British Opinion on the Monarchy
With the recent coronation of King Charles in the UK, people might be wondering why I haven’t posted any content related to the royal family.
Well, in this episode I’m going to be exploring the British opinion on the monarchy (based on Reddit posts) and sharing my own opinion at the end too.
We explore a lot of vocabulary and I try my best to cover both sides of the argument, from those who think the monarchy is important to our culture, to those who want to see it abolished.
What do you think? Join the conversation by commenting below.
Reddit is Divided
As you know, I like to go to Reddit to look for opinions on these reaction episodes. It’s an easy place to go to find people openly sharing their views and sometimes arguing.
Here are a couple of the threads (posts) I referred to in this video:
What is the modern British take on monarchy?
What do you think about monarchy?
What’s the current feeling about the monarchy now?
Poll shows that British support for the monarchy is at an all-time low
What do you think of the British Royal family? And do you have a monarchy in your country?
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Hi
Allow me to speak in some detail.
We have a monarchy in KSA, only a king without a queen.
But we are different from UK. Our king is the prime minister, and he is the one who runs the state, and his position is not only honorable.
I – and most of the Saudi people – are very proud of the King and his Crown Prince
This system here and in the rest of the Arab Gulf countries is what helped maintain stability and the continuation of prosperity and development in a turbulent region. It is not oil that does that – as the media says – oil and wealth exist in many countries of the world, but they lack a government that is able to exploit these wealth in the interest country and people.
If you search for information about my country, you will find most of it negative – especially from Western websites – and an exaggeration of mistakes – which they themselves commit many times over but do not focus on – even the reforms and the positives they look at in a negative light.
In their opinion we should be a copy of their system and culture or we are wrong! We are different, but that does not mean that one of us is right and the other is wrong. Every nation knows what is appropriate for it. What suits you may not suit me and vice versa. What is required is mutual respect.
Thanks for your time and great channel.
That’s interesting! I think the technical terms are that the UK has a Constitutional Monarchy, whereas Saudi Arabia has an Absolute Monarchy.
I don’t know much about the Saudi government, but I have heard a lot of good things about the current King.
Thanks for sharing your views!
In response to Michael Lavers’ prompt regarding “What do you think [about the British monarchy]?”, here are my thoughts. In my opinion, monarchy should be re-evaluated, debated and abolished due to the following compelling reasons.
1. It’s a hereditary privilege of the monarchy and implies that a certain class is superior to others. So it should be up for debate in the UK whether its citizens want to see the continuation of the royal institution and even a referendum. When energy bills squeeze families’ budgets and wages seem squeezed due to galloping inflation, it seems unfair that the royal family should live on taxpayers’ hard-earned money.
2. The royal family enjoys immunity. The monarch and his family are not subject to scrutiny as they are above the law. This special treatment is indefensible.
3. The existence of a royal family in the twenty-first century is inconsistent with democratic principles. The institution is outdated and undemocratic. Charles and his family should prove their merit instead of claiming it as their birthright.
4. Power is vested in the public and their elected representatives, making monarch’s role symbolic with limited political power. Even the speech made by a queen or a king is crafted by democratically elected politicians.
5. This expensive institution is a burden on taxpayers as the king and the rest of the royal family do not have conventional jobs to earn money. Education and healthcare are more important than supporting the royal family.
With my strong anti-monarchist stance, I hope that I have not antagonised the public in the UK.
Really interesting to hear your views, Muhammad! It definitely does feel weird to have a group of people who are above the law and that’s okay. As I mentioned in the episode, anti-monarchy isn’t such a rare phenomenon in the UK, so I don’t think you’re alone. Appreciate you listening today!