When King Charles III is crowned in a lavish ceremony next week, the main anti-monarchist movement in Britain will gather along the procession route next to a statue of Charles I, who was beheaded in 1649, resulting in a brief republic.
Republic supporters, an organization created in 1983 that pushes for an elected head of state, are organizing their largest demonstration yet. They think Charles’ succession to the throne represents their greatest opportunity of bringing the monarchy, which dates back more than 1,000 years, to an end.
Graham Smith, its head, sees the grand coronation at London’s Westminster Abbey as the perfect opportunity to expose what he regards as an anachronistic institution with no place in a 21st century democracy, particularly at a time when people are facing the worst cost of living crisis in decades.
Smith said he expected over 1,000 people dressed in yellow shirts to join the protest on May 6, where they will hold up placards, and give speeches.
When the newly crowned king passes in his gold coach, through streets lined with tens of thousands of well-wishers, they plan to boo loudly and chant “not my king”.
Polls show Charles is less popular than his mother Queen Elizabeth, the world’s second-longest reigning monarch, whose death last year marked the end of an era in Britain.
According to YouGov, in 2012 73% of the public said the monarchy was good for Britain, but that figure has dropped now to 53%.
Smith said the public’s respect for the queen meant she had been an “obstacle” to the republican cause.
“I think the monarchy is in a lot of trouble because they have lost their star player, support is clearly going down, interest is going down and that is a big problem for them,” Smith told Reuters.
“Charles has not inherited the deference, respect and sycophancy that was enjoyed by the queen, so people are far more willing to challenge him.”
The British monarchy traces its history back to William the Conqueror who invaded England in 1066, though royals ruled the patchwork of kingdoms which stretched across what became England, Scotland and Wales for centuries before that.
While the monarchy has gradually ceded power to parliament over the centuries, the king or queen still plays a significant, if almost entirely symbolic, role in British life such as the appointment of prime ministers and the judicial system.
Ben Quinn
On a midweek evening two weeks before King Charles’s coronation, supporters of a bloodless overthrow of the monarchy had gathered inside a west London church to hear they might finally have cause to cheer.
“The good news is that it can be got rid of and will be got rid off,” a smattering of about 70 people were promised by Graham Smith, the chief executive of the republican pressure group Republic, from behind a pulpit.
The low-key event underlined the relatively small scale of active British republicanism. At least 10 of those present were journalists, including a Japanese TV news camera crew, and the sense of a not-entirely-youthful and largely white audience of the converted being preached to was hard to avoid.
Yet in the run-up to the coronation, those who have long banged the drum for the republican cause have something of a spring in their step, with more than 1,400 people pledging to join protests in London on 6 May.
Some believe an unprecedented focus on royal finance and funding – particularly by the Guardian – has the potential to gain traction among the public. A YouGov poll found 51% do not believe the coronation should be publicly funded, against 32% who do.
“The gloves are coming off a bit more now,” said Norman Baker, the former Lib Dem government minister who chronicled the royal family’s use of public money in his book And What Do You Do?
“It’s clear that the public at large – including many royalists – are extraordinarily unhappy with what the royals take from the public purse and I think that is where they really are vulnerable,” Baker said.
Founded in 1983, Republic is undergoing a modest boost. A membership-based movement that claims to have the support of at least 80,000 republicans, it received £70,000 in donations in the month of the Queen’s death last year – a considerable sum given its 2020 income was just over £100,000.
Republic believes it can build on this momentum before, during and after 6 May – when yellow-clad supporters will chant “not my king” and carry bright placards in groups along the procession route, creating an “unmissable sea of yellow”.
Elsewhere, protests and marches are planned in cities including Cardiff and Nottingham, while there are due to be anti-monarchy street parties in Oxford and London. In Scotland – home to the UK’s highest levels of opposition to the monarchy – protests will take place in Edinburgh and Glasgow at the same time as the coronation service.
Republicans face a stubborn bedrock of support for the monarchy. According to polling, the percentage who believe royals are good for Britain is down to just over 50% – from 60% in 2019.
But a closer glance at polls indicate a deep generational split. A survey this week showed nearly 40% of those aged 18 to 24 would prefer an elected head of state.
