What's the monarchy for?

Ainhoa appraises the new BBC series which asks just this, before revealing what monarchy means to her and throwing the question over to you, Royal Clubbers...

Hello Royal Clubbers,

Ainhoa here. I’ve just caught up on the first episode of new BBC programme What’s the Monarchy for? written and presented by David Dimbleby. The former Question Time host has spent much of his career commentating on the royal family, but for the past two years he has dedicated his time to making this monarchy-focused three-part series.

Dimbleby admits that the BBC are “royal ringmasters” – helping the monarchy display itself as it wants to be seen. He references the “mysticism about monarchy” and that that is what he’s fascinated by – it’s what most royal watchers are fascinated by, I would say.

But he also asks, “What role is there for our unelected head of state? Or more bluntly, what is the point of the monarchy? What does the monarchy serve for?” He goes as far as to compare the sovereign to the wizard in The Wizard of Oz – a character who has no real power but hides behind an illusion of greatness.