Letter: Time to think again about the monarchy

Sir: You feature today (8 September) both the need for the monarchy to update itself and the need for the UK to present a different image.

Our first step as the British people should be to wean ourselves off the monarchy, which was an appropriate institution a thousand years ago but makes no real sense today. The Royal Family's first step is to recognise that it is the lack of any real role which is pushing it into becoming the public's soap opera and which is destroying the Family itself.

If I were the Queen, I would be looking at the wreckage of my children's marriages and the fact that my eldest son has now been cast in the role of demon pantomime King. I would also be asking myself how my grandson can ever have a happy life with the impossible hopes being rested on him and the obvious comparisons which will be drawn between his actions and those of his "martyred, saintly" mother.

If we need a head of state, then let us do what Ireland does and elect one. This allows the public to choose someone they like and respect. The person so chosen has volunteered and knows that they only have to endure the intense media interest for a limited period.

LESLEY ELLIS

Alton, Hampshire