A British Republic will probably never happen, a monarchy sceptic member of the UK public has admitted. 

Born in the United States, Bonnie Greer has lived in Britain for decades and is a prominent playwright, novelist and broadcaster. Like many people who grew up in a republic, she finds the concept of the monarchy and Britons’ devotion to it something of a head scratcher. 

However, as the nation enthusiastically celebrates the Queen's 70 years on the Throne this weekend, Ms Greer says that the institution is so deeply embedded in the national psyche it will likely endure for generations to come. 

“It [the monarchy] is a very clever operation,” Ms Greer told The Anton Savage Show. 

“And I think that in this country there are people who are very wedded to that clever operation [and] no Government has ever asked for a referendum on the monarchy. 

“I don’t ever see that happening because I don’t think if you ask a majority of the British people - this a conservative country with a small ‘c’ - and they don’t like the boat being rocked. 

“So if you ask them, they’re going to say, ‘Why?’” 

A recent poll by YouGov found that 70% of people in Britain favour the country remaining a monarchy, while 30% favoured the nation electing a President as head of state - once ‘Don’t Knows’ are excluded. 

The number might be high but they actually represent a drop since the last Jubilee in 2012 when north of 80% of Britons favoured keeping the Crown. 

Since then, Harry and Meghan have stormed off to America and Prince Andrew has become one of the most loathed men in Britain. 

However, despite the poor press some members of her family have endured, the admiration for the Queen and her work remains “sky high”, according to pollster Ipsos Mori; 92% approve of her job performance, while only 8% think Her Majesty is doing badly. 

Crown and Commonwealth

One place where the future of the Throne seems less secure is in the wider Commonwealth;  Queen Elizabeth has faithfully served as Head of the Commonwealth for decades and in 2018 the group decided that Prince Charles would inherit the title as well. 

Most members of the Commonwealth club are former British colonies that have become republics since gaining independence. However, some have retained the Queen as their Sovereign as well. 

Last year Barbados became a republic, declaring it a "seminal moment" in the country’s history. The Jamaican Government too has said it too would like to follow suit in the fullness of time. 

While in Australia, the newly elected Labor Government has appointed an Assistant Minister for the Republic as it mulls change. 

“This means that the Albanese Labor Government has committed to beginning a process of holding a referendum for a republic,” Professor Jenny Hocking told Newstalk. 

“They’ve specified it [will be in] the second term which won’t be for another three or four years but what that means is it is very much on the agenda in Australia that we are looking for a future and time when the Queen has passed on and the succession has gone to King Charles.”

Australians previously held a referendum on becoming a republic in 1999. However, many voters objected to the idea that the President would be chosen by MPs - not the people - and the result was a comfortable victory for the Queen of Australia. 

G4RT98 Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia and the Duke of Edinburgh during a Royal tour Down Under.

Since then the republican cause in Australia has stalled; there is division over what type of republic the nation might become and a strong affection for the monarch as well. 

This week Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has light a beacon to honour the Queen, renamed an island after her and made a speech praising her as the “embodiment of grace, fidelity and dignity”. 

Down Under it is not unusual to be theoretically a republican but also a huge fan of Queen Elizabeth; former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull - who led the republican campaign in 1999 - has demurred that, “I do not believe Australians would welcome let alone support another republic referendum during her reign.” 

He added that the Queen was “so admired and respected that few of us can say – whether monarchists or republicans – that we are not Elizabethans”.

The fight to end the monarchy plods on but even republicans bear little animus for the 96-year-old trooper who has served her country and Commonwealth with such distinction.

Main image: Britain's Queen Elizabeth II's visits a gallery in Somerset, England | Image: Toby Melville/PA Wire/PA Images