Thanks for the informative assessment of that side of the pond. The perspective I have acquired about the Royals is that, ineffective as they are for the general government ("The only thing we lack from having good government is good government." -Du Fu) of the Empire's remains, it is at least one opportunity for someone to actually think about choices. Modern civilization has become enslaved to the spreadsheets of commerce and taxation: all decisions are deferred to numbers on a list and someone randomly deciding which ones are summed or subtracted to produce a policy. Media turns every 'policy' into a conflict that sells useless products, so no resolution as to Better or Worse is ever forthcoming from them.

The King supposedly can still take a walk in the Realm, speak to some peasants ("There's some lovely filth over here, Dennis!") and then stick a sword in somebody that pisses him off at the dinner table.

On this side of the Atlantic, everything is an elaborate scheme to pretend someone is in charge of an arms race between profitable bureaucracy and profitable conspiracies, but nobody is out walking through the trailer parks and having their shoes stolen as they pass by.