Is it now time to stand tall

And abandon the royal bowing and scraping?

If nothing else think of the money

You will be saving?

The cost of sixteen royals

Equals thirteen thousand nurses

Without putting us in the red

Hospitals we all dread

But that being said,

Who would you choose Prince Andrew

Or a nurse to tend your daughter’s sick bed?

Is there too much publicity around

Another baby royal who hatches?

God bless the Eton bound child,

But could our kids’ schools do with the monarchy

Paying its taxes?

Your forebearers stood firm

Against the Nazi trooper storm,

Did not Edward whisper treasonous words

In Hitler’s ear

To keep his hope of appeasement warm?

But never mind, Nazi affiliation

Is all in the past,

But did not Prince Harry

Don a swastika armband

At a posh ball for a blast?

Ask a British Jew

How they would feel,

If all the above were true?

If these questions of royal racism

Are historic and

Written by republicans to startle,

Why don’t we clear up the matter by

Asking Meghan Markle?

The young royals are less formal

And give us plebs an occasional public hug,

But will they invite us round to the palace

For a brew in our chipped jubilee mug?

Ah but American tourists

Love our pomp and ceremony,

But can they go home to a republic,

Whilst we live in a toy town democracy

Good Queen Elizabeth served well

But now her blue blood is dead,

Is it time for a more equal future

Which is republican and red?

Other poems by David McKinstry, appear in this issue