The worst thing about the monarchy in GB is, that it costs a huge stack of money -- whereas the Bundespraesident in Germany is relatively affordable.
Are you saying this is incorrect? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhyYgnhhKFw
They have no real political influence and, to be honest, I'd far rather have the current crowd than an overtly political head of state - the fact that they choose to serve in the Armed Forces earns them a lot of credit in my book.
Germany has about ~50% more GDP than the UK.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28nom...
4 Germany 3,859,547
5 United Kingdom 3,056,499
Besides, tens of millions aren't really a huge amount at a national level. Roughly £1 per working-person.
I'll happily testify that Her Maj. has provided at least 1GBP of entertainment value each year of my life so far -- so it's still a net gain in my eyes ;)
Presidents are not necessarily the ideal solution as to what to do about having a symbolic head of state. Moreover they don't come for free or without controversy (and that, every X number of years - whatever the term of the presidency).
Can not or does not?
It is very difficult in the British system to clearly determine what is, while theoretically a personal prerogative of the monarch, practically impossible from those personal prerogatives that have simply not been exercised recently, perhaps in part because the possibility of them being invoked constrains the government to work with the monarch in a way which will not result in them being used.