REPUBLICANS have vowed to intensify their campaign against the monarchy in the run up to the coronation of Charles III and on the day itself.
Protest group Republic has temporarily suspended activities as a mark of respect following the Queen’s death but has pledged that the campaign will continue.
In a letter to supporters, chief executive Graham Smith (pictured) said: “I’m conscious that we must continue to represent your views and speak for the large number of people in the UK who want there to be a democratic succession to an elected head of state.
“Today we need to avoid causing unnecessary offence and prepare ourselves for the debate to come. King Charles is already on the throne, and that’s where the debate must begin.
“We will be campaigning all through the run up to and on the day of the coronation, which we assume will be in the spring.”
Smith has previously said the Queen’s death would put the future of the institution in “serious jeopardy”.
“Charles may inherit the throne, but he won’t inherit the deference and respect afforded the queen,” he said.
There is no written constitution that lays out the steps needed to abolish the monarchy but republicans argue that if public opinion is against it, then it cannot continue.
A previous significant interruption to the royal line was when Charles I was executed after being convicted of high treason.
Republic claims the Royal family costs Scottish taxpayers upwards of £35 million a year but gets little financial benefit.
The latest official figures put the sovereign grant that funds the royals at £51.5m in 2020-21, with an additional grant of £34.4m to pay for the refurbishment of Buckingham Palace. Separately, the Queen received surplus money from the Duchy of Lancaster Estate which was £22.3m in 2020-21.
However, Republic’s own research puts the total cost of the royals to the British public as at least £345m, with £35m contributed from Scotland.
The group says the higher figure is due to hidden costs such as security, the costs to councils of royal visits, lost income and lost opportunities to raise revenue.
Defenders of the royals claim they bring in money to the economy as a tourist attraction but Graham Smith of Republic said there was “no evidence” of that.
“Certainly they don’t in Scotland,” he said. “No one goes to Scotland in the expectation of seeing the royals.”
The Queen’s death is also expected to trigger a rise in republicanism in some of the 14 other realms that now have Charles III as head of state.
Jamaica and Belize have signalled they want to follow Barbados in ditching the monarchy and recent polls in Australia have been in favour of an Australian head of state following the death of the Queen.
While sending condolences on the Queen’s death, the Australian Republican Movement also noted she had “respected the self-determination of the Australian people”.
“The Queen backed the right of Australians to become a fully independent nation during the referendum on an Australian republic in 1999, saying that she has ‘always made it clear that the future of the monarchy in Australia is an issue for the Australian people and them alone to decide’,” it said.
In New Zealand, polls show younger people are growing in favour of a republic and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said she expects the country to become one during her lifetime, although it is not an issue that is a priority for her government.
Canadian polls indicate around half the population is in favour of cutting its ties to the monarchy following the death of the Queen.
