• waigl@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    Is Charles III really that unpopular? My impression is that most people regard as him some mildly interesting oddity at best. Compare that to Charles II and his constant clashes with the English Parliament…

    • wander1236@sh.itjust.works
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      10 months ago

      I don’t know if he’s specifically unpopular, but I think the idea of a monarchy, especially one that’s mostly there for show and takes up a ton of resources every year, isn’t very popular anymore.

      • WaxedWookie@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        He’s too old to be relatable, too young to be a seemingly eternal fixture like Elizabeth was, the Diana stuff made him seem like a cunt, outside that, he’s weird, disconnected, and unlikeable, he’s got weird notions about things like homeopathy… Basically, he’s most of the worst elements of the aristocracy rolled together in an environment where living standards for the average Briton are rapidly and visibly backsliding.

        William is younger, more relatable, and less outwardly elitist - he’d be far more popular.

      • bane_killgrind
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        10 months ago

        The Crown estate actually nets a large profit each year, hundreds of millions pounds… You could argue that it’s functionally owned by the nation, but the assets being held at arm’s length prevent them from being plundered for short term gains.

    • CarbonIceDragon@pawb.social
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      10 months ago

      I do kind of wonder sometimes how people in the UK and the other countries that technically follow the british monarchy feel about him, do they actually care much about the tradition or symbolism of their monarchy these days seeing as they essentially exist as a generally powerless state-ordained celebrity, or is the tradition of it still popular? From my perspective as someone in the US, it feels so weird to consider the British monarchy outside the context of Elizabeth II that it honestly feels like it ought to have just died with her, even though I know thats not how monarchies work. Growing up she seemed just like some interesting anachronism the brits had where they used her as a national symbol, but the idea of the thing keeping going with new people in the modern day just feels silly at some level, like its a thing whose time has long since passed.

    • thehatfox@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      The transition from Elizabeth to Charles has created a life more attention for the monarchy. Many people who previously didn’t have an opinion on either Charles or the monarchy itself as an institution now have one, and for many it’s negative.

      That said, the monarchy is really not seen as a political priority in the UK. Most people have far more pressing political concerns, and so long as Charles III is able to avoid too much (additional) controversy that probably won’t change any time soon.

    • xeekei@lemm.ee
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      10 months ago

      English Parliament? Did you mean the unified British one, or did England finally get their own devolved Parliament?