In case you missed it, in the UK today was the occasion for the State Opening of Parliament.
Note that Parliament has not been closed and it is not opened by the state and the current Prime Minister has been in office since 2019, but leaving aside these minor details…
A new Parliamentary session is formally opened on a date about this time of year by the reigning Monarch. Except that today it was done by Prince Charles. This is quite an exception to a very old rule and made me wonder if all these strange Royal practices are fascinating to babypips members outside the UK? Even if you live here they’re bloody confusing.
Just a quick summary of procedures to follow if you find you’re soon going to be introduced to the Queen. (well, you never know…)
Gentlemen should bow but its only necessary to do so from the neck, you don’t need to bend from the waist. British gentlemen will not click their heels, though this is a formal sign of respect in some cultures. British ladies will curtsey, ladies from other countries may do so. You will obviously have stood up if previously seated, on the approach of the Queen.
Persons introduced should not reach out to touch the Queen, or to offer a hand-shake. The Queen will offer her hand if she wishes to shake hands, but she should not be placed in a position where she would be forced to shake hands in order to avoid appearing rude: this would be rude.
On first meeting, the Queen is properly addressed as Your Majesty. Later in conversation she can be addressed as Ma’am (this rhymes with “jam”, not “harm”) ( or “smarm”…)
After the meeting with the Queen, don’t tell anyone what she said David Cameron.
To be honest, I think Britain is stuck in the past and the monarchy is outdated. The real government is outdated too. The practices, of even the parliament are so 17th century, together with the costumes during opening and so on, and they look like a laughing stock compared to many other countries; governments. I personally think the government should modernize and the monarchy remain symbolic, or simply remain a tourist attraction. For this reason I prefer Britain become a republic.
How Britain’s institutions look are not a guide to how they work. But they symbolise that these things do work or else we would have changed them many years ago. The fact that customs and traditions are so old that nobody alive can remember why they are in place demonstrates that the freedoms we have are powerful yet the pressures that Britain is under to change, to adapt, to modify, to become the same as everywhere else, can be resisted.
British standards of parliamentary democracy and the principles of common law are respected across the globe. The structure does not need to look modern for it to work and be seen to work.
There are definite benefits from living in a Republic compared to other sorts of constitutional government systems though so maybe you could suggest an actual Republic which Britain should be more like? We could maybe learn a thing or two from them.
This last 4 days has shown the strength and motivation of the Great British People - It has done more to highlight the real Britain than anything else I can think of.
Great Britain is today the envy of the World !
We have probably done more in the last few days to push Wokeness back than we could have imagined was possible. we have shown that They can cry about made up “Victimhood” all they like and attack our history - but WE the Great British People notice that “They” are silent at this time because they are irrelevant.
Actually, Republics have a lot of merit going for them over other styles of government , such as Autocracies, Dictatorships, Socialism communism, Fascism, Feudalism, Oligarchies etc.
However the differences between the monarch of a democratic constitutional monarchy and the president of a republic are clear -
even the best president is just a politician: he says to the people - I am better than all of you, so I deserve the top job
the monarch inherits the position at the will of the country: the monarch says - I am no better than you but you want me to do this job so I will.
Don’t underestimate that when the country of Britain doesn’t like a monarch or doesn’t want monarchy, we do not hesitate to get rid of them. Because we are free to do it.
You know, Britain is collapsing. First, Britain lost their colonies in the 20th century, Second, It left the EU via Brexit, which isn’t done yet, Next, scotland is likely to gain independence and break away, and then Ireland and Northern ireland may unite again. On top of that, Britain has the highest teenage pregnancies in Europe, the highest knife crime rate in Europe, The third rudest people in the world (After Russia and France). A very high cost of living and a housing crisis, A shortage of skilled workers, and too many unskilled workers, a police force that doesn’t seem interested in doing its job, with criminals freely committing crimes and getting lenient punishment or going off scot free, terrible weather, and the list can go on… Plus, Parliament behaves ridiculously, mooing like cows during debates, it’s just funny to watch, a true laughing stock compared to other more civilized government entities of the world. Yet another plus, The British people voted for a government that reduced its military defence, chased away skilled EU migrants and is stuck with a clown for a leader, minus the clown suit.
As far as I know the only one we ever lost was America in 1776 ? - All teh others were encouraged and helped to leave and forgo their dependency on Britain - like children leaving home some were more able than others to survive on their own.
Tell me if Great Britain is such a dreadful place to live, why are there Hordes of people in France - who have trekked all the way across the EU witrhout stopping - queuing up to risk their lives to sneak in to such an awful place ? And since you are no doubt by now over 18 - why do you yourself refuse to leave and find your future in one of these magnificent Republics which you fail to enumerate ?
Banana republic? Nah just joking Many democratic countries that don’t have a prime minister as top leader and therefore no monarch, France, South Korea, South Africa, Kenya and many more…
Yet a monarchy can also be democratic. Its impossible to say that the UK is not a democratic country. At the end of the day, the monarch in the UK is head of state only on the goodwill of the country. although they’re not elected every so many years, they are subject to continual judgement by the people and can lose their position if they exceed the behaviour which the people approve of.
France is a republic with an elected president as head of state. France retains much of the ceremony and tradition that the UK enjoys - see la Garde Republicaine for example, or the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin.
French law is in general more prescriptive than British law. It descends from the Napoleonic Code, which was centrally devised and imposed in a short period of time, rather than being built up through decisions of difference judges in different courts over centuries as in England. French law has been drafted and imposed by the state: English law has been accumulated by the judiciary and accepted by the state. In France, you can generally do what the government has said you can do: in the UK you can generally do whatever you want as long as the government has not said you cannot do it.
France is a democratic republic sure enough but less so than the UK - see Freedom House’s Democracy Index rankings. France scores worse at 22nd, the UK 18th: France is classed as a “flawed democracy”.
In the global corruption index, the UK ranks 11th, France is worse, at 22nd.
In the economic freedom index, the UK is ranked 24th,France is worse, at 52nd.
In FH’s global press freedom index, the UK scores 21, France is worse at 24.
its worth noting that some of the most liberal, free and most democratic countries in the world still benefit from the reign of their own monarch. Amongst them would be -
Sweden
Norway
Denmark
Belgium
Spain
The Netherlands
Needless to say, there are many instances of republics around the world that are great examples of repressive government…
Many democratic countries that don’t have a prime minister as top leader and therefore no monarch, France, South Korea, South Africa, Kenya and many more…