LONDON -- In the broader scheme of things, it is only a small incident. The final removal last week of 656 hereditary dukes, marquesses, earls, viscounts and lords from the law-making machinery of the British Parliament can hardly be described as earth-shattering. Nor is it a surprise, having been long planned -- and in fact argued for by radicals for over a century.
To most people round the world, it must seem extraordinary that Britain should have clung so long to the hereditary principle and allowed its aristocrats to continue, by right, as members of the Upper House of Parliament, and therefore as legislators.
Many countries still have their titled nobility. France is awash with counts and princes, Germany has its Grafs, Belgium is actually still creating grand-sounding titles, Spain has a good supply of dukes and Japan has its counts and princes, too.