'Asking us to swear allegiance to the King shows Britain is stuck in the past'
Most people would rather swear allegiance to the underpaid doctors, nurses, health professionals and teachers who have been betrayed by the Tories.
They’d far more readily pledge their commitment to the fight against climate change, homelessness, loneliness, police reform, the charlatans in government overseeing the Windrush crises and the hostile environment.
Swearing allegiance to the King? In 2023? Not so much.
So low on so many lists of priorities, in fact, that you would strain your neck looking for it.
In any case, what bright spark within the Royal Family’s media team came up with this one – asking every citizen of the UK and all the other nations of which the monarch is head of state to “make their homage in heart and voice to their undoubted King”?
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And why now, as Caribbean nations continue to be specific about their reasons for detaching from a relic of the past? And when fans of the Scottish football club Celtic made their opposition known over the weekend – in no uncertain terms?
Why now, while there are kids in the UK not being fed and people have to choose between heating and eating?
Yes, yes, yes – we get it. It’s voluntary. We are only being “invited” to bend the knee – but even so, for a monarchy struggling to stay relevant it smacks of plunging a disinterested public back in time to Game Of Thrones.
It conjures up images of Cersei Lannister, Robert Baratheon and Daenerys Targaryen.
A YouGov poll last month revealed that of more than 3,000 adults surveyed, 35% “do not care very much” about the Coronation while 29% said they “do not care at all”.
The Royals could have used next weekend to take those numbers down – to prove it can actually appeal to Gen Y and Z. Just as it promised to after Prince Andrew, after William and Kate’s catastrophic Caribbean tour, after Meghan, Harry and so much more.
A slimmed-down monarchy, new titles, opening up the royal palaces and making Camilla queen won’t cut it.
Nor will dated celebrities at the world’s worst concert line-up.
Floella Benjamin carrying the sovereign’s sceptre and claiming diversity has been embraced by The Firm as a result only serves to underline the delusion.
Next weekend still is a chance to connect with the real people suffering real world problems in the face of an orgy of financial excess.
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The invitation to swear allegiance suggests the Royals still don’t fully get it.
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