What do you think about (the British) monarchy?

[noname223]

There is this jubilee of the Queen Elizabeth II. I am glad I am not living in a monarchy. Not even a constitutional one. In school in English classes we also talked about the British monarchy. Most people agreed that a king/queen is so unncessecary. It is a waste of money in my point of view. Her function is similar to the German president. Mostly representive functions. The difference is in a monarchy the heritage decides. And I dislike that a lot. It depends too much whether you win the genectic lottery. It is just not fair.

Moreover the yellow press is so obsessed by them. They are just not much more than celebrities. Though I don't want to deny that it can influence your life quality badly if you are part of the royal family. The pressure is often quite insane. And for example mental problems are very stigmatized. I think someone of the Japanese emperor family has depressions and there is a lot of shame involved. Though this probably also stems from the Japanese culture and not only from the fact that she is part of the emperor family.
I would do it like Harry and Meghan and say goodbye to them. Though I would probably also quit being a public figure. I think they got some money? It would probably be way enough for my living standard.

I hope noone is offended by this opinion.

 

[indica]

i don't ever think about the british monarchy. i don't know what a jubilee is and i'm glad to keep it that way. i didn't even know it was related to the british monarchy until now. i'm glad i'm not living in britain too.

 

[rationaltake]

Song for the Jubilee
"Prince Andrew is a Sweaty Nonce"

 

[Kestrel]

 

[Smart No More]

There really is no point to the monarchy. I look on in sheer indifference really. Its something that exists because its not yet outlived itself. Some love it and I struggle to inderstand why. Maybe its romantic to them in some way. The thing is, some royals do good things. It's not the case that they're all deviants and abusers of power and people. It does seem to breed those types though and you might say they're somewhat baked into the dynamics of a monarchy but I'd probably say the same of people born into money. In fact I'd say it of people in gener. It's just that it's often easier to get away with it in thw short term when you have the resources and a cloke of finance and power. Rich kids are often very undesirable people on a human level. Privilege creates a buffer between reality and understanding and they're often lazy and self entitled. In fairness I don't see that in the children of the current English monarchy. By that I'm referring to Harry and William. They do appear at least to want to relate with the everyday citizen. It may be romantic to them lol. But they appear relatively genuine in their attempts so I have to give them that. However it still doesn't mean they as a monarchy need to exist. They (or anyone else provided the relevant funds) could still do what they do without all the pomp and ceremony. I expect they would very much prefer that. Its a dying thing, monarchy. It's basically where a kind of dictatorship rule exists (in a diluted capacity) alongside democracy (however poorly implemented) and nobody wants to tell the elephant in the room (royalty) they're no longer relevant or required.

Personally I'd see both monarchy and current government overturned and rebuilt from the ground up. There is way too much complexity in modern democracy. New rules and laws take way too long to implement and are often compromised versions of their original intent. Everything is too convoluted and it only serves those with the knowledge, resources and motivation to use it to their advantage and squirm their way through life from a high tower pretwnding they serve the people whwn really all they're doing is carrying out a term of perpetual arguing with an opposing party. They're alway the mean. Never the absolute. We need solutions and action not the status quo in various guises. There's literally no good reason for inequality of resources and means. People, humans fucking suck and most of them know it and hide it behind a veil rather than addressing it in the mirror and leaving their homes a better person with each passing day. It's an idealistic expectation but not an unreasonable one as far as I believe and it's the only way we can improve our world and the quality of the lives we live in it.

 

[mediocre]

There really isn't any reason for the monarchy to exist anymore. But I think for some reason it gives a lot of people in the U.K. comfort. We think of Queen Elizabeth as an extended family member.. somebody that has always been there.. and for a lot of us she has.. she's been on the throne 70 years. That's many years before even my parents were born.

We enjoy all the pomp and circumstance too. Like the jubilee.. it is something positive to take part in (a lot of brits just like any excuse to binge drink to).

But when Queen E dies I am not sure if the monarchy will keep going. The others don't have the respect that she and Prince Philip have from most of the British people. Prince Charles is the future king with Camilla and they don't have anywhere near the same respect or adoration.. in fact they are quite disliked by a lot of people.

I agree with the press being obsessed by them though.. I wish we could go a day without hearing about any of them!

 

[Lost Magic]

They are archaic leeches, full of scandals. The English are complete morons for attaching themselves to them for so long. They should all be abolished after the Queen dies.

 

[rationaltake]

They are archaic leeches, full of scandals. The English are complete morons for attaching themselves to them for so long. They should all be abolished after the Queen dies.

Do you think the other nations in the UK aren't attached to them then? And I wonder how popular they are in England anyway.

 

[mediocre]

Do you think the other nations in the UK aren't attached to them then? And I wonder how popular they are in England anyway.

here in Northern Ireland half the population loves them (the unionists) and half dislike them (the Irish nationalists republicans)

 

[Kestrel]

I don't know how anyone can fly our flag at the moment. We are about to ship refugees off to Rwanda so 'they aren't our problem anymore'. We've got protesting restrictions so tight that Amnesty International ran a campaign against our Government. We deal arms that turn children to dust, but we're the 'civil' ones.

 

[rationaltake]

The royals thought they could sneak Andrew back into the bosom of the family firm while the masses were scoffing jubilee tarts and swooning over Ed Sheeran crooning the national anthem.

A couple of days before the jubilee the archbishop of Canterbury said that Andrew should be forgiven as he's making amends. So the head honcho of the Church of England thinks paying £12 million to suppress a sexual assault charge is making amends? Oh right. This is the very same church that has consistently ignored or buried reports of sexual assault against its clergy.

