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The Monarchy

People who 'love' the queen. Please talk me through exactly why you love her? What has she ever done for you to deserve your love? She wouldn't piss on you if you were on fire. I honestly don't get it, so please explain to me why she is deserving of your love?
She's served her country for an incredibly long time, I don't love her as such my I have a massive amount of respect for anyone who serves there country for so long, in any role, by that an accountant, an advisor or a constitutional monarch, as proven by statistics constitutional monarchs are some of the most stable and democratic countries.
She has done all sorts of things over her reign, most of which we probably don't know about but let's go through some of them shall we: met and advised every Prime Minister with experience she's got her advice is obviously very important, organised mass charity fundraisers, promoted charities' and organisations and she's been a symbol of hope and stability.
I just prefer a constitutional monarchy to the awful idea of a republic, just look at the US and tell me it's a good idea. I don't love the queen but rather just have massive respect for her, likewise I have respect for Prince William, but not for Charles who has shown no respect for his position.
 
Her advice is obviously important???
Why exactly is her opinion any more important than yours or mine?
Born with a silver spoon, and didn't allow a "person of colour" to work in the visible areas of royal household for a considerable number of decades.
Never done a real days work in her life.
Scrap the royals when she snuffs it, turn the palaces into theme parks, put Charlie in charge of the ice creams.
Duchy Originals 99's.
 
She has done all sorts of things over her reign, most of which we probably don't know about but let's go through some of them shall we: met and advised every Prime Minister with experience she's got her advice is obviously very important, organised mass charity fundraisers, promoted charities' and organisations and she's been a symbol of hope and stability.

This reminds me of The Stonecutters episode of The Simpsons when Homer is asked what the organisation was about and why he wanted to join so eagerly in admiration of them when he had no idea what it was about.

I agree with @BarryZola on this one. Since not bowing down to the queen seems to be so frowned upon, if me, him and @rob666 suddenly stop posting, you'll know we've been whisked away in black land rovers in the dead of night and sent to the Tower.

I find patriotism pointless (I'm actually quite ashamed of my country of birth in many ways, particularly at the moment) and I just don't get all this weird worship of some billionaire bunch who "rule" over us as some sort of superior beings? Something extremely unsettling and sinister about it all, especially since no one has ever been able to give me a single decent explanation for it and why often opposing media outlets are so in on it all as well? It's quite disturbing actually.

I ensured I was out of the country. Sadly though, the UK Boarder force at Bristol airport had no reason to deny my re-entry. And it was raining.

Bob Geldoff has advised Prime Minister's and organised mass charity events. He doesn't get a Jubilee or his face on a tenner.
 
This reminds me of The Stonecutters episode of The Simpsons when Homer is asked what the organisation was about and why he wanted to join so eagerly in admiration of them when he had no idea what it was about.

I agree with @BarryZola on this one. Since not bowing down to the queen seems to be so frowned upon, if me, him and @rob666 suddenly stop posting, you'll know we've been whisked away in black land rovers in the dead of night and sent to the Tower.

I find patriotism pointless (I'm actually quite ashamed of my country of birth in many ways, particularly at the moment) and I just don't get all this weird worship of some billionaire bunch who "rule" over us as some sort of superior beings? Something extremely unsettling and sinister about it all, especially since no one has ever been able to give me a single decent explanation for it and why often opposing media outlets are so in on it all as well? It's quite disturbing actually.

I ensured I was out of the country. Sadly though, the UK Boarder force at Bristol airport had no reason to deny my re-entry. And it was raining.

Bob Geldoff has advised Prime Minister's and organised mass charity events. He doesn't get a Jubilee or his face on a tenner.
The queen being advised is purely symbolic, she will in effect rubber stamp whatever the ruling PM says.
 
I don’t think I am instinctively a royalist, but I am massively in favour of keeping the current system. I am never quite sure how much I buy into ‘immense privilege’ levelled at the royal family, when people talk about privilege in the financial sense, it typically opens up opportunities for you to do whatever you want – but the royal family seems to be the opposite ? You’re essentially imprisoned by your privilege, which sounds pretty grim to me.

When politics is going nuts (when isn’t it, these days?) I do like the fact that there is a fairly benign steadying presence in the monarch. I think you need something above the Prime Minister, but I am yet to be convinced that a president would be a winner. More elected politicians, what could go wrong.
 
I don’t think I am instinctively a royalist, but I am massively in favour of keeping the current system. I am never quite sure how much I buy into ‘immense privilege’ levelled at the royal family, when people talk about privilege in the financial sense, it typically opens up opportunities for you to do whatever you want – but the royal family seems to be the opposite ? You’re essentially imprisoned by your privilege, which sounds pretty grim to me.

