I have historically been a "soft" monarchist. I think the monarchy has considerable soft power benefits and makes a great tourist attraction. I started going off it a bit though seeing just how much the cost was in relation to other European monarchies.
And then this whole "swearing allegiance" thing has rather crystallised it for me. Will I swear personal allegiance to Charles Windsor? No, of course I won't, he has no more right to my allegiance than does my next door neighbour. And therefore how can I consider it right that he is "my" king?
I can't, of course. It follows that I must believe that disestablishment of the monarchy is what should happen. So there's my changed opinion for today.
(To be clear, I believe I owe my *country* my allegiance, in particular in the form of the people who make it up. The idea that I owe fealty to the person of Charles Windsor though is ludicrous. L'etat, ce n'est pas Charles.)
