When will the UK throw off the chains of their monarchy?

Question

My family and friend did this centuries ago, when is England going to do the same?

Answer 1

Where are you from?

The Queen does not control very much anymore.  They are pretty much just the rich royal family that contribute to charities and make appearances, etc.  Now she has power to do as the US president would do and veto something if it came up but she seldom does that.  Mostly you will find that England has its Prime Minister running the show.  Well at least that is how The Daily Mail reads.

Answer 2

What chains are these then?

The only chain we have is a Government, and all the major parties put together could not organise the making of a cup of tea.

Answer 3

In practice, the Queen rules at the pleasure of her subjects. If her popularity ever dropped, the MPs would move to get rid of her, but that won't happen. The Queen as an average approval rating of 75%, most politicians would kill to have ratings that high. Also, the monarchy is a lot cheaper than a republic would be. 66p per person per year is a bargain. For that we get a link to a thousand years of history and a unifying national figure most countries are envious of.

There is, of course, an argument than the monarchy is undemocratic, but if there was a referendum on whether to keep the monarchy or not, the Queen would win easily. I have never heard a British republican call for such a referendum, they just want parliament to abolish the monarchy.

Having a non-political head of state can be very useful. For example, if a tyrannical Prime Minister even managed to get to power, the monarch would be the only one who could remove such a PM and call an election. This is what happened in Thailand after the 1981 coup, when the King stepped in to restore democracy. In a sense, the UK's unelected head of state is democracy's last line of defence.

Answer 4

Great sense of humour!    Would you have us replace the monarchy with:

a. A George W. Bush - Court Jester

b. A Stalin or a Putin - no difference.

c. A Fidel Castro - speaks for itself.

d. Any other type of politician with its feet in the trough.

Suggest you reconsider, at least the tourists come and look and bring their money.

Answer 5

Well, this is a difficult question isn't it. I am American, but I have a fairly deep knowledge of UK history, and more so politics. In my personal opinion, I don't feel the monarchy offers anything of great value to the people of the UK, however, it's more about what the citizens of the UK want. I don't think the monarchy of the UK "hurts" the people or, in reality, has any real power, but many UK citizens identify with the Royal Family and are very proud of their heritage. I do believe that the UK will "end" their monarchy at some point in the next 10-20 years out of common sense and necessity. I think the younger generations in the UK, let's say 40 yo and younger would support dismantling of the monarchy based on polls I have read, so I feel a Prime Minister will come along in the not that distant future that will float a referendum to the public. It's a bit archaic to have a figurehead like Queen Elizabeth, but to me it's more the waste of tax payers money to perpetuate a meaningless iconography. The direct answer, though, in my opinion, would be less than 20 years.

God Save the Queen - because she needs all the help she can get!

Answer 6

Genevieve - England doesn't have a Prime Minister to run anything, as part of the UK you are governed by the Prime Minister of the UK.

Well the UK gets its money back from the Queen. Whilst paying her lots of money to do very little the UK finds itself being visited by millions every year wanting to see the pageantry etc of the royalty - visiting her palaces and so on.

Answer 7

I suggest you read the Freedom House report on the UK and US. Both countries have the highest possible rating for freedom, political rights and civil liberties. So I don't know what "chains" you're talking about.

The monarchy's expenses are open to public scrutiny and are subject to parliamentary review.  All the lands own by the crown are open to the public. Also, the powers held by the monarch and House of Lords can only be used to protect democracy.

You clearly you know very little about the British system of government and constitution, not to mention your own history. The American colonies declared independence because of the taxation policies of the democratically elected parliament and Prime Minister, not the monarch.