In Australia at least, the ‘Royal Family’ serve purely as ‘those-were-the-days’ fodder for White Australia reactionaries in their dreary culture wars.

The ABC goes OTT in its coverage of Prince Phillip’s death as a defensive mechanism because it’s such a soft issue to ingratiate themselves with the racist radical right who want to destroy them

Everyone knows the British monarchy is an anachronism. Even in the UK itself there is a serious body of opinion about downgrading the institution. In Australia it has become a maypole for sad reactionaries like Tony Abbott to dance around.

And being a passionate Republican while respecting the Queen as a dedicated and dutiful public figure are not incompatible concepts. But if we don’t cut the ties when she dies, we really are a pathetic country