Should the monarchy be abolished?

The Monarchy has been around for a very long time. Throughout the ages rulers have come and gone, with varying succesess and legacies. But now, it sits useless an old memorial of times gone by. Should we keep it? By now, the royal family has so little power that they are essentially relics of a bygone age, kept for mere nostalgic purposes only, and perhaps bring in a few million pounds of tourism money each year. But the fact is that they dont actually do anything. When was the last time that an important decision was left to Buckingham Palace? The war on Afghanistan? The Falklands? The Lisbon Treaty? The treaty at Versailles? The Queen now only appears in the ...  Read the complete review

This is obviously a contentious subject among some circles but to me, the idea of abolishing the monarchy is absurd and would cost the country hundrends of millions of pounds in re-writing statute law all to save the taxpayer on average around £3. That's a totally pragmatic view clearly but let's take a look at other reasons. Firstly, many historical commentators have pointed out that the mere presence of constitutional monarch would prevent the rise of despot dictator of the ilk of Hitler. Going back to the 2nd World War, no one would ever conceive that that King George would have asked Oswald Mosley to form a government and it would be reasonable to assume ...  Read the complete review

The topic of the monarchy is one I can honestly say I've never had to think about very hard. I can summarise my feelings very easily, nobody ever asked me if I wanted to be a subject. Yet, I am currently classed as such. A subject, a servant to the monarchy. There is something unsettling about the idea that in 21st century Britain and individuals technical rights extend little beyond feudal serfs. It is a classification ignored by the law and little more than loose ends that need trimming. If I bring this up the response from royalists is usually that such classifications are little more than terminology, a legacy left over from a time when the monarchy's supposed ...  Read the complete review

No sane person could believe that anyone has a right to rule a nation simply by accident of birth and indeed for several hundred years now in England, Scotland and Wales (I'll leave Ireland out of this) this has not been the case. Although we continue to have a monarchy, power now rests with Parliament and the monarch is simply the head of state with very little say in how the country is run. Indeed, the present Queen Elizabeth certainly possesses none of the power and control that belonged to her predecessor, Queen Elizabeth I who ruled absolutely. Originally, kingship came about almost by a process of natural selection. The strongest, cleverest or most ...  Read the complete review

I understand that everybody is entitled to their own opinions, after all that is was makes this country so great, but I was disappointed to read some reviews asking for the monarchy to be scrapped. Okay we all know in history how many of the Kings and Queens stole land and killed in order to get into power and become more powerful. This was often at the expense of the peasants of the day. So to be honest it does leave a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. However as they say that is history. We are now in a different era, were thankfully this would no longer be tolerated. I love the history of this country. I love reading about it and going to monuments and old ...  Read the complete review