Anti Royal Citizen Not Subject Leftist Abolish The Monarchy T-Shirt

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There was a small protest outside the Senedd but a larger one at the gates of Cardiff Castle, where Charles had a private audience with Drakeford. I think we've got to grow up. The idea of selecting any public official on the basis of hereditary seems anachronistic. We ought to select through election. A head of state should recognise that their position is not prime minister number two and that their role is different from the political head. Mary Robinson and Nelson Mandela performed that function in a particularly good manner. Both captured the idea that they were performing a role that was different from head of government, but also had a capacity to inspire people, and that's important. The use of mystique that seems an essential foundation for the monarchy is based on a myth which we shouldn't have to rely on in an adult democracy. Protesting outside the cathedral, where Charles and the Queen Consort attended a service of prayer and reflection with the prime minister, Liz Truss, was Laura Thomas-Walters, 29, a conservation scientist. One idea we've looked at is a citizens' panel of around seven people who would be chosen in a random way like a jury. The main purpose of using this approach is to encourage people in a fast moving world to trust in their own capacity to do things, rather than authority figures to do it on their behalf. It sends a deeply democratic message that we can govern ourselves. We're not going down the route of having one individual- it's about collective leadership. The original democrats in the 17th century argued that Parliament should be subject to annual elections, so there is strong lineage to the idea of frequent turnover. The individuals are less important but the process is of interest. I think we should be a republic and the royal family and all inherited titles should be abolished. The head of state should either be elected by parliament or directly by the people. Still, it's not going to happen. I consider the royal family a complete anachronism , a Ruritanian kind of fantasy that helps to anchor Britain in the past, and also plays on our weakness for nostalgia. It's pomp rather than circumstance. I think the real head of state would be ceremonial and therefore any very distinguished Briton could fulfill the role. It wouldn't necessarily have to be a distinguished politician, it could be a distinguished scientist or writer.

Banners featured the slogans: “Abolish the Monarchy”, “Citizen not subject” and “Democracy now”. Glyndŵr flags were flown and one man held up a placard saying: “End Prince of Wales title.” I do believe in a republic. I am totally anti monarchy and wouldn't want any one of them elected. The whole idea of the monarchy just enforces the structure of class and obedience which I am very opposed to. Let's spend the money on a dialysis wing in a hospital rather than the royals. We are being led along a path which is totally negative, particularly for younger people in our society. I think they give out the wrong signal to society. We should encourage compassion, not deference. And who's challenged any of this? Their relatives scooped up what they could and kept hold of it. I think the whole idea of people who need so much money is psychologically flawed. They must be terribly insecure.She said: “In the 21st century in a democratic country, an unelected head of state has no place. It’s an antiquated system of class oppression and class inequalities, which is especially heinous at a time when inequalities are rising so fast.

