Royal Society scientists angered by Prince Andrew's election as fellow

Some of the Royal Society's 1,450 fellows are unhappy at Duke of York's election and say 'royal fellows' should be phased outAfter more than 350 years of largely happy association with assorted royalty, Britain's pre-eminent scientific institution, the Royal Society, faces unprecedented dissent from members after Prince Andrew was elected to become a fellow.While the objections to the prince centre mainly on his slightly chequered career as a royal, a small number of the 1,450 or so Royal Society fellowship are asking the wider question of whether it is time for an institution based on science to end the practice of honouring people on the basis of heredity.The controversy has been fuelled by the way the prince was elected to be a royal fellow, a status he shares with princes Philip, Charles and William, Princess Anne and the Duke of Kent, while the Queen is the organisation's patron. The ballots sent out to ordinary fellows provided only one box to tick, supporting the measure. Those opposed had to write "no" themselves or otherwise mark or spoil the paper.The Royal Society, set up in 1660 with the encouragement of Charles II, announced Prince Andrew's election as a royal fellow on Friday, alongside the elevation of several dozen distinguished scientists and engineers to become scientific fellows, with the author Bill Bryson made an honorary fellow.The dissent emerged later that day on the personal blog of David Colquhoun, professor of pharmacology at University College Lond...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Royal Society Prince Andrew News guardian.co.uk UK news Monarchy Science Source Type: news