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Are you British? Personally, I like having a figurehead head of state that is subject to a directly elected Parliament. The King may have cerimonital power bu

by Lio 1y ago

Are you British? Personally, I like having a figurehead head of state that is subject to a directly elected Parliament. The King may have cerimonital power but he can never exercise it. As was proved in the Glorious Revolution we can remove our head of state anytime we like. I would much rather see the House of Lords reformed than the monarchy ended.

rwmj 1y ago
I am British. I think QE2 made a good job out of this cursed tradition. Charles is a crank, but a crank that I happen to agree with, so fine. But I suspect things are going to go off the rails with his failson William. > I would much rather see the House of Lords reformed than the monarchy ended. I'd be very careful about that one. Making it elected would be a terrible idea. There are some reforms that are possible, but they'd need to be very narrow (for example, limiting the size, and limiting tenure).
- terminalshort 1y ago
  What power does the king of England have to make things go off the rails?
  - rwmj 1y ago
    He doesn't have power in that sense, but if people lose "faith" in the aura of the monarchy then things could go south quickly.
  - tim333 1y ago
    Technically he's the head of the armed forces, and also can dissolve the government. In practice with a Hitler type he could dissolve the government and there'd be new elections. I guess if the people voted the same guy back that might be the end of it but it's a bit of a failsafe to this kind of thing https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42943973 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42943973
- exasperaited 1y ago
  > I think QE2 made a good job out of this cursed tradition. Right. So many of us are like this -- more Elizabethists than Royalists.
- devilbunny 1y ago
  American and curious: why do you think William is a fail? Because Charles looked that way to us.
  - rwmj 1y ago
    I don't disagree!
  - tim333 1y ago
    Brit here - I think William is fine. I had doubts about Charles but he's doing ok. The worry is you get someone like the king of Thailand - https://www.tattoodo.com/articles/thailands-king-maha-vajiralongkorn-shows-off-his-sick-ink-13126 https://www.tattoodo.com/articles/thailands-king-maha-vajira... Or MBS.

by Lio 1y ago

rwmj 1y ago

I am British. I think QE2 made a good job out of this cursed tradition. Charles is a crank, but a crank that I happen to agree with, so fine. But I suspect things are going to go off the rails with his failson William. > I would much rather see the House of Lords reformed than the monarchy ended. I'd be very careful about that one. Making it elected would be a terrible idea. There are some reforms that are possible, but they'd need to be very narrow (for example, limiting the size, and limiting tenure).

terminalshort 1y ago
What power does the king of England have to make things go off the rails?
- rwmj 1y ago
  He doesn't have power in that sense, but if people lose "faith" in the aura of the monarchy then things could go south quickly.
- tim333 1y ago
  Technically he's the head of the armed forces, and also can dissolve the government. In practice with a Hitler type he could dissolve the government and there'd be new elections. I guess if the people voted the same guy back that might be the end of it but it's a bit of a failsafe to this kind of thing https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42943973 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42943973
exasperaited 1y ago
> I think QE2 made a good job out of this cursed tradition. Right. So many of us are like this -- more Elizabethists than Royalists.
devilbunny 1y ago
American and curious: why do you think William is a fail? Because Charles looked that way to us.
- rwmj 1y ago
  I don't disagree!
- tim333 1y ago
  Brit here - I think William is fine. I had doubts about Charles but he's doing ok. The worry is you get someone like the king of Thailand - https://www.tattoodo.com/articles/thailands-king-maha-vajiralongkorn-shows-off-his-sick-ink-13126 https://www.tattoodo.com/articles/thailands-king-maha-vajira... Or MBS.