Christine Grahame, a senior MP in the Scottish National Party, confirms that the party intends to hold a referendum on the monarchy. She says that there will be a vote about an independent Scotland having a “full blown monarchy, an edited version or a republic”. She favours a republic. This conflicts with Alex Salmond’s claim that the United Kingdom monarch would automatically remain Scotland’s head of state following separation from England. The report got good coverage in the Australian media. We are now behind Scotland, in both approach and timing! The same paper ran a headline referring to the Queen by her pet name “Lilibet”. [Queen could be ousted as Scotland’s head of state by Simon Johnson, Telegraph, London, 13 May 2012]
Woman for an Australian Republic, Adelaide Ironside, republican poet and artist 1831-1867
Self portrait 1855, Newcastle Art Gallery NSW