In recent months, Republic have been building up a campaign using billboards and social media as well as shadowing outings by King Charles. In the garrison town of Colchester in Essex last month, the Guardian witnessed one of the protests that have served as dress rehearsals of sorts for 6 May, as Smith and a group of poster-wielding Republic supporters used a loudspeaker to try to challenge the king to a debate.
Watched over warily by police, the protesters were in turn heckled by members of the crowd. Perhaps interestingly, however, one of the loudest of them paused and agreed they might have a point when Charles – within earshot of the megaphone but studiously ignoring it – was challenged about the use of royal funds to support the legal travails of his brother, Prince Andrew
Former parliamentarians such as Baker insist that significant number of Labour and Lib Dem MPs are anti-monarchy but “don’t want the hassle” of talking publicly about it. Labour under Keir Starmer has been eager to brandish its respect for the monarchy as he seeks to emphasise patriotism as a way of distancing the party from the Jeremy Corbyn years.
Even so, Ken Ritchie, of the internal party grouping Labour for a Republic, insists there is appetite among the party membership and points to increasing attendance at its meetings during party conferences. Several constituency Labour parties, branches and clubs also backed a motion recently fed into the party’s policy forum by the group.
Republican Labour MPs “keep their heads well down,” he said, with the exception of outspoken voices such as Clive Lewis. Last week, Richard Burgon told the Commons that the king should pay for the coronation.
Back at Republic’s event in Kilburn, one of the two loudest rounds of applause came when the journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown told how she had refused to curtsy during a meeting with the Queen.
Otherwise downbeat, she added: “I don’t share Graham’s optimism because they have been so clever in manipulating the population.”
Nevertheless, public apathy was cited by Smith as a reason for republicans to have cause for optimism. Asked by YouGov how much they cared about the coronation, 64% of people said “not at all” or “not very much”.
“The monarchy is an idea that is starting to fall apart. Only 9% of people are enthusiastic about the coronation. It’s something that for the most part is passing people by.”
The ceremony is set to cost the public around £100m. With a quarter of voters backing abolition of the monarchy, will the opposition get a hearing? Josiah Mortimer reports
Republican protesters will line the route of the King’s coronation ceremony in two weeks, in plans for the most significant anti-monarchy event in a generation.
Over 1,000 people are expected to gather in Trafalgar Square, and in a move designed to show a republican presence throughout the procession, smaller groups of one to three people will be stationed at numerous points along the route.
Graham Smith, Chief Executive of anti-monarchy group Republic, said: “This is the first time a big royal event has been directly covered by a larger protest. It will be very colourful and very loud. We’ve not asked for permission, the plan is to just show up and protest.”
Republicans will wear yellow on the day, with yellow placards and flags – the colour of republicanism. Amid fears they will receive no coverage from the main broadcasters, they will make their presence known with megaphones and loudspeakers.
“The idea is that even if the BBC cameras pan away, they won’t be able to avoid hearing the protesters,” Smith said. Labour for a Republic’s Ken Ritchie added that the groups were having “arguments” with the BBC over “very one-sided coverage”.
“If we have 25% of voters saying we don’t want a monarchy, that’s quite a body of opinion that needs to be recognised by a national broadcaster. We’d be delighted if we got 10% of that,” Ritchie added.
Around 1,200 people have pledged to attend already, according to Republic. Protest organisers plan to base their activities on the day – by grim coincidence – near the statue of beheaded King Charles I, where protesters will wave their flags against Charles III.
Asked why they will be disrupting the coronation, Republic boss Smith said: “When people hear they’re spending £100m of our money on his parade, it annoys people. It’s a pointless parade. [King Charles] could have said ‘we’re not having a coronation’. Instead they’re doubling down on holy oil and all the rest.”
It comes as The Guardian reports that the King is a billionaire, with an estimated fortune of £1.8bn. Republican protest organisers plan to release more information on Friday. Several republican protesters were arrested last year, including one who held up a blank piece of paper (he was later released without charge).
A City Hall source said the Greater London Authority – which owns Trafalgar Square – was not aware of the planned protests or had any plans to accommodate protesters.
Republican revival?