The royals misjudged the public mood and the whole white-washing attempt misfired. The archbishop back-pedalled on his pronouncement due to the negative backlash and the palace announced that Andrew had a case of (strategic) COVID so he wouldn't be attending the jubilee service.

The archbishop surely wouldn't think Andrew needed forgiveness or should make amends if he believed Andrew had done nothing wrong. Even the royals aren't pretending to think that Andrew is entirely innocent. To give them their due that would be a tall order when he denied ever meeting Virginia Giuffre despite the publication of a photo of him with his arm round her.

So back in January the queen stripped Andrew of all his royal and military titles. You can't get a more public denunciation than that. Yet two months later Andrew was centre stage escorting the queen at the memorial service for the duke of Edinburgh effectively putting up two fingers to any voices of dissent.

The public didn't buy it then and won't buy it now. But it's not good enough to keep putting Andrew back in the cupboard and then getting him out again when the establishment thinks the public mood may have softened.

Andrew isn't a schoolboy accused of smoking a spliff behind the bicycle sheds. He faced serious accusations of sexual abuse and assault and he's strenuously avoided every opportunity to clear his name. He thinks he can buy his way out of it and carry on as if nothing happened.

The truly awful thing is that he may well be right.

 

[Chinaski]

I don't know how anyone can fly our flag at the moment. We are about to ship refugees off to Rwanda so 'they aren't our problem anymore'. We've got protesting restrictions so tight that Amnesty International ran a campaign against our Government. We deal arms that turn children to dust, but we're the 'civil' ones.

What makes it even more obscene is the flag-waving is celebrating an institution which is based entirely on the notion of superiority by birthright, and it should be abolished on this principle alone.

 

[rationaltake]

here in Northern Ireland half the population loves them (the unionists) and half dislike them (the Irish nationalists republicans)

I guess that makes sense. Thanks.

 

[freedompass]

I'm English and I am bored and indifferent about the royals. I do admire the Queen on a personal level. She's been through a helluva lot with her rather dysfunctional family. But the monarchy is a pointless waste of money that would be far better spent elsewhere. Usually the royalists will say 'ah but the monarchy brings in a lot of tourists thereby helping the economy' but, regardless, it is archaic and should be phased out.

 

[Oblivion Access]

I lack the words to describe how much I despise the systems and attitudes that institute monarchies and keep them in place. The individuals, although I can't say I care for them much (to put it mildly) aren't the real problem, noncing aside (big aside there), they just got into a position of enormous privilege entirely through a roll of the dice. Forget guillotines, make them live, toil and struggle the way ordinary people do to just barely make ends meet. I can think of no fate more fitting.

 

[not-2-b-the-answer]

I don't...

 

[newave3]

For some unknown reason, the swine in the mainstream media here in the US thinks we want to hear about Prince Andy, his wife and Queen whatever. Believe me nobody here in America gives 2 flying fucks about the British monarchy.
Nothing against the British people.....love you guys. My ancestry is from Ireland and England. I would love to visit there before I croak.

 

[rationaltake]

People talk about the privilege and wealth the royals enjoy. I think the main players are actually imprisoned in a gilded cage. The queen and the future monarchs plus their immediate families may have money and privilege but they can't even stay in bed on a whim if they feel like it. They are pretty much performing puppets a lot of the time. Doesn't mean they're not wankers though! But no human being should be placed in this position. Imagine being six years old and finding out you're going to be king one day whether you want to or not.

The lesser royals have more leeway to take advantage of their money and position. They won't be called on to take centre stage. Andrew surely exploits his status. And William as future king would never have been allowed to secede from the "firm" like his brother has. And then cash in on his name.

So no more royalty. Abolish the institution. In reality I expect they'd still be privileged even without royal status. But at least the rest of us wouldn't be paying for them.

 

[akana]

pointless and outdated

 

[Heavenbound]

I enjoy reading about the different monarchies of world. Love the British royal family, but hate Harry and Megan. What about the sultan of Brunei?

 

[deltap]

Disdain. To whom I owe the pleasure of respect? Weird cult following based on propaganda and idealistic projections.

 

[Stylite]

I don't like them.

 

[SCDLKD]

Imagine a dude with a fancy name came into your house and said: "I hereby proclaim myself as the owner of this house because god said so (or whatever bullshit they used as an excuse), therefore you must obey me".

That's how I see monarchies

 

[Forever Sleep]

I have mixed views really. I am a Brit and I used to live near London and meet my Dad there. We saw the Queen and Prince Philip driving (well- being driven!) out one evening and she did the royal wave and honestly- it was quite a thrill. I don't know really. I understand all the disgust at the old systems and distribution of wealth and all that. Still- as a person, I admired her sense of duty really. Plus- yeah- they are born with a silver spoon in their mouths but they bring a lot of tourism into the country too. Plus- it's got to suck to be born into all that and expected to just get on with it. Can't say I'm all that enamored with the younger generations but I did like the Queen.

Honestly though- when you start learning about the other corruption that likely goes on in this country- money laundering for Russian oligarths, the corruption in our own government etc- that seems a lot more worrying to me. Yeah- monarchies are kind of window dressing now. Yeah- they're outdated. So are the Egyptian pyramids but Egypt keeps them for the tourism they bring in. To some extent- I think the UK monarchy and all that goes with it is a little like that in a way. A tourist trap.

Talking about corruption though and unfair distribution of wealth. I wonder if any country is really immune to that.