[marshmallow]

The British monarchy is in a grave crisis. It is held together largely by the gravitas of the present monarch. The next generation of royals seem to be dissolute souls with no moral, spiritual or intellectual compass. William's father, Prince Charles is a well-meaning but hopelessly confused amalgam of New Age and secular humanist ideas.

I don't see a bright future for the British monarchy. I see William's expressed desire (if acurately reported) to be an attempt to live some semblance of a "normal" life away from the protocol and formality expected of an heir to throne. This is extremely dangerous. Once experienced, it will become most difficult for him to abandon it for the regimentation that is a monarch's life. It tells me that he is not fond of the royal court nor its denizens.

On the contrary. He's inherited his mother's independence and probably some of her rebelious nature and who knows what he truly thinks of the way the Windors treated her and the extent to which this contributed to her untimely death.

I doubt that he'll ever be king.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

They draw tourists. If that allure goes, their economy takes a big hit. So I think they'll keep them on.

[marshmallow]

Windors.....

Make that Windsors. My apologies, Your Majesty.

[royalcello]

The British monarchy, while certainly troubled, is not quite as endangered as its opponents would like it to be. The media likes to imagine that the institution's popularity declines sharply at every "scandal," when in fact, the proportion of British people wanting a republic has never budged much beyond one fifth of the population. Barring tragedy, Prince Charles will be king, and Prince William will be king after him. Prince William's desire to live a "normal" life while he is second in line in no way precludes his eventual succession to the throne.

On Prince Charles, see these two excellent columns by Magnus Linklater and former Conservative Prime Minister John Major.