COP-out?

The members of the European Senate rise solemnly to their feet as the ceremony begins. First the orchestra plays the European anthem - BeethovenGerman composer (1770 - 1827) whose intense, dramatic work revolutionised classical music.'s Ode to Joy. Then, as it starts on a second piece, everyone turns towards the figure at the centre of the stage: Britain's King Charles III. "God save our gracious king," they sing. "Long live our noble king..."

It may be hard to imagine, but this is what Brendan Simms, an Irish professor of history at Cambridge, recommends.

"The Continent, or most of it, has embarked on a common political and economic project, but it lacks common rituals," he writes on Englesberg Ideas¹. "There is the Eurovision Song contest, of course, and the European Football Championship, but these can divide more than unite."

"The same is true for the joint political institutions in Brussels, whose standing is at a very low ebb. A European head of state, by contrast, might provide a rallying point for the whole continent, including the United Kingdom and other non-EU countries."

Monarchy, he argues, is "a remarkably enduring, and often useful institution". He points out that Middle Eastern countries with monarchies came through the turmoil of the Arab SpringA series of mass protests across the Arab World against dictatorships that had stood for decades. In Tunisia, the protesters succeeded in creating a democratic government, but many other countries collapsed into civil war or experienced new dictatorships. better than those with presidents.

A possible model would be the Holy Roman Empire, which ruled much of central Europe between 962 and 1806. Its head was elected by the empire's ruling kings and princes and senior churchmen.

The problem, Simms says, is that the elections would involve a lot of squabbling. He prefers what he calls "the Star Wars option" - to create a hereditarySomething which is passed from parent to child. emperor or empress who would be head of state for all of democratic Europe. And the easiest way to do that would be to choose the House of WindsorThe current royal house of the United Kingdom. , "which already commands the necessary international cachetPrestige or being admired. ".

Republicans would be horrified, but it would be a price worth paying to bring Europeans closer together. Charles is well respected on the Continent, and would undoubtedly do a good job.

Meanwhile, in Unherd, the theologianA person who studies religious beliefs. John Milbank argues that the King should be not just a figurehead, but actively political.

Politicians like Liz Truss, he says, try to promote a world of people who are just out for themselves. But a king, who is chosen by God and has no need to win votes or make money, can bring his subjects together for the common good in an unselfish and unbiased way.

He argues that this is particularly important in an age when politicians are so distrusted. Without a monarch to encourage moderation, "populism may well deliver ever-further extremism".

Milbank also believes that monarchy has an environmental aspect: "It is naturally linked to the rural soil, to the encouraging of creative labour, and to life, as instanced by the causes that Charles III supported when he was a prince." So of course he should go to COP27The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as the Conference of the Parties (COP). .

Charles, for his part, has said that he will host a reception for over 200 influential people before the conference at Buckingham Palace.

Yes: As John Kerry, Joe Biden's climate envoy, says, it would not be a political move. "It's a generic broad, based, existential issue for the world, and his leadership has been very important."

No: Charles is at the very beginning of his reign, and needs to tread carefully. It is not appropriate for him to express his opinions as king in the way that he did when he was Prince of Wales.

Or...  Even if he does not go, he could make a video address to the conference, with a text agreed with Downing Street10 Downing Street, in central London, has been the official home of the UK prime minister since 1735. . And Rishi SunakA British politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2022 to 2024. should certainly go to represent Britain at the highest level.