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Nation•Cymru A news service by the people of Wales, for the people of Wales.

Opinion

Magic Blood

By Mark Mansfield
The Duke of York (centre), Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank , the Duke of Sussex, Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi at the coronation ceremony of King Charles III and Queen Camilla in Westminster Abbey. Photo Aaron Chown/PA Wire

Ben Wildsmith

So, it turns out that the royal family doesn’t have magic blood after all.

As Andrew Mountbatten Windsor gradually relinquished his bestowed titles and roles it was a matter of what he was permitted to do. Now, with his birthright revoked, we are invited to accept that what he is has changed. What was ordered by God can, apparently, be reversed by man.

For the king to allow that notion illuminates just how precarious the monarchy’s foothold in our society has become.

I’m just old enough to remember the late queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977. Back then, the centrality of royalty in British life was only questioned by those with a wider political agenda.

The ubiquity of commemorative mugs, plates, and tea towels saw many Britons displaying the monarch in their homes, albeit submerged in PG Tips or caked in brown sauce.

Disrespecting royalty carried the risk of censure, not only by authorities, but loyal subjects too. The royal aspect of British life enjoyed the protection of privilege and the mob. It was unassailable.

The 1980s, however, put paid to that, as it did to so many of the established modes of British life. Rupert Murdoch’s intrusive newspapers and Spitting Image found that they could feast on the juicy details of failing royal marriages without being closed down.

Royals, like the trade unions, saw their entrenched influence upended by the worship of money as an end in itself.

Royal mystique, surely conceived as cover for a piratical ruling class, became obsolete as soon as ostentatious wealth became acceptable and, eventually, venerated.

Fairy tales

The appetite for fairy tales about God ranking us all according to his will waned as we were sold an alternative version in which ‘hard work’ would some day allow us to buy our own sparkly hats and obsequious servants.

At the apex of British absurdity, the one area of life in which the nation really does lead the world, sit ‘royal experts’. These plummy-voiced hucksters are on permanent call to appear on television and reveal the inner thoughts of royal personages who, as Nicholas Witchell discovered, loathe them with intensity.

They practice a branch of mediumship, interpreting messages from beyond a veil that mere mortals can never penetrate. ‘The king will be furious…’

Tattered and torn as it was, that veil remained for a diminishing number of Britons who find comfort in the continuity promised by monarchy. For, despite the affairs, divorces, family rifts, financial scandals etc. a sizable section of the public still respects the institution as the exemplar of the British way of life. ‘The Queen is actually very frugal…’

Fanatics

These forgiving fanatics have, over the course of my lifetime, been overtaken, not only by abolitionists, but by those who support the monarchy as beloved entertainers.

There are plenty of people who simply enjoy the goings-on of royals without believing that they are any more special or authentic than Phil and Sharon Mitchell. From these people, the monarchy enjoys enduring affection but not the quasi-religious devotion required to forgive behaviour such as Andrew’s.

It's this section of the public to whose mores the king has pandered with his decision to ostracise his brother. Republicans, like me, are beyond negotiation, and true royalists are either too old or too eccentric to assist in securing a rosy future for his family.

So, the king has accepted his family’s new role as light entertainers and abolished royalty. If a prince can be dismissed for gross misconduct, so can a king.

Even in a constitutional monarchy, the monarch’s authority derives from God. Without that assumption, the hierarchy collapses under the weight of evidence in favour of a meritocracy. A king who revokes the royalty of his blood relatives revokes his own.

From here on, the monarchy dances to a new tune. Without magic blood, the performance will have to be up to scratch or new dancers will be found. That’s showbiz.

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11 comments

Steve D.

The monarchy have never had magic blood - the citizens of Russia and France found that out for themselves very quickly. We don't need to go to their extremes any more just quietly abolish the institution with an act of parliament and pack them off to the States. Ironically, despite all their pride in flag and country- they still love them there.

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Evan Aled Bayton

Something similar happened in Denmark not long ago. This article hits the nail on the head - both the peerage and the monarchy are skating on very very thin ice. A lot of rubbish has been talked about taxpayers and the Crown Estate and funding and also about Andrew’s lease which actually wouldn’t necessarily require anything more than a peppercorn rent. It looks likely that the monarchy will be slimmed down but in doing so it will become pointless and be abolished.

