AIBU to loathe the Royal Family

[InWinoVeritas]

The way the media is so gushing about everything Wills, Kate and Harry do, just been watching the evening news, there is a story about Wills and Kate doing a radio broadcast, makes me want to vomit..
And the issues about mental health - really? Do we need Royal 'endorsement' just to get more funding?

That '50p per person' stat has already been thoroughly discredited. Firstly it is based on the total number of people (incl children, retirees etc) rather than taxpayers. It excludes certain costs e.g. security costs for protecting the royals, which are astronomical.

There is absolutely no evidence that the royals bring any tangible benefits, that they are net contributors to the country.

No other expenditure is justified in this way i.e. that it breaks down to just a few pence per person. Anyway, even if it was 50p it is still 50p which could be far better spent.

It could be 5p and I'd consider that 5p too much.

Gosh, the bitterness and envy has ramped up again. What a great look criticising someone else's grief is. If this the thought process required of Republicans them you can keep it. I fucking hate reverse snobbery. It's just a chance to be a knob about someone but feel smug at the same time. It's totally pathetic.

Have your opinions about the institution of monarchy and whether it is worth it. But personal attacks on two men who lost their mother at a young age in highly traumatic and public circumstances are not on. I'm really not surprised those boys needed counselling with the quite frankly stupid, baseless comments made by people without a shred of human decency and pretty smug attitude. WTF.

We spend more on security for the likes of Blair, Major and current cabinet plus Nicola Sturgeon (aka Wee Jimmy Krankie) and her pals. I'd rather spend it on the Queen. Most of them don't have security now. Just HM, Pip and Charles and his boys.
Do you think you don't pay for security for hundreds of people? You pay for pop stars, footballers etc through their extortionate ticket prices.

Gosh, the bitterness and envy has ramped up again. What a great look criticising someone else's grief is. If this the thought process required of Republicans them you can keep it. I fucking hate reverse snobbery. It's just a chance to be a knob about someone but feel smug at the same time. It's totally pathetic. I agree

I'm just not seeing the bitterness and envy Nanny. Nor are most people criticising their grief, I don't see many personal attacks. It is monarchists who want them to be public figures after all, and ensured that when they were bereaved their grief had to be paraded in public.

I think letting them parade behind their mother's coffin so publicly was an awful thing to do to 2 teenage boys. And do you recall them being taken to church as normal, the very day after Diana's death? TBH I think it is the institution of monarchy that lacks decency.

'Do you think you don't pay for security for hundreds of people? You pay for pop stars, footballers etc through their extortionate ticket prices'.

But its our choice to pay the inflated ticket prices; we don't have a choice whether or not to pay for the monarchy. You may personally not like certain politicians & so not want public money on keeping them safe, but they still were/are part of the democratic process.

Living That is the most ridiculous way to turn around an argument. Prince Harry was criticised for talking about his grief- which apparently isn't as bad as the grief of others because he is a rich and a prince. Again, it is the constant assumptions and suppositions that are annoying. You don't actual know anything about their private lives or what they do at home or how they feel about anything.

The bitterness and envy is much more implied than stated but it is there in buckets. The constant cry is that inherited wealth and position is unfair. But I notice that people only say this when it isn't inherited by them. I also find it offensive that some posters are falling back on crass stereotypes of the aristocracy to fill in the blanks because they don't really know any actual details to criticise.

people only say this when it isn't inherited by them

Well duh. People who benefit from an unfair situation are hardly going to be the first to complain about it are they? Doesn't mean those who get the shitty end of the stick are motivated by envy though. I'd call it a desire for social justice.

I wouldn't call it social justice. How is it justice to stop one set of people inheriting and not others. What's the cap on what can be inherited and what needs to be taken away? We don't live in a feudal system. Having a monarchy doesn't inhibit social mobility. How is getting rid of the monarchy going to change anything for the poorest in this country?

Who has actually said that the royals' grief is less because they are royal or rich? Nobody is claiming any such thing, and no I wouldn't presume to know anything about their private lives.

