ABSTRACT
The editor of the New Statesman, Kingsley Martin declared: 'The Monarchy is the secret well from which the flourishing institution of British Snobbery draws its nourishment'. Historian Peter Hennessy sees the 'continuing political influence of the monarchy' as significant, in that he or she has the power to choose the prime minister. Walter Bagehot reckoned that the key to the public's regard for the monarchy was its mystique or 'magic' upon which too much light should not be cast. Bagehot placed the monarchy in the 'dignified' category of the constitution, as opposed to the 'efficient' parts, like the House of Commons. One of the reasons for negative views of the monarchy is its allegedly excessive cost. A poll in The Observer, 14 September 1997, revealed that only 12" were satisfied with the monarchy, with 74" wishing it to be 'modernised'; admittedly this was a low point and polls have varied before and since.
