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How would we get rid of the monarchy in the UK?

So i'm all for the royal family here in the UK. They're great.

Royals make up such a huge part of History taught in schools, because they're just so cool. Royal families are a really great discussion point, and they bring in such a huge amount of interest from other countries all over the world.

So why would people want to get rid of them? I'd love to hear people's arguments for and against the royal family.
And if you DO want to get rid of the royal family, how would it happen?
I'm not the biggest history geek, so I'm not really sure how royal families in the past have dissolved (I imagine largely through war) but I don't see how you can just tell a whole bloodline "Hey, enough is enough."

So yeah,
discuss!

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Reply 1
heads on spikes
Exile them to Madagascar
Reply 3
How: armed resistance.
Reply 4
How would we get rid of them?

Probably get poor people to ask them algebra questions. The combination of the poor and having to use their brains would make them cry and run away.
Find a Frenchman by the name of Pascal Sauvage then kill a bloke named Johnny English
Reply 6
All in good time my friend, all in good time.
The royal family is largely ceremonial now and is nothing more than a tourist attraction nowadays which is a view some take when defending the monarchy.

The argument for why people want to get rid of them is because they believe a head of state who isn't elected but has their title inherited then this is undemocratic which is fair enough. People who want to get rid of the monarchy want a head of state elected by the people and bring in like with most modern democracies. They believe that the Monarchy gives unchecked power to the government (Royal Prerogative) which gives government the power to bypass some decisions without Parliament's permission which is inherently undemocratic.

I'm not entirely sure how we'd go about getting rid of the monarchy but I imagine if it got enough support it would go to a referendum as it is a constitutional issue.
Reply 8
[video="youtube;bhyYgnhhKFw"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhyYgnhhKFw[/video]
(edited 7 years ago)
Reply 9
I'm against the Royal Family because they're a pointless ornament.

They're a passover from a colonial past. How is that a pretty or redeeming thing to be proud of :confused:

They're the symbolic left-over of Britain's criminal past, and England's stolen wealth from around the world.

It's also completely contradictory to our current, apparent way of thinking in terms of equality or all-things-being-equal when you have a rich criminal family placed on a pedestal, with prince's still being born in to this inherited wealth and inherently praised for being a part of it, by chance...

It's completely bizarre. We're in 2013.

We shouldn't have a royal family. We're supposed to be a conscious, progressive, modern, fairly ethical country. Promoting the idea of inherited wealth and automatic praise on a national... international scale goes completely against that concept. It's a farce and we shouldn't support the idea of praising these people who've been born in to this situation as if they've achieved something.
Reply 10
Original post by BayCrazy
I'm against the Royal Family because they're a pointless ornament.

They're a passover from a colonial past. How is that a pretty or redeeming thing to be proud of :confused:

They're the symbolic left-over of Britain's criminal past, and England's stolen wealth from around the world.

It's also completely contradictory to our current, apparent way of thinking in terms of equality or all-things-being-equal when you have a rich criminal family placed on a pedestal, with prince's still being born in to this inherited wealth and inherently praised for being a part of it, by chance...

It's completely bizarre. We're in 2013.

We shouldn't have a royal family. We're supposed to be a conscious, progressive, modern, fairly ethical country. Promoting the idea of inherited wealth and automatic praise on a national... international scale goes completely against that concept. It's a farce and we shouldn't support the idea of praising these people who've been born in to this situation as if they've achieved something.


As much as I agree with a few points you've raised, I still like the idea of having a monarch who's respected around the world as a figurehead, representing the United Kingdom and Commonwealth.

I do believe that one day, perhaps in my lifetime, the Royal Family will abdicate and we'll just be a normal country like the US. But when that day happens, the UK will lose so much credibility. Lets face it, the Queen (as she stands) is more or less the most famous royal figure in the world: the UK being the most prestigious monarch-constitutional country in the world- lose that and we're second rate to the likes of the USA, France, etc.


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Reply 11
Original post by BayCrazy
I'm against the Royal Family because they're a pointless ornament.


not necessarily a reason? I am sure you possess many things with no practical use. Our history is an important part of our nation, we shouldnt go tearing it to pieces for no other reason than 'well, why not?'.

