It has all become tarred with the same brush.
Those folk in society who want the United Kingdom to become a republic with a president rather than a king to be a head of state are having a field day with the debacle which has enveloped the former Prince Andrew, the younger brother of King Charles III.
Could it be a case of history repeating itself on a number of fronts? Previous monarchs called Charles have had a poor history. Charles the First was executed following the bloody English Civil War when Britain became a commonwealth.
Following the Restoration of the Monarchy a few decades later, Charles II was such a poor king, he sowed the seeds of doom in terms of English succession, and paved the way for King William III, aka King Billy, to come from Holland and restore order.
While the current King Charles III is doing his level best to wash his hands of any alleged activities or scandal caused by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the bitter reality which the Royal Family must face, is that the entire institution of the Monarchy has become tainted by the Epstein saga.
Whilst there has been much talk in Northern Ireland of the need to reform the Stormont institutions, could this atmosphere of reforming seep across the Irish Sea to mainland Britain with a growing desire to see the Monarchy itself reformed?
The United Kingdom boasts one of the most high profile Monarchies in the world compared to the profile and position of other Royal Families across the globe.
Put bluntly, perhaps the time has come for the Royals to take urgent action and for King Charles III to break the supposed ‘curse of the Charles’ and abdicate to make way for his eldest son, Prince William, to ascend to the Throne with the latter’s wife, as Queen Catherine, alongside him?
I don’t have much time politically for former Labour PM Tony Blair, but he has to be given credit for calling William’s mother, Diana, the ‘People’s Princess’ after her tragic death in the Paris road crash in the late 1990s.
As a life-long Royalist, I have always remained a so-called ‘Diana Loyalist’, believing she was the Queen we never had.
Granted, since Diana’s tragic death, public relations gurus have burned the midnight oil to rebrand the former Mrs Camilla Parker-Bowles as a future queen.
Since the death of Queen Elizabeth II, that campaign has been in hyper-drive to ensure that the concept of ‘Queen Camilla’ becomes part of the Royal furniture at Buckingham Palace.
Whilst ardent republicans want to see an end to the Monarchy, some of us so-called ‘Diana Loyalists’ want to see ‘Queen Camilla’ replaced as soon as possible by a Queen Catherine.
The Royal brand of William and Kate has stood the test of time. They have three wonderful children, and Kate has coped admirably with her cancer challenge. They are the future of the Monarchy and the sooner they are given that opportunity to reign, the better.
I don’t wish the current King Charles III any harm, but if he is blessed with the same longevity as his late mother and grandmother, the late Queen Mother, William - like his dad Charles - could be near pension age before he is crowned in the aftermath of Charles’ death.
Put equally bluntly, William should not be waiting on dead man’s shoes before he is handed the Royal crown.
Like it or not, the alleged activities and notoriety of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor have placed the Monarchy in a 1930s-style abdication scenario when the then King Edward VIII abdicated to allow him to marry his American divorcee lover Wallis Simpson.
The Royal Family simply cannot afford to hide away in their homes, palaces and castles and pretend to carry on as if nothing has happened. The Firm, as it is affectionately known, needs to take drastic action before any current Labour administration at Westminster passes legislation which reforms the Monarchy into a European-style, lowkey institution.
A King Billy saved the British Monarchy from disaster in the late 17th century. A new King Billy is urgently needed to perform the same saving manoeuvre in the latter years of this decade.
Those folk in society who want the United Kingdom to become a republic with a president rather than a king to be a head of state are having a field day with the debacle which has enveloped the former Prince Andrew, the younger brother of King Charles III.
Could it be a case of history repeating itself on a number of fronts? Previous monarchs called Charles have had a poor history. Charles the First was executed following the bloody English Civil War when Britain became a commonwealth.
Following the Restoration of the Monarchy a few decades later, Charles II was such a poor king, he sowed the seeds of doom in terms of English succession, and paved the way for King William III, aka King Billy, to come from Holland and restore order.
While the current King Charles III is doing his level best to wash his hands of any alleged activities or scandal caused by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the bitter reality which the Royal Family must face, is that the entire institution of the Monarchy has become tainted by the Epstein saga.
Whilst there has been much talk in Northern Ireland of the need to reform the Stormont institutions, could this atmosphere of reforming seep across the Irish Sea to mainland Britain with a growing desire to see the Monarchy itself reformed?
The United Kingdom boasts one of the most high profile Monarchies in the world compared to the profile and position of other Royal Families across the globe.
Put bluntly, perhaps the time has come for the Royals to take urgent action and for King Charles III to break the supposed ‘curse of the Charles’ and abdicate to make way for his eldest son, Prince William, to ascend to the Throne with the latter’s wife, as Queen Catherine, alongside him?
I don’t have much time politically for former Labour PM Tony Blair, but he has to be given credit for calling William’s mother, Diana, the ‘People’s Princess’ after her tragic death in the Paris road crash in the late 1990s.
As a life-long Royalist, I have always remained a so-called ‘Diana Loyalist’, believing she was the Queen we never had.
Granted, since Diana’s tragic death, public relations gurus have burned the midnight oil to rebrand the former Mrs Camilla Parker-Bowles as a future queen.
Since the death of Queen Elizabeth II, that campaign has been in hyper-drive to ensure that the concept of ‘Queen Camilla’ becomes part of the Royal furniture at Buckingham Palace.
Whilst ardent republicans want to see an end to the Monarchy, some of us so-called ‘Diana Loyalists’ want to see ‘Queen Camilla’ replaced as soon as possible by a Queen Catherine.
The Royal brand of William and Kate has stood the test of time. They have three wonderful children, and Kate has coped admirably with her cancer challenge. They are the future of the Monarchy and the sooner they are given that opportunity to reign, the better.
I don’t wish the current King Charles III any harm, but if he is blessed with the same longevity as his late mother and grandmother, the late Queen Mother, William - like his dad Charles - could be near pension age before he is crowned in the aftermath of Charles’ death.
Put equally bluntly, William should not be waiting on dead man’s shoes before he is handed the Royal crown.
Like it or not, the alleged activities and notoriety of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor have placed the Monarchy in a 1930s-style abdication scenario when the then King Edward VIII abdicated to allow him to marry his American divorcee lover Wallis Simpson.
The Royal Family simply cannot afford to hide away in their homes, palaces and castles and pretend to carry on as if nothing has happened. The Firm, as it is affectionately known, needs to take drastic action before any current Labour administration at Westminster passes legislation which reforms the Monarchy into a European-style, lowkey institution.
A King Billy saved the British Monarchy from disaster in the late 17th century. A new King Billy is urgently needed to perform the same saving manoeuvre in the latter years of this decade.
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| Follow Dr John Coulter on Twitter @JohnAHCoulter John is a Director for Belfast’s Christian radio station, Sunshine 1049 FM. |
