Is Charles III a closet republican?

saabsaab

I mean he isn't too popular with some in the DUP (the irony!) and he made a remark to Louise O'Neill that was certainly a dig at Unionist policy. Does he really buy into the Kingship stuff?

Brussels Sprout

Are you seriously asking if the King believes that there should be no King?

L1011

I doubt he's in favour of the UK becoming a Republic; but its fairly likely that he doesn't give a toss about the status of NI. He is basically not allowed actually say that, but he can show it by actions.

saabsaab

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120298848#Comment_120298848

Well yes, I guess I am.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120298857#Comment_120298857

I mean obviously he believes in kingship. he is the king. He has made no indication to surrender that title either.

evolvingtipperary101

There's not enough inheritance involved in Republicanism for him to be interested in practicing republicanism. But, I'm sure Charles dabbles in the ideas of republicanism at dinner parties in the same way that some communist idealists are communist but they will never spend one day of their life living in a communist country.

Jim_Hodge

You're seriously confusing Unionist and Monarchist.

elperello

I seem to recall him signing up to be king and the only thing bothering him was a leaky pen.

He is currently sending out invites to his coronation.

So no he isn't any sort of republican.

saabsaab

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120298879#Comment_120298879

People have often gone along with a role expected of them due to familiarity and take up the family business. Sometimes they don't believe in it.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120299140#Comment_120299140

Right.. and that’s happened how many times as a king or queen of England?

This isn’t just a small role in a family business like?

pixelburp

Is he a Republican? No, that's a stretch.

He has however, inherited a throne in his 70s having spent most of his life assuming he'd rule through middle age, at best. His mum was coronated at 26?

Perhaps it's simply his heart isn't into a role he's suddenly asked to fulfill in his twilight years. He'll have, what, maybe 10 to 20 years rule? And his first responsibility is overseeing the continuing clusterF that is Brexit and the madness that are the modern Tories.

Loafing Oaf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120298913#Comment_120298913

Not to mention Louise O'neill and Michelle O'Neill...

saabsaab

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120298947#Comment_120298947

The superstitious might believe that a leaky pen portends a break in the future and/or a break between generations!

saabsaab

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120299174#Comment_120299174

My bad!

the_amazing_raisin

I would say there's a difference between supporting the Act of Union and supporting the DUP (although the latter would probably disagree with that)

There's scenarios where Northern Ireland gains more independence but remains a monarchy under Charles. I imagine he's happy enough with any of those outcomes provided he's still king

Probably worth also remembering that Elizabeth ended her reign over fewer countries than when she started but nobody threw her off the throne for it.

Could very well be that Charles doesn't care about anywhere else as long as he's King of England (and maybe Wales and Scotland, not sure where his thoughts like there)

L1011

Should add that while Charles clearly doesn't have great memories of his time at school in Scotland, I imagine he would be far, far more protective of it as part of his Kingdom.

standardg60

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058286303/is-charles-iii-a-closet-republican

What was the remark?

I don't doubt that he's a fan of the republic (of Ireland) if that's what you mean

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120299480#Comment_120299480

During his rapid UK tour after Betty died, he chatted to her at relative length about being in charge of the biggest party etc, while Jeffrey was standing beside her. He didn't give him anywhere near as much attention,

Sam Russell

He is in a strange position.

He declared himself to be 'Defender of faiths' instead of 'Defender of THE Faith' when he was still PofW.

Now he is King, he is the head of the Church of England, next up is God.

So how does he reconcile those two positions?

saabsaab

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120299480#Comment_120299480

He said 'didn't they know that they lost?' to Michelle O'Neill re Unionists.

Strumms

He isn’t a closet republican.

he and his family live a life of wealth, luxury, opulence and absolute ease and comfort, courtesy of their rank and status, directly as a result of there being a monarchy…

his personal wealth is believed to be well over a hundred million since the passing of his parents and him inheriting a good chunk of that

All he has to do, is pay lip service to things that have become de rigueur such as the environment, mental health and possibly a slimmed down monarchy in time. All that is already happening…

The monarchy is a revenue earner, brought in on average just under 2 billion in revenue before covid, that’s per year.

that said, polls in Britain show that support for the monarchy is on the wain, especially amongst young people, teens, twenties etc don’t care for it… but I think the appetite for doing away with it is quite a ways away.

I do believe that in time it will be ninjad though, just not in my lifetime.

snowstorm445

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120299543#Comment_120299543

To be fair the British monarch governs the Church of England and yet also claims to be a member of the Church of Scotland. The first is an Anglican Church with many inherited Catholic traditions, bishops and the apostolic succession, the second repudiates Catholicism and bishops altogether. Their doctrines are fundamentally different. Which to me suggests that most of the puffery they make about religion or being "Defender of the Faith" is just à la carte lip service designed to tick the right political boxes. The typical shiny bauble mascot stuff that pretty much defines the royal family nowadays anyway.

Dr Karl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120299641#Comment_120299641

The title Defender of the Faith was given to Henry VIII by the then Pope, I think it was one of the Pope Leos. The Anglican church's creed says they are catholic. There are actually a number of churches, mainly in the Middle East, that accept the Pope in Rome as the head of their church, they just are not part of the Latin Rite, which is the most common form of catholicism in Western Europe. Having said that the CoE is not one of them.

Montage of Feck

The DUP are a bunch of dour, cantankerous bigots could you blame Charlie for wanting to avoid them. Another example of how loyalism and cultural unionism is an idiotic concept, being loyal to people who hold nothing but contempt for you.

trashcan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120299588#Comment_120299588

Did he really say that ? 😀. Brilliant. He just went up a notch in my estimation !

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120299175#Comment_120299175

I'm not a superstitious person so I tend to go by his actions.

There may well be a break between generations but passing on the family business to your son is not the same as wishing it was closed down.

saabsaab

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120299967#Comment_120299967

Can't find the exact quote but it was picked up by accident on the mike. Along those lines might have been 'has anyone told them the results yet?'

road_high

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120299497#Comment_120299497

I’m no sf fan but I like Michelle oneill and the warmth was obvious between them. He thanked her for her kind words. Contrasted nicely with the stiff as a board cold DUP whom it was obvious he had no connection with

AyeGer

Having seen him make fun of Jeffrey Donaldson in front of Michelle O'Neill i think he has no great love for the northern unionists.

fly_agaric

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058286303/is-charles-iii-a-closet-republican

Lol. IMO he doesn't think much of the DUP, and its so called "leaders" like Donaldson.

I don't think anyone with any sense actually likes or respects the DUP, so it just shows King Charles has at least 1oz of sense rather than him being a bit of an agent of chaos who is out to abolish his own position in life!

CrabRevolution

"Is the King a monarchist?" sounds like an absurd rhetorical question akin to "is the Pope Catholic". Of course he's not a republican.

The DUP are, as usual, wedded to a badly out of date vision of what society should look like. As a result, things that seem to any normal person as uneventful (talking to the leaders of SF or the President of the EC) are an affront to the DUP. The very idea that they're "controversial" implies that we should be taking the small-mindedness of the DUP as a standard.