The Royals

Define hard work. These people don’t dress themselves, don’t make their own beds, cook breakfast, put their kids out to school. Most young parents do all of that before 8.30 then go out to do a proper job. And it’s not even finished then. What is a proper job, I hear you ask. It’s quicker to tell you what it’s not. It’s not shaking hands, giving speeches, cutting ribbons nor attending banquets, all of which appear on hard working royals’ agendas.

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Except for Macron !

There aren’t many things I admire about the Saudi Royal family, but one plus (in my mind) over our primogeniture system is their tradition that the ruler chooses his (always a his!) successor - ie not just the first born. Generally Saudi Kings have multiple sons to choose (in theory) the most suitable from (although where my argument falls down is the selection of the awful, brutal, current Crown Prince, MbS). In the UK it’s entirely the luck of the primogeniture draw that you get a Charles, not an Andrew, a William, not a Harry.

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Aw come on! There’s nothing can beat a dreary dirge paying homage to the undeserving descendants of brutal tyrants. You wouldn’t want a jaunty little foot tapping number extolling the virtues of the country, the people who built it and the men and women who defend it, would you?

excellent idea, the lovely cathedrals and abbeys should be for all to enjoy, atheists to the fore. Have you, all of you, noticed their incomes? Also that the late Queen and Charles did everything possible to hide the amount of their grotesque wealth fror our prying eyes. Vive la Republique, even with the mistakes. I’d mhe horses though, but they could still be deployed as indeed they are in France.

Indeed, but it could be said that the 2 spares you mention got that way simply out of resentment at their accidental position and sought their relief in other ways. Who knows what Charlie and Bill would be like if their positions were reversed?

As regards the bowing and scraping being less of a factor these days, I am not so sure, but I am willing to bet that almost any British person could not help at least a short bow from the neck on meeting the king.

I’ll never be able to prove that fact though as, personally, I have consistantly refused a knighthood and all the other alphabetical trappings of state on offer. :wink:

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I saw a documentory some while back about Princess Anne. Well her living room or what we posh folks call the lounge or salon was like my parent’s and my nan’s front room, deffo not on a grand scale ofthings but then she is more like us than the rest of them. As for that clingon Fergie, she sets my teeth on edge along with her weasle ex.

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Don’t need to :face_with_hand_over_mouth:

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Monty Python’s take on royalty…

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Always it is fairly easy to throw brick-bats at an established institution, but surely it is necessary to have a reasoned alternative at hand.
So if His Majesty were to be dispensed with, then who should be Head of State and how should they be selected and for what term of office ?
No doubt someone with experience would be preferred, so how about someone who has served an apprenticeship for the role that lasted several decades.
I fancy that it takes a rather special sort of training for a person who has been granted considerable authority and power NOT to exercise it.
Might be a good idea to have someone who has the inside knowledge of just how previous Prime Ministers have made mistakes so that they may advise the current post holder accordingly.
So perhaps a good idea to have a Head of State who has never held any party political allegiance, but who nevertheless has been privy to the inner workings of said parties.
Don’t forget that it would require someone with a balanced view who would be prepared to veto extremist legislation passed by Parliament, and who could do so without fear of retribution in future years.
Then of course, the Head of State would have to be a person who would keep a confidence to the grave, and never use any insider information to their own benefit, or that of their family, friends, or business associates.
So I reckon that the field of suitable candidates has narrowed considerably just based on the above few criteria.

The Monarchy has its faults, simply because they are human like us, but then perhaps the reason that they still exist is because no-one has as yet come up with a suitable and practicable alternative.

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So there we are…all that glitters is not gold.

In theory the monarch appoints the Prime Minister who runs the country on behalf of said person. The monarch then authorizes the actions of the PM but retains the power to reject laws if he/she sees fit.

So much for the theory.

The monarchy failed their subjects over Brexit. The safety valve did not work. The British people deserve better.

Gus

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The monarch can’t overturn the result of a referendum, no matter how badly people were lied to in order to get the result the leave campaign wanted.

The argument that the royal family is a ‘good thing’ because it brings in tourist money doesn’t hold water. The French got rid of their royals and now France is allegedly the most visited country within Europe , attracting an impressive 81,411,000 foreign sightseers each year – more than any other country in the world.
Get rid of the ‘Windsors’ and their constantly extending tribe and put all of their property in state ownership. Now, where’s my tumbril?

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You’re comparing apples and oranges, and confusing cause and effect with coincidence at the same time.

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Why do you care you don’t live in England.

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Royals have not cut ribbons or kissed babies in decades :joy:

Maybe not, but I’m pretty sure even the little book we use to get between here and England (or any other part of the UK) literally says “His Britannic Majesty’s Secretary of State requests and requires in the name of His Majesty all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance and to afford the bearer such assistance and protection as may be necessary.”so the royals actually may be something to care about as a British citizen whether you currently live in the hellhole or not… :sweat_smile::rofl:

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The German system seems to work pretty well. Bundeskanzler with the political power and president for the stuff that the King in the UK does. Steinmeier does a good job, as most of his predecessors have done as far as I know (I didn’t use to follow politics much).

You may be right. German constitutional law is one of the infinite number of topics of which I am ignorant.

But constitutional law is fiendishly complex at the best of times, and even more so in a nation which has no written constitution.