traditions were invented to prop up the monarchy. the monarchy has gone through ebbs and flows. but i think that right now it s not going to go away any time soon. what its fate will be will largely be in the hands of charles iii. as far as american democracy is concerned, now that s a much more volatile situation. i mean, the head of state in britain is a symbolic, unifier, supposedly. some people don t like it, but that s what it is. american democracy is another matter. we don t have a symbolic figure like that. so, the volatility alone makes, i think, the situation in the united states a lot more rocky than it is in britain. okay. i recognize that you don t appreciate the question itself, which is fine. but it sounds to me like you re saying if you had to answer it, you would be saying more secure is the monarchy than american democracy. yes. what if i asked about democracy in england, the united kingdom, generally, as compared to the united states. do you have the same level
with her. dignity. unifying. inspirational. wisdom. she s loyal. consistency. think about how much we would be better off if our political leaders were more like her? and think about how they too could become among the most admired people in the world if they followed her lead. elizabeth has been rightly credited with sustaining, humanizing, modernizing the royals at a time when their purpose and function seemed to be archaic and outmoted. but will her efforts survive her? will either charles or william command any of the same level of respect, impact, gravitas, not just worldwide but even domestically. clive irving predicted her passing would cause problems for the royals among the 14 other countries around the world for which elizabeth was head of state. writing, quote, when the queen s reign end, their all go off the precipice, i think.
created william, his heir, prince of wales. that means in simple terms that he is next up. god forbid if anything happened to the new king, william would become king as quickly as charles did when his mother passed. so, this is a shifting of the perspective. the british constitutional system has delivered a replacement head of state in william and his work now is to prepare for that day may it be far off when he in turn assumes the throne. in a sense, it underlines the die verging paths between william and his younger brother harry. they used to be so close. i knew them when they were still small boys. now it seems they re set on further and further distant paths ahead. it s significant that prince charles said sorry, the king said, that william is heir. harry is building his life
write to ministers about them. he was accused of meddling in politics. his view was that he was allowed to express opinions while he wasn t on the throne. but once he reached the throne, he would rise above politics in the same way his mother did. so we never knew any of the queen s opinions about anything beyond resources, frankly. she always kept a straight face and never knew where she was. we were able to project our own thoughts on to her. she was a mirror. charles won t be that because we know he s had opinions, but he made very clear in his address to the nation last night that the issues he cares deeply he cares so deeply about he will now leave to other people, so he has to redefine himself apolitical independent head of state. that s his big challenge now. even to the senior figures that he s meeting in the palace behind me today. so, as he s about to receive the archbishop of canterbury, i wanted to ask max foster, what does it mean to be defender of the faith?
they just drive off a precipice because it s only the presence of the queen. as for england, tom put it this way in the atlantic, generations have known nothing but the queen. she became almost above reproach, an icon on a wall, a symbol. charles by contrast is human and flawed and distinctly reproachable. with the queen goes the monarchy s protective shield. can the next generation escape the racism or scandals of prince andrew? how long can such an institution really survive in an era of black lives matter and imperial guilt? can an african child once again be pictured kneeling before distant monarch happened for the queen s diamond jubilee in 2012. a poll by u gof down at the time of the platinum jubilee just this last may found that 62% of britains said their country should continue to have a monarchy in the future. with only 22% saying it should instead move to having an elected head of state.