Divide the class into small groups and get them to rank the comments in order of how much they agree with them.
They could cut out each comment so that they can move them around more easily and then stick them on a sheet of labelled A3 paper.
- Which do students agree with?
- Are the comments representative?
- How could the royal family interest young people?
- What would they like to do to celebrate the jubilee?
Your ideal head of state: write a job advert for a new head of state for Britain, explain their roles, the pay and perks and the hours. Specify the sort of characteristics the applicant should have.
The monarchy is an institution, but the Royal family are people. What are the strengths and weaknesses of having a family instead of electing people?
- The Queen is the United Kingdom's Head of State. As well as carrying out significant constitutional functions, the Queen also acts as a focus for national unity, presiding at ceremonial occasions, visiting local communities and representing Britain around the world.
- The four sources of funding for the Queen, or officials of the Royal Household acting on Her Majesty's behalf, are: the Civil List, the Grants-in-Aid for upkeep of Royal Palaces and for Royal travel, the Privy Purse and the Queen's personal wealth and income.
- The majority of formal functions exercised in the name of the Monarch are actually implemented by Ministers. These include all the significant aspects of policy and decision-making, such as the conclusion of international treaties, declarations of war, the introduction or amendment of colonial constitutions and the establishment of public bodies.
- A comparison of opinion polls conducted for the Guardian newspaper over the last thirteen years clearly shows that the Royal family are more unpopular than ever before. In August 1997 support for the Royal family fell below 50% for the first time and in June 2000 was only 40% (britpolitics.com).
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