>__Even split on King as head of independent state__
>Kieran Andrews, Scottish Political Editor
>Saturday October 08 2022, 12.01am BST, The Times
>Scots want to retain the monarchy and believe the royal family are a benefit to the country, a poll has found.
>Exactly half of voters support the continued reign of a king or queen, while 34 per cent are in favour of an elected head of state, according to research by YouGov for The Times.
>The survey suggested that the mood could shift if the constitutional arrangements were to change with independence. In a surge generally driven by SNP voters — 60 per cent of whom would back an elected head of a new state — there was an even split on retaining the King in an independent Scotland with 41 per cent of the general public in favour, 40 per cent against and 19 per cent unsure.
>SNP policy is to keep the monarchy in an independent Scotland and senior figures reiterated that pledge after the Queen’s death.
Some 37 per cent of people believed the royal family were good for Scotland and 32 per cent said the monarchy made little difference to the country, while 23 per cent said the royals were bad for the nation.
>There was more confidence in the monarchy’s impact on the UK as a whole — 43 per cent said it was good for Britain, 27 per cent were neutral and 21 per cent believed it had a negative effect. Hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets last month as the Queen’s coffin was transported from Balmoral to Edinburgh after her death in Aberdeenshire.
>Eighty-three per cent of those surveyed said they thought the Queen had done a good job on the throne, with 7 per cent viewing her time negatively and 8 per cent unsure. The spread was even across all political parties, with SNP supporters most sceptical but even in that case 79 per cent said she had been of benefit to Scotland.
>The nationalists have strong republican sentiments within their ranks but under both Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon, the party’s leadership has warmly embraced the Queen.
>There is more of a split on how confident people were about how Charles will perform as King. Fifty-eight per cent predicted he would do a good job, while 21 per cent said he would perform badly and 20 per cent were unsure.
>Skipping a generation, 70 per cent of people believed Prince William, the Duke of Rothesay, would do a good job as king. Only 10 per cent thought that the prince, who met his wife, Catherine, in 2001 while both were studying at St Andrews, would do a bad job as head of state while 20 per cent were unsure.
>YouGov interviewed 1,067 people aged 16 and older between September 30 and October 4.
So would Scotland be a formal kingdom in that case, or would it be more like Australia or Canada where they’re technically a monarchy but the monarch’s constitutional functions are performed by a governor-general? Would it be feasible for the King to function as King of both the remnants of the UK and Scotland simultaneously in a way it isn’t in Canada and Australia?
~~Since the Irish didn’t want to keep the monarchy we don’t really have any precedents to work with in terms of how it goes when a neighbouring state declares independence from us but retains the monarchy.~~
Edit: I suppose there’s also nothing to stop them going the Norwegian route and choosing a separate king of Scotland from the existing royal family (Harry perhaps?) Especially if the Tories throw a hissy fit and say independent Scotland shouldn’t be allowed to keep *their* monarch (indeed I’ve seen some people say that already).
The only beneficiaries of the monarchy are the Saxe Coburg and Gothas
Personally if we get independence I feel we should have a ppv trial by combat to decide the next king. Make things much more interesting.
4 comments
>#Scots back ‘beneficial’ monarchy, poll finds
>__Even split on King as head of independent state__
>Kieran Andrews, Scottish Political Editor
>Saturday October 08 2022, 12.01am BST, The Times
>Scots want to retain the monarchy and believe the royal family are a benefit to the country, a poll has found.
>Exactly half of voters support the continued reign of a king or queen, while 34 per cent are in favour of an elected head of state, according to research by YouGov for The Times.
>The survey suggested that the mood could shift if the constitutional arrangements were to change with independence. In a surge generally driven by SNP voters — 60 per cent of whom would back an elected head of a new state — there was an even split on retaining the King in an independent Scotland with 41 per cent of the general public in favour, 40 per cent against and 19 per cent unsure.
>SNP policy is to keep the monarchy in an independent Scotland and senior figures reiterated that pledge after the Queen’s death.
Some 37 per cent of people believed the royal family were good for Scotland and 32 per cent said the monarchy made little difference to the country, while 23 per cent said the royals were bad for the nation.
>There was more confidence in the monarchy’s impact on the UK as a whole — 43 per cent said it was good for Britain, 27 per cent were neutral and 21 per cent believed it had a negative effect. Hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets last month as the Queen’s coffin was transported from Balmoral to Edinburgh after her death in Aberdeenshire.
>Eighty-three per cent of those surveyed said they thought the Queen had done a good job on the throne, with 7 per cent viewing her time negatively and 8 per cent unsure. The spread was even across all political parties, with SNP supporters most sceptical but even in that case 79 per cent said she had been of benefit to Scotland.
>The nationalists have strong republican sentiments within their ranks but under both Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon, the party’s leadership has warmly embraced the Queen.
>There is more of a split on how confident people were about how Charles will perform as King. Fifty-eight per cent predicted he would do a good job, while 21 per cent said he would perform badly and 20 per cent were unsure.
>Skipping a generation, 70 per cent of people believed Prince William, the Duke of Rothesay, would do a good job as king. Only 10 per cent thought that the prince, who met his wife, Catherine, in 2001 while both were studying at St Andrews, would do a bad job as head of state while 20 per cent were unsure.
>YouGov interviewed 1,067 people aged 16 and older between September 30 and October 4.
So would Scotland be a formal kingdom in that case, or would it be more like Australia or Canada where they’re technically a monarchy but the monarch’s constitutional functions are performed by a governor-general? Would it be feasible for the King to function as King of both the remnants of the UK and Scotland simultaneously in a way it isn’t in Canada and Australia?
~~Since the Irish didn’t want to keep the monarchy we don’t really have any precedents to work with in terms of how it goes when a neighbouring state declares independence from us but retains the monarchy.~~
Edit: I suppose there’s also nothing to stop them going the Norwegian route and choosing a separate king of Scotland from the existing royal family (Harry perhaps?) Especially if the Tories throw a hissy fit and say independent Scotland shouldn’t be allowed to keep *their* monarch (indeed I’ve seen some people say that already).
The only beneficiaries of the monarchy are the Saxe Coburg and Gothas
Personally if we get independence I feel we should have a ppv trial by combat to decide the next king. Make things much more interesting.