# Are monarchs part of a democratic system? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 29, 2025, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-monarchs-part-of-a-democratic-system/1024405 "2025-10-29T23:07:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2025, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-monarchs-part-of-a-democratic-system/1024405/121 "2025-11-17T11:30:00Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > It seems pretty clear that Parliament is the body determining who “automatically” becomes the monarch with all those succession Acts and Bills they keep passing. And that’s the crux of it. Parliament has already established the line of succession, and would take active steps to alter it if the next heir was looking iffy (looking at you, Andrew Mountbatten Windsor). ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2025, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-monarchs-part-of-a-democratic-system/1024405/122 "2025-11-17T14:10:08Z")
> [@glee](#): > > All of the above stuff is best done by a figurehead who is popular with the people. Or if not popular, at least _not continually changing_. Governments and political parties and prime ministers come and go and are hated and loved and that whole thing switches around periodically and the landscape of hate and love inverts and so on. Necessary, but horrible. Not so much with a monarch - they are still loved by some and hated by others, but the pot is not continually being stirred and that, I think, provides a sort of background sense of stability. Not exactly necessary, but _un_horrible. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-monarchs-part-of-a-democratic-system/1024405/123 "2026-02-24T17:12:37Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I agree that Parliament could remove a monarch from power. And could abolish the monarchy entirely. But Parliament would have to take some positive action to do this. It can’t happen by Parliament not acting. One for this old thread > **[Government considers removing Andrew from royal line of succession](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1kgv837wvdo)** > > The former Duke of York is eighth in line to the throne meaning he remains eligible to be King. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-monarchs-part-of-a-democratic-system/1024405/124 "2026-02-24T19:35:52Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > I’ve said this here before: A **lot** of Americans just can’t grasp that the whole “divine right of kings” thing ended in Europe long before the USA was a thing. Long before most of Europe were even aware that the Americas existed. This is an old comment but this is simply not true for all of Europe. My family left Czarist Russia and the Austrian Hungarian Empire the early 20th Century and it was a different situation than Britain. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2026, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-monarchs-part-of-a-democratic-system/1024405/125 "2026-02-25T02:24:58Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Yes, my entire position here is this: _a hereditary monarch is not chosen by democratic means._ Well… Parliament can choose to remove the individual from kingship. They can choose to modify the rules of succession. They have done both of these things. So while the elected representatives are not actively voting for king each time, by refraining from making changes they ARE making the choice as part of their role in a democratic system. (Note: sorry, I didn’t notice how old this post was that I replied to: please ignore me!) ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2026, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-monarchs-part-of-a-democratic-system/1024405/126 "2026-04-04T19:28:43Z")
I wonder whether it matters for the purposes of this discussion that the UK Parliament would hardly ever change the line of succession unilaterally; they would go in unison with the other fourteen Commonwealth realms. Effectively, the legislatures of all fifteen realms would pass identical succession statutes, as was done when the line was last amended 2011-2015. A unilateral move by the UK would break the personal union between these realms. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-monarchs-part-of-a-democratic-system/1024405.md?page=6)