Republic Day protest to be held a year on from coronation

ANTI-monarchy campaigners will be looking to engage more Scots in a growing conversation about alternatives to the royal family on the first Republic Day next month.

The Edinburgh group of Republic will be marking the day on Sunday, May 5, by holding a rally and walkabout in the capital, which it is hoped will raise awareness of the cause.

The day has been organised by Republic to coincide with one year since the King’s coronation. A major rally is also set to be held in Trafalgar Square in London.

The organisation said the coronation was “a moment that shifted the debate about the monarchy’s future”, and Republic Day will be about showing clearly the republican movement is growing.

Adrian Swinscoe, a member of the group, said he believes there is a “rising tide” of Scots who are sceptical about the future of the monarchy and is keen to reach out to them.

Asked why he felt Republic Day was important, he told The National: “Well, I think because there has been so much change [on what people think of the royals], but I think also because we are continually seeing evidence about how unaccountable the royal family is, and the idea we’ve been given a new duke in Edinburgh without any real scrutiny.

“All this stuff happens and there doesn’t seem to be very much transparency.

“We feel that public sentiment is largely supportive of change and we’re trying to say well, look, there is a conversation to be had on, ‘Do we need this? Do we want it?’

“It’s a rising tide I think, and that’s why we want to raise awareness and try and engage with that conversation locally.”

On the day, the group will be gathering with flags and placards outside the Scottish Record Society at Princes Street at 1pm before heading over to the Palace of Holyroodhouse around 2.30pm, with an inflatable dinosaur mascot with a crown set to be involved to mock the archaic nature of the monarchy.

For more, see Instagram: @republicedinburgh