Journalist: What is your reaction to the royal engagement announcement? 

Maestro: Members of the royal family other than the Head of State should earn their own living. They should have no private activities or public functions financed by British taxpayers. When they get married the cost of the wedding should be borne by the families of the bride and the groom as would be the case for all other British people.  

The massive media coverage of the royal engagement announcement is disproportionate to the importance of the event in Britain. It reflects uncritical acceptance of a society where the Head of State and her family enjoy inherited privilege, wealth, influence, and power with a complete absence of democratic accountability. 

The British media are singularly reluctant to give space to analytical discussion of the role of the monarchy, the need for its reform and modernisation, and the importance of Britain becoming a more meritocratic and dynamic country in the 21st century. Some parts of the media regard any criticism of the institution of monarchy as disrespectful, shameful or even unpatriotic - rather than as a healthy example of free speech in a democratic country. 

Journalist: What will the public impact of the engagement and the wedding be? 

Maestro: Over-enthusiastic media commentators have so far lost touch with reality as to entertain the suggestion that the royal wedding in Spring or Summer 2011 will make a significant contribution to Britain’s economic recovery - which the Coalition government itself expects to take at least 5 years. Britain currently has the biggest deficit in its history and the European Union is offering Ireland a multi-billion Euro bailout in a desperate effort to save Europe from financial meltdown. In this context a royal wedding is an irrelevance.