When politics is going nuts (when isn’t it, these days?) I do like the fact that there is a fairly benign steadying presence in the monarch. I think you need something above the Prime Minister, but I am yet to be convinced that a president would be a winner. More elected politicians, what could go wrong.
This is my position exactly, I can't see a presidential system working and most presidential systems are fairly politically unstable, there are exceptions of course. As for the Royals privilege, it's true they are very rich however they are imprisoned, they aren't free, they can't say and do what they want, it's not a job I'd want and I don't think most people would either. They are serving the country by putting up with that, sure they can have luxurious food and items but they can't do whatever they want with there cash.
 
I don't really have a strong stance on the Royal Family myself. I'm not a die-hard royalist, but I'm also not overly against the Royal Family either.

I think the reason that the Jubilee is being so celebrated is because the Queen has, rightly or wrongly, been an icon of our nation for 70 years. She is arguably "the face" of Britain around the world and does provide a fair amount to the country in terms of tourism appeal and general "Britishness". There's something that feels quite quintessentially British about the Royal Family, and I think that a lot of people like that.

However, I'll admit that I've been struggling to figure out what the Royals' present purpose in modern British life is. I'm not entirely sure what functional purpose they fulfill other than things that are more to do with tradition than anything properly functional. I do also wonder whether some of the recent scandals, like the Meghan & Harry issue and Prince Andrew's antics, might make them be deemed more trouble than they're worth in the future. It could be argued that still having a monarch is somewhat old-fashioned, and having these unelected individuals who are at least partially propped up by the taxpayer and don't provide a huge amount to the country from a functional standpoint could be argued to be unhelpful to the country.

Personally, I'm undecided; I have no strong opinion on the Queen/the Royal Family. I don't really have any problem with them existing and staying in place, but I wouldn't be distraught if they went either. I am in a family of staunch royalists, though, so I probably shouldn't say that too loudly... I'm the only one who didn't watch any of the Jubilee events on the TV.
 
I suppose the point is, like or dislike a monarchy, what is all this blind worship all about? I couldn't care less if we have some tart or big eared prat sat in a palace with a crown on their head calling themselves a King or Queen if it makes people happy for some strange reason not known to me. But all the blind illogical celebrating it? All the "isn't she marvelous" stuff from sods who can't even explain why let alone have ever met her? I can't be the only one finding all this weird and disturbing surely? Millions of people worldwide probably do far more selfless things than any reigning monarch yet don't get an ounce of credit. Yet she gets bank holidays and £multimillion celebrations just because she was her father's daughter?

I suppose it's because patriotism in general is a Pet Hate of mine. Flag waving and being "proud" of a country for no logical reason? Especially a declining, inward looking and increasingly embarrassing nation such as ours? What are we proud of? The fact that the maternity hospital we happened to be born in was geographically within a certain governmental jurisdiction rather than another?
 
@Matt.GC I don't disagree with a lot of what you say. In terms of the Queen, I'd say it's more about respect than it is about worship, or anything approaching that.

She's in a role that she had no say in (not born into it, only via circumstance) and for the most part she's got on with it and been a great ambassador for our country, despite its increasing flaws. Many people are more deserving of respect for great things that they've done, but most of them are doing it through free choice.

I can explain admiration for the Queen far better than I can for some TikTok nobody or reality star.
 
All I can conclude when taking into account the 'love' for the queen, fandom of celebs with no actual talent, popularity of TV shows like Love Island and crap music acts filling the top of the charts etc is that a lot of people in this nation of ours are very easily pleased.
 
Prince Andrews antics...do we mean the rape of an underage young woman?
Another recent angle of one rule for them...
That was exactly what I was referring to, as well as his general involvement with Epstein on the whole… I was looking for a more subtle way to put it.

The recent scandals do make me wonder how the monarchy will fare after the Queen dies. It does seem as though she is the glue holding the firm together at present; many of the younger members of the Royal Family below her seemingly have far more “individual” spirits and aren’t as enamoured with how prohibiting the royal life is.

Also, the scandals don’t reflect well on the Royal Family in the eyes of many. Meghan and Harry’s accusations in the Oprah interview are certainly very serious, and I know people have been furious with Prince Andrew and his treatment ever since that Newsnight interview that was widely deemed a disaster. With them being completely unelected and acting in a way that infuriates the British public in some areas, it does arguably bring into question whether we should still have an unelected head of state. Say what you like about our current government and their actions, but they were at least elected by the British people.

However, I do think the anti-royal crowd are a vocal minority rather than the majority view. Most people I know think that Meghan and Harry lied to get attention and fall firmly on the side of the Royal Family (my grandad said they should be “locked in the tower for treason”), so rightly or wrongly, that particular scandal seems to be causing more outrage at Meghan and Harry than the Royals.

