Q.Has the idea ever been seriously proposed before?
Yes. In 1893 Andrew Carnegie published “A Look Ahead” in The North American Review, arguing that Britain should give up its hereditary crown and House of Lords and reunite with the United States under a federal republican constitution. In 1939 Clarence Streit’s “Union Now” proposed a federal union of the Atlantic democracies with common citizenship, and the idea has resurfaced repeatedly since.
Q.What does the U.S. Constitution require?
Article IV, Section 3: “New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union.” No constitutional amendment is needed — only an Admission Act passed by simple majorities in the House and Senate and signed by the President. Texas, previously an independent republic, was admitted directly in 1845 by joint resolution.
Q.Why include the Republic of Ireland?
Ireland is bound into the cultural and historical fabric of the Atlantic world; over 30 million Americans claim Irish descent. Admitting Northern Ireland and the Republic together would end the border question: the Interstate Commerce Clause forbids customs checks and tariffs between states. Ireland would join by its own sovereign choice.
Q.What happens to the NHS?
Under the Tenth Amendment, powers not delegated to the federal government are reserved to the states. A state may fund and operate a single-payer health system, so the NHS would continue as the state health services of England, Scotland and Wales, financed through state taxes.
Q.How would the monarchy be ended?
Parliament is sovereign and can repeal the Act of Settlement 1701 and related succession law. The royal prerogative would be abolished. Private royal property such as Sandringham and Balmoral would remain private; official Crown palaces and lands would pass to the new state governments for civic use.
Q.What happens to the House of Lords?
Article I, Section 9 states that “No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States.” The House of Lords would be abolished, and the new states would establish elected state senates or single-chamber legislatures, as Nebraska has.