As Rachel Reeves struggles to balance the books, the Royal Family should forgo a £46 million increase in their funding. AIBU?

Apologies for being too lazy to check it out myself, but have any of them voluntarily taken a pay cut or donated from their own wealth to something -, anything - in their kingdom? Imagine if KC turned around and said, "ah no, it's ok this year, we know what people are going through with COL and I'd like to donate the 46bn rise to X, Y or Z. I will make up the difference from my own wealth no problem for the good of the nation."

I think there's a project in Scotland, some castle being repurposed for good works or something, but what about a foundation or similar. Giving back....

Maybe they are total philanthropists and it's regularly done, but if so, the PR about their largesse is not very good!

I do think Prince Andrew is an exception rather than the rule, I can’t think of any other royal who has behaved so abysmally in the last one hundred years. Edward vIII wasn’t very pleasant but not a patch on Andrew. I know people who have worked with/around him and not one of them had one good word to say about him, so you do have a point there.

Wills are kept hidden, financial affairs are vague and secretive.
And the true cost of this family is obscene.
They are out for themselves, aiming to maintain and increase their huge wealth. They damage and undermine democracy and live lives of privilege completely unearned and undeserved.

The bit of respect I used to have for HMQE - flawed though she was, is now gone, kaput, disappeared. I'd laugh in their faces if I ever saw one near me, no exceptions even for those that are considered nice and harmless. Respect is earned. All I'm doing is earning to pay for them!

But pays for horse drawn carriages and luxury 4x4 for the RF. Not just the immediate ones, but all the cling on's too.
The monarchy has no place anymore.

Most Heads of State are presidents, not the executive kind like messrs Trump and Macron but pure figureheads, apolitical like you say and most of them do a good job representing their countries and whatever else they are constitutionally tasked with doing.

I don't know of any of them who have family members living in multi bed mansions, being paid for cutting a ribbon here and there and travelling abroad for their pet projects, and I doubt any of them cost their countries half a billion a year either.

The RF is a racket, an historical thing, but a total racket just the same.

I’m not fussed about the rest of them but the King, as Head of State, is
a consistent and non political representative for the United Kingdom. He can’t be bought off or bribed, and he isn’t likely to be swayed by promises of titles, riches or political favour. It’s not a perfect system but it works, the Monarch
is able to represent our nation at home and overseas without having allegiance to any political party. I see it as a valuable asset and I’m not sure what better system could replace it while still retaining all of the above.

Slimmed down monarchy means they decide to make do without champers at 11am at our expense, and maybe bung us a few quid from their various offshore accounts instead?

Upon further consideration, perhaps a couple of the estates could be used to create one of the many new housing estates needed.

One family benefitting - every so often, when they face visiting that one of many estates - from a land area that could house thousands is pretty shit - but that’s what the RF are all about, along with all the rest of Britain’s idle landowning aristos.

I like your idea of creating a dedicated set of housing for MPs too op.

Edited - I meant to quote the ops response, not mine!

@vellichoria

As pointed out above - it was George 111 I think who was bankrupt and needed the government of the day to bail him out. Though whether this land was properly his to barter with is another question

@CruCru
Do you realise that the current arrangement was set up by George Osbourne and David Cameron?
Before this change all proceeds from the ‘Crown estate’ went to the treasury. The Windsors got an annually debated hand out called the Civil list. The Windsors hated that debate and had been pressing successive governments to change to the current system without success . Until Cameron’s government came along . They also made sure that the annual debate over Windsor finances was stopped .

Oh they also made sure that whatever the state of the finances of the country or the crown estate- the cut going to the Windsors could never go down.

A take from elsewhere...

Some quick clarifications about how the UK royals are funded by the public:

1. The UK Crown Estates are not the UK royal family's private property, and the royal family are not responsible for any amount of money the Estates bring into the treasury. The monarch is a position in the UK state that the UK owns the Crown Estates through, a position that would be abolished in a republic, leading to the Crown Estates being directly owned by the republican state.
2. The Crown Estates have always been public property and the revenue they raise is public revenue. When George III gave up his control over the Crown Estates in the 18th century, they were not his private property. The current royals are also equally not responsible for producing the profits, either.
3. The Sovereign Grant is not an exchange of money. It is a grant that is loosely tied to the Crown Estate profits and is used for their expenses, like staffing costs and also endless private jet and helicopter flights. If the profits of the Crown Estates went down to zero, the royals would still get the full amount of the Sovereign Grant again, regardless. It can only go up or stay the same.
4. The Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall that gave Elizabeth and Charles (and now William) their private income of approximately £25 millions/year (each) are also public property.
5. The total cost of the monarchy is currently £350-450million/year, after including the Sovereign Grant, their £150 million/year security, and their Duchy incomes, and misc. costs.

It warms my cockles to think some of my hard-earned cash goes towards keeping the King's toilet seated warmed.

I can't afford to continue swimming lessons for my child, but at least the royal buttocks won't be chilly tonight. 🍑

More than a decade!

Andrew first met Epstein 26 years ago. And his Trade envoy role was from 2001 until he was sacked.