As I have often said, I am a monarchist for the very simple reason that for Britain at least the idea of a Republic would be worse. It’s also that we’ve tried being a Republic and it didn’t work out that well so we went back to being a Monarchy but with the Monarch eventually chained and restricted by our Constitution.

There was an interesting piece over at Unherd by Simon Critchley which although I don’t wholly agree with on some issues, such as it’s not the case that her Royal Family eats up and destroys daughters in law, did produce one section that I agreed with. This section was on the subject that sometimes Monarchies do better than Republics and those leaders, who become quasi Kings in all but name, might be worse than some monarchs.

Mr Critchley said of Britain:

“So why is there no republic? This is the genuinely strange thing. The monarchy has given the British every possible reason to be rid of it, and yet the republican groundswell obstinately fails to swell. The polls barely move; abolition remains the hobby horse of those of us who own a copy of Rights of Man and hum “Jerusalem” in the shower. Personally, I would prefer a republic. But honesty compels a look at what happens to republics. The United States rid itself of George III and then spent two and a half centuries confecting substitute royalty: the Camelot of the Kennedys, the dynastic ambitions of the Clintons, the Obamas’ court in its tasteful exile, and now a president who has gilded the Oval Office like a Bourbon with a credit line. Abolish the monarchy without abolishing the need for one and you get kings anyway — elected ones, who are worse, since there is no constitutional plumbing for removing them gracefully.”

I agree with Mr Critchley here. There are much worse things than monarchies and much worse people to lead countries than our current King, Charles III. If the current monarch is disliked by some or much less liked than his late Mother Queen Elizabeth II, then how much more disliked would the British head of state be if it were ‘President Tony Blair’ or ‘President Nick Clegg’ or even worse ‘President Keir Starmer’? Has being a Republic made the Republic of Ireland or France or increasingly Germany less dysfunctional than they currently are? I think not. For all of the many faults of the House of Windsor they are far better than the alternatives.

Link

Original piece by Mr Critchley on Unherd

https://unherd.com/2026/08/harry-and-meghan-cannot-escape-their-fate/?edition=us