Princess Anne is right – the monarchy must remain as it is

Letters to the editor: our readers share their views. Please send your letters to letters@independent.co.uk

I personally don’t want an elected head of state (AFP via Getty)

I read Kate Ng’s column regarding Princess Anne’s doubts about a “slimmed-down” monarchy with interest. As the hardest-working royal, the Princess is probably weighing up her ever-growing list of royal appointments and commitment to her charities, and wondering where the slack can be legitimately cut.

It may be a royal soundbite to reassure the public that the King sympathises with our parlous economic times, and that the royal family fully realises the need to show that they are cost-effective and are on board with the people in this country and conscious of their fiscal pain.

For what it is worth, and I am not au fait with the current individual cost to every taxpayer in this country but I think it is a negligible amount and worth paying for the ongoing prestige of this institution. Princess Anne is right that it does provide stability in a febrile and tenuous world, and it does move with the times and our current circumstances.