The result of an authoritative poll that says less than three of 10 Britons think the monarchy is very important, and which reports that as many as 45 per cent would like to see the institution abolished, could not possibly be good news for King Charles III as he prepares for his coronation
Brought up in a left-leaning household, she entered politics as a member of the Conservative Party and has been compared with the iron-willed Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s first woman prime minister.
Elizabeth II inherited a monarchy whose political power had been steadily ebbing away since the 18th century but whose role in the public life of the nation seemed, if anything, to have grown ever more important.
While the protestors ~ mostly youth ~ had been seeking reforms of the monarchy as one of their demands, the other two being resignation of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha and amendments to the Constitution that allowed him to retain power, the role of the King has now emerged as the primary focal point.
The monarchy, which is in the eye of the storm after being asked by students to restrict itself to a constitutional role, appears to be sympathetic to a push-back as royalists were seen posing with the King before announcing plans to stage counter-protests.
For the protests in the Southeast Asian kingdom have now gone well beyond opposition to the continuance in power of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha following a military coup in 2014 to anger at Constitutional provisions that protestors say give too much power to the King.