Under the Guardian's proposals, successive elections for a head of state would probably produce: first, a royal (out of residual loyalty); secondly, a senior politician (out of a desire for change); thirdly, someone like Clement Freud or Joanna Lumley (out of boredom and a desire for novelty). More to the point, why do we need a head of state? Can't we get by without some expensive display figure of nominal or vestigial authority? Why presume that more elections automatically produce more democracy (or greater interest in public processes)? If Costa Rica can lead the world in getting rid of its armed forces, how about Britain demonstrating how to prune a constitutional superstructure? Auriol Miller, the director of the Institute of Welsh Affairs, said: “It is heartening to hear the King make clear his intention to serve the whole of the union.” I'm famously anti royalist but I don't think the Queen ought to be beheaded any more; just put out to pasture would be a good idea in this day and age. They make no difference to us apart from the fact that we pay them tons of money to do very little apart from get the tourism vote. When I was in The Housemartins, we wanted to abolish them but they seem to do that themselves. I don't think they bring in enough revenue to warrant keeping them. It's money which could be spent on the National Health Service rather than lavish carriages or parades. And there definitely isn't the support or enthusiasm for the Golden Jubilee which was there was for the Silver Jubilee - there's been amazing apathy. As for head of state, I'd want Ken Livingstone. He's the only politician who can get anything done, he's charming and cares about people. He would make a great ambassador. He's the one to trust.Of course it's time the United Kingdom had an elected rather than an hereditary head of state. How else can we hope to become a modern meritocracy? Not only is it invidious for our constitution to be haunted by a vestige of the feudal system, it is an unnecessarily expensive and inefficient system of government. The feeblest justification for retaining the monarchy is the claim that tourism would suffer. Have tourists stopped going to Paris since the Bourbons were evicted from the Louvre? After the election, the Windsors could slip quietly into a dignified retirement. Unless, of course, the electorate really wants an hereditary ruler after all and a member of the Windsor family won a popular vote to be head of state. Queen Elizabeth II’s children were set to pay their respects at their mother’s coffin ahead of her state funeral at a Vigil of the Princes in Westminster Hall on Friday evening. The position is inherited, which means that someone who is mad, bad or a complete waste of taxpayers' money can become queen or king. I think that brings the whole purpose of having a head of state into disrepute. People want a modernised model for the state, and, in general, don't like the huge sums of money that are spent on the royal family - especially the satellite members and distant relatives. The whole edifice supports a system of class privilege and leads to race and gender discrimination. The monarchy needs to be rationalised - there's a role for a sense of history and tradition but it needs to be proportionate. The best way of choosing a head of state is by election. It doesn't have to be a politician but someone who commands respect across politics. This could create a far healthier society. You need to get right to the root of what is wrong and the further you dig, the closer you come to the monarchy as being at the foundation of those things. I thought the monarchy was as good as any and very stable, but now I think it's no longer tenable. There is a systemic issue which cannot be ignored. Having a monarchy has worked well in the UK and we're enormously blessed by the Queen who has been amazingly consistent and able to distinguish between the subtlety of power without power. But I don't think that in this day and age it is any longer acceptable to have somebody in a role - however titular - by dint of birth. It's a difficult concept and much more important than we realise. It filters down the system and affects the way people feel about privilege. There are a whole series of things that follow down from that which are class confirming. It's in the psyche, even if it's terribly subtle.

One of the notions of a democracy is that you elect those in power and you can remove them if they abuse it. Fundamentally, it's about accountability. We still have the remnants of the imperial ideal, which is an anathema to those who have been subjected to the notions of empire, subjugation and oppression. I wouldn't want an appointed head of state, they need to be elected. I grew up in the East End of London where people traditionally say the monarchy are liked and well respected. But I remember clearly during the Silver Jubilee my teacher encouraged us to wear badges which said Stuff The Jubilee. He felt the money could have been spent on better things. We live in an anachronistic position with a monarchy. It's part of an era which is now redundant and that chapter needs to close. At the Senedd – the Welsh parliament – Charles said his mother had taken great pride in the country’s achievements and felt its sorrow keenly. He said: “Through all the years of her reign, the land of Wales could not be closer to my mother’s heart.”I support the idea of an elected head of state. You're more likely to get someone who reflects the country and it would be good to get someone who's a counter balance to the Prime Minister. The idea of having a monarchy is pretty outdated. At least you can remove a head of state if you don't like them but you can't remove the monarchy no matter what they do. Many people this winter are going to pay their heating bills but we’re going to pay millions for a coronation, a funeral, changing stamps and Charles isn’t going to pay a penny in inheritance tax. I don’t think the Prince of Wales title should exist. If it did, it should belong to a Welsh person.” The King, Princess Royal, Duke of York and Earl of Wessex were to stand at four corners of the catafalque, a tribute they first mounted at St Giles’s Cathedral in Edinburgh. I do agree with abolishing the monarchy because you can't create a society where people are judged on their merits, when status and power depend on who your father was. It's as simple as that. I would be happy to remove all the mysticism and deference linked to monarchy, such as official birthdays and ladies-in-waiting. As for head of state, I'd vote for Lord Woolf the Lord Chief Justice because I'm a lawyer. The Welsh language was very much front and centre at the service with the first minister, Mark Drakeford, reading from the first book of Kings in Welsh. Camilla wore a silver leek brooch given by the Queen.