Queen: Graham Smith discusses royal referendum

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The Duke and Duchess of Sussex plunged the Royal Family into chaos earlier this year by outlining their reasons for quitting for a new life in the US. Harry said he felt “trapped” while Meghan claimed she did not receive support when she felt suicidal – prompting Buckingham Palace to respond “recollections may vary”. In a recent YouGov poll, 4,500 people in Australia were asked earlier this year: “Australia’s current head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who is resident in the United Kingdom, and represented in Australia by a Governor-general — do you think Australia should have an Australian as our head of state?”

They were given the options of “yes” or “no”, leading to 62 percent saying they would vote yes.

Sandy Biar, National Director at the Australian Republic Movement, said this showed citizens in the Commonwealth nation were clearly growing tired of the Royal Family.

He added Harry and Meghan’s recent claims did not help matters as they showed the royals “lurched from crisis to crisis”.

He told Express.co.uk: “Harry and Meghan’s interview earlier this year highlighted the ridiculousness of having a foreign monarch as Australia’s head of state.

“Australians need a head of state, chosen by Australians and accountable to them, rather than a family that lurches from crisis to crisis.

“The latest YouGov poll showed support for an Australian republic at 62 percent.

“As more Australians come to see how out of touch the British Monarchy is, the more we’ll see momentum continue to increase.”

“The idea of hereditary rule is as foreign to Australians as the British Monarchy, and Australians overwhelmingly want to know that important decisions affecting our nation’s future are in Australian hands.”

Australians were also previously asked if they thought the nation should become a republic in a referendum in 1999, which asked whether the Constitution of Australia should be amended.

But almost 55 percent of voters turned down this option and so the Queen remained Head of State.

Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams added this showed Australia will never lose its faithful support in the Royal Family, despite the “difficult period” following the pandemic and Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s claims.

He told Express.co.uk: “Out of the 54 nations of the Commonwealth, the Queen is head of state of 15.

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“Obviously it is up to each country to decide its own future. Referenda in Australia, Tuvalu and St Vincent and the Grenadines some years ago all voted to keep the links with the Crown.

“It is undeniable that the monarchy, as in the 1860s when Victoria went into seclusion, at the time of the Abdication in 1936 and during the 1990s, is going through a difficult period.

“Yet the anticipated lifting of restrictions will mean the Royal Family will be able to do more personal engagements and the Queen’s broadcasts to the nation last year were both moving and brilliantly scripted.

“We also have next year’s Platinum Jubilee to look forward to both in Britain and in the Commonwealth and Australia will undoubtedly be involved in the celebrations. It is very difficult owing to the pandemic to plan for this now.

“I don’t think republicanism is a significant issue in Australia at the moment. It would benefit those who favour a republic to remember what happened in 1999 when all six states voted to keep the monarchy.

“This could happen again!”

It comes after Meghan hinted there could have been a missed opportunity for her biracial links to help change the Royal Family’s image in the Commonwealth during the Oprah interview in March.

She said: “The Commonwealth is a huge part of the monarchy, and I lived in Canada, which is a Commonwealth country, for seven years.

“But it wasn’t until Harry and I were together that we started to travel through the Commonwealth, I would say 60 percent, 70 percent of which is people of colour, right?”

Meanwhile, the Royal Family is also facing an uncertain future with other Commonwealth nations.

Barbados is set to join Trinidad and Tobago, Dominica and Guyana in becoming a republic.

Barbados’ governor-general Dame Sandra Mason said in September: “The time has come to fully leave our colonial past behind.”

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