Letter: Modernise the monarchy - it encourages us to stay in the past

SURELY DEMOS misses the point. This country has a hereditary monarchy, which means exactly that: you get whatever comes along. You cannot simply pick and choose or skip a generation because you don't care for the guy who's up next. Either we have a hereditary monarchy, or we don't. And if we don't, then anyone should be able to stand. The further problem with an election is the level of public grief and hysteria that the death of a royal can cause. Hardly a time conducive to rational thinking. The answer, of course, is to invite the Royal Family to retire to one or more of their several estates and elect a president for, say, 10 years instead.

PETER DENTON

Teddington, Middlesex