Should Britain abolish the monarchy?

Should the UK abolish the monarchy?

        Hi everyone! Today I will talk about whether or not the UK should abolish the monarchy.

First of all, the monarchy is undemocratic. A child born in the UK today has the opportunity to become almost anything they want to: an Olympian, a scientist, a firefighter, the Prime Minister but not the Head of State. Unfortunately, no person, no matter how intelligent and talented they are, can ever become the Head of State, a position which is given to a royal as a birthright. The British public is submitted to a monarch that they have not elected. The monarch is born superior to the British people who are subjects, not citizens.

Moreover, the royal family is getting increasingly expensive for UK taxpayers. Indeed, in 2019, the monarchy cost 67 million pounds to UK taxpayers, which is a 41% increase on the previous financial year. Meghan and Harry’s wedding alone cost 34.7 million pounds to UK taxpayers; they had the second most expensive wedding in the decade, beating William and Katherine, future King and Queen, whose wedding cost 34 million pounds to UK taxpayers. So, the British public, UK taxpayers, paid so much for their wedding and now they have to pay for them in Canada.

You could argue that the Monarch is just a symbol and has no real power, but then why have one? Why have a dated undemocratic system that favors bloodline over ability? And what about the power to appoint a Prime Minister, to dissolve Parliament and the Royal Assent in which a Monarch formally approves the acts of parliament passing them into law. In practice, the majority of these powers, except the power to appoint a Prime Minister, are exercised on her behalf by her ministers. If the Monarch exercised all these powers, there would be a Revolution. But then why give an unelected Head of State powers absolutely vital to a democracy on the basis that they are never used under any circumstance? Did you know the Royals currently enjoy protection from the Freedom of Information Act and have the ability to lobby the Government on political issues?

Finally, contrary to what many people think, abolishing the Royal Family will not affect tourism because people come to visit the historical castles and palaces not to have tea with the Queen. Take Buckingham Palace for example, it is closed to the public for most of the year and when open visitors can only see a fraction of the grounds. Compare this to the Louvre in Paris, formerly the palace of the French royal family and now one the world’s leading museums, attracting 8.5 million tourists per year. Buckingham Palace attracts 0.4 million tourists per year. Logic suggests that opening the whole of Buckingham Palace and its gardens all year round would in fact increase tourism.

The question was: should the UK abolish the monarchy? The answer to that question is: yes, definitely, it is time for the UK to move towards a Republic.

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