The Republican Constitutional Movement has been founded in Denmark to campaign for the end of what is said to be the world’s oldest monarchy.
A recent opinion poll suggested that only 15.3% of Danes want a republic. However, 56% of respondents were in favour of revising the constitution. Some republicans see this as a sign of hope.
In a recent referendum 43% of Danes voted in favour of gender equality in the line of succession for feudal ruler.
Charles Windsor, hereditary heir to Britain’s chief public office, increased his direct take from the taxpayers by £575,000 last year, a 23.5% increase in a time of financial crisis.
Most of the increase was accounted for by an extra £550,000 spent on travel, including two overseas tours.
In all the feudal ruler took £3m from the people in the form of grants and payments by government departments.
This expenditure financed by taxes is only a small part of the cost to the people of maintaining Windsor’s lavish living standard. Another £16.4m was paid to him last year from the Duchy of Cornwall, a public real estate holding.
The Australian Senate has rejected a bill that would have required a vote on the monarchy at the next federal election.
The proposal for a non-binding plebiscite was made by the Green party but rejected by a senate committee that considered 250 submissions.
The committee recommended a public awareness campaign to prepare Australians for possible future reforms to their constitution.
Charles Windsor, heir to the office of head of state, has succeeded in blocking modern architecture in a redevelopment of the Chelsea Barracks site in London.
According to the Financial Times Mr. Windsor was able to persuade fellow feudal rulers in Qatar, the al-Thani family, to intervene to have the plans scrapped. The owner of the site is Qatari Diar, Qatar’s sovereign wealth investor.
Freedom House, which describes itself as "a clear voice for democracy and freedom around the world", says that political power in Qatar is "monopolised" by the al-Thanis.
The developers are discussing new plans for the site with Mr. Windsor’s Foundation for the Built Environment. Richard Rogers, whose firm designed the luxury residential development, expressed extreme disappointment at the scrapping of the original design. His firm is not expected to stay involved.
In 1984 Windsor was able to block a design he disliked for an extension to the National Gallery in London. It is too early to tell whether his resort to overseas feudal rulers this time is a sign that the British are less afraid to resist the demands of the Windsor family.
The BBC has dismissed a complaint by the Centre for Citizenship that a claim in a news report that a “leading republican” had been arrested for multiple murders in Northern Ireland show bias against republicans. The most the state broadcaster, which claims to be “the greatest force for cultural good on the face of the earth”, has conceded is that it “could have been clearer” in its reporting.
The misleading claim was made in a BBC TV News story on 27 March immediately following a report that an opinion poll showed only minority support for Britain becoming a republic. The arrested man was, in fact, a member of a terrorist organisation little known outside Northern Ireland.
On 1 April the Centre for Citizenship filed a complaint about the report with the BBC. No response was made by the media giant until 24 May, following a second letter. The BBC complaints department official who then responded wrote only that “I note your complaint”.
Her letter said that she had “ran your complaint past the production team”. That team had commented that “Our introduction could have been clearer”. Later reports had referred to the “leading republican” as “a prominent Northern Ireland dissident Republican”. These reports had not immediately followed the opinion poll story. They did not think that TV viewers would have “made a link” between a report on support for republicanism in Britain and another on a “leading republican” being arrested for multiple murder.
The dismissive letter was not unexpected. Although the BBC tries to justify its tax on TV viewers by its editorial independence and the quality of its news and current affairs programmes, it has a long history of anti-republican bias.