Ken Ritchie, chair and co-founder of Labour for a Republic, told Byline Times that the main organisation, Republic, had a “bonanza” surrounding the Queen’s funeral last year. “Its fortunes rose rapidly,” he said.
Labour for a Republic’s much smaller membership has risen to around 200 (up from 50 before the Queen’s funeral) and a supporter list of 1,000.
The Labour party and leader Keir Starmer supports the monarchy. But Ritchie said: “We’re making inroads. What we feel is that there’s no chance that Labour is going to say it wants to get rid of the monarchy or even make a major challenge. So we’re focusing on things any reasonable member would agree with.”
The group recently made proposals to the party’s National Policy Forum to demand that the Equalities Act applies to the monarchy. It is currently exempt. “The staff it employs are not covered by anti-discrimination legislation. It’s a small point, but we felt that the principle of taking a stand should be a first step,” Ritchie said.
L4R is also focused on ensuring the monarchy is covered by Freedom of Information Act legislation, from which it is also exempt. A petition in Scotland called for this in recent weeks, but was dismissed by the Scottish Parliament this Wednesday.
Few Labour MPs are on the record as republicans. Left-wingers Clive Lewis MP and Richard Burgon MP have publicly supported an end to the monarchy. While there are understood to be more, few speak out about it.
Ken Ritchie said: “There are people that we know are republicans. But they wouldn’t raise their heads and say so. Some are very supportive but always have another meeting on when we ask them to speak…”
Ex-Kensington Labour MP Emma Dent Coad made a joke in 2017 about Prince Harry, saying he “can’t actually fly a helicopter…he just sits there going ‘vroom vroom’.”
She said afterwards she was “slaughtered” by the press. “I was Queen of the May at the conference in 2017, after Grenfell. And then…I made [this] joke about Prince Harry not being very clever… I had to get police protection,” she told Byline Times.
“I was followed around all the next day, and I had hateful comments, letters, emails – really hateful, scary mail. I had to report it to the police…They had to go through all my post in case people sent anything nasty. It was quite frightening,” the former Labour MP added.
“People say much worse things…But after Grenfell there were people following us and going through the bins to find anything they could on me. My staff went into my office and said ‘don’t look at the post’. It was really horrible,” she said. Dent Coad was blocked from re-standing for Labour last year over a series of comments for which she apologised.
Ken Ritchie says Labour for a Republic are not currently calling for the Labour party to “stand up and say we’re for a republic – we know what the reaction would be.”
Starmer’s position
“With the election looming, we know Starmer is doing damn all, waiting to win the election. He’s not going to take kindly to anyone stirring anything more controversial at this stage,” Ritchie said.
Starmer touched on wanting a “slimmed-down” monarchy during his leadership campaign. However, many of his leadership pledges have since been abandoned.
Intriguingly, Byline Times can report that Keir Starmer was credited by the journalist Jonathan Freedland for help with his 1998 book arguing that Britain needed to become a republic. “Bring Home the Revolution: The Case for a British Republic” listed Keir Starmer in its acknowledgements, thanking him for his help with the book. “It doesn’t mean he backs a republic now, but it’s interesting,” Ritchie said.
Nearly a quarter of the public back a republic. Some polls show opinion among people who voted Labour in 2019 is fairly evenly split on support or opposition to the monarchy.
Low down the list
Richie argues that support for republicanism is “more advanced” than support for Brexit at the stage that Farage was getting “huge amounts” of political coverage. “By the time debate begins, it will change very quickly,” he added.
The campaigner branded the coronation a “complete absurdity”, adding: “It’s nonsense. It’s about consolidating respect for the monarchy. If the monarchy stops getting attention it will cease to exist. If it’s not seen and worshipped, it no longer has a function. It’s all about marketing.” He acknowledged however, that the debate “had not started” about the need for a republic.
He accepted too, a problem that republicans face: that of priorities.
At an event in the 1990s, Lib Dem Baroness Seers, a woman of the establishment, was heckled. Someone called out “but are you a republican?” during a talk she was giving on proportional representation.
Ritchie says she turned around and said: “Yes, of course I am. You can’t be a true democrat and not.” But then she added: “And it’s number 73 in the list of my priorities.
'Not my king': Republicans to protest coronation | Reuters Video
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