There’s a great op-ed in i Newspaper this week, written by British republican activist Symon Hill: “I was arrested for heckling King Charles – and I’d do it again.” Hill piggybacks on Australian Senator Lidia Thorpe’s amazing protest in Canberra, Australia, a protest which became the defining moment of Charles and Camilla’s tour. Hill points out something interesting, which I never realized: Charles has never met a republican (or anti-monarchist) advocate or activist face to face. Various republican groups have politely requested meetings with Charles over the years, only to be turned down flat. As a reminder, Lidia Thorpe also asked for a private meeting with Charles to discuss First Nations rights and she was turned down too. Hill also blasts the argument that protests are “disrespectful.”
The King gave no answer. He never does. As he finished his speech to the Australian Parliament, Senator Lidia Thorpe walked towards Charles, calling out that he was not her king and challenging him over his family’s treatment of First Nations people in Australia. The unelected head of state did not respond. He simply waited for the elected senator to be forcibly removed from her own Parliament.
On social media, Thorpe was immediately accused of being “disrespectful”. But how else is Thorpe to express her views to Charles? She cannot stand against him in an election – he is elected by nobody. She cannot debate him on television – he rarely gives serious interviews and is never properly challenged.
I was one of several people in the UK who was arrested for voicing opposition to monarchy when Charles was declared king in September 2022. I was charged with a breach of the Public Order Act, charges which were dropped two weeks later with little explanation. Alongside hundreds of supportive messages and a few death threats, I received messages saying that I was “disrespectful”. It seems to be royalists’ favourite accusation.
In reality, it is not democratic republicans such as Ms Thorpe and me who are disrespectful. It is Charles and his allies. Charles showed his disrespect for democracy and debate in Australia before the royal tour had even begun, when he turned down a polite request to meet with the Australian Republican Movement (ARM). Rejecting the invitation, the monarch’s spokespeople said that he respected the Australian people’s right to decide for themselves whether to keep the monarchy. This is disingenuous. Charles and Camilla have travelled to Australia just as support for a republic is growing there. While ARM compare the Royal visit to a farewell tour by ageing rock stars, Australian royalists are making no secret of their hope that the visit will whip up support for monarchy. At present no referendum on the issue is planned.
Members of the Windsor family consistently avoid any encounter, however calm and polite, with opponents of monarchy. Charles has never met any republican group. He does not appear on Newsnight or the Today programme to answer difficult questions. When meeting members of the public in Cardiff in 2022, he could not even bring himself to respond to someone who calmly asked him about the cost of the coronation. But it is people who object to this sort of behaviour who are described as “disrespectful”.
The police routinely go to ludicrous lengths to protect the Royals from even having to see or hear republicans. In Bolton last year, a 16-year-old with a republican placard was threatened with a dispersal notice and arrest if he did not leave the area in which Charles was due to arrive. Of course it is the police and the government, not the Windsor family, who must bear most of the blame for this sort of behaviour. But the Royals cannot wash their hands of it. An intervention from Charles, let alone a public comment, would make a considerable difference to police behaviour.
Like many people, I will continue to challenge monarchy not because I am disrespectful but because I believe that all human beings are entitled to dignity and respect. This can only really happen in a society in which we treat each other as equals and make decisions democratically – whether in communities, in workplaces or in the appointment of a head of state. Bowing down to your equal human being is what really shows disrespect for humanity.
I agree with all of this. It was infuriating to see how many British and Australian media outlets and political figures refuse to acknowledge Lidia Thorpe’s fundamental right to protest the king and the crown, much less acknowledge that Thorpe spoke truth to power. The “it’s disrespectful” argument needs to end too – Charles is a coddled 75-year-old man who lives in a dozen castles and palaces and sits on a vast, tax-free fortune. It’s 2024 – no one should shield this rotten old man from republican placards, or protect him from someone daring to protest him in person.
Indigenous senator Lidia Thorpe yells at King Charles after he finished giving a speech at the Australian Parliament:
“You committed genocide against our people, give us our land back! Give us what you stole from us! You are not our King!”
— Pop Base (@PopBase) October 21, 2024
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.