£180.00???????????????

[Undercoverbanana]

I am neither pro or anti royals.

But £180.00 for a buzz cut (William). My DP buzzes his own head every fortnight in the garden for free.

As I understand it (prepared to be told that I'm wrong about this) but don't they get some kind of state handouts? Is this a reasonable use of our money?

I know they have to live in horrible old houses that probably cost a fortune to heat and maintain and I shudder to think about the council tax, but £180.00 for a buzz????

NHS? Schools? Social care? Roads? Potholes? Police? National security? Investment in environmental products - replacing plastics etc? Charities? Legal aid for those disenfranchised? Social justice campaigns ........ Sorry ....... You get the idea.

AIBU????

Given your source is the royal website saladdays, it’s hardly independent and unbiased, is it?

Oh please, the DOC is not making money selling expensive biscuits.

Take a look at Boffins post about how their cash is generated.

Regarding the haircut, ironically the man who will one day be king now looks like the every man, Homer Simpson.

Have just Googled and found this: www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/prince-charles/9583920/1m-from-those-who-die-without-wills-passes-to-Prince-Charless-estate.html

It says:

"The Prince of Wales does not, however, keep any of the money; instead it is distributed in charitable donations through the Duke of Cornwall’s Benevolent Fund, with a small amount kept in reserve for any future claims on unclaimed estates.

... because Cornwall is owned by the Prince of Wales, unclaimed estates go to the Duchy, which has been the personal possession of the eldest son of the sovereign since the Charter of Edward III."

So although what you said was (mainly) materially correct, your use of language was misleading and also plain wrong in places - PC does not benefit from it, and this law began in the Middle Ages. It's hardly something PC has invented

You said: Appropriating various income streams, for example snaffling all the money from the estates of people in Cornwall who died intestate with no obvious heir (normally this goes to the Treasury but in the case of the Prince of Wales, aka Duke of Cornwall, it goes to benefit him personally, or he makes charitable donations...

Janice - Given your source is the royal website saladdays, it’s hardly independent and unbiased, is it?

I gave two sources.

And I'm pretty sure the official royal website would have to be accurate and able to justify everything it says, or else you'd have millions of anti-Royals howling about it and pointing out its inaccuracies.

I'm all for critical thinking. And researching things.

Take a look at Boffins post about how their cash is generated.

But don['t believe it.

How lovely that a barber just earned £180.

I welcome wealthy people using my business.

To be fair, if the hairdresser had to travel to Kensington Palace to do the cut, then the charge probably includes travelling time and the loss of customers whilst the stylist was out of the salon.

So you and I, when we pay tax, don't get much of a say where it goes.

Other people are able to do supposedly philanthropic things with their money, that make them look good or allow them to leverage their 'brand', and it doesn't go into the common pot. Or they can deduct costs from the Duchy's proceeds, so for example this pays for things like Prince Charles's valet. You and I don't have valets paid for out of untaxed income, do we? In fact he has a staff of 110, more than many large comprehensive schools, and while some will help with correspondence and others with estate management there is also a lot of personal use. This is an example of benefiting personally.

duchyofcornwall.org/assets/images/Duchy%20ARA%202016.pdf

He makes £20m plus a year from the Duchy and is entitled to the income. It says this in his own accounts.

Prince Charles uses the Duchy money to fund his own interests and hobbyhorses. I can't do that with my tax.

www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/may/01/prince-charles-intestate-cash-cornwall

When did George start school? I reckon they have had a mega nit outbreak at Kensington Palace and Wills has overreacted. Poor old Kate is stuck with having to spend hours being nitty grittied with cheap conditioner because her lustrous locks are her trademark, but Wills has decided that this particular encounter with democracy is a tad too plebeian and has fought back.

Sits back and hope this rumour goes viral ,you read it here first..........

This is how the grace and favour thing works. Cheap rents/leases, promises to repair dilapidations, discounts on building work, preferential access to nice houses that you or I wouldn't be allowed even if we had the money ... sometimes tenants pay little or nothing as they are members of staff onto a good thing (although this document just deals with negations in relation to the queen's offspring) www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2005/04/royal_property_leases.pdf

Mineral rights land grab. www.thecrownestate.co.uk/news-and-media/news/2014/registration-of-mines-and-mineral-titles/

Again, this is all in their official documentation.

I don't think it's excessive to have a hairdresser meet Wills and give him a buzz cut for £180. Many people who are top of their professions earn £100s per hour and I think it's fine that they would have a callout fee.
I wonder if Jason Statham or Bruce Willis spend similar?

Thanks for the links, Boffin

So he's paying 110 people who would otherwise not have work, and his money is going back into the economy...

If you die intestate, I thought the money just went to the state. There's no evidence that I can find online to say that it would go to help people/charities in the town/county you die in, so it's disingenuous to suggest that the momey could be used in this way in Cornwall.

The idea those people propping up the domestic machinery of one bloke would be shuffling along a dole queue before having their compulsory vasectomies courtesy of Ben Bradley is just laughable. It doesn't work like that.

I could say what I liked to Saladdays and link to every single Crown Estate/Welsh/Duchy/National Audit Office report and she would still argue black was white. I'm outta here. As you were.

His new SIL to be was photographed in a dress worth more than 50% of my house, I don't think they're a family which prioritises sensible spending tbh.

I think that would be peanuts for a royal to spend. I don't care what they spend. But I object to the concept of royalty.

I agree with Lemon its not a great haircut; quite uneven in fact.

And lol at prince Harry teasing anyone about going bald. He hasn't got long left himself and a pasty baldy is not particularly attractive.

If you die intestate, I thought the money just went to the state. There's no evidence that I can find online to say that it would go to help people/charities in the town/county you die in, so it's disingenuous to suggest that the momey could be used in this way in Cornwall.

You've slightly misunderstood.

Intestate estates go to the state, except in Cornwall, where they go to Charles. Boffin is not saying that intestate estates would normally benefit your own county, she is referencing Charles' past decisions. He has previously made charitable donations to famous public school Gordonstoun, from the same pot he accumulates the proceeds of the intestate estates, for example.

I, for one, thought he owed it to the people in Cornwall to make his donations benefit Cornwall, not an expensive public school many leagues distant.

Sparkling, I'm counting down until the thread expressing concern on Meghan's behalf. It will be alleged that she must be DEVASTATED that her fiancé's best man has had a drastic haircut.

Someone will claim Kate put him up to it because she wants to ruin Meghan's day, in revenge for it being arranged around the time she has the new baby, I bet.

I am thinking Kate will choose Harry and Meghan's wedding day to debut a short pixie cut myself.

Poor William. He was pretty dashing as a teenager. Even with the new buzz cut (much more appropriate for a badly balding man his age than his previous style) his face is not particularly attractive anymore. I wonder if he’ll continue to look ever more severe as he ages or if his looks will mellow. He looks so different from even 10 years ago.

his face is not particularly attractive anymore

Charming.

I think Kate should go for this.