Sheffield gives lukewarm welcome to new hereditary head of state
Some councillors have called for an end to the monarchy, while campaigners have criticised the blanket royal coverage during a cost-of-living crisis.

The then-Prince Charles delivering the Queen's Speech in May.
House of Lords.
Parts
of Sheffield have given a lukewarm reaction to the accession of the
UK's new hereditary head of state, amid growing apathy about the role
of the monarchy in a modern democracy.
Charles
Philip Arthur George – styled as King Charles III – instantly
assumed the throne upon the death of the Queen, though he has since
had to be 'proclaimed' as such in cities across the UK, including
Sheffield.
Protestors
holding up anti-monarchy signs, and others who have heckled the
proclamation ceremonies, have been arrested across the country in a
move civil liberties watchdog Netpol has
called
"alarming".
One
campaigner in London, who held
up a blank sign
outside Buckingham Palace, was told by a police officer that if he
wrote "Not My King" on it he'd be arrested for causing
"offense."
“These arrests are unfortunately not surprising – time and again the police act in an arbitrary manner and abuse their powers to crush dissent," Emily Apple, communications coordinator at Netpol, told Now Then.
"This
isn’t the first time that spurious arrests have been made during
royal events. In 2011, people dressed as zombies were arrested during
the royal wedding while sitting in Starbucks. In 2002, during the
golden jubilee, 41 people sitting in a pub were arrested."
"Anytime
there is a royal event, the police act disproportionately to ensure
that opposing voices are not heard on our streets."
Now
Then asked South Yorkshire Police whether they would charge someone
holding a "Not My King" sign with a criminal offence but
they declined to respond, saying that they "do not comment on
speculation."
Republicanism
in Sheffield
In
Sheffield a small crowd attended the proclamation for South Yorkshire
on the steps of City Hall, surrounded
by armed police
in case of trouble.
While polling still shows strong support for the monarchy in every part of the UK, public patience with the behaviour of some senior royals has been wearing thin.

A small number of flowers in the Peace Gardens on Tuesday.
In
July, the then-Prince Charles was investigated after cash donations
to one of his charities totalling €3m were handed over in a
suitcase and a shopping bag – he also accepted
£1m
from the family of Osama Bin Laden.
The
return of Prince Andrew to public life over the past few days has
sparked
anger
due to his association with convicted sex offenders Jeffrey Epstein
and Ghislaine Maxwell (in Scotland, a man
was arrested
for heckling that he was a "nonce").
It's
yet to be seen how much public support for the royals was tied up
with Queen Elizabeth II herself, and how much will carry over to her
eldest son, who is widely
seen as less personable.
Since
the accession of the new king on Thursday, several of Sheffield's
Green politicians, including
City Ward councillor Martin Phipps,
have expressed support for abolishing the monarchy and introducing a
democratic head of state.
"The monarchy puts inequality at the heart of the UK's governance," Cllr Phipps told Now Then. "The monarchy vet laws and can opt out of them entirely, as they have with over 160 laws including equality and animal welfare laws."
"I
believe the people should choose who represents them, instead of our
current system with an unelected head of state, an unelected second
chamber and an incredibly unrepresentative voting system."
Four
years ago, former Lord Mayor and MEP Magid Magid called for the
abolition of the monarchy, telling
The Guardian
that he "wants to live in a society where, no matter what your
background is, you have the opportunity to be the head of state."
A
2019 study by UnherdBritain
found that, out of 650 constituencies, Sheffield South East
(represented by Labour's Clive Betts) is the seventh least supportive
of the monarchy in the UK.
Sheffield
Heeley,
Sheffield
Hallam
and Sheffield
Central
are also among the least royalist constituencies in the country,
though all still retain a clear majority in favour of the monarchy.
Media
consensus
The almost non-stop coverage of the accession on television news has sought to downplay anti-monarchy sentiment – either by not reporting it at all, or by having royal correspondents rush to imply that it represents a tiny minority of the population.
Alongside national newspapers, our local legacy media including the Star and the Telegraph have filled their pages and social media feeds with wall-to-wall coverage supportive of the royal family.
The
Star even opened their own book
of condolence
for the late monarch, among dozens of stories exploring her and her
son's somewhat tenuous links to Sheffield.
But
some commentators have pointed out that, at least amongst the public,
the reaction to the Queen's death has been more muted than to that of
Princess Diana in 1997.
In
the Peace Gardens, which has been designated a site for tributes, the
modest number of flowers laid by Tuesday afternoon pointed to the
smaller role the monarchy now plays in people's lives.
Mixed
feelings
Given the more ambiguous mood towards having a hereditary head of state in 2022, many have called the reaction to the Queen's death and the accession of the new king excessive.
The Football League has been criticised by fans across the political spectrum for cancelling all matches last weekend including a Sheffield Wednesday game, while some economists fear that Monday's state funeral could tip the UK into recession.
In Sheffield, some residents have reacted with disbelief at the announcement by Veolia that "all recycling and waste services in Sheffield will be suspended" for the funeral on Monday.

Buckingham Palace is one of thirteen residences available to the new king.
Sung Shin on Unsplash.At
Wednesday's Full Council meeting in Sheffield, almost all the
substantive business on the agenda – including motions on support
for city residents during the cost-of-living crisis – was postponed
to make way for tributes (most Green councillors stayed away).
Anti-poverty
campaigners now fear that this obsessive interest in the royal family
will distract public attention away from the worsening cost-of-living
crisis as we head into winter.
"At a crucial time in the run-up to a cost of living crisis, both the media and politicians are talking about nothing but the monarchy," Emmott, who volunteers at Foodhall, told Now Then.
"People will be choosing between heating their homes and eating from as little as two weeks away when the energy price cap increase means bills will rise by 30%."
"We need our MPs and councillors to be able to talk about and take action on this, but anyone in politics is being silenced and those with any power to help are parading around in a display of performative grief."