The monarchy would not survive in an independent Scotland, a royal expert has said.
Historian Dr Ed Owens, a commentator on the Royal Household and fellow of the School of Advanced Study at the University of London, believes that ‘radical’ Scots who voted to break away from the Union would soon come to question the institution which put King Charles on the throne.
Speaking to Herald writer at large Neil Mackay, Dr Owens said that a royal family that’s “English in its roots” would soon become unpopular north of the border following independence.
A younger demographic would soon want to get rid of such an outdated institution, he said, and would quickly question why having a monarch was relevant.
The author said: “While there might be reassuring messages from nationalist leaders that they’d retain the monarchy, would the Scottish public want that?
“It comes back to the younger generation. Some of the most radical members of British society today are younger Scots, who look at their country, the rest of Britain, the monarchy, and just think: what the hell is going on here?”
However, he believes the monarchy it would remain popular in the rest of the UK and would come to symbolise “the kind of right-wing English nationalism that’s been resurgent recently.”
Dr Owens said: “Monarchy could appeal to that constituency, which would be really concerning given its politics.
“It would be a regression in terms of the monarchy as a symbol of a more democratic, tolerant society. But the monarchy puts one thing ahead of all else: survival.”
The historian has examined the future of the monarchy in his latest book ‘After Elizabeth: Can The Monarchy Save Itself?’
READ MORE: Why 'English dominance' monarchy faces oblivion in an indy Scotland
Speaking to The Herald, he said that King Charles risked losing popularity if he did not modernise.
Dr Owens believes that the monarchy has become stuck with patterns of behaviour laid down in the 19th century, which Queen Elizabeth maintained throughout her life.
The writer said that this risk a disconnect with the public which increasingly sees the monarchy as removed and distant from their day to day lives.
He said: “There must be serious reinvention and downsizing to make it more attractive to the young.”
“The young have been badly served by British democracy over the last 15 years. That’s one reason they’re rejecting monarchy: this sense of disenchantment with the status quo.
“What they see of monarchy isn’t appealing, it’s not talking to a younger generation who feel poorer, feel they haven’t got opportunities, feel angry their voices aren’t being heard in a politics dominated by older people’s concerns."
READ MORE: Why 'English dominance' monarchy faces oblivion in an indy Scotland
Dr Owens suggests a rafter of measures Charles could take to grow closer to his subjects, from ditching gilded carriages to holding annual ‘King Days’ and ultimately considering abdication rather than dying on the throne.
He said: “Stop rejecting the idea of abdication. Abdication is one of the reasons we’re in this mess. It was anathema to Elizabeth because of her father and uncle.”
“He’s (King Charles) got the opportunity to be courageous and say I’ve inherited an institution that wasn’t modernised by my mother – she basically took her foot of the pedal, so for 30 years we’ve been in free fall”.
Owens suggests Charles reign for 15 years, then “pass it on to William and Kate. Let them reinvigorate the institution while they’ve got time”.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel