“The experience of countries that abandon all the feudal failsafes and embrace republicanism has not, on the whole, been happy outside the United States; most of the worst democidal horrors of the 20th century happened in republics, many of which had seemed advanced and orderly not long before,“ writes Colby Cosh in a comment on proposed changes to the succession to the throne for the Canadian National Post (14/4). These changes will need to be approved by all of the sixteen Realms within the Commonwealth.
“And some of us would rather live under a bad king than the best American-style president.”“In a way, it's encouraging that U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown is looking at a long-discussed modernization of the rules governing succession to the throne of Great Britain, Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. There is no point in making the monarchy conform to contemporary values unless you take for granted that it will be around for a long time.
"If Brown privately regarded the Crown as an outmoded anomaly, as many Labour politicians surely do, he would undoubtedly prefer that its discriminatory aspects remain intact as a source of antagonism. English republicans certainly understand that Brown is trying to protect, not attack, the monarchy.”