From an elected president to palaces: Here's what would actually happen if Britain became a republic

What makes England, England?

This sort of question can incite a great deal of far-right consternation. But forget flag-draped rioters; according to Google, Englishness is mostly characterised by harmless banalities like ‘politeness’, ‘talking about the weather’ and ‘having a cup of tea’. And reigning supreme over this nation of hedgerows and small-talkers is the royal family.

While their rule extends over all of the UK (and the Commonwealth to boot) they are undeniably chiefly associated with England: in a recent poll, pluralities in all four devolved nations described it as “mostly an English thing” compared to “something shared by all parts of the UK”.

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But what would England look like without this stalwart of national identity? England, republicans claim, would be ‘freed’ by abolishing the crown.

“Our identity has often been relegated to that of the monarchy, so in terms of national identity becoming a republic would be liberating,” Graham Smith, head of the Republic pressure group, told the Big Issue. “We’d be able to celebrate ordinary people and focus on the traditions that matter, rather than being told our identity is bound up with one mediocre family.”

Not everyone feels this way, of course. A majority (57%) of people in England want to keep King Charles as head of state. And the institution undeniably retains an emotional resonance for many people – remember the viral image of Paddington Bear chaperoning the late Queen to the Great Hereafter?

Nonetheless, support for the royal family is in steady decline. Back in 1983, 86% of Brits said that it was important for Britain to have a monarchy, a proportion that has since reduced to a little more than a half.

So what would a republic look like – and what would it mean for England and the union?

How likely is it that the UK will become a republic?

No major political party currently backs abolishing the monarchy. Without political will, a transition is very unlikely, but support for a republic has increased in recent years. Some 80% of those over 65 support the monarchy – but only 30% of 18–24-year-olds believe the royal family is good for Britain, a recent YouGov poll showed, with 40% preferring an elected head of state.

If we did vote for a republic, it would be a complex process. Legally, the UK would need to pass an act of parliament to end the monarchy and replace the head of state. This would likely require a public referendum first, given the scale of the change.

The political system would have to be rewritten: powers currently exercised by the monarch – such as appointing the prime minister or dissolving parliament – would need to be reassigned, likely to a president or another figure, who would assume the symbolic duties involving treaties, the armed forces and the Church of England.

It’s complicated, but not impossible.

“Our preferred model includes an elected head of state, one who has limited constitutional powers and responsibilities but not political power. They would be directly elected,” said Smith. “The Irish model is closest to what we envisage and it’s used in a number of European countries. Those republics work very well and they also give their citizens the chance to elect interesting and inspiring people like Michael D Higgins (a statesman and poet who is currently Ireland’s president) or Iceland’s Vigdís Finnbogadóttir (the first woman in the world to be democratically elected president of a country).”

“The president would then take office on the first day of a republic. It’s worth looking at the transition ceremonies in Barbados in 2022 as reference. If the decision includes a new constitution that would also be promulgated on the same day. Charles and the family would move out of the palaces and the new head of state would move into their official residence.”

So what would happen to the palaces themselves?

If Britain became a republic, most royal palaces would likely become public property. Buildings like Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, already owned by the state through the Crown Estate, would probably be converted into museums, galleries, or state buildings. Privately owned residences such as Sandringham and Balmoral could remain the personal property of the former royal family, unless the government negotiated their transfer or imposed new taxes.

They’d probably become tourist attractions – Graham imagines “turning the palaces into world class museums and galleries”.

“I could imagine the Mall being pedestrianised,” he added, “and the whole area surrounding Buckingham Palace being used to celebrate British culture and history.”

It’s worth considering other uses. Last year, Big Issue crunched the numbers, and found that Buckingham Palace alone could fit 1,974 studio flats into its 77,000 square metres. Using the same maths for Windsor Castle, Balmoral, the Palace of Holyrood and Sandringham, almost 3,500 people could have a home – making a not-insignificant dent in Britain’s housing crisis.

What would all this mean for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland? It’s hard to say, says professor Gregor Gall of the University of Glasgow.

“In Scotland, as the republican slogan has long been ‘Citizens, not subjects!’, this reflects a long held desire for a republic to also be about egalitarianism, so social justice of some sort,” he told Big Issue.

“The problem is that in Scotland, the SNP – by far and away the largest and most successful but only now nominally pro-independence party – also favours retaining the monarchy and is not that radical in terms of social justice.”

In other words, the fight for a republic in Scotland does not feature heavily in domestic politics.

“If a republic in Scotland was to be achieved, it would be through independence given the position of Labour. It could then be quite radical but achieving it/both is presently a very long shot,” Gall added.

Indeed, abolishing the monarchy could help keep the union intact, speculated Smith.

“The crown has been a symbol of division and English dominance in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. A republic would give us all a chance to choose a head of state, even choosing heads of state from different parts of the UK,” he said. “It’s quite possible Scotland would still become independent, and perhaps the head of state wouldn’t make much difference, but it has the potential to reset relations between the constituent parts of the union.”

For now, anyway, the royals aren’t going anywhere. But the role of the monarchy in national identity feels increasingly open to debate. This St George’s Day is a chance to reflect on that, says Smith – for England, and Britain more widely.

“We already have plenty of myths and storytelling without the royals. Our modern foundational story is the second world war, and the royals don’t really feature in that too much. Britain has a rich and complex history full of interesting, complicated and brilliant people who we can celebrate.”

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