...Long Live The King

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Monarchist as I am not, and will - probably have already - tire of the protracted and imposed national mourning that is pretty much given blanket coverage across the media, and which is set to last a fortnight at least, I still sense a fin de siècle in the offing. I did catch the new King's speech this afternoon, and whilst I really don't feel any personal connection or affinity with the monarchy, it was a heartfelt and genuine speech, son to mother.

I hope that he will try to move our monarchy into the twenty-first century and reduce its footprint on society, much as many other European monarchies and governments have, with a view to eventually phasing out what is, after all, a hangover of medieval feudalism, which in our current era offers little of real value or import - save tourism - to our countries.

The issue with a 'constitutional' monarchy - itself a problematic concept as we don't have a constitution, in the sense that others would understand - is that it reinforces class and power structures more suited to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries than the present, and affords privilege where it simply is not due. I hope King Charles III has the cojones to admit to this and to attempt to reform our society by example.

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