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Business angel Permjot Valia (@permjotvalia) blogs on the reality of the royal succession and how it’s out of place in this day and age. Permjot blogs on Business Angel Blog.

Angel investing is like marriage; it is the celebration of hope over statistical reality. So the world is celebrating the marriage of Prince William to Kate Middleton tomorrow and on a personal note of course it is something worth celebrating. But I have to admit that I am a complete party pooper and as a proud Republican I find the national celebration of a royal wedding depressing.

Many people do not care about it and perhaps I am worrying about the wrong thing. I just find the idea that we in the Commonwealth are still subjects rather than citizens depressing. We are supposed to show respect to members of this family purely on the basis of birth right rather than on merit.

My background is as a Sikh. A central principle of Sikhism is the utter rejection of the very cruel and barbaric caste system. The idea that your life ambitions and aspirations should be determined by accident of birth is a shocking and alien concept. People across the world are at this moment in time giving up their lives so that they can be governed by people that they elect rather than by the children of dictators.

I love the opportunities that this country has given me. I came from a very modest working class background and have not had that hold me back in any way whatsoever. However, there is the backdrop of the Royal Family which lets me know that I could never aspire to be the head of state of the country that I was born in.

Lets compare that to the USA. And it interesting to look at the USA where Donald Trump is leading the charge into questioning Obama’s Americanism (by the way I do think Trump is the perfect candidate for President as he has more experience than most of being able to declare a business bankrupt and then start out again – where the only losers are the banks and shareholders). The truth is that a black kid from the UK could not become the head of state for this country. It is also still true that a Catholic can’t become part of the succession.

It is still problematic for a Catholic to be prime minister of the UK (Tony Blair converted once he had left office). As someone who loves the entrepreneur space, I think it is wholly incompatible to believe in social mobility and the role of the crown. The principle behind the royal family is exactly the same as the principle behind the caste system.

And I concede that the problem we have in this country is that the queen has done a magnificent job as head of state.(Her first prime minister was born in 1874 (Winston Churchill) and her latest was born in 1964). So this is not an anti-queen diatribe but it really is about the principle behind it all.

So do celebrate the wedding, but please do bear in mind you are celebrating birth right over merit.

Via: Business Angel Blog