I do not want Charles

I do not want Charles nor Camilla as Queen, One of the many news announcements onmy phone at the death of Queen Elizabeth was the announcement: King Charles to address the nation tonight.

Anne Twomey, Professor of Constitutional Law, University of Sydney later stated bluntly: " When Queen Elizabeth II died, Charles immediately became king of Australia." Both announcements were blows deep into my solar plexus.

I instinctively rejected Charles as King of Australia. Despite the deep regret that I had on the death of the queen, an integral part of my life and of most Australians, so I had to reason out why I instinctively rejected her son as King of Australia

Two reasons emerged:

First, Charles III is a person that we should have nothing to do with. Remember Dianna. Tied in with this though is my rejection of Camilla as queen of Australia. Because she was the reason why Diana was thrown overboard by Charles.

Second, the infighting and savagery within the royal family is not what we want in Australia. Australia, as an independent country, will grow bigger and stronger, more than as a mere colony. We do not need Charles as our king.

These were the emotional reasons. But deeper thinking produced a number of more soundly based reasons for rejecting Charles, for becoming a Republic:

1. We have already started in a number of areas where Australia is becoming a more thoughtful nation (multiculturalism, aboriginals, the rejection of Scott Morrison, self-defence). Independence will strengthen such moves.
2. Charles acquiesced to the dismissal of an Australian Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam. We should never allow this in the future.
3. We may get an Australian Donald Trump as Prime Minister. It should be our problem; a British king would be interfering.
4. Conservatives want to keep the status quo. But the way for a forward-looking people is change. In this case, change for the better.

Charles's career as a senior royal has been plagued by scandals. First of all, and top of the list, is Dianna. The "People's Princess," as then Prime Minister Tony Blair called her in the hours after she died in a car crash in Paris.

Two further examples include Charles' association with Jimmy Savile who was later revealed to have spent decades sexually abusing women and children, and, more recently, cash-for-honours allegations against Charles' foundation.

He has also had a tumultuous relationship with the press, filing a successful court case against the Mail on Sunday in 2006 for publishing excerpts from his private journals. Charles was also one of several royals targeted by the News of the World phone hacking affair. Finally, the Daily Mail told us on 10 September that King Charles 'told' Prince Harry not to bring Meghan to Balmoral to see the dying Queen, amid family 'incredulity'. The Sun also told us King Charles told Harry 'it wasn't right' for Meghan to come.The Prince Harry and Meghan Markle conflict has endured since their controversial interview with US talk show host Oprah Winfrey, a conversation dominated by Meghan and Harry's allegations of racism against the royal family, And then there is Harry's book, Spare.

Second concern is the issue of the Monarchy itself. King Charles III inherits the throne at a time when the monarchy as an institution is still broadly supported in Britain, with a slight majority of 62% in favour, according to a June poll. But Charles himself ? British market research firm YouGov have maintained a poll tracker asking this very question. The results paint the picture of ambivalence, with 34% of respondents endorsing King Charles and 33% opposing. The final 33% were unsure. Part of the British concern is the scandals associated with Prince Andrew, the late queen's son. Sex scandals and paternity suits are the biggest royal controversies,

Then there is the multi-cultural issue. Some believe that there will never really be a "suitable" time for Australia to become a republic; that the debate needs to be brought up. Erin Wen Ai Chew, the co-founder and national convenor for the Asian Australian Alliance, says she believes there's no need for a monarch as the head of state in modern Australia.

"Australia is capable enough to be independent and has been for a long time. The nostalgic connection to the monarchy is now irrelevant and as generations pass, this will become even more irrelevant, so the time to change is now," she says

We have already started in a number of areas where Australia is maturing, becoming a more thoughtful nation (They are our multiculturalism, accommodating aboriginals, the rejection of Scott Morrison, and managing our own defence). Independence will strengthen such moves. Australia is a massively multicultural country. We are home to the world's oldest continuous culture. Australians identify with more than 270 ancestries. Since 1945, almost seven million people have migrated to Australia. This rich, cultural diversity is one of our greatest strengths. It is central to our national identity. Most foreign born or children of foreign born, endorse their Australian homeland, and will support whatever we decide. But a King and Queen consort are not their natural endowment.

Thomas Keneally said in The Saturday Paper that a republic will enrich, vivify and enlarge our antipodean spirits. He enlarges on this statement later in the article.

For me, the Australian republic does glimmer beyond the Queen's shoulder, or more accurately over Charles's ... It does not take from him, not really. It does not deny the success of his line. But the republic will enrich, vivify and enlarge our antipodean spirits.

The 1999 referendum on a republic was about whether or not Australia should become a republic. On 6 November, voters were asked this question:

Do you approve of an Act to alter the Constitution to establish the Commonwealth of Australia as a republic with the Queen and Governor General being replaced by a President appointed by a two-thirds majority of the members of the Commonwealth Parliament?

The vote was a clear rejection. But the reason was that parliamentarians were to elect their head of state. But Australians distrust their parliamentarians, as evidenced in the recent rejection of Scott Morrison. The Australian Republic Movement has proposed an alternate method for electing a head of state - that we vote for the head of state.

Perhaps even overriding the above reasons is that Australia is still a creature of the British Parliament, The Act of Federation or originally The British Colony of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act was an act of the British Parliament. We were changed to a dominion in 1907. Only Britain has the legal power to repeal this act. In short, we are not our own country.

Charles acquiesced to the dismissal of an Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. We should never allow this in the future. Sir John Kerr, the Australian governor general who dismissed the former prime minister Gough Whitlam in 1975, first canvassed the possibility with Prince Charles as early as August of that year Jenny Hocking in The Dismissal Dossier: Everything You Were Never Meant to Know about November 1975, suggests not only did the palace know the nature of his plans but the lack of adverse comment constituted "an unqualified royal green light" to Kerr's dismissal of Whitlam. In the future we should never allow a British royal to interfere in domestic politics.

We may get an Australian Donald Trump as Prime Minister. It should be our problem; a British king could interfere unnecessarily.

Conservatives want to keep the status quo. But the way for a forward-looking people is change. In this case, change for an independent Australia.

Then there is Queen Consort Camilla , At the late queen Elizabeth's funeral, The Telegraph and several other news sources tells us that the Queen Consort will wear the Crown of Queen Elizabeth, which was made for the late Queen mother in 1937.

Does Australia really want her as Australia's queen, even if only as a consort?

One blog reported the following:

"Ever since the Queen died, Camilla has been throwing her weight around showing everyone who's boss," one source claimed about their latest family rift.

"Kate is becoming increasingly irritated with her," added the source. "She thinks Camilla doesn't take her royal duties seriously and that she doesn't deserve the role. Things have been very awkward."

Another insider claimed that Kate had an issue with her stepmother-in-law and has been "struggling to fall in line" now that Camilla and King Charles III are in charge.

Also worth noting is that the great-grandmother of Camilla, Queen Consort, Alice Keppel , was also the mistress of King Edward VII. Camilla is Queen Consort of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms including Australia.

In short, I do not want King Charles as king of Australia, especially with Queen Consort Camilla.