To To be appalled at all the royal palaces.

[purplehazed]

I've just watched Ant and Dec with Prince Charles. The sheer opulence of those numerous palaces. Just how many do they need? So so wrong imo.
Surely in these times of massive hardship for so many it is time they were scaled right back.

this is Reuters analysis of Royal wealth

pretty staggering

I've always felt sorry for the Queen and Prince Philip, it doesn't look much of a life, and it will never end. I would much rather be free to do what I want with my life.

Agree.

E & P have been more self-controlled and dedicated than most, fortunately. The next Prince Regent or Duke of Windsor will cause so much damage.

No Prince Phillip wasn't more restrained, he did his extra marital shagging around at a time when the press were far more deferential.

Yes purple but her life didn't seem to turned out that well for her. And Charles living in perpetual limbo. Ok they are immeasurably rich but an extremely peculiar life to foist on people through accident of birth. The whole model doesn't stand up to any sort of examination for the royals or the tax payers. The only winners are the gawping monarchists.

pretty staggering

I think disgusting is the word.

E & P have been more self-controlled and dedicated than most, fortunately.

if it is such a straight jacket, they can abdicate. easy peasy.

And the knee jerk lets get rid of the royals by having a revolution or hunger games style competition is no better

except that very few republicans think this is the way forward. However, the masses discussing how utterly regal the Queen is compared to the lazy Kate (a fine distinction for which I have no appreciation) want to perpetuate a system which is explicitly anti meritocratic.

if it is such a straight jacket, they can abdicate. easy peasy.

But they won't. They need to be helped towards freedom. Like beached dolphins with Stockholm Syndrome

agreed. Our treatment of the royals is inhumane. best cut them loose.

I love the "Royals work hard" mantra. Yeah it must be such a fucking chore to get driven around, say a few words, and have a slap up meal and get entertained for going to work, oh my, such a hardship. To wake up and have your every need catered for, to have the state pay for upgrades to your house as a wedding present, and more. To get to start charities for your own causes must be terribly hard, not fulfilling at all, especially when an army of flunkies are available at a moments notice to help you. Wipe the sweat from their benighted brows.

Martina Hyde puts it better than me in the Guardian:

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/15/sound-alarm-prince-charles-tom-cruise-hard-work

Tom Cruise, as ridiculous as he is, does in fact earn his money. For all the silly things he says, at least that sets him well apart from our royals.

Good post Longtimelurker I had to laugh when Ant or Dec asked Camilla where on earth Charles finds all the energy from for his Prince of Wales trust work. She replied (in all seriousness) she just didn't know. What total and utter bullshit. These people are seriously deluded. I'm not saying the trust doesn't do loads of good work, they do. But let's not think for one minute that Charles works hard at it. None of the royals work hard, their flunkeys do the hard work, they just get involved in good causes. Why on earth shouldn't they anyway. They have to do something to justify their obscenely lavish lifestyles.

They have to do something to justify their obscenely lavish lifestyles.

The sad thing is they don't.

Its hard to ascertain the value that the Royal Family contribute to the British economy, the Brand Value was estimated at £57 billion after the 2011 Royal wedding and 2012 Jubilee peak. The finance world has estimated that in 2015 they contributed £1.15 billion to the economy, the Queen alone raised £1.4 billion last year for Charities and Princes raises circa £100m every year for charities.

If these palaces were used for anything else presumably they fall into the hands of the local authority, the Local Authorities are very busy maintaining their own building and the Royal Estates are far better equipped to maintain these properties.

OP why do you think that we are in a "time of massive hardship for so many"? do people honestly think that the country is in a terrible state now? it wasn't that long ago we had workhouses and terrible child poverty and mortality rates, I think as a nation we are doing ok.

We are not long out of recession and doing rather well, the UK is the top place for Higher Education in the World, Unemployment rate of 5.4%, Average salary of £26.5k. Life expectancy high.

The NHS is a major concern and needs serious funding however remains a world class leading provider of health care.

I think as a nation we are doing ok
What about rising inequality
Unaffordable housing
Lack of secure family homes
Zero hours contracts

Brand Value only has a "value" if you can sell it, the Royal's brand value is intangible and any monetary figure put on it is a pure guess, you might as well say its worth a squillion pounds because it has no basis in reality. Any monetary figure put on something that doesn't have a market value is questionable,

"They" do not contribute to the economy, the things associated around them do, we can have pageantry national events which will contribute to the economy without the need for an outdated institution. If you look at Republics well put together figures you will find rather than contributing the royals cost money ( for example the protection bill to the met is £50 million alone).

" They" do not attract the tourists, the tourists would come to London anyway. The utmost outrage should be had that Charles has been consulted on Government policy, what right has he earned to do that other than being born in the right place at the right time? He's not particularly bright or academic, ffs he believes in homeopathy, yeah lets consult him on projects that he has a vested interest in.

The fucking tax payer paid £4.6 million to improve Kensington Palace for William and Kate, where is my freebie from the state to improve my home? They're the biggest scroungers of the lot, yet adored by the dimwitted benefit bashers, tug your forelocks proles..

