How will Brexit affect the UK Monarchy? The Tab interviews Brexiteer MP Mark Francois

Mark Francois, a Conservative MP and the Deputy Chairman of the European Research Group, has been a prominent voice in the campaign for Big Ben to 'bong for Brexit' at an estimated cost of £500,000.

During a Union debate about the state of the House of Windsor, Mark Francois boldly finished his speech in the chamber relishing in the fact that this would be the final Union debate while Britain was still a member of the EU.

When asked whether he thought Brexit would affect the British monarchy, he declared that ‘it is a separate issue’ and that voters did not conflate the two during the 2016 referendum. He said, ‘we had a constitutional monarchy before we joined what was then the European Economic Community’ and the Queen is ‘still on the throne when we’ve left’. He conceded, however, that both the monarchy and Brexit are surrounded by ‘arguments about sovereignty and taking back control’ – yet ‘control’ over what is not quite clear.

By the end of the debate, the principle of the institution of monarchy seemed unresolved. Why does our country retain such an affection for a system which could appear to be at such odds with the meritocratic principles of a modern liberal democracy? When asked this question, Francois passionately argued that he does not ‘think it is at odds with it’ and rather ‘there are different systems of government around the world, and this is our system'.

Citing opinion polls which present that 80% of the British public are content with the institution, Francois argues that the monarchy has ‘evolved over centuries, and most people seem to think it works pretty well’. This seems plausible, yet it will be interesting to see how events such as the Prince Andrew scandal and ‘Megxit’ will affect the public conception of the monarchy.

According to Francois, the recent general election illustrates the popularity of the monarchy. He argues, 'Jeremy Corbyn is a republican, everybody knew it and he got slaughtered'. Labour’s defeat is undoubtedly a contentious issue, yet I must admit that I am not convinced that Corbyn’s republicanism played as prominent a role as Francois suggests. He further described how antipathy towards the monarchy is low and is a negligible issue in British politics. He tells me how during his political campaigns, 'not one person said: ‘we need to get rid of the monarchy''.

Why is the monarchy popular in Britain? In Francois' opinion, ‘it has provided continuity and stability within our constitution’, as the Queen has reigned undisturbed over so many societal changes. He states that the Queen is ultimately 'a figure above politics' and implies that the Queen is independent of political affiliations and acts as a unifying force.

The neutrality of the Queen was up for debate throughout the evening, with some of the speakers suggesting that she holds right-wing views. Despite previously refuting any links between Brexit and the monarchy, Francois contends that 'Brexit and all the arguments around it have been a divisive process, but you’ve always had Her Majesty as a constitutional backstop’.

I mentioned a quote attributed to King Farouk of Egypt in which he theorises that at the end of the twentieth century there ‘will be five queens left, four in a pack of cards and one British’. Whether or not the House of Windsor or the institute of the monarchy itself is in decline, it is clear that Britain is somewhat unique in its power structure. In response to this, Francois concludes that 'we’re going to stay with our system for some time’, yet he does not provide any reasons as to why Britain is unique in this way. Presumably a victory for royalists, and a dismay to the small but growing group of republicans.

The evening concluded with a reassuring message from the President of the Union that European students will continue to be welcome in the Union. Therefore, while Brexit may change other aspects of life, the Union will provide a much-needed constant, just – as Francois argues – the monarchy promises to do.