Recent weeks have seen prominent coverage of William Windsor
(“Prince William”) on the front of celebrity magazines as well
as in national newspapers. Having taken on extra
responsibilities, and been well-received in Australia, support
and admiration for him seem to have grown. William Windsor’s
supporters seem keen to extol his virtues and to say how he will
make a great king. But they don’t seem to have enough confidence
in his suitability to support a system that would involve his
name appearing on a ballot paper, so that the public can decide
whether he, or someone else, should be our head of state. The
problem with promoting William’s virtues is that this completely
misses the point of monarchy. The idea of monarchy is that the
position goes to the next person in line – regardless of whether
or not he or she is any good at the job. In earlier centuries,
this absurdity was maintained by belief in the Divine Right of
Kings, the doctrine that said the royal lineage had been blessed
by God. Surely almost no-