To people in the United Kingdom, citizens are usually anti-royal, ambivalent, or monarchists. That all depends on one’s views of the importance of monarchy for history, relevance, culture, and politics.
Dr. Andrew Laidlaw, who is a music producer and CEO of his own music label, Laidlaw Media, is closer to the anti-royal side of the perception spectrum.
“What have they ever done? I mean, what have they ever achieved?” he asked. “Someone said to me the other day, ‘what's the Queen ever done?’ I was like, I don't really know, she's just the queen.”
Dr Laidlaw doesn’t think the royal family should be funded by the British tax-payers and cites their appearances of superiority and entitlement as one of his main reasons for disliking the royal family.
“I think long gone are the days in sort of like when you see, when the Queen got coronated in the 1950s you had lots of British people in the streets waving flags, and it was a huge deal.”
Being a part of the royal family in the UK is more complicated than some might realize. They are constantly scrutinized by the media and must work in public service. Their life decisions are dictated by their titles, and they lack some freedoms that ordinary people take for granted such as occupation and marriage choices.
Mike Bursell, who considers himself a monarchist, explained that he respects the royal family for their hard work in public service.
“I think constitutionally [the royal family] have an interesting place to be because it means that we don't get presidential, and I think that’s something that we value as a nation,” he said.
Support for the royal family comes largely from older generations. According to a poll done by Statista in 2018 that split the UK into age groups, 77 percent of British people over the age of 55 support having a monarchy. That number drops to 57 percent for people aged 18 to 24 in support.
Additionally, political affiliation does play a role in monarchy support. In 2017, 49 percent of monarchists who voted supported the Conservatives, contrasted with 13 percent who did not like the monarchy. On the other hand, 34 percent of monarchists voted Labour, compared to 61 percent who don’t support having a royal family.
Brexit
When Prime Minister Boris Johnson asked the Queen to prorogue parliament, she was required to grant her approval as it was not her position to actually say no.
The action of proroguing was then ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, which then seemed to shed a negative on the queen.
Brexit has politically divided the country, and many people are voting tactically in hopes of winning against the Conservatives who are pushing for Brexit. Dr. Laidlaw is a Labour supporter but is voting tactically because in his area, “Labour doesn’t stand a chance of winning,” as he puts it. “Just anything that could keep conservatives out.”
Because the Queen is so separate from politics, the two aren’t seen as connected issues for the public.
Emilio Casalicchio, a reporter at POLITICO who has written about the perceptions of the Queen, explained that because the Queen doesn’t have any actual political power, “she doesn't get dragged in really, in a way, into the kind of political debate generally.”
“I think Brexit, it's blurred that slightly, in some ways ever so slightly, just because it's really tested the UK constitution,” said Casalicchio.
The Prince and Epstein
There are other events that could have a larger impact on the perception and reputation of the royal family. These are issues that the media, especially the tabloids and critical press, will jump on, making it harder for the royal family to manage their appearances. In such a case as why Prince Andrew recently stepped down from all public duties, the UK, and the world, has looked closely to the royal family as the story unfolds.
Prince Andrew gave an interview to BB News Nights several weeks ago about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. In the interview, Prince Andrew was asked many questions regarding his visits to Epstein’s houses in the US, his alleged involvement with underage trafficked girls, and why he continued a friendship with a convicted pedophile. He vehemently denied every knowing Epstein’s involvement with trafficking and said he never met nor had sexual relations with Virginia Giuffre, the women who is lodging accusations against him.
The BBC interview has since gone viral and has been referred to as a “PR nightmare” by CNN and “calamitous” by the New York Times.
The royals could look to an upcoming book by Professor Robert Hazell from University College London for advice on what to change and how to modernize while they work to maintain the royal reputation.
In a recent blog post, Professor Hazell detailed six lessons the modern monarchy can learn following the events that lead to Prince Andrew leaving his public roles, which will appear in more detail in a book next year. Hazell explains that modern monarchy has survived mostly by quickly disconnecting with royals who step out of line and paying close attention to public opinion.
The first lesson is to “keep the Firm small.” Hazell points out that the larger the royal family, the higher the risk that someone could cause trouble that could damage the royal reputation. He compares Norway, who only have five active royal family members, to the UK, who now have 14 active members. However, the UK is a much larger country and the royal family has more engagements and duties to fulfill. Hazell argues that a balance must be met, so it is possible that in years to come there could be a trimming of royal titles.
“Prince Charles has been reported as wishing to strip down the royal family to just himself, his children and their wives, and his grandchildren,” wrote Hazell, referencing a Daily Mail article from earlier in December.
Professor Hazell was contacted but unfortunately unavailable for an interview.
The Future
The perceptions of the monarchy are ever-changing, as data shows in polls among young and old citizens. There may be a shift for the modern monarchy as Brexit continues, and Prince Charles eventually ascends to the throne. It's important for the UK that its institutions remain strong during the next few years.