God save the King? Maybe... maybe not

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Will Charles follow his mother to the throne or will MPs throw up a roadblock? (REX FEATURES)

As this hour-long meditation on the relevance of the British monarchy in 21st-century society begins, members of lofty Oxford University's debating society are sparring over precisely the question as to whether the royal line should continue beyond Queen Elizabeth II.

William Jones, holder of the title of world universities debating champion, is arguing in favour of the monarchy's preservation.

"We concede that the monarchy is irrelevant. It is undemocratic, it is unrepresentative, it is inbred, it is racist... it is anachronistic and it is elitist."

Oh, my. And he's on the side of the royals.

Clearly, the intent of this Doc Zone presentation (which airs tonight at 8 on CBC) is to portray the British royal family as a house under siege, a lineage with an uncertain future, a tradition whose time may soon have passed.

The underlying premise is that Queen Elizabeth II, at age 83, is surely in the final chapter of her reign over what's left of the British Empire. Even if she remains at her post until she dies -- which clearly seems to be her intention -- the conclusion of her tenure as wearer of the crown is on the horizon.

Despite having suffered several lifetimes' worth of trials and tribulations, Elizabeth II still enjoys widespread public support.

Since ascending to the throne at age 27, she has aged gracefully and endured stoically, and her public seems still to view her with great affection.

But after Elizabeth II... then what?

"They have to have the right person leading," says Katie Nicholl, Diary editor of The Mail on Sunday.

"If they make the wrong choice, then that will be the end of the monarchy."

The choices, of course, are very limited. There's the obvious and expected one -- the rise of Prince Charles, who has waited a lifetime for his turn to be king -- and then there's the less obvious, infinitely more tricky selection -- one of his sons, a choice that would only be made if the British Parliament decided that having Charles in charge would be detrimental to the institution.

Columnist Johann Hari of The Independent, no fan of the royals, favours the second option.

"When Elizabeth Windsor dies and she's replaced by a highly political, deeply weird man, the debate will be transformed," he offers, "particularly since he has announced that he intends to interfere with politics, using his unelected power to lobby for eccentric political causes.

"An overtly political king will be the death of the monarchy."

With camera and microphone in tow, Montreal filmmaker John Curtin roams the British countryside, visiting sites of significance and talking to people from all walks of life about the relevance, or lack thereof, of the monarchy.

What he finds is a nation with decidedly divided opinions; not many Britons seem neutral on the "whither the Windsors?" question.

Curtin also takes a close look at personal histories of the princes who might be king -- Charles, raised during a generation that still held the royals in high esteem, and William and Harry, products of the tabloid-crazed era in which their mother paid the ultimate price for fame.

Much time is devoted to "the Lady Diana factor," which is responsible for many Brits' negative feelings about Prince Charles -- they feel he treated her shabbily, in their marriage, in its aftermath, and even after her death, when his marriage to Camilla Parker Bowles only served, for some, as a reminder of misdeeds past.

In the end, Curtin asserts, the outcome of the "Who's next?" question could be largely academic as the monarchy limps toward its end.

"After Queen Elizabeth, I suspect that Prince Charles will eventually struggle to the throne," says human-rights activist Peter Tatchell, "but with greatly diminished public support. And then, when he goes, I think it will be the end. He will be Charles the Last."

Now, there's a statement that will spark a debate that extends far beyond the walls of Oxford...

brad.oswald@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 12, 2009 D5