Letter to the Editor - The choice of a new monarch is not something that happens ‘just by chance’

To THE AUSTRALIAN          Henry Ergas has provided a well-researched statement (‘Think before it’s Crown and out’, 12/1) as to why Australians may be prudent to retain the monarchy. However, his claim that ‘heredity confers so little political legitimacy’ can be contested. When Prince Charles becomes our next monarch, he will not merely carry on a royal blood line that stretches for over a thousand years, he will bear within himself and embody the history and culture of Britain as well as a profound knowledge of the duties and responsibilities of a British sovereign. That is something which in part ‘comes with the blood’ and is not transferable save to his legitimate successor.

     Tradition (and not merely British tradition) tells us that the affairs of this world are partly shaped by influences from invisible but higher worlds, so that, in metaphysical or mystical terms, the choice of a new monarch is not something that happens ‘just by chance’ but is a conscious and meaningful contribution to the national destiny by higher powers. Royal heredity thus contains deep mystery and an associated authority.
  NJ, Belgrave, Vic