On Commonwealth Day, there was a sizable protest and demonstration outside of Westminster Abbey, timed specifically for the arrival of the Windsors for the Commonwealth service. In most of the footage of the arrivals, you can hear activists heckling King Charles and Prince William as they enter the Abbey. It was pretty great, and also unremarkable these days. For Charles especially, there are republican protests constantly at his events. He’s had eggs thrown at him, he’s been booed by crowds, he’s had to arrive at events with folks shouting at him through a bullhorn. It’s amazing. Republic CEO Graham Smith has spoken about the rise in anti-monarchy protests now that QEII has passed, and Republic is raising more money now than they ever have. Which is where Omid Scobie’s latest column picks up. Scobie writes that it’s not even these protests which should worry Charles, it’s the widespread apathy and ambivalence towards the monarchy in general. Some highlights from Scobie’s column:
Charles is historically unpopular: Since the death of the late Queen, there has been a notable shift in how the monarch and his consort has been received across the country. Recent polls show that while a majority of the nation still believes in having a monarchy, support for the Royal Family has become softer than ever before. A YouGov poll even revealed that Brits favouring abolition now stood at 32 per cent, while positive views of the country’s current reigning monarch have dropped more than 20 points since the switch from Queen to King.
The Republic demonstration on Commonwealth Day: At Monday’s Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey, the pressure group’s chants could be heard echoing from the street and through the Great West Door. And at a demonstration during Charles and Camilla’s May 7 visit to Colchester, Essex, the couple were greeted by boos from a group of campaigners, who shouted, “Why are you wasting our money?” and “Don’t you believe in democracy, Charles?”. It’s a sight Elizabeth II rarely ever had to deal with, but for King Charles it’s quickly become too common an occurrence.
Graham Smith spoke to Scobie: “While Republic has its work cut out it is notable that this is the first time since the introduction of universal suffrage that there’s been an active and unapologetic republican movement,” founder Graham Smith tells me. [But] as Graham Smith admits, that growing apathy is an even bigger problem than Republic campaigners. “We can keep raising awareness of the problems and scandals of the monarchy, getting people to understand why it’s worth caring about getting rid of it. That includes connecting the institution to issues of identity, social justice and democratic reform. The royals will struggle to re-engage the indifferent, there just isn’t any reason for people to be interested in them anymore than any other celebrity family.”
The palace isn’t worried: Behind palace walls, I’m told there is “little worry” at present about a growing republican sentiment in the UK. One royal source says, “There was never any doubt that the public sentiment towards the Royal Family would change with the King. There are plenty of positive things to be focused on.”
Widespread apathy: Recent polls highlight a growing apathy towards the Royal Family in recent years. Indeed, even in my own experiences with talking about my work at universities across the country, I’ve found that students often admit to an indifference towards the Royal Family. News outlets focused on younger audiences have seen a similar reaction. Sophie Peachey, a journalist and producer at The News Movement, says young readers see the royals as just “another” dynasty. “What we found was that what Gen Z was interested in was not the people, it’s the institution as a whole, it’s the themes that shroud the monarchy,” she said at the Society of Editors’ Media Freedom Conference on Wednesday, adding that popular videos included: “Who actually is King Charles?” and “Does the public want a monarchy?”
The protests for the Chubbly: At King Charles’ May 6 coronation, Republic are expecting their largest ever turnout for a protest. Compared to the thousands out in the streets celebrating, it will no doubt be a comparatively smaller crowd, but, argues Smith, “we will have the advantage of standing out, having a powerful message and making an impact greater than our size. Showing the world that we’re not a nation of sycophants and royalists is hugely important and will help shift the debate onto asking why people oppose the monarchy. After the coronation we will continue to protest at royal events attended by Charles and William, continue to ask them difficult questions and continue to tell them that they’ll never be our king.”
[From Yahoo UK]
This reads a lot like the Telegraph’s piece last week, where even the old monarchist Tories are starting to feel unsettled by all of this lack of deference for the king. In that piece, as in this one, the palace continues to insist that they were expecting Charles to be less beloved than his mother and this too shall pass, etc. I don’t even think it’s a matter of “Charles is going to have to worry about this in the years to come” – I think Charles and his advisors are sh-tting themselves right now and have been for some time.
For decades, Charles has fundamentally misjudged the issue and how to remedy it: he believed it was a PR issue and he could just throw money at it (as in, hire good PR people) and wait it out. The thing is, he spent all of that money and his support continues to be a mile wide and an inch deep. The king has been rattled FOR YEARS by a Netflix show, for goodness sake. He also believes that once everyone sees Camilla in a crown, smirking at her grandchildren at the coronation, people will feel a sense of calm and connection to the crown. But what will happen, instead, is that once we see the visuals of the coronation, Graham Smith is going to be flooded with donations and more anti-monarchist volunteers.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images, Avalon Red.
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