Will George Be King?
Analysis
BBC
4.6 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 19 October 2015
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Edward Stourton examines the long-term prospects for the British monarchy as an avowed republican becomes leader of the opposition. At least eighty per cent of the population affirm their belief in the institution, opinion polls suggest - a figure that has remained remarkably constant since the Queen, now the longest serving monarch, ascended to the throne. But how can we be sure that this support and the institutions that underpin the monarchy will remain by the time her great-grandson becomes King?
Within two or three generations the constitutional make-up of Britain could look very different. Could the monarchy withstand a series of upheavals such as the disestablishment of the Church of England, Scottish independence, a weakening of Britain's links with the Commonwealth and reform of the House of Lords (along with the remnants of the hereditary principle)? What if the institutional foundations on which the monarchy rests change irrevocably or disappear altogether? By the time Prince George is likely to become King, in the latter half of this century, social attitudes may have changed considerably. Is it safe to assume that the monarchy will survive? And what will attitudes towards this institution say about wider changes across British society?
Producer: Peter Snowdon.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Thanks for downloading analysis from the BBC. |
| 0:03.1 | Edward Sterton examines perhaps the most popular institution in this country and asks, |
| 0:08.0 | could things be about to change? The timing could not have been more awkward. Just a few days after his election as Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn had to |
| 0:25.0 | attend a ceremony in St Paul's Cathedral to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. |
| 0:30.8 | What should he do during the National Anthem? |
| 0:33.6 | The television cameras left him no wriggle room. |
| 0:36.8 | The row that erupted after he stood silent during the singing was given new life when he slipped |
| 0:41.6 | off on holiday instead of attending his first Privy Council meeting with the Queen. |
| 0:46.0 | He is the first Republican leader of Labour since Kia Hardy, |
| 0:50.0 | the man who founded the party at the beginning of the last century. |
| 0:53.2 | And in this program I'll be asking how significant it is that the leader of Her Majesty's |
| 0:58.5 | opposition doesn't believe in her majesty. |
| 1:03.0 | Could it be that on this issue the Labour leader has history on his side? |
| 1:08.0 | Will Prince George, for example, ever be king? |
| 1:11.0 | I can't imagine it going any further than George, but if he were to be king we're talking |
| 1:15.6 | half a century away. I mean you you tell me how much money you got on what the world's going to be like in half a century. |
| 1:21.7 | When I think about it it it's only 10 years ago. |
| 1:24.4 | We didn't have Google. |
| 1:25.4 | Well, there have been Republicans in Britain and indeed in England for many centuries, so I'm not |
| 1:31.0 | sure that it is all that significant. I think the Queen will see Jeremy |
| 1:35.2 | Corbyn off as she's seen most leaders of the opposition off and indeed most prime ministers. |
| 1:40.1 | Before you far off a ferocious email about the license fee being plundered to undermine the Constitution and threaten our way of life, I should say that the purpose of this program is emphatically not to make a case for Republicanism. I'm simply going to look at |
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