ANTI-MONARCHY campaigners will take to Edinburgh this weekend to build momentum for a democratic alternative to the royal family.
Republic Day 2025, co-hosted by Scotland’s campaign for an elected head of state Our Republic, will take place on Calton Hill this Saturday, May 10 from 2-4pm.
The rally — organised alongside fellow campaign group Republic — will combine “serious political messaging with a welcoming, festival-style atmosphere”, featuring peaceful protests, banners and speeches from prominent Scottish political and media figures.
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Tristan Grayford, committee member and treasurer of Our Republic, said: “Two years into his reign Charles continues to cling to a past we need to leave behind.
"Handing out titles and favours to his family, setting an example for our political elites that they should be entitled to take whatever they can.
"The continued claim to unaccountable, undemocratic power by our aristocracy, from the Lords to the Crown, is toxic to our society - It's time we demanded better; it's time we demanded an end to this.”
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Speakers listed for the Calton Hill rally include Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie, SNP MSP for Highlands and Islands Emma Roddick, poet George Gunn and broadcaster and National columnist Lesley Riddoch.
Our Republic, founded in 2020, hopes Saturday will build on the success of last year’s first Republic Day, timed deliberately to coincide with the anniversary of King Charles’s coronation.
In tandem with the Edinburgh protest, similar events organised by Republic will also take place in England and Wales on Saturday.
The London protest will take place in Trafalgar Square, whilst the Welsh rally is scheduled for Cardiff Castle.
