April 2022

April 2022 issue

Does the British monarchy need to shrink to survive? Historian Alex von Tunzelmann considers the future of the institution, plus Joris Luyendijk on the Dutch option. Peter Ricketts argues we need action not words on Ukraine. Emily Maitlis on the new m...

Past issues

Politics

How will the British monarchy survive after the Queen?

Alex von Tunzelmann looks at how Charles III's court might differ from his mother's

Alex von Tunzelmann

People

© REUTERS / Alamy Stock Photo

Lorna Slater: ‘Engineering is very egalitarian. Politics is much more hierarchical’

David McAllister

Sonita Alleyne: ‘If you know something’s stolen, what do you do? You give it back’

Alan Rusbridger

FareShare CEO Lindsay Boswell: ‘I’m never happier than when there’s a crisis’

Jem Bartholomew

Joe Davis: “I rang up Rutland County Council and said: ‘who could I speak to if I think I found a dinosaur?’”

Osman Yousefzada: ‘Most working-class people are artisans, and most middle-class people are artists’

Regulars

Colm Tóibín: “I changed my mind about Irish nationalism over summer 1973”

The Prospect Grid: April 2022

Stephen Collins’s cartoon: a cure for permanent outrage

Stephen Collins

Letters: April 2022

Columns

In defence of Mumsnet

Faking news: can Wikipedia be the answer to a post-truth internet? Travers Lewis/Alamy

How Wikipedia gets to define what’s true online

Ethan Zuckerman

How “going viral” became a meme

PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo

Emily Maitlis’s diary: my new podcast move is terrifying and exhilarating in one gulp

Boris Johnson, a liar? He has no choice

Oliver Dowden is trying—and failing—to weaponise wokeness. Photo: Reuters / Alamy

The war on woke isn’t working

We need more immigration, not less

Essays

Northern supremacy: the political rebirth of Andy Burnham

Illustration by Gregori Saavedra

After revelations of misogyny within the police, how can we tackle toxic masculinity?

James Bloodworth

How will the British monarchy survive after the Queen?

Alex von Tunzelmann

Modern family: the Dutch royals © Shutterstock

Can the British Royal family ever downsize for the 21st century? The Dutch monarchy show how it’s done

Joris Luyendijk

Enlightened advocate, or the great delayer? Henry Dundas’s complex relationship with slavery

We can adapt to climate change. But do we have the will to do it?

A different perspective: St James church in West Hampstead, London, now hosts a post office, café and children’s play area. Image: London Churches in Photographs / londonchurchbuildings.com

Keeping the faith in our parish churches

A former head of the Foreign Office on what Putin wants

Arts & Books

Monica Ali: “I’m still sceptical about publishers’ real commitment to changing the industry”

Face-to-face with terror: Vasily Grossman with the Red Army in Schwerin, Germany, in 1945. Image: Album / Alamy Stock Photo

Listening to, and reading, the voices of Ukraine

Raphael: angel with a clipboard

Solving the Oxford problem

The cult of Winston Churchill

Priyamvada Gopal

Footloose in France

Anthony Cummins

Class act: Beth Steel. Credit: Helen Murray

Playwright Beth Steel: “I knew I could do it”

The failures of Elizabeth Finch

Feeling lonely? Make friends with a bird

The journalists who predicted the future

Michael O'Connor

The artist making an exhibition of himself

David McAllister

Rebecca Salter: “The next few years are not going to be easy for any arts organisation”

David McAllister

Harrison Birtwistle (1924-2022): the wound in the score

The Candy House: A playful novel about tech changing the world

Catherine Taylor

Riz Ahmed (right) and director Aneil Karia pose with their Oscars for The Long Goodbye. Credit: REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

Riz Ahmed: From Wembley to the Oscars

Britain’s new role—Jeeves to the world

Lives

Illustration by Adam Q

Mindful Life: A doctor and patient in the same psychiatric hospital

Rebecca Lawrence

Illustration by Adam Q

Sporting life: Racism in cricket

Michael Brearley

Farming life: A hop across the pond

Illustration by Adam Q

Displaced life: What friends are for

Jason Thomas-Fournillier

Long life: Reasons to be cheerful

Illustration by Adam Q

Young life: A love letter to going online

Clerical life: Finding a home in the church

And finally...

Prospect puzzle and crossword—April 2022