Time to abolish THE MONARCHY?

For or against, it's an age-old discussion. Royal editor Emily Andrews sits down with the head of campaign group Republic, who explains why, in his opinion, going royal-free is the only answer. A debate that will, without doubt, divide opinion

- Emily Andrews

Kings and Queens have reigned for centuries, but is the UK monarchy falling out of fashion? For some, the argument for a democratically elected head of state has never been stronger, with former Empire colony Barbados ditching the British monarch. The chief executive of Republic, Graham Smith, saw the death of Queen Elizabeth II, and the accession of her less popular son, as a chance to shift public opinion towards abolition. Can he succeed? Emily Andrews meets Graham to talk about what Republic stands for and why he thinks Harry and Meghan are a 'great asset to Republicanism'.

Emily What's the aim of Republic?

Graham We're a 40-year-old campaign group with a single issue; the abolition of the monarchy for a democratic alternative. The strategy is to change public opinion sufficiently by raising awareness and getting the debate going, so there's enough political pressure to achieve it.

Emily That's quite a tough job, isn't it? We've just had the longest-serving, and most popular, monarch ever in the late Queen Elizabeth, and the polls are pretty positive on Charles. Certainly more so than when he was the Prince of Wales?

Graham Well, the support for the monarchy has dropped sharply. It was typically 75% or more 10 years ago. It's now consistently under 60% in a lot of polls. There were Savanta and You Gov polls last year that put support at 48% and 45% respectively*.