United Kingdom

Saturday March 1, 2025

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer strategically employs the British monarchy to gain favour with Trump, while Canada faces challenges under his administration.

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday March 1, 2025

Posted to the Toronto Star.

Recruiting Canada’s King For UK’s Strategic Flattery

June 4, 2012

In the nuanced world of international diplomacy, flattery has emerged as a key strategy for world leaders aiming to win favour with U.S. President Donald Trump. Recent developments involving the British monarchy, as well as Trump’s interactions with Australia and Canada, underscore the prominence of this diplomatic dance.

News: King Charles issues personal invite for Trump to visit Britain for state visit

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s recent invitation to Trump for a state visit, personally extended by King Charles III, exemplifies this approach. The British monarchy, with its historical gravitas and ceremonial splendour, serves as an effective means to capture Trump’s attention. For a president who appreciates grandeur and spectacle, the invitation is both a stroke to his ego and a diplomatic gesture. However, this timing is awkward for King Charles, who finds himself a pawn in a broader geopolitical play, potentially neglecting Canada, another Commonwealth realm.

September 30, 2022

Since his re-election, Trump has displayed a peculiar fixation on Canada, with rhetoric suggesting annexation and plans for severe economic measures, including a 25% tariff on Canadian steel and aluminum. This leaves Canada facing the threat of an economic conflict with its largest trading partner, while seemingly sidelined by its closest Commonwealth allies.

In stark contrast, Australia has adeptly managed its relationship with Trump, emphasizing shared defence interests and economic ties, such as those rooted in the AUKUS agreement. Even when Trump appeared unfamiliar with the AUKUS acronym, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and other leaders downplayed the incident, reinforcing the broader, positive relationship. This showcases a strategic use of flattery and reassurance to maintain favour with the U.S.

Analysis: For Trump, Australia is nothing like Canada

December 16, 2019

Early in the week, French President Emmanuel Macron demonstrated similar tact with body language, flowery expressions of loyalty, and addressing Trump as “Dear Donald.” Such gestures highlight the lengths to which leaders will go to secure Trump’s favour.

For Canada, the situation raises a pressing question: If the British monarchy cannot utilize its historical ties to advocate for Canada during times of crisis, what benefit does this relationship provide? With the Canadian Liberals poised to choose their next leader on March 9, perhaps a new Prime Minister will seek to leverage the monarchy’s influence to counteract Trump’s economic threats. Until then, Canadians watch the fawning interactions between the U.S., the UK, and other Commonwealth countries, left to navigate Trump’s rhetoric and threats largely on their own. If King Charles can be persuaded to act on Canada’s behalf, it may rejuvenate the perceived value of these historic ties.

The Diplomacy Dance

It’s fascinating and frustrating how flattery seems to be the key to dealing with Trump. He seems to take any lack of deference as a personal insult to the United States. Take Zelenskyy, for instance—watching him get treated like a child while fighting off an invasion is just disgraceful.

On the flip side, Keir Starmer managed to charm Trump with a letter from King Charles, sidestepping those dreaded tariffs. It’s like watching a masterclass in diplomatic flattery. Meanwhile, here in Canada, we’re enduring Trump’s taunts and staring down the barrel of higher tariffs than even China. Given that King Charles is our King too, maybe it’s time we play that royal card in this high-stakes game Trump is playing with everyone.

Your support means the world, and I’m grateful to have this space to share these thoughts. Let’s keep the conversation going!

Check out my making-of animated editorial cartoon for March 1, 2025, below! If you haven’t yet, please subscribe to my Substack newsletter, where I share weekly editorial cartoons every Saturday morning. Substack is a crucial platform for me amidst the uncertainties of being a staff cartoonist, especially given recent layoffs and newspaper closures affecting our field. As long as I hold my position, subscriptions will remain free. Thank you for your support! This “note” helps craft my weekly posts and showcases animated versions of my cartoons. Enjoy!

– The Graeme Gallery

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Saturday May 6, 2023

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday May 6, 2023

King Charles III the Dragon Slayer? 

September 30, 2022

Today’s coronation of King Charles III has led to a debate about the relevance of monarchy in the modern world. While some call for the abolishment of the monarchy, evidence suggests that the institution has adapted well to the 21st century and has contributed to the prosperity, equality, and democracy of many countries. In fact, many monarchies dominate the lists of the best countries to live in. However, to remain relevant, the monarchy must adapt to modern realities. One way to do this is to ensure that newcomers to Canada swear allegiance first and foremost to their adopted country, instead of the monarchy. Another way is to change the $20 bill to not feature King Charles III’s image, but rather a more representative image of Canada. These changes can help the monarchy continue to be a fundamental part of Canada’s system of government and laws, while adapting to the realities of the 21st century.

Opinion: Can a monarchy sit easy in modern Britain? 

September 9, 2022

King Charles III slaying dragons is not entirely appropriate, as the challenges he faces are far more complex than mere dragons. His reign comes at a time of significant global challenges, such as climate change, colonialism, inclusivity, and… to a lesser extent, bad architecture, his well known pet peeve. These are issues that his predecessors, including his mother, mostly stayed clear of due to the times in which they lived. However, if King Charles III is to use his reign to speak on these issues, he must first adapt the monarchy to modern realities.

