Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Public funding of the royal family should be optional

214 replies

FuckinghamPalace · 15/06/2024 00:08

Not sure if this has been duscussed before but…

What if the tax payer could opt out of funding the royal family? And opt in if they want to contribute?

It should be optional

Why not?

OP posts:
Arlanymor · 15/06/2024 17:18

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 15/06/2024 17:00

@Arlanymor @ThistleWitch

Thank you,
Yes it appears that the 77p per person is based on the UK population of 66.97 million, (although less than half of that number are actual tax payers.)

No worries and you are exactly right.

My argument against them isn’t monetary so whatever it works out per person isn’t one of my concerns as I believe monarchy is the antithesis of democracy.

crumblingschools · 15/06/2024 17:10

Isn’t France slightly bigger than us? Is that just based on looking at Royal palaces?

Boomer55 · 15/06/2024 17:06

Alsonotsurecontent · 15/06/2024 00:23

Okayyyyyy……so we all opt out, monarchy gone. Lose billions in tourism revenue ….

im not sure what your point is when you just answer not the point

Show quote history

France earn more in tourism than we do. They haven’t had a monarchy for a very long time.

The palaces, castles etc still draw in holidaymakers, 🤷‍♀️

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 15/06/2024 17:00

@Arlanymor @ThistleWitch

Thank you,
Yes it appears that the 77p per person is based on the UK population of 66.97 million, (although less than half of that number are actual tax payers.)

PoppyCherryDog · 15/06/2024 16:28

I agree with the sentiment in that we shouldn’t pay for them but this would be a nightmare to administer.

Flossflower · 15/06/2024 16:20

YABU. There is a separate topic for the Royal Family which people like me opt out of.

obsessedwithfreshbread · 15/06/2024 16:05

There are many things I'd opt out of before I opted out of the royal family

Sparklybutold · 15/06/2024 15:50

I would opt out in a heartbeat. To have human beings existing in a state of opulence purely by blood is frankly abhorrent. The media coverage of Kate and her appearance in public today is infuriating. She is receiving the best of care and yet she 'manages to make it out' 😂 whoopie-doo!

Pantaloons99 · 15/06/2024 15:47

FelievedToFeSpeakingFollocks · 15/06/2024 15:42

Bless.

When one has nothing intelligent or of value to add to the conversation, it seems some have chosen to resort to nonsensical statements or something they have deemed to be an insult.

Pass for the former.

Fail for the latter.

Well done.

👍😁

QueenMegan · 15/06/2024 15:47

Should not be funding them they get enough wealth from the inherited land which makes up billions of acres.

FelievedToFeSpeakingFollocks · 15/06/2024 15:42

Bless.

When one has nothing intelligent or of value to add to the conversation, it seems some have chosen to resort to nonsensical statements or something they have deemed to be an insult.

Pass for the former.

Fail for the latter.

Well done.

SlowerMovingVehicle · 15/06/2024 15:36

FelievedToFeSpeakingFollocks · 15/06/2024 15:32

I can’t really give much credence to posters who punctuate their posts with emojis.

Classic monarchist argument.

Pantaloons99 · 15/06/2024 15:35

@FelievedToFeSpeakingFollocks 🤣🤣🤣

StudySkillsCoach · 15/06/2024 15:33

what about administrative costs?

FelievedToFeSpeakingFollocks · 15/06/2024 15:32

I can’t really give much credence to posters who punctuate their posts with emojis.

SlowerMovingVehicle · 15/06/2024 15:30

www.duchyoflancaster.co.uk/about-the-duchy/history/

Keir, listen. Introduce a retrospective inheritance tax for British families who've been exempted for centuries without good reason. Backdate the levy to 1399 and bingo, you can fund a brand new healthcare system for the next 300 years!

Pantaloons99 · 15/06/2024 15:27

@OperationSquid that's quite interesting. I've just read one link regards the tax paid on assets which is quite substantial actually. I will read the other links as it's always good to have more information.

Again, one needs facts and evidence and I don't know if we will ever truly have all the facts. It seems very much that the cost will be greater than the benefit to the man on the street.

I joined the organisation ' Republic ' some time ago and read many anti monarchy statistics that further supported my view that they have to go.