I think you are reading things into my posts that aren't there; you are assuming a lot when you claim that anti monarchists are motivated by bitterness and envy and their posts 'imply' this.

Maybe some of us just think it is immoral to lavish money on this family at a time of government cutbacks which are seriously affecting the access of vulnerable people (including the mentally ill), and that the inherited position of head of state undermines any pretensions to being a democracy.

There have always been restrictions on inheritance Nanny, in the form of inheritance tax (death duties). The royal family alone are exempt from those, e.g. when the Queen Mother died they avoided these whereas anyone else inheriting such sums would have been relieved of millions.

The monarchy should go because it helps perpetuate an outmoded class system and anti-aspiration, at a time when Britain is the most unequal society it has ever been throughout the Queen’s 60 year reign.

Having a monarchy doesn't inhibit social mobilit? How very true. Any one of us could work hard, rise up the ranks abd become queen.

The constant cry is that inherited wealth and position is unfair. But I notice that people only say this when it isn't inherited by them.

Slow clap for the daftest comment on this thread

The most melodramatic emotions on this thread have been from the royalists who seem to be getting terribly upset about perceived slights and injustices to an incredibly privileged group of people who, by any standards, don't seem to be doing badly.

I have no problem with the royals.

However they will never understand what it is like to live with a severe mental health illness and not have access to the help you need. They will never have to struggle to live because their MH condition means they can't work. Their partners will never be burnt out carers. They will never be turned down for CBT, therapy, CPNs, psych assessments and so on.

Good for them. I don't want anyone to struggle like my husband does and many people like him, but their struggles are not even close to what us non royals have to go through.

I am always happy when MH gets more attention, I just don't think what the royals are doing is going to help where we actually need the help.

Same question, again: how will abolishing the monarchy help the poorest in this country.

Sorry, missed the question mark.

?

No it's fine if you don't like them, we can't all like or agree with everyone.
I don't have a problem with them, they're just lucky bastards that's all, 10 a penny, the world is filled with privileged people, if I got jealous or loathed them all I'd drive myself mad

if you 'loathe' the royal family what verb would you use to describe your feelings for Hitler, say, or Jimmy Savile?
You sound weird, op.

Monarchy implies that certain people are 'better' than other people and should be granted different social circumstances due to their birth. It is inherently anti-egalitarian and anti-aspiration, which undermines the poorest.

We are one of the most unequal countries in the developed world which is a huge and growing social problem: www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37341095

The money currently spent on the royals could be reallocated where there is real need. So instead of £4 million being spent doing up William & Kate's Kensington Palace home and £369million to renovate Buckingham Palace despite opposition, such money could be directed to homeless people.
www.itv.com/news/story/2014-06-21/4-million-refurb-bill-for-kate-and-williams-palace-home/
www.countryliving.co.uk/homes-interiors/property/news/a1063/buckingham-palace-makeover-queen/

The royal residences could be open to the public and generate income - which in turn could be allocated where there is most need.

Frankly these people lead such an "abnormal " life that what you are seeing now is probably their way of trying to connect with ordinary folks do they can feel human.
It is VERY lonely behind those walls and I don't envy them at all. Actually I feel sorry for them.

Erm. Pretty harsh OP and others slamming the RF. Don't normally comment on posts as usually a lurker but I think their current popularity speaks for itself!

I love the Queen. A lot of countries are envious of our royal family, and I think it's great to have them. Having said that, I can't stand Charles and Camilla - they're old establishment, and I don't think the majority of us can relate to them. I think William and Kate are modernising the royal family, and appear to understand the importance of bringing it into the 21st century, which is important for their continued survival.

I come from a family with a lot of inherited wealth, including a few nieces big houses but I still think that it's time we became a republic.

I'm certainly not envious of them. I could have a similar lifestyle of flirting around parties and doing a bit of charity work, but I choose not to.

I don't know any republicans who are envious. Most of us just think that the whole thing is a pointless anachronism.