UPDATE 03/06/2014: When we started this debate, the grumblings over the Spanish monarchy were still fairly subdued. However, with the news that Spain’s King Juan Carlos plans to abdicate and pass the throne to his son Felipe, tens of thousands of people have been taking to the streets across Spain and demanding a referendum on the future of the monarchy. Is it time for European countries to consider referendums on whether to keep their monarchies?

Europe’s royals have been in the news a fair bit this summer, with two abdications (first Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, then King Albert II of Belgium) and now a royal baby on the way. In the UK, all this publicity is working wonders for the royal family, as they ride a wave of popular support with only 17% of respondents telling pollsters that they favour a republic. The Dutch monarchy is equally popular among the great unwashed, with 78% of people saying they still back the royals.

Even France, that bastion of republicanism, has discreetly installed a monarch as its Head of State. Technically, the French President automatically takes the title of Co-Prince of Andorra, making François Hollande the only monarch in the world to be directly elected.

Not all European monarchs enjoy the adoration of their subjects, however. Fully 60% of Swedes think that King Carl XVI Gustaf has overstayed his welcome and should abdicate (though 70% still want to keep the institution of the Swedish monarchy) whilst, after a series of damaging public scandals, only 36.8% of Spaniards still support their monarchy.

So, is it time that Europe’s monarchies were abolished? Royalists might argue that monarchies bring political stability, respect for tradition and a sense of national pride, along with hordes of tourists (not to mention a roaring trade for tabloid journalists). Republicans, meanwhile, might feel that hereditary monarchy is an anachronism in a democratic society, particularly as they are often heavily subsidised by the taxpayer.

IMAGE CREDITS: CC / Flickr – Nina J. G.