''It's democratic innit and that's all that needs to be said'' begs the question Gordon as long as you and your wee wizards refuse to outline any benefits a British Republic would bring in terms of connecting with our history and national soft power, economic and cultural.
I think Britain overstates its soft power, particularly trying to link it to the royals. All sorts of countries have significant soft power - currently China's soft power is coursing through Africa and many other parts of the globe.
There is no doubt that our soft power is diminished compared to when the Queen first came to the throne and is diminishing still. And there are far more important reasons than the monarchy for why we might still punch a little above our weight in terms of soft power. The most obvious being language - being an English speaking country, when much of the world uses English as their second language, if not the first, is hugely important. It makes cultural and economic links and ties much, much easier. And that, of course, has nothing to do with the monarchy per se, but our imperialist legacy and the fact that one of the earlier colonies to break free (the USA) is the biggest economy and the most powerful nation on the planet.
The notion that some hard nosed business people in, say, Indonesia will do a deal because we have a Queen (or a King) who they know exists but have likely never met and never will meet, is non-sense.
