Down With the Royals: (Provocations)

by Joan Smith

Overview

When Prince George was just eight weeks old, the Evening Standard declared him to be 'the most influential person in London'. He couldn't even walk, let alone talk. Yet one day he could become head of state, whether we like it or not. Joan Smith argues that it has become nearly impossible to question the existence of the monarchy. Articulate republicans are drowned out while the supercharged PR and media machines ask only who designed Kate's dresses. Smith topples the arguments for having a monarchy, one by one. The royals don't provide a boost for tourism, and their deliberately opaque accounting conceals the truth about the huge burden they place on the public purse. And she exposes darker truths. These symbols of so-called impartiality have hidden power and influence. Not only does Charles regularly lobby government ministers but - far from the sycophantic reporting of Kate's baby bump - the royals have dined with despots with blood on their hands. Are these people really fi t to be the public face of a modern country? Ultimately, Smith declares that the monarchy - undemocratic, unaccountable and shockingly expensive - has no place in modern Britain.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781849549011
Publisher:	Biteback Publishing, Ltd.
Publication date:	03/24/2015
Sold by:	Bookwire
Format:	eBook
Pages:	128
File size:	223 KB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Joan Smith is an English novelist, journalist and human rights activist. She is the author of the Loretta Lawson series of crime novels and is co-chair of the Mayor of London’s Violence Against Women and Girls Panel.

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown writes a weekly column for The Independent and occasionally for the Daily Mail and other newspapers. She is a broadcaster and author of several books. Her next book, Exotic England, explores England’s relationship with the East.

She is winner of the Orwell Prize for journalism and Professor of Journalism at Middlesex University. She is a Shia Muslim, born and raised in Uganda, a proud migrant and British Asian citizen.