The Hindu : Proposals to modernise U.K. monarchy

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 17, 2003

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International

Proposals to modernise U.K. monarchy

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON JULY 16. Sweeping constitutional reforms to bring the British monarchy more in tune with the demands of a modern, pluralistic Britain have been proposed by a leading Left-wing think tank, the Fabian Society.

Significantly, despite its long republican tradition, the Society does not call for the abolition of monarchy, recognises its popular appeal and acknowledges that it has come to stay. Instead, it suggests a series of radical measures to `modernise' the 1,000-year-old institution which, it believes, is completely out of touch with the ethos of a multicultural Britain whose diversity is not reflected in the Royal prerogatives and practices.

In a report, which Buckingham Palace cautiously termed as `useful,' the Society stressed the supremacy of a democratically elected Parliament and called for the present royal prerogatives, such as the appointment of the Prime Minister and dissolution of Parliament, to be vested in the legislature.

It said MPs should no longer have to take oath of allegiance to the Crown, and they should be free to discuss the monarchy without seeking the royal permission or making obsequious references to the monarch.

"The present symbolic superiority of the unelected sovereign over the elected Parliament — in effect making Parliament an institution of the monarch rather than of the citizens— is no longer appropriate in a modern democracy," it argued.

In another controversial move, it proposed the separation of church and the state by abolishing the Queen's role as head of the Anglican Church, and removing the ban on non-Anglicans to ascend the throne. Theoretically, this could mean that a future monarch could come from any faith, and need not necessarily be a Christian.

Striking a blow for gender-equality, the report has said that the entitlement to the throne should not be restricted to the eldest son and instead any eldest child should be allowed to succeed the reigning monarch. And in a move, which seems custom-made for the Prince Charles, it recommends that he should be allowed to marry his mistress Camilla Parker Bowles without having to seek the Queen's permission. It also calls for a provision whereby the Queen could retire to pave way for a younger successor.

The Society's other recommendations include greater transparency in the royal family's finances, and a clearer separation of their personal and private lives.

"In every other European constitutional monarchy, the role is clearly defined in law. It is depoliticised and the public and private elements of royalty are kept separate. The same principles should now be adopted in Britain,'' it said.

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