Rath on 24 December 2012
As far as Britain and the commonwealth goes, the real value of the monarchy is in cultural terms. They're a reasonably important aspect in terms of culture and traditions. Also the pomp and pageantry of the entire things is occasionally entertaining and also occasionally an excuse for some rather fun celebrations.
Of course they shouldn't have any real power though, dictatorships don't work long term in the modern world and democracies are remarkably stable.
