[A-List] UK state: royal salvage operation

["Michael Keaney" <michael.keaney@xxxxxx>]

It's important not to underestimate just how handy the monarchy is for an
executive hell-bent on further centralisation of its already overweening
power. Of course this opens doors to problems of legitimation, hence the
"helpfulness" of outfits like the Fabian Society and its earnest, do-gooder
"green thinker" general secretary Michael Jacobs, who can be expected to be
more radical than "Lord" John Wakeham was, but not too much. Even Norman St.
John Stevas could have come up with something more radical than Wakeham.

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Palace staff to help Labour think-tank on future of royalty
By Marie Woolf Chief Political Correspondent
The Independent
17 January 2003

Buckingham Palace is to cooperate with a Labour Party think-tank
investigating the future of the monarchy in an attempt to convince the
public that it wants to be more open.

The Royal Household has indicated that it plans to be "helpful" and answer
questions on the role of the Queen put by members of a commission formed to
study the Royal Family. It is to allow members of the ten-strong Fabian
Society commission, including academics and Labour peers, to talk to royal
officials in Buckingham Palace and even to gain access to royal papers.

The decision will be seen as an attempt to shore up support for the Royal
Family, which has been hit by a series of controversies, notably the Queen's
last-minute intervention that caused the trial of the royal butler Paul
Burrell to collapse.

St James's Palace has also responded positively to a request for
co-operation. A spokesman for the Prince of Wales said that it would attempt
to answer any questions members of the inquiry team had.

The Fabian report is expected to examine whether the heir to the throne
should regularly correspond with ministers about government policy. Prince
Charles was criticised last year for reportedly bombarding ministers with
letters expressing his views.

Penny Russell-Smith, the Queen's press secretary, said: "We will make any
facts available, provided they let us know what they wish to know."

The offer to co-operate with the inquiry has delighted and surprised the
Fabian Society, which was known in the past for its calls for reform of the
monarchy.

It is expected to ask for detailed information on the Queen's financial
status and the monarchy's position on reform, including the link between
church and state. The inquiry, which will be watched closely by ministers,
will also examine the charitable role of members of the Royal Family.

Michael Jacobs, general secretary of the Fabian Society, said he was pleased
that the Palace was not planning to close its doors. "We welcome the
Palace's willingness to speak to us. This is a serious inquiry about an
issue of great constitutional importance to Britain and we are pleased that
the Palace has recognised the importance of public debate," he said.

The inquiry, set up last year, will examine whether first-born women should
be allowed to accede to the throne. It will also look at whether the royal
prerogative, one of the main sources of the monarch's power, should be
removed. It will consider whether the Civil List should be whittled away for
minor royals and study the Queen's role as the supreme governor of the
Church of England.

The Fabian Commission, whose members include Waheed Alli, the Labour peer
and television executive, and Sir Michael Wheeler-Booth, former clerk of the
parliaments, wrote to Buckingham Palace and St James's Palace before
Christmas asking for co-operation.

Yesterday a spokesman for Prince Charles said the position of St James's
Palace was the same as that of Buckingham Palace. "We want to give them help
where we can. The basic idea is that we would try to be helpful," he said.