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.

Kats sorry you've got me mixed up with someone else, I didn't ask that at all....but now you come to mention it, the answer is....fuck all. But you asked what it was that I did, well I pay my tax to support a super privileged family. Is that not good enough?

Spoof online article made me laugh
newsthump.com/2016/11/18/prince-philip-urged-to-invest-in-a-bloody-diy-manual/

eatsshit * sorry I don't fall for the old chestnut that they bring in huge amounts of money through tourism. I believe the tourists would still come with or without them. Throw open the palace as a hotel, or one huge hostel to get the homeless off the streets. Either that or, let it rot, I don't care.

WE don't benefit from it at all

Are you sure about that?

The very existence of a long history of monarchy and all that goes with it (including buildings) is of no interest to people both at home and abroad? Said people never visit the UK spending billions, creating jobs for British people? That the royal family is beloved to millions abroad means nothing at all for our economy?

Charge them Bedroom Tax

I don't get the tourism argument. Many countries do very well without royalty bringing in tourism. If she wasn't living in the palace there could be a charge year round to pay for maintenance (and tourists would still flock to see it anyway). The money saved could make sure no one lived on the streets and could be used for education and healthcare instead.

The royal legacy will remain in this country without her through the various towers, castles, palaces and stately homes.

I also don't understand the 'there are many other things that we waste more money on' argument, that doesn't mean it's OK to waste even more on the Queen (and her extended family).

I have no love for the royal family, but they do generate a lot of income, partially because of the palaces.

If you have 5 minutes, this video is well worth a watch;

How do you know they're beloved by millions abroad? even if they were that wouldn't be the case if they had to pay for them. Regarding the old buildings and tourists....France doesn't do too bad for tourists, no royals there anymore.

I believe the tourists would still come with or without them

Not really sure it matters what you believe....the world loves us and wants to visit due to what we have here. There are far, far more beautiful places i the world - and far less expensive - to visit. Who on earth would be interested in a small, cold, island without our heritage?

I'm not a royalist by any means would happily abolish the royal family but I think it is necessary to repair Buck palace. Maybe after Wills and Kate the monarchy might be paired back but if you look at other countries in Europe that have disbanded or downsized a monarchy the old palaces are still maintained and kept by the government because they are part of the tourist industry examples such as the Haspburg palaces in Vienna and the former homes of the tsars in St Petersburg where millions of visitors flock to see the grandeur and opulence of bygone ages

You do realise Buckingham Palace is not owned by the Queen? It's held in trust for the nation.

And it's £370 million for the Palace but £4 billion to refurbish the Houses of Parliament.

I think it's a disgrace.

All that money and it'll only be sorted for another 50 years?!

I agree it's important to keep it in good condition however how many more tourists and their money could we bring in by allowing a wing or two of the 700-something rooms as an attraction.

Annoys me when people use tourist attraction as a reason to keep the family funded. Millions visit Versailles and that family is long gone.

On average, it costs £40m p/a to maintain the royal family but, even if ignoring tourism, the royals pay the UK £200m p/a in revenue from crown lands. A £160m profit before tourism is considered.

It's a tiny amount of money blown out of all proportion by the press who want the frothing to get them click throughs.

It's a 10 year programme. Overdue but necessary to maintain the building. Adding the same amount to the NHS budget would achieve fuck all. It's 0.04% of the annual NHS budget they're proposing to spend on it.

I just can't see it as anything but non-news.

If you're a strange royalist who would quite gladly fall at the feet of these er, normal people, then I'm sure its reasonable. Once you've decided that someone is your better for absolutely no reason then who their parents were, then all your logic went out the window long ago and you'll never see that this is an absolute disgrace. There are people living in shocking poverty in this country and anyone with the nerve to defend this is beyond sensible adult debate in my opinion.

I have been listening to the housing crisis reports on Radio 4 this week. Families forced to live in one damp room while an old woman has 3 enormous buildings to choose from and now wants to spend 400m refurbishing one.

Convert it into council tax accommodation. It's an ugly ugly building with no architectural merit whatsoever. Then at least it would serve a purpose.

The Queen and her band of grasping indolent descendents and consorts are increasingly coming across as Marie Antoinette-ish. It's really not a good look.

But Versailles is still maintained by the French state in order for it to exist as one of France's main tourist attractions today even though the Royal Family has long gone. Royalty in France went centuries ago but it doesn't mean the French haven't maintained it over the intervening years. So it doesn't matter if our Royal family is here in the palace or not those repairs and maintenance still has to be done for the palace to continue into the next century

dybil - that's a complete myth. They are a net drain on the economy: uk.businessinsider.com/the-queen-and-the-uk-royal-family-contribution-to-the-uk-economy-2015-9

This family is mediocre at best. Riddled with claims of unsavoury sexual practices and unbridled snobbery.
PC preaches eco values yet flies lettuce from his cornish farms to scotland. Local farmers are squeezed out by pricing wars by Duchy estate. Houses lie empty because Duchy estate demands far in excess of market rents. Land that lie unused is eligible for massive subsidies from the EU.
It's an absolute scandal. And yet all we will hear is the tired (and false) tourism claim. Lies Lies Lies.
I do not consider myself a "subject" or an inferior to this family yet in law i am. The Windsors are a talentless bunch with nothing to offer. The politician brave enough to campaign to get rid of these parasites gets my vote any day.

Gertrude - the article you posted says;

"Brand Finance estimated that the Royal Family's net contribution to the UK economy is around £1.155 billion ($1.8 billion) for this year."

That doesn't sound like a bad deal to me.

Interesting that this story was released on CIN day.

Either the person who released it is so arrogant that the obscenity of the contrast with CIN has entirely passed them by.

Or they are a raving republican, plotting to ferment anti royalist feeling.

This is bloody wrong. Look at the number of things we are cutting. Look at the hole in the budget that doesn't get filled in unless we cut more every year. I can't use my own money as I have to pay taxes for this kind of shite spending? No thanks.
I read an amazing tweet today that went something like " somebody tell the Leavers that the stories have just committed hundreds of millions to a bunch of EU migrants"

The only reason Versailles et al is the tourist draw it is is due to the history...so if we kill them all on a gulillotine we should be all good for tourist dollars....

Seriously, 350 mill is a drip in the bloody ocean compared to what we need...it's almost like a sodding distraction technique for the real problems...

The tweet also said "benefit scroungers on tax payer's money" somewhere.