Whether people believe in God or not. or whether they believe in a constitutional monarchy or not, I consider it extremely petty and churlish to refuse to at least stand when others around you are standing. I for one would be ashamed to be in their presence.
I was lucky enough to go to the Olympics in London. Everyone stood for other countries' national anthems. I have no idea what the words were for most of them, but it's about respect.
"I always refuse to stand for an an anthem which calls upon a deity I don't believe in to 'save' a monarch whom I refuse to recognise. "
A possible solution there (provided there's no singing of course), is to imagine it's the Liechtensten anthem, which has the same tune and starts:
"Up above the young Rhine sits Liechtenstein, resting on Alpine heights."
Geographically, that is hard to fault ...
Ban this and other similar items will follow...ban the Union Jack, ban stamps with the Queen on them, close Buckingham palace, ban the English language.
The article is about someone not wanting the anthem played at Kings College graduation ceremonies, not banning the national anthem.
If they did decide to use something else, then anything by the Three Degrees, or BA Robertson perhaps ...
Does anyone remember "I Won't Let You Down" by Ph.D ...