by Sammy Stein

Created on: January 04, 2011

I would never describe myself as a monarchist, in fact, anything but. However,I am typical of a British person in this respect. None of us wants to admit it - we want to be seen as democratic, modern, forward thinking, left-wing but inside, we know that what continues to make us different is our royal family.

Like it or not, the royals bring something unique to the UK which makes us different from other EU countries except 2, it makes us different from super powers such as the US, Russia and China and creates a diplomatic buffer between us and the rest of the world. While many leaders will insult our governement, they will rarely openly insult our queen for fear of world-wide backlash. She is the figure-head, the representative of the past and an era which helped form the world today.

In the past, the UK held sway in many parts of the world. Now the world has changed and with it the policies of dominance, especially from a country so small yet prevailing against all the change, the cries for freedom, democracy and modern living is the established institution that is the British monarchy.

Even though no real power is held, the queen in theory can still veto any Act of Parliament. She can deny a Prime Minister the right to form a government and , in theory again, she is the only one in the UK with the right to keep her job until she dies. The monarchy is seen as a birth-right, a God-given responsibility which the queen takes very seriously. Above all, our queen is the little old lady with the beaming smile who can win your haert in an instant, yet still cut it to the quick with a reproach and the world loves her. She maintains high standards which other world leaders admire, she upholds the British sense of justice, she will give a speech after a disaster which unites, envelopes and brings comfort still to those all over the world who were once her subjects.

In essence, as far as out and out power is concerned, the monarchy has lost its relevance but in terms of  world relations the monarchy - and particularly its current encumbent- offers the UK an additional weapon in world diplomacy which few countries still have. Few countries have a monarch so well known or loved as the queen and, whether we agree in principle or not, all UK people find themselves smiling inwardly as this 86 year old monarch holds her head high and announces that her Parliament is in session!

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