Its hard to ascertain the value that the Royal Family contribute to the British economy, the Brand Value was estimated at £57 billion after the 2011 Royal wedding and 2012 Jubilee peak. The finance world has estimated that in 2015 they contributed £1.15 billion to the economy, the Queen alone raised £1.4 billion last year for Charities and Princes raises circa £100m every year for charities.

that's unfortunately not their value to us, which is hard to estimate. I'd like to know how to estimate brand value, since it can't be sold (I couldn't pay 57B and hope to recover the brand value, like for example, disney did with star wars). So, I am curious as to how that is done.

As for their contribution to the british society in pounds and pence, you'd have to subtract from 1.15B how much they cost. One point of reference is that on the day of the royal wedding, the LSE was closed. What's the daily trading volume there? 5B?

The utmost outrage should be had that Charles has been consulted on Government policy, what right has he earned to do that other than being born in the right place at the right time? He's not particularly bright or academic, ffs he believes in homeopathy, yeah lets consult him on projects that he has a vested interest in.

"utmost outrage" to put it mildly. better to throw darts at a board.

I am not saying that we are doing great! we are doing ok and will continue to do so, you don't exit recession and press a big red button marked "Start the UK economy" it takes time.

Rising inequality - This can't be fixed overnight but needs to be addressed, mains causes can be looked at in terms of education and future generations. The shift in world wealth and reduced output from the UK is a major factor. the EU are working and investing for Europe to compete with the US and China on patents and innovation, the UK became part of that program in 2013.

Unaffordable Housing - This can't be fixed over night either, House building will continue, the local authority asking for a % of affordable housing in developments and working with HA. There have been many mothballed developments restart. August 2015 saw a 7 year high in successful mortgages applications. Interest rates are at an all time low and the Government have more house buying schemes than ever before.

I don't know what you mean about "secure family homes"?

Zero Hours contracts have been around for years, they suit some people but not others and don't have security, the media picked up on this in the last 18 months, large companies are being scrutinised, such as Sports Direct to make sure that they pay employees correctly. as the Unemployment rate is low then try for other jobs?

There has been a national minimum wage increase, new PAYE bands for low earners and huge push on even small employers to provide pensions (from 2012) and child care vouchers.

So yes I think that we are doing "ok".

There will be a huge peak in the Monarchy "Brand Value" and net contribution when the younger royals grow up, marry etc and when the Queen abdicates and passes away, with all the pomp and ceremony comes massive revenues for the UK. So let them keep and maintain the Palaces?

Horseyhat, Why do I think it is a time of massive hardship for so many? Well to say it isn't because not long ago we had the workhouse so how can it be is a bit ridiculous. Most people would be shocked if a country's success was measured against those bleak times. So basically it's like saying to someone who is going through hard times, "oh you're not doing too bad, at least you're not in the workhouse".
The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, there aren't really any secure jobs, zero hours contracts, low pay, unaffordable housing, people having to rely on food banks through no fault of their own, bedroom tax, more and more young people becoming homeless because of government policies. Unfair "sanctions" against people who have to rely on benefits, so basically cut off from any assistance. Of course it's a time of massive hardship for lots of people and it's going to get worse. We're going backwards.
Regarding what the royal family contribute to the economy.....well if we didn't have them all the vast profits off the Royal estates would be ours, without them taking a huge cut.
The last royal wedding actually cost the economy £5 billion in lost revenue with the extended public holiday. It all depends what you want to believe, or should I say what they want you to believe.

There's no other family in the country that inherit numerous palaces through birthright, whether they own them or not. It's wrong.

Perhaps not numerous Palaces, but there are certainly a great number of people who inherit numerous houses at once.
My landlord alone will leave a sizeable estate comprising of two stately homes, a large number of farms, two villages, a sizeable chunk of Knightsbridge and no less than three properties in the Mediterranean. He doesn't even have a title, let alone Royal privilege.
I have read the entire thread and am yet to be convinced that the Royals are privileged idlers who should be turfed out of their gilded cages. It is very easy to make a sweeping statement about them not working hard, I for one would not want their schedule. Just because Prince Charles isn't standing on a factory floor for 12 hours a day, that doesn't mean his work isn't challenging. They don't get the benefit of leaving work at the end of the day either, I can think of nothing worse than sitting through a state banquet after chasing around all day. The constant need to be pleasant to everyone must be incredibly draining. We mere mortals get to have a bad day, snap a people, rant online and then collapse in front of the TV with a bottle of wine. I don't see that being high on the allowed activities for members of the Royal Family!

Prince Charles has apparently broken through the £1 million barrier for his air travel for 2015.

We are not going backwards as a nation.

Regards secure jobs just visit Monster and Indeed websites and you will see plenty of permanent roles.

I know someone who arrived in the UK (yes with a Visa) on 23/12 and they have interviews this week for jobs in the high end retail sector for permanent positions.

I think that a lot of dislike for the Royal Family is pure envy/jealousy but honestly I wouldn't trade my normal life for theirs.

I am not from an upper or middle class btw, I have a very strong work ethic, I left school at 16 and worked my ass off for what I have today. I probably have 20 years of working life left and intend to do as well as possible for my family and retirement.

Just found a stat that said Prince Charles spent £246,160 of tax payers money chartering a jet to Nelson Mandela's funeral - rather than slumming it on a scheduled flight (first class of course).

I have absolutely no idea why Brits put up with this shit. I hate to resort to cliches, but it's exactly like turkeys voting for Christmas.

The people who use the tourism argument: do you think tourism, in particular visits to Royal landmarks would stop if the queen ceased to be head of state?