Relevance of Kings And Queens in Ceremonial Role

The royalty titles - Kings and Queens - are still in vogue in the world. These titles are found in developed countries as well as in developing countries. There are quite a few Kings and Queens still in the world: in UK, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Spain, Denmark, Oman, Tonga, Morocco, Monaco, Bahrain, Cambodia, Jordan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Liechtenstein, Norway, Brunei, Japan, Nepal, Thailand, Kuwait, Sweden, Bhutan, Samoa, Swaziland... What is their utility to humanity in the present era? They have ceremonial value only, but at a huge cost to public exchequer. They are unpopular, and losing power slowly in Middle East, Nepal, Brunei and other developing countries.

Who supports Kings?

Surprisingly, the survival of these kingdoms depends upon support from other democracies of the world. Saudi Arabia King/Sheikh gets support from US. Is it, to maintain stability in the region? Not a convincing argument! It confirms that there are no permanent friends, and principles of a country. There are only permanent interests. Osama-bin-Laden the terrorist had to leave Saudi Arabia for supporting democracy.

Clinging to old pride

Aren't the Kings/Queens just relics of past and irrelevant? What is the hitch? We remember past glory with pride. A Queen in UK, reminds us of the glorious past of UK: the British Empire, where the Sun never set. We want to cling to old memories. Remember the good old school days: Law of Inertia - Newton's First Law of Motion. There is always a resistance to change. Is the social recognition of Kings/Queens relevant in present era? Is the expenditure on maintaining the ceremonial Kings/Queens justifiable? Let there be a voluntary retirement plan, with one lump sum payment. Give them decent accommodation. Take away big palaces. Convert these into museums or hotels. Commoners would love to pay any amount, to live 'royal' life even for a day. Let the Kings and Queens live like commoners. It has to happen. How long can we delay the inevitable? "Who will bell the cat?", and when! The Kings and Queens - the ceremonial relics of the past - may see the writing on the wall and voluntarily surrender the perks. They will reconcile, as they have done in India, a land with hundreds of small kingdoms, in 1947. Let us make a final push to dump the existing irrelevant titles of Kings and Queens into history books. Developing countries are the leaders in the drive to obliterate the kingdoms from the face of the earth. They are fighting a losing battle in the world. The developed nations - democratic nations - are safe havens for these relics of past.

The new avatars

There are new avatars, who are replacing erstwhile Kings and Queens. Saddam Hussein with his seven palaces, was more than a King. Col Gaddafi of Libya lived like a King. Idi Amin was another monster, who ruled like a king. UNO needs to keep an eye on such pseudo-kings in developing countries. Humanity must curb the extravaganza of such public figures, who misuse democracy.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8717852