The level of support he received in Australia was truly breathtaking, much to the frustration of angry republicans here. One might call him "The Hammer" because he is driving the nails into the republican's coffin. Or maybe "William the Conqueror" becaused he has conquered our hearts. Either way it has been a great boost for the Crown down under.
Indeed, the haters and wreckers are already pushing a range of utterly un-convining excuses.
ReplyDeleteThe Prince's visit to New Zealand was if anything even more successful (shame the Monarchist failed to mention it - you clearly need a New Zealand based contributor).
The Prince made a joke about buying a second home in Sydney. This was a off-hand joke, but in my estimation is actually an eminently sensible idea. The republican's biggest stick with which to beat the crown, it the argument the royal family is a colonial, foreign throw-back. If prominant members of the royal family were a regular (if perhaps not an every day) matter of fact in the nation, that would do much to both deflate the republican's best argument and no doubt do a great deal to strengthen the crown's interest in their realms outside the UK.
Even if having a prince of the realm living regularly in Canada / Australia / New Zealand is a step too far (or oppossed by the UK's PM), the next best thing would be to have a prince attend RMC Duntroon or RMC Kingston rather than RMA Sandhurst.
Mac
mac i totally agree.
ReplyDeleteroyals should have some residences in the realms and should visit them regularly. so that the people of the reams see them for what they are. our ( all the people of the 16 realms) royal family.
and as i remember being proposed for prince william a year or so ago, Royals should also be given positions in the reals such as govoners or Govoners-general
And a distinct possibility of the future King being resident in say Canada or Australia etc for a significant period, is that he may well meet a suitable local lass!
ReplyDeleteWhat a boon for the Australian Crown if the Queen was Australian?!?
David is 100% spot on. The tour was a great success - both for William and the monarchy in Australia - and the behaviour of the Australian Republican Movement has been appalling. Malcolm Turnbull would never have been churlish about William's visit. Looks like it's not just his money the ARM has lost - it's his nous, too.
ReplyDeleteThe conduct of their media director on the 7.30 Report was pretty poor:
http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2010/s2798320.htm
But the "Best Dummy-Spit for watching the tide go out" Award goes to the writers on News Ltd's debate page, "The Punch". The hysteria of the republicans is simultaneously appalling and hillarious:
http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/republic/
On topic, the idea of William or Harry earning their stripes as Governor of New South Wales or Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario is VERY attractive. State Governors tend to be the pool from which Australian GGs are drawn from these days anyway.
Indeed Cruz, the ARM has been appallingly unfair to the Prince. They say 'He doesn't know anything about Australia' - Good heavens! Why is he here then? Then they say 'It's about celebrity.' Good thing, says I - it's well deserved for this fine gentleman. And finally 'It's an irrelevant institution.' Umm... Hell-o! It's the blasted centre of our entire system of government. Literally, the Crown is part of the Australian Parliament. Jeez, you'd think they'd actually know what they are talking about.
ReplyDeleteAnd having the Royals actually own property privately in the other Realms would be great! they'd be owned by the family (no government expense), and would provide a permenant base from which to tour and holiday (I mean, seriously, if you're not tempted by Aussie beaches...).
royals should have some residences in the realms and should visit them regularly
ReplyDeletePrince William must have been joking about buying a house in Sydney, because he already HAS a residence in Sydney, or better, his grandmother. Admiralty House is one of Her Majesty's residences when she is in Australia. Of course he could stay there and he should certainly come more frequently. It must be stressed that last week's visit was unofficial, because Australian governments are reluctant to invite members of our Royal Family. And herein lies the problem: They don't want members of our Royal Family here. And then they turn around and say: "They are not interested. They are never here." This is hypocrisy.
The latest trick was used by Australian Republican Movement chairman Mike Keating. He pointed out that, as president of the English Football Association, Prince William is actively campaigning for England and against Australia to host the 2018 soccer world cup. Well, when did Australia ask for royal assistance? I am sure it would not be denied. Kevin Rudd wants a UN security Council seat for Australia. Did he lobby the Commonwealth nations? He just ignores that a third of all UN member states are Commonwealth countries.
This demonstrates the failures - and they are not failures of our Royal Family.
At the risk of sounding partisan on a blog that seeks to promote an institution that transcends politics ("frustrate their knavish tricks" etc), I am hopeful that Barry O'Farrell, J-P Langbroek and any other sundry Liberal premiers that aren't aggressively republican might invite them on official tours. Certainly it has been longstanding Coalition policy to return the Governor to Government House in Sydney (and rightly so).
ReplyDeleteI'm inclined to think however that the royals won't let the lack of official visits interfere. My interpretation of the visits by Anne, Edward and William in the last eighteen months is that the Palace has decided that Australia is now "holdable" - or rather, that they will look churlish if they don't appear frequently in a country that they will continue to have (if for no other reason than that constitutional change is almost impossible).
Part of me wonders whether we will have almost a "virtual republic" whereby a person in a building associated with government will have no idea we are actually a monarchy if there is no vice regal or services involvement - but that the royals will appear as "community figures" that tour because they are mentioned in our constitution and continue to refresh their relationship with the people via celebrity status.
Such a compromise would be wholly unsatisfying for both sides of the debate - but could potentially continue indefinitely.
It appears I'm not the only one to speculate about William as next Governor of NSW - former press secretary to former NSW Labor deputy premier John Watkins, @andrewheslop, is speculating that Prince William could be next NSW Governor on Twitter...
ReplyDeletecrux.
ReplyDeletewe can only hope that that happens. Prince william seems to be a great gentleman and as aussies will always say "a guy i would love to have a beer with". he would be a respectable and worthy Governor.
though the cynic inside me says it would never be allowed to happen as people would push to only have an australian born governor and say that it would be the royals interfering with australian politics. by saying people i dont mean average australians but members or the ARM and every party that isnt the liberal/national party. i can see the greens getting all in a knot about in my head right now
I agree with all the posts here, and radical royalist makes an excellent point about royal assistance for the world cup bid!
ReplyDeleteIt is so terribly annoying having to read the bile published in mainstream papers from Republicans. Had they won in 1999, would the monarchists have been given half as much media space for another referendum?
No doubt that Prince William is a very charismatic young gentleman, and as a Canadian subject I do hope that he will visit us in a near future. It is a pleasure and a great comfort to us to see that the young generation of the Royal Family is so well prepared to hold the future of the Crown.
ReplyDeleteNext time he visits, let's hope it's a one way ticket!
ReplyDeleteAsh, GB