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Y Cymro

The glue that held the Monarchy together for all these years was the Queen. And with her demise the glitter has now tarnished revealing the Royals for what they truly are. A dysfunctional overprivileged problem family that airs its dirty washing in public. It's high time we in Wales had a vote to abolish this archaic institution that has no place in a democracy.

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Fi yn unig

Agreed and by next May, our MSs must not be expected/forced to swear allegiance to a dying, irrelevant monarchy.

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Frank

No one has a birthright. The 'royal' family are just humans exactly the same as us. They have just been put on a pedestal by people over the centuries. They were not sent down from Heaven. They eat, breathe and have body functions like everyone else. They do not have blue blood. For goodness sake stop this nonsense now. There is a very small amount of 'royal' followers who have a big voice that dictate to the rest of us .... and millions of fools over generations believe them. These royalists keep up this charade because they make a very nice living out of it. This family have enough money to live on for hundreds of years without the need for us taxpayers to give them another penny! There should be a choice and an opt-out of whether you want to contribute or not.

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Nia James

There should be a referendum on the English royal family as soon as possible. To abolish, or not to abolish, should be one question on the ballot paper, but the other should be 'do you want the King as Head of State?' We are told that the UK State is a democracy, but we can't elect our Head Of State. Ridiculous.

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Agnes Nutter

I'm surprised then fantasy has held up for so long. Andrew "No glands" MBWSCG has only been stripped pf his titles because he got caught engaging in the pastime that Royals, Aristos, the Clergy and the obscenely wealthy have relished for thousands of years. Epstein didn't die because of what he was. He died because he was caught. I'll bet you they have all killed at least one person face to face and have eaten at least one piece human flesh too. Extreme power ALWAYS also brings megalomania. A desire to control and to set themselves above other. If anyone thinks that ANY Royal, aristo, or member of the super wealthy has one IOTA of concern for the people they see as cattle, then they actually ARE cattle. Society can never thrive with these mentally ill psychos in charge. We will never progress. They will never allow us to. And the cattle will help them.

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David J

I hate the royals (and by extension the class system which they underpin) as much as anyone, but you do neither yourself or the anti-monarchist cause any favours when you accuse "all" of them of being not only murderers but cannibals too. Really? If you are speaking metaphorically you need to make that clear; as it is I am amazed your comment got past the moderators here. If you are serious, then who is the "mentally ill psycho"? Every accusation a confession, or simple projection if you prefer.

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Alan Jones

I remember during the investiture in 1969 at the street party put on by the adults in our street. Jelly, ice cream & fizzy pop for us kids, flagons of beer for the dads & uncle's & the ever present sherry (usually hidden away in the sideboard for "special occasions" for the mams & aunties. It was on overhearing my mother talking to the other mams & aunties later in the day (the men folk long escaped to the pubs by this time) when she said " well, this is all very nice but just how will it do anything to change our lives, I doubt we'll notice any difference tomorrow or anytime after". She was right of course & this has stayed with me ever since, virtually nothing the monarchy does helps with the daily grind of every day life for ordinary people. My maternal nan was a staunch republican & would greet the birth of any royal baby by stating loud & proud "christ, yet another bloody expensive ornament we have to feed & pay for". Why swathes of the population get taken in by this "royal industry" is open to discourse but for myself, I can only hope I live to see the nonsense eventually done away with. I AM NOBODIES SUBJECT.

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Barny

It's only a matter of time before Reform turns on the monarchy. As they inch towards power in 2029, Farage will worry about all the hard work involved as PM and decide to become President instead.

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hdavies15

If we get awarded a mug or cup or even a saucer for every step in the decline of monarchy we should have a tidy set, but worth nothing, by the time the show is over.

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Replying to hdavies15 Cancel

If we get awarded a mug or cup or even a saucer for every step in the decline of monarchy we should have a tidy set, but worth nothing, by the time the show is over.

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