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The British just can't shake their monarchy - USATODAY.com
By Kitty Kelley
USAToday.com
Apr 27, 2011
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With the royal wedding only days away, the bakers at Buckingham Palace are churning out 12,000 hors
d'oeuvres to serve to 350 guests at the Queen's reception for her grandson, Prince William, and his
bride, Catherine Middleton, soon to be a princess.
div class="photo-block">
1 more day: Prince William and Catherine "Kate" Middleton.
Via, Getty Images
1 more day: Prince William and Catherine "Kate" Middleton.
A few miles away hundreds more will gather for a street party in
hopes of sparing William the burden of a crown and thus
Via, Getty Images
keeping his wife's status as a commoner. While the royals
dress up in black silk top hats, republicans (in British parlance, anti-monarchists) in denims and Wellies
will meet and mingle with the intent of making the monarchy obsolete.
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"We are a membership-based pressure group calling for the democratic replacement of the monarchy
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with an elected head of state," said Graham Smith, the manager of Republic, which has organized a "Not
the Royal Wedding" fair with music and food and games in London. "We'll be celebrating democracy and
people-power rather than inherited privilege."
For more than a decade Smith has been canvassing his country for like-minded souls who believe the
reign of kings and queens should be mothballed. He now claims a membership of more than 10,000
people, including professors, students, historians, authors, actors, artists and a few members of
Parliament, taxpayers all, who object to paying $60 million-$100 million a year to support the Queen and
her family.
Yet Republic claims its campaign for a democratic society is not about money, but about the future of
Britain. Republicans deplore the image of their country as a feudal, fusty fairy-tale. "With a monarchy we
are not forward looking," said Smith. Still, Republic insists that while the royal family remains in place its
membersshould pay personal and corporate taxes like everyone else, a proposition not wholly embraced
by the palace. Committed to ridding England of its monarchy without a revolution, the fledgling
organization wants to institute a republic with a written constitution (and you thought Britain had one), a
Supreme Court and an elected head of state. In its newsletter, appropriately entitled "Imagine," Republic
regularly publishes newspaper polls that show a majority of the country wants the royals to pay taxes and
only a minority wants to see Prince Charles become king. All feel the present queen, respected if not
beloved, should die with the distinction of being Britain's last reigning monarch.
Before the days of Oliver Cromwell, royals swatted republicans away like pesky gnats and dismissed
their anti-monarchy movement as the mischief of cranks or communists. But since Cromwell overthrew
the monarchy in 1653 and became Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland for five years,
monarchs have become much more vigilant about threats to their throne. To royalty, a republic is a
wrecking ball no more castles, no more crowns, no more curtsies.
After Prince Albert died, Queen Victoria went into mourning and retreated to her castle in the Scottish
highlands. She refused to return to London and resume her duties as monarch until Prime Minister
Benjamin Disraeli persuaded her that Republicanism was on the rise. Her descendants have held on to
the throne by relying on the mystique of monarchy that has been so much a part of British culture.
When I was invited to debate at the Oxford Union several years ago, the evening began with a formal
dinner. Before a spoon was lifted, the host stood to propose The Loyal Toast. He raised his glass: "To the
Queen." Everyone stood solemn and erect: "To the Queen."
As an American who puts hand to heart for the national anthem and pledges allegiance to the flag, I was
puzzled by the salute to the sovereign. "Why the Queen and not the prime minister, who is elected by the
people?" I asked. My dinner partner smiled uncomfortably. "You, my dear, are a citizen. We are Her
Majesty's subjects."
Back then it was almost treasonous to discuss abolishing the monarchy, but the passage of time and the
scandals of the House of Windsor, plus their weight on the public purse, have wrought a few changes in
attitude. Middle-aged Britons devoted to meritocracy resist the strictures of the class system; the young
are bored by the monarchy, but their grandparents cannot imagine England without a crowned head.
The 85-year-old queen is looked up to as the exemplar of duty, and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh,
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still stands staunchly at her side after 64 years of marriage. But the messy divorces of three of their four
children, the financial shenanigans of Prince Edward and Prince Andrew, the continuing embarrassments
of the ex-daughter-in-law Sarah Ferguson, have dented the image of a family who we're supposed to
admire more than most. In fact, the royals are as dysfunctional as the rest of us, just better dressed.
Many years ago Farouk, the last King of Egypt, predicted that most monarchies would disappear by the
turn of the century: By then there will be only five kings left in the world, he said. The king of hearts,
clubs, diamonds, spades and the King of England.Farouk was far-sighted. With the exception of the
House of Windsor and the House of Saud, most of the 44 remaining monarchies have been substantially
diminished. So reduced are the royal life styles of Scandinavia that the British frequently deride them as
"bicycle monarchies."
The mystique of England's monarchy with its golden coaches and crown jewels continues to beguile. "In
its mystery is its life," wrote historian Walter Bagehot more than 100 years ago. "We must not let daylight
in upon magic."
In the last decade daylight has harshly exposed the crumbling fa?ade of the British monarchy but the
magic somehow endures, even as republicans try to force a rational reassessment. Rooted mystically in
religion and patriotism and grandeur, the institution continues to reinvigorate itself as it will on April 29th
when a handsome young prince makes his bride a princess and whisks her away to the palace in a
golden carriage.
Even the most ardent republicans recognize the magic. "I hope within the next decade we'll be able to
realize our goal," said Smith, a bit wistfully. Unspoken is the uphill challenge to change the psyche of
people who have cherished pageantry and treasured mythology for over 1,200 years.
Kitty Kelley is a best-selling author who wrote The Royals.
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