Derby to stop taking the knee.....

[Andy_Faber]

As a concept, th royal family are good for tourism and boost invisible earnings, but as individuals I tend to agree they are past sell by date.

That said, I have to say that, dysfunctional or not, they, from the Queen onwards, are fairly representative of this country's general population. Philandering, mostly divorced and remarried, intolerant and bigoted.

I'm not sure I understand why we would have higher expectations of them than we have of ourselves. I believe they live down to our societal norm.

I don't think they do a lot of harm, am basically neutral, but would back the institution ahead of the two gold diggers that have signed up in my lifetime.

A masterwork of cynicism

[Geoff Parkstone]

A masterwork of cynicism

Unsure whether that is a compliment or not!

I often see opinion that suggests an elected "head of state" would be more democratic than an inherited one, which might appease the woke fraternity in that a BAME "king or queen" might emerge from a popular vote. King Marcus Rashford 1st or Queen Konnie Hug 1st has a certain ring to it...

But then again looking at the corruption and greed that encompasses our existing elected officials in parliament, and looking at the corruption amongst heads of state elected in many African countries (other countries may be available), Im not sure a democratic monarchy has any advantages either