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On Thursday, Norway’s King Harald V hosted the annual banquet for the Stortinget, or Parliament. The dinner party has been held annually since 1906, and is a big tradition for Norwegian politicians to dine with their royal family. However, this year’s gala saw politics flare up over some Parliament members’ anti-monarchist beliefs.
 Vidar Ruud, ANB Gina Barstad and Snorre Valen, both members of the Socialist Left (SV) party, chose not to go the event, in which the King invites the politicians. Both claimed that to attend would have gone against their political viewpoints.
“Saying ‘no thank you’ is something that several other MPs from SV have done before me, and my opinion is that each MP must make their own decision,” Barstad told newspaper Aftenposten.
Valen said he had no desire “to take part in a ceremonial celebration of the monarchy, which is an undemocratic institution.”
Another member of the SV, Aksel Hagel, did accept the invitation this year, although in 2009, he declined.
The actions of the SV members upset some more conservative politicians, such as Linda Hofstad Helleland. She called Barstad and Valen “childish” and told Aftenposten, “When King Harald invites for an annual get-together, we should accept to show him and the monarchy some respect.”
“We invite the King for the opening of the parliament once a year, and he comes,” she said. “Then we should also come on the one day of the year when we’re invited to the palace.”
Helleland also reportedly pleaded to the president of the parliament, Dag Terje Andersen, and asked him to “strongly urge” all MPs “to show respect for the king and the monarchy.”
40 percent of the Stortinget hold republican views. Those who support an end to the monarchy are usually the younger members.
Source: News in English
Julia Gillard, the Prime Minister of Australia, wants her country to be a republic after Queen Elizabeth II dies.
 CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images While she does admit that Australians have a deep affection for the Queen, Gillard says it won’t last for long.
“What I would like to see as prime minister is that we work our way through to an agreement on a model for the republic,” she said during an election campaign stop in Queensland
“I think the appropriate time for this nation to move to be a republic is when we see the monarch change.
“Obviously I’m hoping for Queen Elizabeth that she lives a long and happy life, and having watched her mother I think there’s every chance that she will.”
In other words, when Prince Charles becomes King, it is possible Australia – and other Commonwealth states – will get rid of him as their Head of State and become republics, completely breaking away from the United Kingdom.
Australia once held a referendum in 1999, but that failed.
Gillard’s opponent in Saturday’s election is Tony Abbott, an ardent monarchist. He sees no reason to change the status quo.
“I think that our existing constitutional arrangements have worked well in the past and I see no reason whatsoever why they can’t continue to work well in the future,” Abbott told the National Press Club.
“So while there may very well be further episodes of republicanism in this country, I am far from certain that at least in our lifetimes that there’s likely to be any significant change.”
Sources: AP, Daily Telegraph
A recent poll published on King Carl XVI Gustaf’s 64th birthday Friday shows a decreased support for the monarchy in Sweden. According to the Novus Opinions poll, conducted for the Swedish Republican Association, while 58 percent of Swedes still want a monarch as head of state, 28 percent would rather have a president. That percentage has doubled over the past decade.
 AP Photo/Jonas Ekstromer “People are just getting fed up with the monarchy,” Mona Abou-Jeib Broshammar, who leads the Republican Association, told AFP.
“If the development continues in the same direction as over the past decade, I think that in Sweden there will be a majority for abolishing the monarchy by 2024.”
According to Broshammar, it is the people’s tax money being used towards Crown Princess Victoria’s wedding this June that has ruffled feathers in Sweden.
“A lot has been written about how the king has asked the taxpayers to cover his daughter’s wedding expenses … A lot has been written about (the royal family’s) VIP treatment, and people are sick of it,” she said.
Previous polls have shown nearly three-fourths of the Swedish people support the royal family. It should be noted that the Republican Association was the one who conducted this poll.
Sources: AFP
Wednesday April 21st marks Queen Elizabeth II’s 84th birthday, and for her big day, she got quite a present!
