once again I find myself cordially disagreeing with Cllr. Who for a tory is ok. The checks and balances of a constitutional monarchy actually dont mean a thing. As a republican I find that the fact that a bunch of people who are there simply to reinforce the class system in the UK an affront to logical thinking. Monetarily speaking the french have survived and prospered from a monarchy that hasnt existed for two hundred years, what difference would it make to the UK tourist economy if the people didnt actually exist anymore? What real power does the Queen have? None. The formalities of handing over parliament could be handled just as well by a democratically elected officer ( its worked in the United States for a number of years). Quite frankly the English( german-greek-norman-austrian) royal family doesnt really have any function in British society today, except to fill the tabloids and gossip columns around the world.