Many critics of the monarchy argue that it is undemocratic, colonialist, and racist. While there is some truth to these criticisms, they are not the whole story. The fact is that, as a general rule, monarchies in today’s world are more prosperous, more equal, and even more democratic than the alternatives. Countries like Sweden and Denmark are prosperous, stable, and fair not because they are monarchies, but because they have figured out how to combine tradition with change, how to adapt what they have to the demands of modernity. Constitutional monarchy, as Mauro Guillén, a professor at the Wharton School of Business, explains, “works as a mechanism preserving what deserves to remain while incorporating what the circumstances call for.” It is a beautiful solution to a wide array of governance problems.

BBC: Your complete guide to the King’s coronation  

2023 Coronation Design

To ensure that the monarchy continues to be relevant, we must adapt it to modern realities. One way to do this is to ensure that newcomers to Canada swear allegiance first and foremost to their adopted country, instead of the monarchy. Another way is to change the $20 bill to not feature King Charles III’s image, but rather a more representative image of Canada. These changes can help the monarchy continue to be a fundamental part of Canada’s system of government and laws, while adapting to the realities of the 21st century.

King Charles III has a unique opportunity to speak to the pressing issues of our time. However, to do so, he must first adapt the monarchy to modern realities. The monarchy has survived for centuries precisely because it has been adaptable, and if we have learned anything, it is to build on that success rather than breaking the system that allowed it to flourish. (AI)

 

Saturday January 7, 2023

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday January 7, 2023

The enduring anguish of being the royal ‘spare

September 30, 2022

“Wonderful. Now you’ve given me an heir and a spare, my work is done.” That was the conversation that Prince Harry claims marked the day of his own birth, with the then Prince Charles joking to the Princess of Wales about the arrival of their second son.

The story is told in Harry’s memoir, called Spare, and he says the term was often used to describe him, within his own family.

“They would say it without a spirit of judgement, but straight out. I was the shadow, the supporting actor, the plan B,” he writes, in a translation of the book’s Spanish edition.

“I was brought into this world in case something happened to Willy,” he writes, using the nicknames that saw Prince William as “Willy” and Prince Harry as “Harold”.

The saying “an heir and a spare” refers to aristocratic families needing an heir to inherit a title or an estate, and the “spare” as the younger sibling who could be the replacement if anything happened to the heir before he or she has their own children.

It clearly annoyed Prince Harry enough to use it as a title for his book, and it taps into the longstanding difficulty of this uncertain royal understudy role, where there’s wealth and privilege but no obvious sense of purpose.

March 9, 2021

“It’s a non-position,” says royal expert Professor Pauline Maclaran, from the Centre for the Study of Modern Monarchy, Royal Holloway, University of London.

“There’s no clear role apart from shaking hands and being pleasant to people,” says Prof Maclaran.

A life of pointless luxury might have its decadent charms, but it also carries a heavy risk of unfulfillment and lack of direction.

So much so that Prof Maclaran says that a modern, slimmed-down monarchy should either find better defined roles for such individuals, or else release them from any royal expectations, once they’ve slipped down the pecking order of succession.

Royal historian Ed Owens says Sweden and Denmark are examples of where such an approach has been taken, “downsizing” the royal families, so that individuals who might have been marginal “spares” can have their own private lives “unfettered by royal responsibilities”.

Mr Owens says that Princess Margaret, younger sister to the late Queen Elizabeth II, is an example of the pressures put upon such siblings, in a way that remains relevant to the problems raised by Prince Harry.

January 15, 2022

Prince Andrew is another whose attempts at finding a role have not exactly ended well. Even before the scandal involving sex assault claims, which he denied, he had gained the nickname of Air Miles Andy for his many overseas trips.

But there have been positive outcomes. George VI, a shy and initially reluctant monarch, had been Edward VIII’s younger sibling but stepped up to the plate as King after his childless brother abdicated, and proved to be a leader in wartime.

Letter to the Editor, The Hamilton Spectator

His father, George V, had been another second son who came to the throne. His older brother had died at the age of 28 in an outbreak of flu in 1892.

There are also historical templates for the younger royal being cast in a negative light, accused of dissolute and disreputable behaviour or as a rival threatening to undermine the authority of the elder.

Think of Bad King John versus Good King Richard, in the 12th Century power struggle between brothers, that was depicted in a 1970s Disney movie. (BBC News) 

From sketch to finish, see the current way Graeme completes an editorial cartoon using an iPencil, the Procreate app, and a couple of cheats on an iPad Pro …

 

Friday October 21, 2022

By Graeme MacKay – The Hamilton Spectator – Friday October 21, 2022

Hasta la Vista? This Time, Boris Johnson May Say, ‘I’m Back.’

It seemed at once incredible and inevitable.

September 7, 2022

No sooner had Prime Minister Liz Truss of Britain announced her sudden resignation on Thursday afternoon than a familiar name surfaced as a candidate to succeed her: Boris Johnson, the prime minister she replaced a mere 45 ‘ days ago.

