Given how unlikely it seems that a popular uprising or revolution would spark the abolition of the monarchy, realistically a government would need to pass legislation through Parliament removing the King as head of state. In today’s political landscape, that too looks highly improbable. At the heart of power is a single family. They weren't elected but they live off the public purse. They aren't accountable to anyone, and yet between them they are privy to more government secrets than many cabinet ministers. Divinely appointed using a special hat, the head of the family is your superior, you his subject. Apparently he is guardian of our constitution - but we're also told he wouldn't dream of interfering in politics.

Most people are fairly apathetic and indifferent about the royal family. But they think that it's harmless. Actually, it's a part of our constitution—it's not just some kind of hereditary left-over. It's not harmless, it's not powerless. What do you say to people who make economic arguments in favor of the royals—that they are worth the cost to the taxpayer because of tourism? The BBC has admitted the monarchy can be a controversial and divisive issue, and yet their coverage is almost entirely one-sided.”Worse, the coronation arrests form part of a pattern. At the King’s Accession Proclamation in Oxford last September, one man was arrested for shouting three words: ‘Who elected him?’ Not long afterward, in London, another man was threatened with arrest for walking while holding a blank sheet of paper: he was told by an officer that he would probably be arrested if he dared to write ‘Not my king’ on it. But Anthony Wells, YouGov’s head of European political and social research, says that our views on “loads of things have shifted to that extent” over the years – it is far from impossible. For a long time, he points out, Brexit looked highly unlikely. “Things can move very rapidly when there is something happening to lead that shift.” That is the challenge for republicans: to get the subject on the national agenda.

A point made by Graham Smith in the book is that staunch monarchists are not a target group for persuasion in Republic activities. So may be not the book for them to buy. Could also be said for the supporters of his point of view but it is effectively a donation in part if it goes unread.

Uncommon Knowledge

There is, however, an alternative to a present British monarchy that has become “anachronistic, divisive, At the start of June 2022, we could see the Queen very publicly celebrating the jubilee. Yet just four weeks later, as the constitution, at the centre of which lies the Crown, was in crisis [because Boris Johnson's government ministers had nearly all resigned yet he still clung on as PM], the Queen had vanished. Not a word from the palace. No reassuring comment or useful clarification of the constitutional position offered. One moment we see the monarch, and are told of her great virtues, the next she is nowhere to be seen, as we're told that under no circumstances can the Queen be 'dragged into' doing her job.