The Constitutional Monarchy in Britain

The Constitutional Monarchy in Britain

Royalists versus republicans; It is an age old debate and one that

perhaps will never be solved, however I will attempt to untangle the

arguments and make my own mind up. Many say that the monarchy is

outdated and it is true to say that the world into which the Queen

Mother was born did not have aeroplanes, computers or nuclear

missiles. In the 100 years of her life, there have been two world wars

and The British Empire, which once ruled the world, has now been

reduced to a few islands in the Pacific and the Caribbean. So surely,

some might say, because of all the changes the monarchy is now an

outdated system that we no longer want nor need. However, through this

turmoil, our monarchy has survived; and surely this is testimony to

the staying power and the hard work of the sovereigns and if they have

lasted through all of these changes then surely they will last for

many more during the centuries ahead.

During the dark ages there was a growing society which needed to be

kept in its place and this allowed for the development of the legend

of the "divine right" of Kings, expressed no better then in

Shakespeare's Richard II fervent believe of his right to power at one

point describing himself as, "this deputy elected by the Lord"

(III:ii:57). This was the easy idea that a king or queen's rule was

blessed by god. And certainly this thought had the bonus of offering

some protection for the rulers from the god-fearing masses. This fable

lasted until the late 17th century by which time the budding nobility

and land owning gentry were affirming their power through a developing

parliament. Indeed after the civil war there was a time when the new

republic lasted without the rule of kings. And so surely now we as no

longer believe in this strange notion of divine right we can abolish

the monarchy without fearing what will happen, once we kept them

through fear of god and so now we can abolish them as this fear is no