To think this is an obscene amount for the queens home.

[heartskey]

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/nov/18/buckingham-palace-to-undergo-370m-refurbishment
Its all right for some isn't it. Sod the rest of us, we're just the mugs paying for it. What a bloody burden this family are.

I really struggle to understand how someone is happy having a unelected Monarch as their Head of State - with all that encompasses. I can get all the arguments about tourism and Brand UK. I get those arguments. There may well be a negative effect if we got rid of them.

But nothing will persuade me that it is right that a country should have an unelected Head of State with a lot of power and privilege that is acquired by birth right.

It's that simple for me.

Erm no, the OP keeps bleating on about the homeless and destitute, and how they should be given rooms in Buckingham Palace because they are so much more deserving than the queen, who only pushes a pen about

Only just seen this, again that fixation with me. But trying to belittle my posts about the homeless only makes you sound ridiculous. I'm bleating on about the homeless? I made a suggestion when asked what I'd rather have BP used for and I said a hospital or a hostel. I stand by that. Not half as ridiculous as having what we have there now.

actual LOL at you thinking I am defending the royals, heartskey. I am simply asking questions that you can't answer. You have no idea who makes the decisions about paying the heating bills at BP. You are simply assuming. As you have assumed throughout the thread. If you can find evidence that the queen deals with her own heating bills, great. Frothing away and mashing at the keyboard is not evidence.

Ego Totally agree, most intelligent forward minded people think the same.

See, heartskey, your arguments just make no sense. NOW you think there is enough money to maintain historic buildings - just not this one. Presumably you're going to fart that money out of your arse along with the money to convert BP to a hospital/hospice, are you?!

ego, I might feel more comfortable about an elected head of state if I could see one whom I think would do a good job. I don't think that just because it would be more fair is a good enough reason to risk the losses that it could incur. Cold comfort farm if we realise we've killed off a cash cow after all.

f I could see one whom I think would do a good job

What if Prince Charles does a crap job?

We can't get rid of him in an election. We are stuck with him.

Laughing at the thought of the queens aids making a request for a heating grant without her knowledge. AS IF

f I could see one whom I think would do a good job

Charles will be Head of State soon. What skills has he got for the job?

If he has those skills, is he the only person in the UK uniquely able to do the job (apart from birthright)

The person doing a job should be the person most skilled to do it.

temp you have deliberately misinterpreted most of my posts and also tried to ridicule them. It doesn't work. People agree with me and you seem to be in the minority, get over it.

Totally agree, most intelligent forward minded people think the same. Well done.

queenie needs lots of us mugs here to work hard and pay tax for the palace and everything else.

No, because we've already established the RF are paid for out of the Crown Estate - which you want to do away with. Taxes don't pay towards the RF.

So, instead of the Royals being funded by a small proportion of the profit and the rest going to the treasury for the good of the country, the income from the Crown estate would cease, and we'd have to pay for an elected Head of State out of taxes.

I'm not an accountant, but even I can see that the Treasury is worse off by doing that.

But according to OP it takes no skills to do the Queen's job, so surely it doesn't matter who does it.

You can laugh heartskey, but you haven't proved a single thing.

A huge amount gets done by her aides. If you know which bits she signs off on personally, given all the admin of running several royal households, post the link. Then you can laugh all the more loudly!

Actually OP it's you who'll have to get over it as your tax money pays for a coat of paint on queenie's bedroom ceiling....

The money is there temp it's just be proven, but my idea seemed to wind you up, you're implying there's no money for it, no problem then with what's getting spent now then?

But according to OP it takes no skills to do the Queen's job, so surely it doesn't matter who does it

I'd be a crap Head of State. I couldn't keep my mouth shut and would be on Twitter half the time.

the income from the Crown estate would cease

Come the revolution. Or maybe we can fight them for the land. And the seabed. And the seashore. Plus the swans.

I simply disagree that you'd ever get the right person with the right skills elected. And if you did that they would have the same pull as the RF. I think morals are hugely important - but they won't help the country if we fuck the economy. I think it's an experiment that is too dangerous to try. A slimmed down monarchy would be much more preferable to the unknown, I think.

If Charles turns out to be hopeless and a massive twat badger, as he may well do, then this may change. But there is still a lot of popular support for the RF so who knows just how bad he would have to be.

I WOULD like a pet swan.

The crown owning the coast has at least helped us to preserve it a bit, I think. We haven't built all over it and fucked a lot of it like some places have (I'm looking at you, the costas).

Temp How naive to think that something like that would have got past the queen, nothing goes past her without her knowledge. So when the ministers got back to her and said she couldn't have it because of bla bla bla bla, she wouldn't have had a clue what they were on about. Something as big as that? You're just making yourself sound silly.

think morals are hugely important

Well, that's a whole debate with some members of the current RF, isn't it

No. You are assuming. That makes you look silly. Come on, just post a link. Not an assumption. I don't know myself, so you may well be right. But without a link, it's going in the same box as "heartskey's property management tips", ie in the bin!

As if one of her staff would take it on themselves to apply for that without the queens knowledge. How could you seriously suggest that.

Have you been a member of royal household staff ? I do have a little bit of insight, and I can assure you that day-to-day decisions such as how household bills are paid generally dont get run past the principle householder.
The Queen has a reputation of being more "hands on" than many, but it is highly unlikely that she is familiar with the various grants and allowances that a Graded Listed building attracts, for instance. It is quite possible, based on what I know of the way large estates are administered that an application for a "cold weather" payment (or whatever it was) could have been submitted without her knowledge.

I anticipate that you will disagree with me, even if you have no direct experience of this type of administration yourself, only further reinforcing my view that living in a post-truth world is going to be very frustrating for some of us!

Oh come on, what's a bit of extra marital accountant toe sucking between friends, ego?!