Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla were crowned on Saturday the 6th of May, and during the festive weekend, my Wifey and I also watched an interview with Princess Royal, Princess Anne.

Quite recently, I wrote about royalty and about being for or against it. You can read it here. I was reminded by the post by the demonstrators of #NotMyKing, which were going on around the UK during the coronation. According to these demonstrators, there should be a democratically elected head of state. At the same time, over 40% of the 18-25 year old Britons think the same way.

Is having a president really so much better than having a sovereign?

I will take Finland as an example. Our president holds the office for 6 years, and that can be extended if they win the presidential election by one more term, so 12 years is maximum for a person to stay in the office. For instance, at the moment, when Russia launched the war against Ukraine, we are heading towards a situation where our president, Mr. Sauli Niinistö will step down. The next election is in January 2024.

We just had the general election, and the winner is trying to carve out the cabinet, and roughly half a year later we will election a new president in a situation in Europe that cries for stability and continuity. Those are the very elements that royalty represents. The elements that no democratic Republic has by default. Without these elements in the government or in leadership, we are easily faced with uncertainty and even fear, depending on the current situation. For instance, now, with the war in Europe, having a new government followed by having a new president is not going to promise a stable future.

One thing that people who live in a constitutional kingdom might want to remember is that you practically have a democratically elected head of government (aka the Prime Minister) who governs over the country. In the case of the UK, the King does not take part in governing the country, per se, but instead represents it in official functions abroad and inside the country – as they have done for decades, if not hundreds of years, and after King Charles III, it will be HRH Prince William and after that HRH Prince Louis. You can “plan ahead,” unlike we who live in a Republic.

The numbers (over 40% of 18-25’s) are high. But they are also the figures of those people who don’t think that continuity and longevity are the most important things. I was like that, and I believe that lots of you can say the same. After one turns 30 and a marriage and maybe children come along, the view changes. The value of traditions, history, and continuity are seen more important than before.

Or will they? Are we inevitably going to turn to our parents when we grow older?

If we start to value continuity and tradition when we grow older and more adults, wouldn’t that mean that we start to value stable jobs and think of our retirement funds almost automatically?

And if that is not the case, do we require monarchy as a form of governance because we don’t need continuity and traditions? Wouldn’t we be better off with a Republic where there are elections for everything every 4 or 6 years, and where the president still doesn’t have much bigger role than being a figurehead?

My view on this is from the outside, so maybe the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence. If it is like that, then the grass is also greener on this side when looked from the other side. But maybe this is an important point to make, maybe my view is something that people who live in a kingdom don’t really see? Maybe some people need to be reminded about the different aspects of Republic versus Kingdom.

I am certain that for most ordinary people, it doesn’t matter who heads the government and whether the leader was democratically elected or not.

King Charles III may not be everyone’s king like his mother seemed to be, but it would be good to remember that all presidents (except perhaps in North Korea and Russia) are not 100% for everyone either. Think that you might actually have voted Ms. Liz Truss as a president for the next 6 years and if she didn’t resign?

But as it is, I continue to be a Royalist.

I swear that I will pay true allegiance to Your Majesty and to your heirs and successors according to law. So help me God.

If I held a UK passport I would have stated this during the coronation, but as a Finnish man, I will not.