MONARCHY seems to be a very irrational way for a nation to have its head of state, and certainly there are many justifiable criticisms to be made of the UK system.

However, irrational or not, all the most stable democracies in the world are monarchies, and, judging by comments of my fellow nationalists in this paper, they wish they could be as democratic as Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Canada, Australia or New Zealand – all monarchies.

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My Canadian relatives look over the border at the USA and see the horror of a possible Trump presidency and say “no thanks.”

My theory, for what it is worth, is that a non-elected head of state eliminates at least one of the bitter political divisions. Who, for heaven’s sake, would want a President Boris Johnson?

Anyway, surely that is a discussion better left until independence.

James Duncan
Edinburgh