Rude and traitorous if King’s portrait not displayed in capital - Susan Dalgety

Will Edinburgh City Council follow Glasgow’s example and order the new portrait of King Charles that has been made available by the UK government for display in public buildings?

The new official portrait of King Charles III that will hang in public buildings. Picture: Hugo Burnand

A survey by a national newspaper reveals that Glasgow city council has already ordered a copy of the oak-framed photograph of the King dressed in an Admiral of the Fleet uniform, but Edinburgh did not respond to the query.

The capital’s neighbouring councils, East Lothian and Midlothian, have ordered one copy each, to hang in the room where citizenship ceremonies take place. West Lothian was ahead of the game. The council said it had not applied for the new portrait as there had been a picture of the King hanging in West Lothian Civic Centre since the Coronation. They’re a loyal bunch in West Lothian.

There has been predictable criticism of the portrait scheme, which cost the public purse £8 million. The anti-monarchy group Republic called it a “shameful waste of money” and said the government had “lost the plot”. I am no monarchist – inherited power is, in my view, medieval and has no place in a 21st century democracy – but neither am I in a rush to see a presidential system of government. Imagine a Trump-like figure in Buckingham Palace.

So while we remain a constitutional monarchy, I don’t see any harm at all in having the King’s portrait on display in public buildings, nor is it a waste of public money – £400m spent on two ferries that were supposed to cost £97m and still haven’t been delivered six years after the deadline is a waste of public money. Keeping up a long-time tradition is not.

Most public buildings proudly displayed a portrait of the late Queen, so why the furore over her son’s picture? Which brings me back to Edinburgh. The council may not have responded to the newspaper survey, but I can’t believe the City Chambers won’t have at least one picture of King Charles on show. Edinburgh is the most royal of cities outside London, with the monarch’s Scottish palace only a stone’s throw away from the city council buildings, while the Lord Provost is the King’s official representative. It would be rude, traitorous even, if it did not.