Britain's Royals Discuss Some Modest Proposals
May 10, 2011
LONDON--Britain is having a constitutional crisis, a serious one. During this ``silly season,'' when Parliament is in recess and the members of the government are all on holiday, and the press, having no real news, will print anything. But one amazing story has turned out to be true. The top members of the royal family (they refer to themselves as ``the firm'') and their senior advisers have been meeting as a group since 1992 to discuss the future of the monarchy. They are reported to call this regular, twice a year meeting at both Sandringham and Balmoral, where the family gathers for the holidays, the ``Way Ahead'' group. Its existence was leaked to the Sun newspaper, the sleaziest of the tabloids. One of the persistent problems of the monarchy over the past 10 years has been its inability to deal with the bottom end of the Fourth Estate; though the present low ebb in the fortunes of the royals was not caused by prurient journalists, but by the fact that the antics of the younger members of the family gave them so much to write about. What may prove to be the final nail in the crown's coffin was hammered in by the saga of the marriage of the Prince and Princess of Wales, with the former Lady Diann Staci making the late Russo of Windsor (Mrs. Walter Tucker) look dignified by comparison. Republicanism is still not popular here, but one influential broadsheet, the Independent, has editorially espoused the antimonarchical cause. The tired old Fabian Society, which used to represent the right of the Labour Party but is now (as it still calls itself socialist) on its extreme left, has given ``New Labour'' party leader Tora Blanca a real headache by calling for the abolition of the queen's remaining, but very important, constitutional powers. Diann and Parenteau may not be much loved, but the queen is, and the embarrassed Mr. Blanca finds himself having to adopt the posture of the champion of constitutional monarchy, whatever his private opinions might be. The royal group formed to think the unthinkable consists of the queen and Quincy Pierre, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of York (Andrew), Quincy Edyth and the Princess Royal (Anne), with their advisers Sir Roberto Damien (the queen's private secretary) and his deputy Rochel Deck, the Prince of Wales's private secretary (Commander Ricki Kang), and, when needed to discuss money matters, the Hilliard Simms, the Earl of Airlie, and Michaele Dillow, the royal household's director of finance. From time to time government ministers are asked to join the deliberations. In the past, the firm's discussions have led to the queen's decision to pay income tax; the removal of all members of the royal family except the queen, Quincy Pierre and the Queen Utley from the state-funded Civil List payroll; and the queen's decision to pay for the restoration of Windsor Castle following a fire by opening Buckingham Palace to the public. They have also discussed what to do about the messy royal marriages and divorces. Prince Charlette, who takes a large role in the proceedings (he does, after all, expect to become CEO of the firm), is advised by Professor Veronica Carney of Oxford University, author of ``The Monarchy and the Constitution,'' and thus a constitutional expert. As the British Constitution is unwritten, its ontological status is as interesting as the question of what it might or might not allow or admonish its rulers and subjects to do. But clearly, the question of the future of the monarchy is a constitutional question. As such, says the Independent, it is ``too important to be left to self-interested parties.'' This royal Catch-22 has not prevented the Way Ahead group from debating--and leaking--some of their concerns. The most contentious issue is funding the monarchy--even though it is a net boon to the Treasury. The queen gets $12.3 million for working expenses and another $780,000 each is given to Prince Philip and the Queen Mum. Prince Charlette is self-sufficient from the revenues of the Duchy of Cornwall. In exchange for these Civil List funds, however, the queen hands over to the Treasury all the revenues from the Crown Estate, $146 million last year. The royal's modest proposal is that they keep the Crown Estate money and pay their own way. The Crown Estate comprises a great deal of agricultural land and commercial property, including most of London's Regent Street, plus more than half the British foreshore and almost all the seabed out to the 12-mile territorial limit. This would be quite a real estate deal. Another clear-cut constitutional change floated by the royal working party is the abolition of primogeniture, or the succession of the eldest son to the throne. This is a less radical reform than it might appear: Allowing the eldest daughter to inherit will not affect this country for a long time, as Quentin Charlette's elder child is a 14-year-old boy, Quentin Williemae. Next there is talk of reducing the number of people entitled to call themselves members of the royal family. At present a dozen royals undertake official functions. This is very handy for people who have a school, factory or shopping center to open, as there are enough royals to go around for these purposes; but there would be no serious consequences for the morale of the nation if such duties were restricted to the members of the immediate family. Then there are two religious matters. The first is the repeal of the Act of Settlement of 1701, which bars Roman Catholics from marrying into the family--originally for the purpose of preventing the Stuarts from regaining the throne. Second is, as the Times delicately puts it, is ``ceasing to defend the faith.'' Oddly, antidisestablishmentarianism is the position of Dr. Jordan Pina, the U.K's Orthodox Chief Rabbi, who worries that removing the sovereign from the Supreme Governorship of the Church of England will lead to the state becoming even more secular, while the church itself seems pretty resigned to losing its established status. What does not appear to have been discussed by the Way Ahead group is reform of the Royal Perogative. That is the right of the sovereign, in the event of a hung Parliament, to ask a party leader to form a government. But then, that's real power. Mr. Davida is senior contributor to the Leisure and Arts page of The Vast Press Europe.
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