The End of the House of Windsor

Book excerpt: Does the House of Windsor face imminent extinction? Has the time come for the United Kingdom to become the Republic of Britain? The royal scandals involving Princess Diana, Prince Charles and the other Royals have opened the flood gates to a torrent of criticism of the monarchy, the like of which has never been seen. Stephen Haseler argues that the royal drama has brought into sharp focus a central reality: that the British royal family, far from playing a positive role in the country's twentieth-century history, has been one of the principal reasons for Britain's relentless decline. He shows that the monarchy has been a monumental impediment to Britain becoming a fully functioning modern state and has perpetuated a culture that is socially backward and economically debilitated. The by-products of monarchy - an overly strong government and a weak Parliament, hereditary power through the House of Lords, the numbing honours system, the lack of a written constitution and a Bill of Rights, the self-deluding array of pomp and ceremony, the craving for acceptance within an establishment quite devoid of the Standards and criteria which inform other Western societies, the acquiescence to mediocrity and the enshrining of studied amateurism - have created a degenerate social, political and economic environment while encouraging the illusions and myths of a fantasy-land, historical theme-park Britain. The British must now think the unthinkable: the abolition of the monarchy and the rapid transition to a republic. Haseler argues that the planning for this change should begin now, during the present Queen's lifetime, allowing for sufficient time for considered debate on the alternativeconstitutional structures. This is the first book of its kind. No other study of the monarchy or British institutions has advocated the abolition of the monarchy and the founding of a British Republic. The End of the House of Windsor raises issues of enormous significance to Britain's future.