 AP Photo/Ben Stansall, Pool/FILE In New Zealand, the MPs through out a referendum that was meant to abolish the monarchy. It was voted down 68 to 53 in its first read. Disgruntled republicans are pointing the finger at the Queen’s grandson, Prince William because his visit to the country likely boosted interest in the royal family.
“We think that’s down to a visit by a certain Prince William in January,” said Lewis Holden, chairman of the nation’s Republican Movement. “That’s why Buckingham Palace sent him out here.”
A poll showed that support for a republic went from 47 percent in 2008 to 37 percent just after William’s visit. At the same time, 51 percent of Kiwis wanted to keep the monarchy.
When broken down by gender, more women then men want to keep the Queen as their head of state.
Despite this defeat, many New Zealanders feel someday they will become a republic. Some say it might happen when Prince William’s father, Prince Charles, becomes King.
“The question many New Zealanders ask is: why should we have a head of state on the other side of the world who is not a citizen of our country?” said Green MP Keith Locke.
“The present Queen has been competent in the performance of her duties and she turns 84 this very day. I wish her a happy birthday.”
Sources: Express, NZ Herald
 REUTERS/Hans Deryk Queen Elizabeth II can rest easy now. The Caribbean island nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines voted last night to keep her as their head of state. The people rejected a new constitution that would have removed the Queen and put a president in her place.
This comes as Her Majesty is making a rare trip to the Caribbean for a summit Thursday. She will be stopping by St Vincent at some point.
Both main political parties of St. Vincent wanted to oust Queen Elizabeth as its leader. However, two-thirds of the vote was needed for this, and 56 percent of voters chose not to have a change in its government.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines won its independence from Great Britain in 1979, but remains a member of the Commonwealth.
A recent report of Norway’s politicians shows the future of the country’s monarchy may not be so good.
 kongehuset.no According to NRK, 4 in 10 Parliament members want the monarchy demolished and republic put in its place. A third of the politicians say they would introduce the idea of having a president instead of a king in about 20 years.
Eva Midttun Leira of the NRK explained the reasons for this movement. “We have a generational change in the Parliament. There are many young people, and we wondered if it has done nothing with the perception of the royal house. SV [Socialist Party], which traditionally is Republican, came in with fewer agents, but despite that, the number of Republicans in the Parliament have gone up, it’s interesting, “says Leira.
An NRK poll found that only 56% want to keep the royal family, while 43% do not.
Leira pointed out that it is perhaps Princess Martha-Louise’s recent oddities, such as opening an angel school in 2008, that has deteriorated interest in the country’s royalty.
Concern over the future of the Norwegian monarchy came eight years ago when Crown Prince Haakon married Mette-Marit, who had a son from a previous relationship and was part of Oslo’s drug party scene. Support for the royal family took a dive, and wasn’t until the birth of Princess Ingrid-Alexandra in 2004 that support for the monarchy rose.
Now, it is a wonder if the little princess would ever make it to throne.
A recent poll shows a majority of Australians want to remove Queen Elizabeth II as their head of state, and become a republic.
Fifty-two percent support a republic, 40 percent do not and eight percent are undecided, the Herald/Nielsen poll of 1,400 voters showed. 
The poll comes as the government and official opposition are both led by republicans for the first time in the history of this former British colony.
The Queen is Australia’s literal head of state, but she represented by a Governor-General, Quentin Bryce .
Australia’s feelings for a republic are nothing new. In 1999, there was a referendum, which failed, and plans for a republic were shelved.
But now there is a new Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, who is a staunch republican.
But even he is suggesting to hold off plans for Australia to officially break away from the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth until after the Queen passes away.
Opinion polls have shown that if her heir-apparent, Prince Charles, is crowned, support for a republic with an Australian head of state would surge.
“We cannot have a successful referendum on the republic during the queen’s reign,” Turnbull said.
“In ’99, I said if you vote no it means no for a long time, and the next chance will come after the queen’s reign has ended.”
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