Buckingham Palace Gives Prime Minister Title He Didn't Want

"The Prime Minister will now be known as 'the Right Honourable John Key' even though he is 'personally content' not to have it" said Lewis Holden, chair of the Republican Movement.

The title used to indicate that its holder was a member of the UK's Privy Council (not to be confused with the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, abolished as New Zealand's highest court in 2003).

The Clark government stopped making these appointments in 2000. John Key confirmed that his government would not make any appointments either in 2008, effectively abolishing the title the Right Honorable.

"Buckingham Palace has now decided that the Governor-General, Prime Minister and Chief Justice will now receive the title just for holding their respective offices" continued Mr Holden.

"We can only guess at what the palace's motivation is. It looks like it's a bizarre attempt to make the monarchy relevant to New Zealanders.

Unfortunately, like the Prime Minister, most New Zealanders don't care for pompous titles. Buckingham Palace should have respected our Prime Minister's decision not to award the title" concluded Mr Holden.

ENDS

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