What we are not defending

Putting forth rational arguments for the maintenance of the Crown is a labour I would rather ignore. Like the other gentlemen scribes here at The Monarchist, I would sooner just go on believing against all prudence that our ancient Scone will last forever, but alas all good things need to be proactively defended. Now I know this splendid blog says “Defending the British Crown Commonwealth...”, but tell me which of you has actually put forth a “modern” (horror!) set of arguments in support of it? Not even the blog’s founder has done so after almost four years (an eternity in the blogging world) of “defending” the Crown, though there have been some very readable general essays on the issue.

So let that be our immediate task in the days and weeks to come. For now, however, allow me to tell you what I think it is not about. It is not about:

1. The Popularity of the Queen: Believe it or not, it is not about Her Majesty, it is not because the Queen has been a dutiful head of state or that she is the most experienced statesperson in the world. It is not really about the Sovereign, Her Successors or the Royal Family. Preservation of the monarchy should not hinge on the specific character or personal attributes of the Monarch. Saying that we should keep the monarchy because the Queen is a lovely lady is patently absurd;

2. Promoting Tourism: Also ridiculous is defending the notion that the British Monarchy is a wonderful “tourist attraction”, as if safeguarding the institution was akin to preserving family trips to the city zoo, which has to be one of the saddest arguments ever devised in its favour. In any event, this would only be true as it relates to the United Kingdom. Canadian or Australian monarchists could not plausibly argue that the monarchy has been good for their tourism, nor could Britons convincingly make the case that tourism would suffer catastrophically if the monarchy was abolished;

3. Taxpayer’s Money: It is not because it generates revenues for the state, or costs the treasury a mint to operate, or bequeaths a sizeable net profit to taxpayers. There is no proof that a republican head of state is any more cost-effective than a monarchical one on a net revenue minus expense basis, but even if there was, who cares? I should hope that a monarchy is more costly than a republic. Magnificence comes with a price;

4. Colonialism: It is not about protecting hangovers from “colonialism”, that old canard which reveals the self-inflicted inferiority complex of those who make it. Memo to the masses: Some of us actually liked the Empire and thought it did some real good in the world. Besides, you cannot stand there and pretend you were not part of the enterprise, or that you were somehow victimised by it when your adopted country or your British ancestors enthusiastically fought for it, defended it and was loyal to it. You were not suppressed from afar, you willingly partook in the great adventure. So kindly get unstuck from your colonial mentality;

5. National Unity: To argue that the Queen embodies, reflects or represents the national unity of our people is not nearly as true as it once was. Public opinion polls are routinely divided on the issue of monarchy and given the number of republicans and the great swarm of indifference to the franchise, this is at best a weak argument for maintaining it;

6. Multiculturalism: Monarchists have actually argued in the past that due to the Queen's bloodlines, Elizabeth II is quite “multicultural". “Among the strains that can be identified in the backgrounds of the Queen are: Arab, Armenian, Croatian, French, German, Greek, Italian, Persian etc... As such, the Queen is very capable of representing the great majority of us”. Let me be the first to say that this is an unbelievable load of politically correct rubbish. Notice how they left out “English” (no, better not say Anglo anything, they might be onto something), yet they managed to put in “Arab”. One wonders how they left out Chinese;

7. Sentiment and Nostalgia: It is laughable to assert that only monarchies are susceptible to cringe-inducing bouts of the most empurpled sentimentality. The “I have a dream” swooning over Princess Obama currently underway in America surely testifies to the “moist, vapid emotions of the Diana cult” that are clearly prevalent in the “Great Republic”. The lack of stoicism and emotional dignity is a plague that affects modernity in general, and is no reasonable basis for defending the monarchy. Please vote for Obama if you want your misty-eyed fairytale.

There are no doubt other bad reasons for defending the monarchy, but these are the seven that come immediately to mind.