Yesterday it was the turn of democracy. Tomorrow, monarchy takes the stage.
Several million went to the polls in local elections to choose new councils across England and Northern Ireland.
Many more are likely to watch the Coronation of King Charles III. The monarchy is more than a thousand years old. Democracy in Britain, less than a hundred. Women only got the vote in 1928.
Which of the two institutions will last longer?
A recent poll put public support for the Royals at 58%, with only 26% preferring an elected head of state.
But that figure masks very different attitudes between age groups. 78% of over-65s back the monarchy, but only 32% of 18-24s. Slightly more – 38% - want a democratic alternative.
I’m with the democrats. I’d rather be a citizen than a subject, much less a vassal swearing an oath of allegiance to my liege like some medieval serf.
That’s what we’re being asked to do, and Mirror readers say three to one “No thanks”.
The Royals are billed as big earners for tourism. Er, France and the USA have no king, but get more visitors.
Tourists come here for our history, diversity and culture, not in the faint hope of spotting the monarch on the palace balcony.
True, elected presidents are of variable quality.
For every Kennedy there is a George Dubya Bush, for every Obama a Trump. But in a proper democracy, at least you can get rid of them.
Like most of my generation, I admired the late Queen.
She seemed to embody the nation. And I have nothing against King Charles, but given Windsor family longevity, he could be on the throne for 20 years. And then, handing over to his son, and his son to his son, and so on, and so on, to infinity.
I’m sorry. Either it’s a true democracy, through and through, with all its faults, or it’s a fake.
Give me the real thing, any day.
Nothing will change in my lifetime, what’s left of it, so I’ll never know the answer to my question.
But it won’t go away.
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Should the BBC screen footage of children as they die in an Afghan hospital?
Three-month-old Tayabullah was filmed as medics tried desperately to save his life, draining away for lack of proper treatment.
Two year old Gulbadan, born with a heart defect, panted her last because doctors couldn’t perform routine, life-saving surgery. These films came with a “distressing” warning to viewers, but it went way beyond that.
You were there, at their death bed. Beyond poignancy, sharing the grief. Ask any parent.
The morality of showing such pitiable scenes may be questionable, but if their shock value helps bring aid to that benighted country, do it.
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Loser Liz Truss faces a £12,000 bill for light-fingered guests who made off with bathrobes from Chevening House in Kent while she was briefly the nation’s worst Foreign Secretary.
Have they counted the spoons yet?
