Post 38: Princes, Power and Presidents

POWER COLOUR          November 1995

Grey, Power colour
Colour of granite and the city suit
Grey; colour of thunder clouds
And battleships, colour of grime
And stone quarries
And the grey men
Behind the smoky windows
Of their grey limousines

I am ambivalent regarding the advantages, morality and preference of who should be accepted as heads of states. Republican supporters main premise is that leaders of the country should be elected; which is all well and good, if the system that puts them in power is fit for purpose.

Looking around the world, it seems to me that Presidents have not had a good press; whether it be the extreme ideology practiced by many; and inflicted on the suffering populace, or the kleptocrats that steal their country’s wealth, or the ones that are just corrupt and have achieved positions of power through manipulative and violent means. There are many properly functioning Presidential republics, for sure; but there’s plenty of ones that aren’t. Most of us know this. All over the world we see the evidence of Presidential rule that is dictatorial and oppressive.

You can’t get away from the fact, that elected leaders of state are only there because they want to be. They might start out intending to rule with probity and wisdom, but the very ambition that got them into power, can be subsumed and degraded, corrupted by cash, influenced by malign outside sources and swallowed in hubris. You don’t have to look very far to be aware of the catastrophes caused by power hungry kleptocrats, who care not for their country’s welfare

On this island; and I can only speak for the British Isles, Monarchs have, in the main, been born into their role in life. There’s been the odd overthrow of a Royal house, but the successors were usually related. In this scrap of land on the Western edge of Europe, we have known Kings and Queens from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, France, Spain and Germany; the ultimate cosmopolitan group!

The existing royal houses of Europe are as intertwined as our island population is diverse; And, once the ‘Divine Right of Kings’ was kicked into the long grass by Oliver Cromwell and his ilk; followed by further removal of any constitutional power during the reign of Charles ll, we have benefited from Heads of State with little power to influence how we are governed; but with a weight of history behind them.

George lll surrendered control over estate revenues to the treasury, relieving him of responsibility for the cost of the civil service, defence, the national debt, and personal debts. In return he received an annual grant, which became the civil list. Subsequent monarchs have conformed to this arrangement; until 2012, when the list was replaced by a percentage of the Crown Estate annual net income. This meant that the government didn’t have to undertake the tricky and political decision, which had to be decided in parliament every ten years, as to the amount of monies allocated to the Monarch and his or her deserving relatives.

This course of events successfully pulled any remaining ‘teeth’ of power from the Monarchy; and left them as figureheads for the nation; albeit very comfortably placed to provide the pomp and ceremony so beloved of the general populace; but with no political say in the running of the country.

The royal house could run on a less generous income than is provided by the state, but I’m pretty sure that presidential systems are just as pricey; and not as accountable. Just look around the world to discover how alternative heads of state have manipulated their country’s finances, and stolen through devious means, that which should be used for the common good. Those ‘grey men’ wield their power with unstoppable impunity.