Mr. Johnson, who is vacationing in the Caribbean, has said nothing publicly about a bid for his old job. But the prospect of Boris redux has riveted Conservative Party lawmakers and cabinet ministers — delighting some, repelling others, and dominating the conversation in a way that Mr. Johnson has for his entire political career.

Nor is the idea of his return merely notional: Among those who are keeping tallies of the voting intentions of lawmakers, including some London news organizations, Mr. Johnson is only slightly behind his chief rival, Rishi Sunak. On Friday morning, Jacob Rees-Mogg, who is currently the business secretary and served under Mr. Johnson, became the first cabinet minister to endorse his former boss.

September 6, 2019

Mr. Johnson received both endorsement and criticism as the contest to succeed Ms. Truss gathered pace on Friday. Penny Mordaunt, now a senior minister, became the first to publicly declare her candidacy. She is considered one of the leading contenders along with Mr. Johnson and Mr. Sunak.

The prospect of Mr. Johnson back in 10 Downing Street appalls many Conservatives, who argue that voters would never forgive the party for rehabilitating him after the scandals that brought him down in July, including illicit parties held during the pandemic and misconduct allegations against a lawmaker he promoted. Embracing such a polarizing figure, they say, would splinter the Tory ranks, perhaps irrevocably.

“Only a nation which was gripped by pessimistic despair and no longer believed that there could be a serious response to its unfolding tragedies would want to take refuge in the leadership of a clown,” Rory Stewart, who ran unsuccessfully against Mr. Johnson in 2019, wrote on Friday on Twitter. (NYT)

From sketch to finish, see the current way Graeme completes an editorial cartoon using an iPencil, the Procreate app, and a couple of cheats on an iPad Pro …

 

Tuesday September 20, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday September 20, 2022

The monarchy, Canada and the future

September 9, 2022

The world said goodbye to the Queen — and an era — Monday.

A funeral service at Westminster Abbey with heads of government, other dignitaries and family honoured Queen Elizabeth’s remarkable life of service with seven decades on the throne.

The throne has passed to King Charles III, who, at 73, comes into the role after a literal lifetime of watching and learning. He has pledged to carry on the role in his mother’s tradition, following her example of “selfless duty” and promise of “lifelong service.”

And yet he is not his mother.

The Queen’s death almost certainly marks the start of a diminished monarchy. Support for the monarchy was based, for some at least, on personal affection and respect for the Queen rather than full-throated support for the institution itself. That certainly seems to be the case here. Public opinion research by the Angus Reid Institute in April found that 55 per cent of Canadians supported remaining a constitutional monarchy as long as the Queen reigns. That dropped to 34 per cent if Charles was on the throne.

June 23, 2022

Even before her passing, change was underway. King Charles III takes over a realm much diminished from when his mother assumed the throne in 1952. In nations across the Commonwealth, debates have played out about continued ties to the monarchy.

In a week when most of the tributes to the Queen were glowing and uncritical, these debates are an important reminder of history. For all the attributes the Queen brought to her role, at the end of the day she represented an empire that in its history ruled over and exploited countries around the globe. That exploitation came in the form of violence, racism, slavery, raiding natural resources and robbing local economies, a legacy that is remembered by the citizens of those countries.

Across Africa, India and Caribbean nations among others, the monarchy is viewed with attitudes that range from indifference to anger to passionate demands for reparations and apologies for colonial acts such as enslavement.

Last year, Barbados severed its connections to the Crown and shifted from constitutional monarchy to a republic. Antigua and Barbuda expects to hold a referendum on whether it too should become a republic.

June 10, 2022

What about Canada? The country’s Indigenous peoples have their own painful history with the Crown, one marked by colonialism and genocide. Black people were enslaved in the colonies of British North America.

Is it worth rethinking therefore whether Canada should have its own head-of-state rather than one who resides an ocean away? We’ve already taken steps over the years to disentangle ourselves from London. In 1965, the maple leaf flag was proclaimed as the national flag, replacing the widely used Canadian Red Ensign. The Constitution was repatriated in 1982.

As a mature nation, we can surely have the discussions that are unfolding in other Commonwealth countries about ties to the Crown.

But know that the hurdles are daunting, perhaps insurmountable to ending Canada’s time as a constitutional monarchy. Such a fundamental change would dictate a national referendum. It would require provincial agreement and constitutional changes.

“Given just the sheer complexity of actually achieving the total unanimity of the provinces plus the federal Parliament, which includes the Senate, just on that technical basis it is impossible,” said University of Ottawa law Prof. Errol Mendes.

September 27, 2016

There’s also been a reluctance over the last few decades for federal governments to deal with “fundamental constitutional change,” said Andrew McDougall, professor of Canadian politics and public law at the University of Toronto.

Polls suggest Canadians are indifferent to the monarchy, viewing it as not relevant and outdated. But there are no groundswell demands for change. When more pressing issues loom, such as squeezed household budgets and climate change, it’s hard to make the case that ditching the monarchy should be the focus of our collective time and effort.

The better course would be to hold the monarchy accountable for the past and ensure it remains relevant for the present, priorities that now fall to the new King. (Hamilton Spectator Editorial)