They're a passover from a colonial past. How is that a pretty or redeeming thing to be proud of :confused:

well not really. They predate the empire by a long way. by like a thousand years.

That's like not using coffee, bananas or sugar because they have links with colonialism.

Lets all go through shoes in factory machines because of the industrial revolution's links to some percieved historical slight!


They're the symbolic left-over of Britain's criminal past, and England's stolen wealth from around the world.

It's also completely contradictory to our current, apparent way of thinking in terms of equality or all-things-being-equal when you have a rich criminal family placed on a pedestal, with prince's still being born in to this inherited wealth and inherently praised for being a part of it, by chance...


Equality for all. Except if you are rich or priveledged, then you have to be held responsible for events centuries before your birth. How very fair.



It's completely bizarre. We're in 2013.

We shouldn't have a royal family. We're supposed to be a conscious, progressive, modern, fairly ethical country. Promoting the idea of inherited wealth and automatic praise on a national... international scale goes completely against that concept. It's a farce and we shouldn't support the idea of praising these people who've been born in to this situation as if they've achieved something.


You seem to have a very happy clappy view of the world.

People are born into equal if not more wealth from non royal parents. Ok they are rich, but just like they shouldnt be praised, they had no choice in their birth either. Your view of equality doesnt really gel. Seems like you want some people to be more equal than others to me.

because of the circumstance in which they were born, you want them to be treated very differently. Thats not equal rights is it?

Personally, I think the monarchy is a very good thing. even though they are currently largely symbolic, they offer an extra level of protection to the country.
The queen may never need to, but its nice to know that if some slimy politicians band together and exploit the system, we still have a largely impartial head of state who can intervene if she feels the interests of the country are not being served.

She has a voice and impact that could never be matched by an elected representative. The queen need merely raise an eyebrow and the PM will take notice, even if not actually do anything about it. Replaced with a politician, and any legitimate concerns are quickly dismissed in the political hoipoloi.
Original post by Bude8
Find a Frenchman by the name of Pascal Sauvage then kill a bloke named Johnny English



Best. Answer. Ever. :lol:

:pierre:
Rig a referendum to remove it? (Queens has most of the support of the UK so it would need to be rigged for her to lose one).

There's no point replacing them with a modern, generic president because all they'll do is the same **** the Royals do, other than no-one would give a **** about any British president. No-one will give a **** about their family, whereas the Royal family as a wholes plays a big part in selling the UK as a business partner, charity events, official openings. The Queen makes no constitutional decisions in the running of the country, she prefers it like that, we prefer it like that. What will we gain by enforcing an elected guy to go around opening new shopping centres instead of a royal? The royals are icons. People like icons. You cannot manufacture an icon from some elected politician. Granted, Boris Johnson has some comedic character (to use him as an example of British political icons) but in no way could he and his family step into the shoes of the royals and make the same impact.

Getting rid of the monarchy is moronic. It would be the pass-time of a moronic republican who thinks it'll make all the difference, just to prove a point. This country would gain nothing from republicanism other than 'looking democratic'. Electing someone who shakes hands with our national allies and smiles is probably the biggest waste of voting.

We should instead be reforming our voting system including how we can pick and choose certain policies instead of parties. Parties get unpopular by doing stupid **** like the poll tax or the bedroom tax, regardless of whether they've encouraged business, aka jobs, to grow and be competitive. That's where our voting power really matters, in how this country is run, not because some poor ickle so and so is jealous they weren't born into royalty. If it was proven that cutting the royals would make a difference to the ordinary working person I can assure you it would have already been done.
(edited 10 years ago)
Reply 14
No, because although unelected the monarchy appears to have more support than an elected head of state ever could.
The land is theirs and they bring money into the economy. There is no argument here.
Reply 16
I perfer the current system.
We should be following that age old misquote "all men are born equal", or at least following the ideal of equality of opportunity, something that our politicians go on about a fair amount.
However they fail to realise that as, long as we still have a Monarchy, we will never have equality of opportunity.
Reply 18
Are you serious? What have the Royals EVER done for our country? They cost us £150million per year, and they do absolutely nothing to deserve it. The only Royal who ever did anything good for the UK was Princess Diana, and they saw to her tragic ending.
Without the monarchy = Less tourism = Less speculation from the outside world over Britain.

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