Opinion: A royal seal of approval

Transcript:

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Celebrating this holiday weekend may have different ideas about what sparked the American Revolution – a yearning for liberty, a revulsion at taxation without representation or a desire to have a national sport where players can touch the ball with their hands. And of course, disdain for King George III. He has plundered our seas – America’s founders wrote in the Declaration of Independence – ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns and destroyed the lives of our people. Today’s British monarchy might not be powerful enough to fix a traffic ticket for a prince, but the royal family can still be potent influencers, as we use the term today.

This week, it was announced that starting next year, the Prince and Princess of Wales will begin to grant the royal warrants that confer the crown seal of approval on certain goods and services. King Charles and Queen Camilla have granted more than 400 such warrants, and it’s interesting to sift through the list of what met royal muster. The list includes familiar British names like Bentley and Jaguar motor cars, Burberry outfitters, Smythson Stationers, Turnbull & Asser shirtmakers and Twinings tea and coffee. But there’s also the ribbon and tassel manufacturer, Cole Fabrics – the royal family must go through a lot of tassels – the artisanal besom broom and pea stick maker, A.Nash, Change Waste Recycling Management Services and Milborrow Chimney Sweeps. Buckingham Palace alone has hundreds of chimneys – “Chim Chim Cher-ee.”

In luxury brand marketing, Professor Qing Wang at the University of Warwick in Coventry, England told us, the image of the British royal family coats of arms is a strong cue for quality, a touch of class that makes it popular, even especially among American consumers. So it may not surprise that this week the J.L. Partners polling firm released a survey of a thousand U.S. voters in which 19% said they favor replacing the sitting U.S. president with the British monarch. More than 1 in 3 of 19- to 29-year-olds surveyed said they would favor a restoration of royalty. Not an American monarch, like, say, King LeBron James of the court of basketball or Madonna, the queen of pop, but the actual British king. Not as if we weren’t warned.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “WHAT COMES NEXT?”)

JONATHAN GROFF: (Singing) What comes next? You’ve been freed. Do you know how hard it is to lead? You’re on your own. Awesome. Wow. Do you have a clue what happens now? Oceans rise. Empires fall. It’s much harder when it’s all your call, all alone.