With regard to the “love” for the Royals; I respect the Queen, but I’ll admit that I too don’t have the deep level of attachment to the Royals that many (including the rest of my family) do. The key thing that implied this to me was when Prince Philip died. I’m ashamed to admit that I felt absolutely nothing when Prince Philip died, and I felt like an emotionless monster; I was totally ashamed of myself. My Nan cried watching his funeral, whereas I felt very little towards him.
 
I think its easy to go after the queen and monarchy saying they just take money etc. But I firmly believe she is good for the country. Plus it isn't easy to do what she does, dedicating 70 years to public life. You'd be wrong to think its easy.

Where does the monarchy head after she dies? I think it will be merely symbolic. Charles has said he is going to slim it down hugely to the line of succession only.

I like the queen and I like the royal family, money from the Crown Estate goes to the government and the arguments of 'The money could be spent feeding poor families!' I find meaningless, they aren't taking the money from these families to give to the royal family.

And as far as the allegations, I find Prince Harry and Megans claims to be only partially true, some of which were disproven, and I struggle to believe she thought she could marry someone like Prince Harry and resume a 'normal life'. In the same way you couldn't resume a normal life if you married a member of the US presidential family
 
I'd happily sack the whole lot off when the Queen goes. Millions of pounds of money spent on people who will never have to live or work like everybody else does, who never have to worry about anything and always get whatever they want in life.

I don't get why people worship the royal family. They're just people born into money who couldn't care less about anybody in the real world.

When there's people living on the streets and people unable to pay to feed their kids I don't get why we should pay for the upkeep of this archaic system.

As you may gather I'm not a royalist 😂

Regarding the alternatives, I don't see any problems with a republic system as long as that's also upgraded from the FPTP system too while we're at it.
 
I don't get why people worship the royal family. They're just people born into money who couldn't care less about anybody in the real world.
The majority of people who support the monarchy do not worship it, for the Queen I have massive respect, for certain other members of the family I have decent respect.
Regarding the alternatives, I don't see any problems with a republic system as long as that's also upgraded from the FPTP system too while we're at it.
constitutional monarchies are statistically more democratic and stable than republics, that's simple fact. It's possible to make the UK a federal system (which I think we have both agreed on in the past although I may be mistaken?) without the need for a republic. I dislike the idea of a republic because I simply don't trust the system, there are few republics system's I would like in the UK and I don't have confidence in that the British electorate would appreciate such systems.
When there's people living on the streets and people unable to pay to feed their kids I don't get why we should pay for the upkeep of this archaic system.
I get the sentiment of this, and if it were completely true I would agree. The monarchy is funded in what is quite a complicated system, however almost all of there property is controlled by the government and not the royal family themselves. Further to this it has been shown that the Monarchy actually make a profit, mainly due to tourism attractions. My position is that there needs to be some changes in terms of the wealth the royal family have though, I would prefer a smaller personal allowance for each member of the family and a government controlled system for the households, where perhaps a minister makes the decisions on where to spend the money. I agree in slimming down the Royal Family so that it is cheaper to run, which of course will lead to larger profits which can be used to help with this sort of thing.
 
I do have some respect for the Queen. But as for the rest? I don't see the point.
 
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One thing I don’t think people consider is that the Queen didn’t ask to be put in her position. She grew up as a child isolated from normal life and then was in a way forced to spend the next 70 years serving her country. It may sound easy to us but I bet she would have given it up to have a normal life out of the constant invasion of cameras and media all her life, waiting for her to put a foot wrong.

I’m not a royalist but I’ll give her credit where it’s due, she has served the country, been professional, done a lot of touring and visits all over the world, and still up to the past few months so at her age still travelling around meeting people, appearing at engagements, opening buildings etc, and all still in the public eye of the worlds media. She’s done well for someone her age and has to face the death of her husband alone due to covid rules, but with the worlds media pointing their cameras in her face. She had to show dignity and restraint when most of us would have just broke down.

Imagine having that constant pressure of being spied on every minute of every day for 70 years. She didn’t ask for it, and I doubt she wanted it, but she has done her country proud, and royalist or not after covid it was great to see the country come together and just have a bit of fun and joy for a few days.
 
She is not spied on every minute of every day, get real about this!
Balmoral, Sandringham, all the rest of the 23 royal residences, they have no public cameras to spy on the monarch, at least as far as I'm aware.
She has three privately (not state or crown) owned properties with huge estates anytime she wants privacy.
She didn't ask to be queen, but she always had the absolute right to abdicate at any time...she chose to stay in the job.
Scrap it when she snuffs it.
And what exactly is bad with a republic...Ireland, USA, Germany, and many other developed modern nations manage very well without a monarchy.
Presidents do not have to be recruited from the political sphere, what about a national plebicite for a national figurehead?
Bit more democratic than a monarch who "rules over us".
 
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