FILE - This photo taken Wednesday, July 2, 2014, and released Monday, July 21, 2014, to mark Prince George's first birthday, shows Britain's Prince William and Kate Duchess of Cambridge and the Prince during a visit to the Sensational Butterflies exhibition at the Natural History Museum, London. The Duchess of Cambridge, wife of Prince William, is expecting her second child and was being treated for severe morning sickness, royal officials said Monday, Sept. 8, 2014. Photo: (AP Photo/John Stillwell, Pool The announcement Monday that a spare heir is on the way has already become part of the political fight over Scotland’s future.
Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond, leading the “Yes” side in an independence referendum Sept. 18, congratulated Prince William and Kate Middleton with what one Member of Parliament called a “shameless” attempt “to shoehorn his obsession with independence into everything and anything.”
“Congratulations & best wishes to the Earl & Countess of Strathearn,” Salmond wrote on Twitter Monday.
The breach, apparently, was in using the royal couple’s Scottish titles of Earl and Countess of Strathearn rather than calling them by their English titles of Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. This is not in any way inaccurate, but in the tense atmosphere before the referendum, Salmond’s words carried extra weight.
“This is fantastic news for the Royal family and for everybody in the country and should not be politicised in any way,” said Thomas Docherty, a Labour MP, according to the Daily Mail. “Alex Salmond is absolutely shameless in his determination to shoehorn his obsession with independence into everything and anything.”
But in the confusing world of referendum politics — with which Canadians are quite familiar — it’s not even clear whether the status of the Monarchy will change much even if Scotland votes for independence from the United Kingdom.
Alex Salmond, First Minister of Scotland, takes part in a live television debate by the BBC in the Kelvingrove Art Galleries on August 25, 2014 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
The website of the Yes campaign explains: “The Scottish Government’s proposal is that the Queen remains Head of State in Scotland, in the same way as she is currently Head of State in independent nations such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand.”
This arrangement is meant to appeal to Scottish supporters of the Monarchy who nevertheless want to see an independent Scotland. The website adds that keeping the Queen “would be the position for as long as the people of Scotland wished our country to remain a monarchy.”
- Polls predict close vote in Scottish independence referendum
- Coyne: Chaos, not separation, would have been result of Yes vote in 1995 Quebec referendum, book suggests
Meanwhile, some unionists are hoping the magic of the Royal Family will lead to a defeat for Salmond this month.
James Kirkup of the Telegraph says that “magic is just what the campaign for the Union has lacked.”
“So maybe, just maybe, a new focus on the Royals will cause Scots to waver, and cleave back to the Union,” he wrote Monday.
The latest public opinion poll shows the Yes side is leading for the first time, with a slim majority of Scots now favouring independence over staying in the Union.
(YouGov)
No comments:
Post a Comment