Ping!
Another issue not one has mentioned yet is the impact of the break-up of the United Kingdom will have on the Commonwealth. All the big 3 “Old Commonwealth” countries are to some degree set that the monarchy is to the the current monarch of the United Kingdom, even though the legal clauses state the institution is already repatriated. To some extent the Anglo-Celtic or English Canadian identity in each of the 3 countries is shaped by the common national identity of the United Kingdom on the countries’ early history as British, not English or Scottish or Irish individually, colonies. For example, in English-speaking Canada I don’t see the Scottish-descent Canadians really trying to pick up fights with English-descent Canadians, and they are proud of being English Canadians.
If the United Kingdom breaks up and independent Scotland continues to recognize Elizabeth II it is not that bad. But having seen Scottish Nationalists close hand, it wouldn’t surprise me they would decide to make a scene to publicly humiliate England as much as they can by wanting Franz Duke of Bavaria, the current Jacobite claimant, as the new King of Scotland. I wonder who would be the head of state in this case when the United Kingdom no longer exists?
A second thing is constitutionally speaking, the 3 countries all have the foundation based on the British nation, not to mention national identity, which I believe is particularly acute in the case of Canada as a country founded by two peoples, British on English Canada and French on French Canada. Does this need to be changed to 3 or more founding peoples if the original UK breaks up?
It may be a good start point to a conversation I suppose, and anyone could share their take?
I don’t think the Monarchy would be in any danger in the short to medium term of any independence. The SNP doesn’t have Republicanism as part of its manifesto. Remember, it was the Scottish Crown that took over the English throne, not the other way around.
As for the Jacobites being invited to take over, well, Jacobism these days is nothing more than a romantic fantasy and not the serious political movement it was 300 years ago. None of the Jacobite heirs has claimed the throne since the early 19th century and have not expressed any interest in reviving that claim now. Apart from anything else, the fact that the Jacobite heirs are now actual de-facto and dejure sausage-sucking Germans makes the common Jacobite criticism of the present Royals being ‘German interlopers’ because they are descended from the Hanoverian electors seem absolutely ridiculous....
The English showed up a tad later ~ the creation of the UK kind of overlaps some of these events.