I'm an American, and I love it. Of course, I don't have to pay for it. But then, I do have to pay for wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and the lasting effects of previous wars. Weddings are a lot more fun, and cheaper.

I can understand the republican sentiment. (Small 'r' to distinguish it from the American Republican Party.) But the royals serve one important function: By draining off the impulse for patriotic hero-worship, it means you don't have to treat your politicians like royalty, and I think you get better politicians because of it. At least, you get smarter ones.

We Americans have to suffer fools like George W. Bush & Ronald Reagan, who would have been cut to ribbons if they'd had to endure something like your Parliamentary Question Time. (Bush admitted this, sort of.) Our presidents are able to stand aloof from any kind of accountability partly because too many people feel it is unpatriotic to criticize them too much.