Originally posted by clover68:it's something inconceivable, for me, that such a country, who's supposed to be the cradle of modern democracy, is still a monarchy .. same thing for the other countries as well.
i find it a "little" contradictory
Yeah, the only reasons I can envisage for monarchies being retained is a) money, e.g. tourism, because in fairness they bring in a sodload as I understand it and b) they're still an integral part of the class identity we have here, this inherent deference people have towards those in the supposedly higher social strata. I mean, I was discussing this the other day, if I met the Queen or other royalty, I pray to high heaven that I would have the guts to not submit to social pressure and bow etc. I didn't put them in the position they're in, so they can bugger off quite frankly. Chances are I'll never meet them, but like, yeah that's what I hope.