To find the Queen's new coach utterly ridiculous

[MonterayJack]

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jun/04/queen-travel-state-opening-parliament-new-coach

Not to mention archaic, disturbing (has fragments of the Mary Rose and Sir Issac Newton's apple tree built into it?!) and a giant waste of money. I looked at it and just thought "Why?"

Anyone else feel slightly annoyed and disturbed at the thought of an adult thinking it's a good idea to ride around in such a contraption?

It was neither hers or a yacht.

It was a chintzy cruiseship paid for by the taxpayer.

I love our monarchy, makes this country stand out from the crowd. They are more economically beneficial than they cost too.

Saw this in the news earlier on and made a bet with myself that there would be at least one Moaning Minnie thread about in on MN. Knew it would be a safe bet!

I just hope that bit of the stone of destiny they chipped off is removable....

TFIC

Where's the proof that the monarchy are beneficial to the country. Tourists would come with or without them. They cost the country fortunes, far more than they'd have us believe. The profits from the crown estates, would all revert back to the people if there was no monarchy....the profits are not really hers to surrender. Because the government decided to give them absolute exemption from freedom of information rules, their financial affairs are shrouded in secrecy. No other taxpayer funded establishment gets this privilege. It puts it into perspective when you consider what else the money they cost us would get.....9.560 nurses, 8.200 police. They're twice more expensive than the French presidential system, 112 times more expensive than the Irish president.....and the truly bizarre thing is....they weren't even elected.

I like it and love the pageantry of the opening of parliament even though I rarely see it as I'm at work and it seems pointless having it in June rather than September or January. You open parliament and they then go on holiday, mad.
You can't eradicate poverty, you can create beautiful coaches that millions can look at though. We don't value craftmanship and artistry enough. Making everyone travel in boring boxes just because some people are poor won't help and just makes the world a dowdier more boring place.
Most of our beautiful buildings and objects were made when the average standard of living in the UK was far lower than today.

I like the fact that the monarchy aren't elected, because most of the people who want to run the country and want to be career politicians are the last people you want doing it. You're choosing from a bunch of power mad egoists. That's what puts me off republicanism, the fact that people would then want an elected head of state as well as a PM. Another bloody politician? no thanks I'll keep the queen.

Why shouldn't the queen have a bit of the Mary Rose, my DM has a bit of the SS Great Britain.

They stripped non original timber cladding and made letter openers for the gift shop, not quite a coach, but never mind.

What Evers wrong with keeping amazing craft skills alive?

I was lucky enough to visit the factory that made the Queens porcelain hair flowers for the Olympics. Their bigger stuff is breath taking.

You're "disturbed"? Really? What is it about recycled wood that's disturbing?

I'm a republican through and through. However, I have to admit that my heart lifted at the sight of Queenie's new coach!

I can only conclude that sometimes the imagination trumps common sense and normal values! (and, at least Liz works very hard at her outmoded, anachronistic job - which is more than can be said for most of them. I'm happy to defer the republic till after her demise!)

Disturbed at the idea of an adult in a horse drawn coach? I bet if they had offered people the chance to ride in it for a tenner after queenie got out the queue would be miles long. Why would you not want to have a go in a beautiful horse drawn carriage and pretend to be Cinderella?

Ooh yay queeny has a lovely new carriage to display her wealth. Never mind wage freezes and cuts in disability benefits, at least our social superiors look all nice and shiney and rich!

Completely agree, FloozeyLoozey - my point is that sometimes we mere mortals suffer from contradictory impulses. However, no coach would not necessarily equal fairer benefits - sadly, it's not that simple.

I was going to say what ComposHat and Songlark wrote about the Crown Estates, but they did it better.

As for tourism ... Paris generally get more visitors each year than the whole of the UK, and you know what the French people did to their monarchy . Imagine the revenue!

Disturbed at the idea that due to the pure chance of birth, one group of individuals becomes 'head' of a nation and gets to live a life surrounded by servants and advisers, and live in palaces with their every need attended to in the minutest detail, have people fawn and grovel at their feet, feels distasteful to me. Of course society is unequal, and some people will be immensely rich and some not, but this raising to almost God-like status, goes beyond that imo.

The Royals lend their name to good causes, which is good and go round the world wearing lots of nice clothes and looking benignly bored, which by some weird alchemy encourages people to visit the UK. Whether this justifies the sheer amount of time, energy, money and fawning that goes in to their everyday lives, I'm not sure.

The thought of queuing up to have a ride in that pimped up pram, so I can have a taste of being noble, fawned over like a demi-god and have people treat me as though I am more than human - I'll give that a miss thanks.

Agree a hundred per cent about the need to get rid of the monarchy, Monteray but I think the desire to ride in the coach is not so much to feel like the queen and Charlie but more to do with ithe coach looking like something magical, out of a fairy tale. (basically, suspension of everyday, prosaic reality!)

And before anyone starts saying that fairy tales are often about wish-fulfilment and wanting to go from poor to rich etc, I know! But the difference is, you know it is fantasy!

"Disturbed at the idea that due to the pure chance of birth, one group of individuals becomes 'head' of a nation and gets to live a life surrounded by servants and advisers, and live in palaces with their every need attended to in the minutest detail, have people fawn and grovel at their feet, feels distasteful to me"

Sounds like Paris Hilton to me.

YABVU.

I think its blingtastic if you are going to make a new coach your as well to make it right fwiw I dont think public paid for it

I think a little less bling would have done.

The thing I like most about this story is that there are still carriage-makers, in this day and age.

The tourism argument really annoys me. The most visited countries in the world are France and the US. They got rid of their expensive, useless monarchies a long time ago.

I'm surprised that more people in this country don't object to the fact that the top office is closed to everyone born outside of one family. I'm astonished that people are happy to be subjects of the queen. But then I wasn't born here, so maybe I'm missing something.

The whole pomp and ceremony of the royal family is ridiculos but if you are going to do pomp you are as well to do it right, I think the gold coach has jewells from liz the first in it

Sounds like Paris Hilton to me.

An interesting comparison. But to be fully analogous to the Queen, Paris Hilton would have to have the following on top:

A lifestyle (for herself and her extended family) funded by tax payers' money rather than money made by her father/grandfather.

A permanent role in the affairs of state, despite a limited education and the fact that she's never been elected.

I would hate to be the monarch. There is only so much money a person needs and I'm glad I wasn't born into the royal family and can have my house to myself and immediate family, get to muck about cooking, can go out without being followed by cameras or accompanied by body guards. I couldn't do most of my hobbies if I was a monarch. I think it's a restrictive lifestyle. Yes I'd rather be in the royal family than be poor but as an affluent middle class person it doesn't appeal at all.

Well put songlark