POWER AND THE THRONE

by Anthony Barnett

This is the most important, wide-ranging and critical debate so far published on the monarchy. It is not concerned with the trivia and tragedy of the Windsor's personal lives. Instead, a glittering range of contributors from across the spectrum of opinion focus on what the monarchy means for Britain today. Do we - can we? - continue to live in what Anthony Barnett calls in a provocative introductory essay, "an empire state?" The essays include Charles Moore's stirring reassertion of the case for the crown and David Hare's denunciation of the "odious rituals of deference." Lady Longford assures us that the royal phoenix will rise from the ashes of the Windsor fire. Christopher Hitchens rebukes Shirely Williams and criticizes the monarchy for invading our privacy. Marina Warner dissects our fear of change. These and many others contribute to a debate conceived as a watershed. A debate that will be seen as having shattered the taboo on serious scrutiny of the monarchy.

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Anthony Barnett (b. 1942) is an English writer and campaigner. He was a co-founder of openDemocracy in 2001.

Barnett was a student at Cambridge University, where he was active in the Labour Club, and lodged with Nicholas Kaldor.

A former member of the editorial committee of New Left Review, Barnett has written for the New Statesman, The Guardian and Prospect.

Reviews

[Michael Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charter 88 (the original publisher, founded in 1988 on the 300th anniversary of the Glorious Revolution) is a "radical" British political organization that questions the role of the royal family in the modern world and whose goal is adoption of a written constitution and an end to the royal prerogative. A couple of generations ago, this position would have been considered Jacobin, but not anymore, such is the spread of popular dissatisfaction with the royals, the House of Lords, the established church, and other class-based institutions. The essays in this collection include loyalist as well as abolitionist viewpoints, but perhaps the most interesting are those by Tory journalist Charles Moore ("The Importance of the Monarchy") and Elizabeth Longford, a republican turned monarchist (and whose own books appear elsewhere in this bibliography), and their antitheses, Social Democrat Stephen Haseler ("Monarchy Is Feudal") and playwright David Hare, who wants to see an end to the "odious rituals of deference." There are also several pieces by politicians, including Jack Straw, later an important figure in the Blair government, who would like to abolish the prerogative. Several novelists, including Sue Townsend, Fay Weldon, and Martin Amis, also provide interesting contributions. Though now two decades old, this volume provides a useful series of snapshots into the continuing debate.