Monarchy doesn't work

There is a cosy arrangement in place which allows the government of the day to exercise the Queen's power in return for political support for the monarchy. Officials use euphemisms to hide the true nature of this deal - they say the Queen acts "on the advice of the prime minister", meaning she does what she is told. We hear debate about the "royal prerogative", which can be more accurately described as "prime ministerial powers". They talk about the Queen owning land, palaces and priceless art "in trust for the nation", which simply means we pay for them and she keeps them.

Politically the monarch serves little purpose. There are some powers she can and has used, but on these occasions we are reminded why the monarchy is unacceptable in a modern democracy. The Queen can, for example, play a role in choosing our prime minister. It's a job an elected president could do if we had a hung parliament, but an unelected, unaccountable monarch has no right to play any part in our political process.

It's not just the institution that is dysfunctional. Occupying the palaces we have a family of fairly ordinary, uninspiring individuals who represent the very worst of Britain - snobbish, elitist and utterly out of touch with the rest of the country. The Windsors just keep on taking from the taxpayer and give very little back. Despite doing little and achieving even less, they demand respect and deference from everyone. The most talented and accomplished commoner is expected to defer to princes Harry and William. Scientists, architects and a host of other professionals who have earned doctorates and professorships, are lectured and patronised by Charles who demands he be heard and taken seriously for no reason other than his rank.

Desperate to defend their privilege the Windsors employ a huge PR team who work around the clock to promote the royal brand. Unable to point to any meaningful purpose the Windsors claim simply to "work hard", despite the evidence. They repeatedly remind us of what they do for charity, although what they do is of questionable value and could be done without the royal titles and the hundreds of servants.

It's not all their fault though. Let us spare a sympathetic thought for the Windsor family. They are dysfunctional and eccentric because of the bizarre institution into which they have been born. Starting from birth royals find themselves constantly in the public eye: they are relentlessly photographed and reported on by the media; they soon learn that they are restricted by constitutional requirements and royal conventions as to who they may marry and what careers they may pursue; growing up, they are surrounded by sycophants and lackeys whose deferential mindset teaches them that they can get away with almost any self-indulgent and extravagant behaviour that pleases them. No wonder Charles believes he has the answers to the world's problems - he's always been told how brilliant he is, regardless of the evidence of his own academic record. The monarchy is as damaging to the Windsors as it is to our democracy.

It is an institution that abdicated political responsibility long ago and which harms those who are caught up in it. It is bad for our democracy and bad for our pockets. The monarchy costs over 100 times as much as the Irish presidency, it is more than ten times more expensive than its German counterpart. Yet this institution which spends so much of our money is exempt from Freedom of Information laws. It does not have to hand its accounts to the National Audit Office for proper scrutiny and it continually blurs the line between what is public and what is private property, allowing the Windsors to shift costs onto the taxpayer while retaining tight control over access and accountability.

There is one final reason why the monarchy doesn't work for Britain. With over 90% of the population believing our political system does not work, our politics is crying out for reform. Yet reform in this country moves at a snail's pace because the monarchy gets in the way. Firstly, the monarchy gives the government enormous and unlimited power. This makes the government extremely cautious about moving too far down the reformist road, in case that power comes under full scrutiny and is threatened by genuine democratic change. Secondly, the monarchy's supporters cry foul when too much change is proposed, demanding that while it is permissible to make some modifications to our political system, we must not jeopardise the Queen's position, independence or authority. The deference and sycophancy shown by many toward the royals places the most important and fundamental reforms outside the political debate.

The monarchy is broken. It serves no purpose and it gets in the way of a genuine, refreshing and full-throated debate on the way we do politics in this country. It is time it went.