OperationSquid · 15/06/2024 15:15

Pantaloons99 · 15/06/2024 15:10

I'm with you. I am fervently anti monarchy and don't believe for a single moment that us plebs all benefit from the tourism they bring. Another thing we've been conditioned to defend. The idea that someone superior cares about us and is looking after us is something every human being wants. That delusion is why people cry and fawn over them like they're angels sent from heaven 🤮

I don't think an opt in or out system is feasible. The administration of it could be a nightmare and costly in itself.

Will we ever get the chance to vote the buggers out? Who makes that decision? Who is above the monarchy. I don't know the answers to all this. After watching the whole Prince Andrew situation unfold I feel physically sick at the mention of their name 🤮🤣

Edited
Show quote history

"don't believe for a single moment that us plebs all benefit from the tourism they bring." just because you don't believe it doesn't mean its not true

Pantaloons99 · 15/06/2024 15:10

Crispsandcola · 15/06/2024 00:44

In my opinion, they are billionaires with more than enough money (much of which is hidden in offshore tax havens) to look after themselves. The royal family are living in wealth and luxury while their 'subjects' are literally starving and freezing to death or living in abject poverty on minimum wage and foodbank handouts. They don't 'generate wealth for this country through tourism', that is an actual, provable lie. The royal family are an affront to the population and it's time to stop funding their extravagant lifestyles altogether.

Edited

I'm with you. I am fervently anti monarchy and don't believe for a single moment that us plebs all benefit from the tourism they bring. Another thing we've been conditioned to defend. The idea that someone superior cares about us and is looking after us is something every human being wants. That delusion is why people cry and fawn over them like they're angels sent from heaven 🤮

I don't think an opt in or out system is feasible. The administration of it could be a nightmare and costly in itself.

Will we ever get the chance to vote the buggers out? Who makes that decision? Who is above the monarchy. I don't know the answers to all this. After watching the whole Prince Andrew situation unfold I feel physically sick at the mention of their name 🤮🤣

ThePassageOfTime · 15/06/2024 15:03

SummerSnowstorm · 15/06/2024 00:12

Doesn't work as everyone benefits equally from the income they generate. It'd be easier to make things like contributions to schooling and council parks work optional based on use/interest than something as nationally beneficial as the Royal family.

😂😂💭😂😂

Good one

SlowerMovingVehicle · 15/06/2024 15:01

PaminaMozart · 15/06/2024 14:42

do you think that every country in the world have a RF because they are essential services? Sure you don’t.

Every country has a head of state. I'm not convinced our RF costs more than the HoS and associated costs of other major nations.

And neither you or any other posters ever answered my question that I posted earlier:

@FuckinghamPalace - can you support your implied assertion that a non-royal head of state would be both cheaper and more beneficial to the UK and its standing abroad?

Been done to death on mumsnet, this one. Irish president costs 330,000 euros, speaks sense and does a very good job, by all accounts.

Allshallbewell2021 · 15/06/2024 14:54

Screaminabdabz

We don't know the costs because the RF have used the state to hide their private wealth. Given that they are given public money - this is a clear breach of transparency.

The Crown Estate pay off is entirely notional as the Crown Estate doesn't belong to the Sovereign in any real way. It clearly belongs to the state. The income isn't his to share with us in any actual sense. It's a symbolic ownership which provides a fig leaf for how we prop them up while they avoid paying taxes like real people.

The Duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster don't pay corporation tax - why not?

"The corrupt self-serving little shits in parliament feathering their own nests"

It might be argued that this expression could apply equally to Andrew Windsor (formerly known as "Prince") who has been paid something like £13 million pounds from the public in his life.

Was that money colourfully spent enough for you?

SlowerMovingVehicle · 15/06/2024 14:54

LivelyHare · 15/06/2024 14:00

Here is a link to the Sovereign Grant Act. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sovereign-grant-act-2011-guidance/sovereign-grant-act-2011-guidance

Please read it and educate yourself. Over the last 10 years the monarchy has paid more than 3 billion to the Exchequer. That money is used for public spending.

Show quote history

Educate your own self. How many more billions have they stashed away over the decades that nobody will ever find.

It's not their money in the first place. They are nobody, do nothing, serve no purpose, fight no wars, they have no right to ANY of it. They just create traditions, twist laws, documents, rules and regs to convince us they do.

Swipe left for the next trending thread