by Richard A » Thu May 04, 2023 8:15 am
That, Mactep, is the difference between a monarchy and a republic. I don't suppose formal dinners in the US feature toasts to the President either - unless they're dinners of whichever political party has one of their own in the White House. Whereas a formal dinner here, not just in the military but in various other places, features the Loyal Toast - the first toast of the evening to "The King!"
Though we don't require our school kids to pledge allegiance to any aspect of the British state every Monday morning either. I wonder whether US conservatives realise that this is something their country has in common with China!
But to the main point. As those who read the link on Heid's post will have seen, traditionally it was the hereditary peers who swore allegiance at the coronation but no one else. Who are they? These are the members of the House of Lords who, as the name implies, get their title in the same way that the monarch got his - by being the eldest surviving child of the previous one. The first one of the line was granted their title by the monarch, generally centuries ago for service to the King (or sometimes as the King's way of providing for his illegitimate children), but more recently, some Prime Ministers continued the tradition for services to the party, either political or financial. Most of the Lords today have life peerages - their title dies with them - but there are still some of the hereditary ones around; at a conference last year, the chair of one of the sessions, explained to the international audience that you got a peerage either by appointment by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister or, he declaimed, "By Right Of Birth!" And yes, he was one of the latter.
The idea of getting the entire country to swear allegiance this time is supposedly to make it more democratic. I am not an ardent republican like Lianachan or Heid (although rest assured that I shall not be qualifying for Heid's death list either), but even I find that somewhat laughable.