Forget about that whole American Revolution thing. Zocalo commentator Joe Mathews says California could benefit from a monarchy. And he has someone in mind to head that new royal family: the unborn second child of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, also known as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. For Mathews, it’s not just the fact that the royals now reside in Montecito and maintain a kind of California-cool, outlaw status in the royal family. Mathews says a monarch would take pressure off political leaders to allow them to focus on policy.
Read Mathews’ column below:
To Your Unborn Royal Majesty,
Please forgive the protocol breach of writing you in utero.
But after watching your parents — the Duke and Duchess of Sussex — tell Oprah Winfrey that you are expected this summer, I’ve been thinking how much Californians need you.
Because our next great start-up here should be a monarchy. And you would be perfect as our first queen.
I’m usually no fan of monarchies, but many Californians are. Indeed, regal characters are a durable California export. Disney manufactures fictional princesses more animated than any real-world royal. Your great-grandmother, the Queen, has no more loyal subject than California-based Netflix, which distributes “The Crown” and gave your parents a $100 million production deal.
Unfortunately, Californians pay far more attention to fictional monarchies than to real governance. So, I wonder if installing a queen might encourage us to…
