Re Zoe Williams’ article (Being a republican in Britain used to be perfectly respectable. So why are people now getting arrested for it?, 12 September), I identify politically as a republican. It baffles me that in the 21st century I should be expected to show deference to an individual because of an accident of birth that entitles them to otherwise unattainable power, wealth and legal privilege.
I grew up in a Middle Eastern police state where I learned from a young age to be guarded in what I say and fearful of the consequences of speaking out. Having now made my home in the UK, in no small part to escape the stifling of human freedom in my country of birth, I confess that the sight and reports of arrests and police harassment of individuals expressing republican beliefs have been profoundly unsettling. I’ve warned my children to tread carefully and not express any views critical of the monarchy, given the belligerent intolerance demonstrated towards those calling for its abolition.
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• I am grateful to Zoe Williams for giving voice to the many republicans living in this country. The blanket coverage of the Queen’s death has been stifling for anyone who is not a card-carrying, tea-towel-buying royalist. My son’s school has been sending out emails talking of collective sadness and mourning, with no space for a differing point of view or discussion of the horrors committed in the name of empire. That, I was told, will come later, but for now we are all grieving.
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• I consider myself a republican (although I will admit to having a tear in my eye on hearing of the Queen’s death), and I’d like to think that I can distinguish between respect for an individual and my thoughts about the institution of monarchy.
I wouldn’t shout insults at a funeral procession out of respect, but there is something worrying about the reaction to those who have protested. Only a few months ago, we were shocked at the scenes from Russia of police dragging protesters away for holding up anti-war messages and even blank pieces of paper. In the UK, those who hold up banners questioning the monarchy are also being arrested. In some things we are not that far away from Vladimir Putin.
Paul Giblin
Madrid, Spain
