Prince Andrew and the future of the British monarchy

We have long wondered how Britain could have both Oxford University and a monarchy. This historic reverence for both the intellectual and the mythical is now once again under critical analysis, witness this interesting article by Gaby Hinsliff:

"The greatest fear of senior royals has always been that when the Queen eventually dies, the monarchy might collapse. For the majority of Britons who are neither sworn republicans nor particularly ardent monarchists, the Queen is the one who really commands respect and affection, having earned the kind of trust that enables unelected power to be tolerated. But trust is not automatically inherited along with the crown. It is significant that Andrew’s resignation came after the Queen consulted her heir.

"Prince Charles is said to favour a slimmed-down future monarchy, focused on himself, his wife and his sons, although it’s never been clear what would happen to royals deemed redundant. The Duke of York can hardly spend the rest of his life playing golf and, to put it mildly, it’s difficult to see him succeeding in the working world strictly on his own merits. Some kind of restructuring looks almost inevitable, but it should be accompanied by a broader review of the family’s role in public life and of the monarch’s constitutional powers, which recent political turbulence has exposed to the limelight."

The article