet where people are complaining about neighbours playing loud music in the garden on a sunny day or people living above them in flats making ridiculous amounts of noise late at night? Is that preferable?

Ditto loads of young adults living at home, not studying or contributing to the household or society in any way? Is that better than conscription, a system which they voted democratically to keep btw?

And conscription in Switzerland only applies to able males, although females can opt to join too. If you object to conscription out of conscience, you can volunteer in other ways. And even if you do join the army; if you object to handling a live weapon, there is an option to receive the military training without handling arms. So it’s hardly an oppressive regime!

Maybe the conformity comes from going through national service and not vice versa?

Either way, I would prefer to live in a society where our efforts and funding go towards helping and celebrating one another rather being focused on an elite, rich, privileged family. It just doesn’t make sense to me!

If we can’t have a Republic then I would like to think that this is the case but I haven’t observed anything that indicates that William is keen on slimming down the monarchy financially? Once people reach a certain level of wealth, it’s usually very hard for them to do that, What is the evidence for this view?

OP this is basically what Trump seems to be trying to do?

I really do think that William has had it up to here with the ordeal of the last 7 years. The fact that his reign may come sooner than he expected (knowing that his father may not make it to nearly 100 like his grandmother and great grandmother) has clearly severely stressed him - against the background of his brother’s sustained and cruel campaign of hostility and his wife’s cancer diagnosis.

I think he must look at the Middletons with their comfortable wealth and happy family life and see the virtue of that model for his own family. We know the RFHate Buck House and actually, the family is shrinking naturally. I don’t think William has the attachment to Sandringham or even Balmoral that the late queen and Charles had - he’s a very different character. Not saying that he’ll be happy with a semi but I’m convinced he’s waiting to re-set the balance of duties versus houses/privilege etc.

It will be interesting to see what happens but I think this will be the right way forward - as a constitutional monarchy in the Dutch or Scandinavian mould.

I don't think anyone has ever introduced the idea of monarchy; it evolved through people seizing power and passing it onto their children. A constitutional monarchy is quite different as the monarch is more of a figurehead and has little actual power. Again, it was never introduced but evolved as an acceptable way of keeping a monarchy.

Monarch-style systems can definitely appear currently. North Korea is a good example. Trump also wants a third term and has mentioned wanting his son to follow him, effectively like a monarchy.

Oh God - please, no!

I was stunned when they elected Trump the first time. I thought his first term record and his criminal conviction would definitely rule out a second term, but look what happened. Now I feel that anything could happen, even a third go for this appalling man…and yes, I agree he’s grooming Barron as his heir.

Wake up, America! Please.

Why is Switzerland being held up as a viable option?
of course as a country it’s better off than the U.K. ( and many others too) .
let’s not forget that due to its decision to stay neutral during ww2 , it is one of the few countries that wasn’t impacted by the war !
we and many other countries took years to rebuild our economy and our infrastructure.

Switzerland was very happy to take stolen gold from the Nazis during the war - it wasn't as neutral as it should have been.

I agree.

Just on one point - we should only compare the UK and its system to countries with similar populations and historical situations. We were the first industrialised country and we had (I think) the world's biggest empire during the 19th century. We've therefore had a lot of immigration and are now a very multi-cultural society. This is a strength, but of course it makes things more complex and sometimes challenging in terms of government policy.

It's meaningless to compare the UK and its particular challenges to countries with populations of 7 million (less than London), no imperial legacy, for better or worse, and which only recently industrialised - or never did at all.

(Oh - and I don't think Switzerland has much of a welfare state, so it's swings and roundabouts.)

Well yes , that too !
I was attempting not to get too political 🤣